Winter in Chicago

Old Man Winter

Dear Old Man Winter,

I know that you feel like the most unpopular season of the year. People complain about you all the time. It seems like nobody has anything good to say about you.

girls shoveling 2011
No one liked to shovel, right?

In a typical Chicago winter, there’s the cold, the snow, and the shoveling. And the hat hair. Oh, the hat hair!

But this winter, Sir, you’ve been very lax. You blew in some ice and some cold, and that’s it.

Where’s the snow?

If we are going to have to deal with the cold, the frost, and the drab brown landscape all winter long, I’ll be very disappointed in you.

The only ones enjoying the park right now are the geese
The only ones enjoying the park right now are the geese

Without some snow, how will we go sledding? How will we build snow forts and snowmen? How will we romp around in the white fluffy stuff and throw snowballs at each other?

My three-year-old students don’t even remember the scarce snow from last year. And when you blew in a blizzard in 2011, they were just babies. They need to play in some snow!

Lily's snow tunnel in Feb. 2011
Lily’s snow tunnel in Feb. 2011

It’s the middle of January already, and you’ve given other parts of the country snow. Fortunately, Lily and Emmy have grandparents in Iowa, so they have already been able to build their snowmen. I’m getting nervous that this will be the most snow-less winter ever.

Before the season ends and Spring comes to take your place, will you please just send us a couple inches? You don’t need to overdo it. Just a little snow will be fine.

Sincerely,

The Lemon Drop Pie Family

Chicago skyline from inside the Shedd Aquarium--it's cold out there!
Chicago skyline from inside the Shedd Aquarium–it’s cold out there!

Spin Cycle at Second Blooming

I’m linking up at The Spin Cycle today! Why not try your own Spin? This week it’s Winter, next week it’s Clean. Try it, you’ll like it!

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Halloween Show ‘n Tell {Spin Cycle}

First of all, let me just say that I didn’t even think about giving a gift to my children’s teachers. But just look at this cute gift that I received from one of my students!

Isn’t it adorable?

My creativity came into play when I designed my easy bat costume for the girls. Everyone thought they were cats until they spread their “wings”, which annoyed them to no end!

Lily as a bat

I volunteered to be in charge of games for Lily’s classroom party, and instead of paying ten dollars for a similar pumpkin toss game at Target:

I made my own toss game out of a box I found in the basement, scrapbook paper and Mod Podge. (LOVE Mod Podge!) I made the bean bags from two old shirts I bought last year at Good Will to make my scarecrow costume.

The highlight of Halloween this year, however, wasn’t the costumes or the Halloween parties. Did you read my Spin Cycle last week? I thought someone was lurking in the tree above me and it turned out to be an old Halloween skeleton. When I took Lily and Emmy trick-or-treating, something alive was lurking in the tree.

Right after I stopped taking this video, the gorilla took off his mask to show the kids that he was just someone dressed up in a costume. (Emmy had crept up behind me and slipped her hand into mine when the gorilla came down from the tree!) A couple of kids had started crying, so he made it up to them by making balloon animals.

A trick AND a treat!

Hoping your Halloween was happy!

Second Blooming

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