Baby It's Cold Outside

Occasionally I make it out of the house with my two kids. Colder weather = even fewer outings than normal. But now and then we are known to don our coats and our courage for a short little winter walk.

We don't go far. Sometimes we go to the laundry room because little brother decided he should mark his territory all over mom and dad's bed sheets. Again. And then sometimes, just sometimes, we go...
Through the "tiny gate"...
Past the "pink berries"...

Just beyond the two "yellow umbrellas" (Jamba Juice - where we used to go. When it was warm.)...

Lucy is a trooper of a little walker. She wore her warmest coat on our last outing, but I could still see her squinting and blinking in distinct reaction to the cold. I was beginning to wonder if we should turn around when she said to me in cheerful surprise, "Mom, did you know this day tears came out of my eyes even when I was happy?!"

So with that confirmation that she was a) cold, but b) happy, we proceeded.

And in between our search for landmarks, Lucy noticed the dim, wintry glow of a cloud-covered sunshine in the sky. "Oh! A little sun!" she called out, pointing. Then after a skeptical pause, "I don't think it will warm us up."

And it didn't. But we found other ways to fight the cold.

Sunshine in the soul goes a long way.

A light Christmasy snow fell as we walked back. But we beat the fast falling flakes.

We stayed home - and warm - the rest of the day.