Keeping warm on cold, snowy days

Last week, all of Germany was holding its breath, waiting for a weather system to move in to the area that could have left tens of centimeters of snow in its wake. Thursday night at 10:30, we were surprised to receive a phone call from a school mom telling us that school was canceled for the following day, as bad weather was anticipated. And what happened the next day? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The kids didn't complain, but they will when they need to make up that needless snow day in the future.

What happened the following day -- i.e. today? Plenty! It started with strong wind and then the snow came. And it kept on coming. Here's a view of our neighbor's yard, with its wood storage shed, formerly a horse stable.

One of David's favorite items in our German home is the housewarming stove in our dining room/kitchen. We only have one eating area, no kitchenette and then separate formal dining room like you see in most American homes. I do not miss having two eating areas. One less room/table to keep clean. And our kitchen/dining room is separated from the family room by our foyer and another room. I love this set up and now view open floor plans as overrated -- especially when you have four kids.

In our old house in Atlanta, which had the open floor plan, noise traveled easily all through the house, but the bigger issue was that I felt like I couldn't get away from the kids. I would spend a lot of time in the kitchen preparing meals and then cleaning up afterward, and the kids were always nearby in the family room or playroom that was right off the kitchen, making noise of one kind or another. Or else watching some loud movie or TV show. To say that I sometimes had sensory overload is an understatement. And once you have four kids, you don't feel the need to be around them all the time. Shocking, I know.

I first realized all this when we bought our pop-up camper.  During one of our camping trips, I was inside listening to our wind-up radio as I washed dishes while David and the kids were running around/biking/building a fire outside.  At one point, David popped his head inside the door and said, "Sorry you have to be all cooped up in here doing dishes."  "Don't be," I replied, "I'm really enjoying the solitude."

Here, after dinner, I shoo everyone out of the kitchen and can listen to the radio or my ipod as I clean up. It makes that task less of an annoyance. Then I can sit at the table and get some work or reading done in relative peace and quiet.

Back to the warming stove. It's a wood burning one and heats up the room nicely. Emilie demonstrates a quick way to warm up chilly hands.

The whole side of the stove warms up and there are seats to rest on. These metal circles get extra hot -- too hot to lean on, really.

I won't be surprised if we end up with some kind of house warming stove once we move home -- even if we end up in Atlanta where it isn't freezing cold the entire winter, as it feels like it will be here.