The weather outside is frightful

"Cooped up" doesn't adequately convey how we feel these days.

To say we're tired of being indoors would be putting it nicely. Very, very nicely. If you prefer honesty to nicety, read on.

Winter has dragged on far too long, and I can feel myself--and my kids--sinking into a severe state of seasonal depression. I was doing okay until that blasted groundhog saw his shadow and ran back underground. We've had snow in our yard since December. Random snow storms that pop up out of nowhere in the middle of the day and drop flakes everywhere no longer phase me. I've gotten used to this miserable winter, and that worries me.

Far more troublesome is the impact this seclusion from the out-of-doors is having on my children. While my friends down South revel at their freak snow storms and rush outside in rainboots with plastic baggies on their hands for mittens, our snowy days have left us trapped inside to face the reality that when the snow drifts are taller than your children, it's unsafe to go play in them. In desperation, we bundled the kids up and took them to a still-snow covered park to run off some energy. But alas, Abby's efforts at running around proved in vain as her feet sunk 4-6 inches into the crunchy snow with every step. Poor Caleb was so happy to be outside he didn't even complain about the wind whipping against his chapped rosy cheeks. Our snowy park fun lasted about 20 minutes before Justin and I made an executive decision to warm the kids up before their noses froze and fell off.

We've done our best to enjoy our frightful winter wonderland. The snow slide in the backyard and the 10-foot-tall ramp off the back deck were fun for a while. But I still can't get Caleb's thumbs in place in his mittens, and the snow is so crunchy and dirty now that Abby can no longer eat it. Necessity, being the mother of invention, moved me to clean out our unfinished basement and open up a ton of floor space where the kids can ride bikes, trikes and singing airplanes just like they would outside. We even hung a swing down there, in hopes of fooling them into thinking our basement is the park. The kids love it down there, but the lack of sunlight gives it away. It's just not the same as running around with grass to cushion your fall and the warm sun washing over you. Our winter fun is over. We're ready for spring.

As I was packing the kids up to head to the grocery store the other day, Abby ignored my instruction to climb into the van and instead made a beeline for the driveway. She stopped just outside the garage, looked up at the blue sky and yelled gleefully at the top of her lungs, "I'm outside!"

We need some warm weather. And soon.