Winter in spring

On Tuesday evening, I took the kids to the store. When we went in the store, it was COLD and drizzling just a tiny bit. We were in there for a good thirty minutes or so. When we came out, I could see that it was really coming down. But I was busy trying to get the kids to look both ways before darting into the street and then busy getting them to get their belts on. By the time I actually started the engine and looked out the windshield, I was amazed to see that it wasn't raining as much as it was SNOWING! Snow in spring! Snow at the END of March! WOW! That is really, really rare for western WA. Besides, we really didn't have much of a winter. There was hardly any snow at all this past winter. Imagine our surprise when it showed up in spring. The forecast for today was LOTS of snow and indeed, we got a nice covering here in Federal Way. We took a break in the middle of the day to go out and enjoy the big flakes. Evan asked, "Mom, can we get a Christmas tree?" Hahaha... he associates the snow with Christmas! You wouldn't know it too look at these pictures that Easter was this past Sunday! Easter... synonymous with baby chicks and green grass and cute little Easter dresses for girls... certainly not snow, gray clouds, and temperatures in the low 30s!

I included a couple of videos here. They were shot today and I stand corrected on the date. I mistakenly said in the video that the date is the 27th of March. In fact, today is the 28th!













When we were done, at the boys' request the three of us each enjoyed a nice mug of homemade hot cocoa with a dash of cinnamon sprinkled on top. Mmmm, mmmm good! I used the recipe off the back of the Hershey's Cocoa box. Unlike the prepackaged varieties, this recipe has no corn syrup or trans fats in it. There is sugar, but you can't really get away from that if you want to enjoy a good mug of cocoa. I cut the recipe in half and it was perfect for the three of us! Here it is:

Favorite Hot Cocoa
Top of stove six servings:

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa
Dash salt
1/3 cup hot water
4 cups milk
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Mix sugar, cocoa, and salt in saucepan; stir in water.
2. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils; boil and stir 2 minutes.
3. Stir in milk and heat. DO NOT BOIL.
4. Remove from heat; add vanilla.

YUMMY YUMMY IN OUR TUMMIES!