Snow, And More Snow!

Winter is in full swing here and most of us are loving it! It snows gently every single day, almost continually. And it is wonderful. Every morning there is a fluffy, fresh, white blanket of snow glittering the ground. Litter and dirt is buried. And we don't have anything to shovel or scrape, so we can truly enjoy all of the beauty at no extra cost.

Russia is smart and doesn't bother with daylight saving's time, so sunrise is shortly after 9 these days. By that time we have had a few cups of coffee, some breakfast, and a not so relaxing bath (Lev has decided it is a good time to practice his climbing skills, and climbs in and out of the bathtub, in and out, in and out, and in and out). This past week has been mostly calm with

temperatures in the teens, so we generally head outside as the sun is coming up. We are learning the art of bundling the children such that they don't catch their death of cold. ;-) Lev doesn't exactly love wearing his mittens, so he gets reprimanded by many a babushka until I make him wear them. We splurged and bought a fancy new sled stroller with retractable wheels, which has made the winter even more charming! Lev rides, Finn pushes, and I supervise. I'm getting significantly more exercise as a result of the purchase. We have a large, lovely park "square" behind our building that has many trees and walking paths, and an informal cross country ski path all the way around the outside. We've been enjoying cruising around the square finding friends for Finn to play with. It is rather adorable to watch him make friends, despite the language barrier. He typically winds up playing with older children, and most are very patient and playful with him, encouraging him to chase them or throw snow together. Lev is getting better about watching Finn laugh and run and play, but can't get around very well in the snow yet, so he gets unhappy in an unfortunately short amount of time. Finn, of course, isn't ready to be done playing yet (and, to be honest, I'm not either. It took at least 20 minutes to get everyone bundled and out the door, after all) so we do our best to keep Lev warm and happy. And then at some point both boys meltdown and I'm left with a sled, two slippery sobbing boys, a pile of toys, and only two woefully inadequate arms to try and get everything inside. Ah yes, making memories. That's what we do.

After lunch and naps (Lev is mostly down to one nap a day, so I occasionally get lucky enough to have both kids sleeping at the same time!) we repeat the outdoor excursion and before we know it is getting dark outside. The sun sets around 5:15. Then it is supper, baths, chaos, stories and, eventually bed.

I'm determined to celebrate Thanksgiving, but it is a rather daunting task to do it all myself. I think I know where we can buy a fresh turkey, I found some frozen cranberries, pumpkin was already procured and processed for pumpkin spice month, I'm hoping the cream I use in my coffee whips into something fluffy, and Matt found a butternut squash. As absurd as it sounds, squash are scarce and sweet potatoes and yams are completely non-existent! What in the world! For a country that subsists on root veggies, I expected sweet potatoes to be prolific! I'm going to try my hand at making dressing from scratch (like, starting with a loaf of bread), although I can't seem to find sage anywhere, and the internet tells me it is critical to dressing success. Our friends have graciously agreed to celebrate with us even though we are the only Americans. And somehow this post turned into another one about food. Whatever. Wish me luck pulling this off and making my favorite holiday another memorable one!