Ever since the first snow we had this season back in December, The Dormouse had wanted nothing more than to build a snowman. Last year at a craft store, I picked up this "Snowman Kit" on clearance and I stuck it up on the attic with the Christmas decorations. When we pulled the decorations down for Christmas this year, I grabbed the box and put it in the window.


This was a classic rookie parenting mistake if there ever was one, because as any experienced parent knows, out of sight, out of mind, and this was definitely not out of sight. So every time the weather even thought about snow, plans to make a snowman were imminent.

Not having grown up around snow, here's something I had to learn as an adult: not just any old snow will not do in the snowman criteria department.

The first snow of the season was back when we went to get a Christmas tree. This snow was the perfect snow for making a snowman: light, fluffy, a little bit wet and packable. But... the day was so traumatic that instead of going straight home, we stopped by a friend's house in the area to strip the kids naked and throw their clothes in her dryer.

The second snow of the season was also snow good enough to make a snowman, but, as we learned, my children are pansies, so we spent all of four minutes outside before retreating to our warm, cozy home to instead turn snow into a non-nutritious treat.

The next two times it snowed, there wasn't near enough snow to make a snowman.

During the two large storms we had in the past week, prime snowman making opportunities have never been far from The Dormouse's mind. And, while there was enough snow to make a snowman that breathed fire, the snow in our neighborhood simply wasn't wet enough to pack in to a snowman-like form, but not for lack of trying:


The KoH tried to help her by shoveling a lot of the snow into a mound that could at least be carved into the shape of a snowman, since the traditional rolling snowball method didn't work. Only it wasn't that carve-able - it just crumbled apart every time you tried to form it. It did, however, make for a nice flight simulator:


Finally, yesterday as everything started to melt, I decided I couldn't stand the snowman requests anymore and if we didn't do it now, we may not get another chance this season. So we went out and carved a snowman out of the mound of snow in our yard so we could finally use the contents of the Snowman Kit and let the matter drop. This is convenient because it allows me to introduce you to:

Frosty the Snowmound


He's a fairy tale they say.


He was made of snow, but the children know,


that he came to life one day.


And he tastes good too.