We woke up this morning to the surprise of nearly a foot of the snow fallen overnight. Here’s a video capturing an initial reluctance to come out of hibernation, followed by cabin fever and the desire to finally tackle what is hopefully the last bit of snow, this season.

March 11, 2011 – The Last Snow Day? Boy, we hope so.

March 11, 2011 – The Last Snow Day? Boy, we hope so.

Moments before impact.

Moments before impact. – 11-Dec-2010

Before the Sunday winter storm warning went into effect, weekend activities included building a snow T-rex (“My favorite dinosaur,” says David), which is currently an annual tradition, taking part in a snowball fight, and learning about finding the right jacket to “skunk.”

Photos

Here comes the snowball. – 11-Dec-2010	Snow blur. – 11-Dec-2010	Snow T-Rex. "My favorite dinosaur." – 11-Dec-2010
Snow T-Rex, profile. – 11-Dec-2010	Snowchild falls off swing. – 11-Dec-2010	Aunt Susie’s pea coat — skunked! – 11-Dec-2010

Videos

Click image to view video.

Banks Family snowball fight.

Banks Family snowball fight.

Snowman slide collision.

Snowman slide collision.

Plus, you’ll enjoy David’s new morning activity — putting on his snow boots and getting the paper. Brrr, David, please put on your jacket… David?

Paper Boy, December 2010

Paper Boy, December 2010

Thanks to friends and neighbors who managed to trudge it through the ensuing snowstorm to make out to our 2nd annual holiday open house. You were treated to an impromptu basement jam session.

Exclusive basement performance during Banks Family Holiday Open House 2010.

Exclusive basement performance during Banks Family Holiday Open House 2010.

What a great way to cure the winter claustrophobia, especially by the time February promises many more weeks of cloudy, gray skies. David’s been taking skating lessons at the local community center, and he loves it, especially when he works to try to keep up with good friend Rachel.

David (and parents!) have also enjoyed watching the high school ice hockey games afterwards. See photo and videos below from one indoor session. David’s in the red jacket.

Skating Lessons Feb 2010

Skating Lessons Feb 2010 – 13-Feb-2010

Video

Skating Lessons Feb 2010 – 13-Feb-2010	Skating Lessons Feb 2010 – 13-Feb-2010
Skating Lessons Feb 2010 – 13-Feb-2010	Skating Lessons Feb 2010 – 13-Feb-2010

Hello, everyone! Thanksgiving and Christmas are long over and we had a great holiday. You can see a selection of December/Christmas photos at the end of this post.

– 01-Dec-2008

An alternate photo for the Banks Family Holiday Card.

We certainly appreciate all the Christmas cards we received from family and friends. As David turns three in February, we’ve felt more able to keep in contact with everyone, including those who live outside our city limits!

As Sheryl would agree, we realize every day how raising David is the most monumental event ever to happen in our lives, second only to getting married. For me, personally, I now more fully understand parents when they talk about the difference between Before Children and After. It’s the conversations with other parents, for example, at get-togethers at friends’ houses where we talk about, well, parenthood, that we gravitate to the quickest, and for good reason! And the impact of any story in the news where a child has been hurt, abused or neglected is felt personally.

Things to look forward to in 2009:

• A lovely night out for Valentine’s day
• David’s birthday
• Annual Banks Family vacation
• Aunt Linda’s speedy recovery from her surgery
• Continued good health of our friends and family
• Contact from you, after you read our site!

Photos

– 25-Dec-2008	– 25-Dec-2008	– 25-Dec-2008
– 25-Dec-2008	– 25-Dec-2008	– 25-Dec-2008
– 24-Dec-2008	– 27-Dec-2008	– 27-Dec-2008
– 27-Dec-2008	– 27-Dec-2008	– 27-Dec-2008
– 27-Dec-2008

Videos

– 26-Dec-2008	– 26-Dec-2008	– 26-Dec-2008
– 26-Dec-2008	– 26-Dec-2008	– 26-Dec-2008
– 26-Dec-2008	– 26-Dec-2008	– 26-Dec-2008
– 26-Dec-2008	– 26-Dec-2008	– 26-Dec-2008
– 26-Dec-2008	– 26-Dec-2008	– 26-Dec-2008
– 26-Dec-2008	– 26-Dec-2008	– 26-Dec-2008
– 26-Dec-2008	– 26-Dec-2008	– 26-Dec-2008
– 26-Dec-2008	– 26-Dec-2008

Sure, I bet those friends and relatives — living in warmer climes such as sunny, earthquake-prone California or hurricane-happy Florida — may smirk, but we must share the weekend weather in northeastern Ohio.

– 09-Mar-2008

– 09-Mar-2008

Seems like about 10 inches to 2 feet packed itself in over the weekend, starting Friday afternoon, and it wasn’t until Sunday that we finally left the house by car, while other neighbors were still digging out.

The newer snow-blower blade finally gave out on the Second Day post-Near Blizzard, whilst Daddy contemplated a snow-removal device of a larger variety (hire a snow plowing service next winter?). Mommy had dug out the base of the driveway on Saturday, after the city snow plows gave every driveway two more feet of densely packed snow to remove. And with another foot of accumulation that night, we had to do it all over again the next day.

In this video, you’ll see David (with a little help from Daddy) putting the final touches on the snow-removal effort on Sunday morning before we escaped to the grocery store.

– 09-Mar-2008

Share your snow story below!