Max’s recipe for four-ingredient “cookies”:

1. Obtain a killer (tailor-made) chef outfit from your grandma.

2. Mash a banana.

3. Add oats.  Sample freely.

3. Add chocolate chips and vanilla.

4. Form cookies into balls and put in oven. (Not pictured due to needing assistance from the photographer/sous chef.)

5. Anxiously wait for the cookies to bake, keeping a watchful eye on the goods.

6. Clean the bakeware and measuring cups.  With your mouth.  

7. Eat the cookies!!!!  And share with your sous chef (not pictured).  

Today and yesterday.  2-3 feet of snow mean piles of snow 6-7 feet high in some places after the roads are (mostly) plowed.  Max has had a blast climbing the snow mountains.  Every time we go outside he says, “I see snow!!” like it’s brand new.  

Ben’s work Blackberry was replaced by an iPhone, so we’re enjoying FaceTime now when he travels.  We usually do this at meal times, and Max likes to share.  I’m always bummed when Ben has to travel on days the government is shut down.  It’s a snow day!  We should be eating waffles and drinking hot chocolate and wearing PJs all day!  I guess we did that for four days straight, so a break is probably good if I ever want to wear non-elastic waist pants again.  And Max misses his friends, so hopefully the schools will open again by Thursday.

Some post-blizzard pictures.  Max LOVED the snow.  The crying pictures are because a) he ventured out too far on his own and got stuck, or b) he wanted to be placed on top of a snow mound and needed help.  Mostly, he couldn’t get enough and I had to drag him inside for lunch after several hours.  

We got about 2.5′ of snow.  It took us (well, Ben) all day to dig out the driveway.  They plowed our street well, but that meant extra snow for us to plow about 2′ past our driveway at least 3′ tall!

We have so much to be grateful for, though I am not a fan of the snow.  We never lost power, we had enough butter for cookies, waffles, AND chicken pot pie, and a kind neighbor dropped off a brand new snow bib, snow boots, and mittens for Max to wear.  I will truly miss the community here (but not the snow).