The Snowflake Party

I woke to the first real snowfall of the winter. The sun shone brightly in the azure sky unhampered by clouds. A white blanket of snow covered the earth and glittered like thousands of diamonds had been tossed out by a giant hand. A quick look at the thermometer outside the kitchen window told me that the air was a crisp 24 degrees. My suspicions were confirmed when I turned on the morning news, all area schools were closed. No school meant grandma was babysitting. The perfect day for a Snowflake Party!

I had to hurry, Charity, Mathew, and Hope would be here soon. I quickly dressed the dining room table with a snowy white tablecloth. Over this, I laid a smaller snowflake covered cloth. Setting the table with clear cut-glass candlesticks, plates and water glasses. Beside these, I placed a small white snowflake plate. White napkins laid beside each plate, silverware was placed into snowflake covered holders atop the napkins.

The grandkids arrived cheeks rosy from the cold, stomping snow from their boots. They chattered excitedly making plans to build snowmen, a fort, and the inevitable snowball fight afterward. They were delighted at the sight of the dining room table and the idea of a snowflake party. I told Mathew and Charity to go ahead and play outside while I finished preparing the food for the party. Little Hope, I divested of hat, mittens, coat and snow pants and sat her on the floor to play with toys, her favorite being “Big Giant Puppy”.

From the pantry, I retrieved the snowflake shaped chocolates and crackers as well as the Almondette cookies, all of which I had bought in preparation for the Snowflake Party. In the kitchen, I sliced cheese, cut apples into wedges, and peeled mandarin oranges separating them into sections. I heated some chicken and rice soup on the stove and started a big pot of hot chocolate warming on the stove. The kids would need something hot to warm them up after coming in wet and cold from the snow.

Charity came in first. We laid her wet hat and mittens on the register to dry. Her coat and snow pants were hung up in hopes they too would dry before needing to be donned again. Mathew finally gave up and came in out of the cold, his nose as red as Rudolph's. When they were all divested of wet clothing, we sat down at the dining room table, Hope in her high chair sitting between Gary and me, Mathew and Charity on the other side of the table.

We had our feast without spilling anything on the tablecloth, the high chair was a different matter. Hope was an expert mess maker! Gary put a movie on while I cleaned up in the kitchen.

It was nap-time for Hope, so I lay down with her in the bedroom.

“Are you a Doodle-Bug, Hope, cause I'm a Doodle-Bug, too. Let's do the things that Doddle-Bugs do.”

I recited a line from a favorite book, “Close your eyes, Sweetie.”

After several minutes, I checked to see if she was asleep. She looked up at me and smiled with the most mischievous look on her face. I pretended to be asleep, breathing deeply and finally did fall asleep for a few minutes. Waking, I found that Hope was asleep at last. I tip-toed out of the bedroom and finished watching the movie with Mathew and Charity.

Five o'clock came around, time for mom and dad to get out of work. Mathew and Charity dressed in their still slightly soggy outdoor clothes while I dressed Hope. Hugs were given out all around and goodbyes said. The door closed and suddenly the house was quiet. Memories had been made this day, memories to stored away for future reflection.