02 DEC 25
It's early and it's a snow day for most of the city... Yali's wrapped in one of the picnic quilts pulled over his head while he sits over the floor vent capturing all the hot air as it tumbles upwards... when Patience walks into the room he opens up one side of the blanket and beckons her over... “I don't usually do this” he says importantly... “but my kingdom must have some warmth”...
A few minutes later as I'm pulling out eggs and sausage from the fridge... they're comparing quality of respective sleep from the other room... it's Yali's turn... “I had a very very very very very very very very...” **insert SpongeBob narrator's voice** “twenty-two hours later... very very very very very very very very good sleep”...
Windchill is about fifteen at breakfast before the textbooks come out...
Patience is halfway through a sheet of Creative Writing as she notes... “I have three teachers... well kind of four...” // “Oh? Who's the fourth?” // “Well you're kinda my teacher”... thanks Patience...
After books and homemade guacamole and lots of snow play and hot cocoa from scratch...
...Yali is with great concentration transforming some of his old plush dinosaurs into hand puppets... before joining Patience for a second round in the snow...
“Mom? What would you do if you saw me outside with my face straight down in the snow and I wasn't breathing?” // “I'd run out there to get you and call an ambulance”... I have to walk out of the room for a moment and hear the garbled whispers and soft giggles of Yali and Patience creating plans in the kitchen while they gear up in snow suits... “Uh uh...” I call back to them... “No plans to fool Mama... won't work” // “BUT! How did you HEAR us?!”.. don't have to... I'm on my 14,259th rodeo...
It's another cold blue night pushing in...
Amazon dumps a box at the door for Patience... Korean shampoo and faux-cloisonné alpaca earrings in bright colors for Spanish class...
...as hot roast-and-mac-n-cheese sandwiches are prepared for dinner...
Puck runs out for another diet Dr. Pepper between high-energy online gaming with friends...
...and Oxbear gathers the young ones for bedtime readings...
...while Patience stitches on her embroidery hoop...
...and Yali invents new ways to utilize the drumsticks Oxbear hand-carved for him out of dowel rods...
