"...but the children say he could laugh and play..."

What better encapsulates the blissful abandon & utter magic of childhood, than a day in the snow building a snowman?  Think hard about this for a minute. Typically, children don't have much power or control over their lives, since their days are more or less dictated to them; when to get up, when to go to bed, what to eat, what to wear, and so on.
But take a snow day-- a magical, whimsical, beautiful, enchanted, blustery, cotton-ball white, no school today, snow day. Now tell a child,

"You have the power to go outside, and create a man out of this white goodness. And also, if you put a hat on him, he will come to life!!!"

Whoa. Back up for a minute here. You're tellin' me that I am forced to eat oatmeal for breakfast if Mom says so....forced to wear those ugly red shoes if Mom says so...forced to go to school when she says, go to bed when she says, brush my teeth when she says, even go potty when she says-- But today, for one day only-- I have the power to create a man out of snow?!

The concept of this, to a child, has got to be mind-blowing.  And Ava is certainly no exception.

So, after begging us (nonstop) from 7-9:30 am to "please go out and build a Frosty?" Jeff finally agreed....add 30 minutes for the obligatory scarf-hat-mittens-boots-snowpants-longjohns-coats-earmuffs debacle, and they were (finally) out the door.

About 1/2 hour later, she rang the doorbell (it's hard to open the door with cold, wet mittens on!) and implored me to come see her "Frosty." And since I can't resist an adorable, barely-able-to-move-her-appendages four year old with crimson cheeks & a runny nose at my doorstep,

I threw some slippers (yes, you read that right- I absolutely ventured outside, in the snow, in slippers!) on and ran outside in the blizzard for a few snapshots.