Baby It's Cold Outside

Am I the only person who still has Christmas songs running through my head for weeks after Christmas? And especially the annoying songs I never liked in the first place. Oh well, the song kept running through my head and it really is cold outside. My little temperature gauge says it's currently 11 degrees F in Madison. And that's pretty warm for this week. Tomorrow they are predicting a balmy 26 degrees F. Hey, maybe I can go outside without my hat on!

So you Westerners are probably reading this and dying right now. You are probably thinking, who in their right mind would live in places like this. Ah, crazy people like us. A wise person has counseled that is is important to have opposition in all things. I personally don't think I could stand "perfect" weather all year round. It would give me nothing to talk about! (For those of you who don't know, a classic sign that you are taking to a Minnesotan is that a usual topic of conversation is the weather. It's a must. It took Clark a while to get use to that.)

I should also mention that our house is freezing as well, so Russell enjoys the added warmth.

Now you can't look at this picture and say that this child doesn't look thrilled to be all bundled up to go outside. Quite frankly, the zero degree temps and the -20 degree wind chills almost make "outings" a sport. It's a race against your body and the outside elements. And it becomes ever more fun when you have two little ones to dress and put into their very complicated car seats. It's fun, really! Typically as we are heading quickly into a store Jaron is running double time chanting "hurry, hurry, hurry."

Russell loves sporting his bear hat. What you can't see is that he also has paws (mittens and booties).

This picture is actually from last year. But this is what the snow height currently is outside. And more to come. (Actually it just started to fall as I'm finishing this post.) Jaron is thrilled every time he sees it snowing. He excitedly exclaims "We get to shovel!" (Too bad Clark and I aren't as excited.) Why is it that little kids seem so immune to the cold? I remember being the same way. I would spend, what I am sure felt like hours, outside playing in the snow and I knew that it was cold but I never seemed to mind. Maybe I would enjoy the cold weather even more if I had a hat with ears on it.