Shoveling Shenanigans

When you drive down my street in the winter, it is obvious to anyone who knows us which house is mine. It would be the one with the immaculately shoveled driveway. Whether we just got a storm that dumped 6 inches or just a light skiff of snow, you will not find a speck of it on my driveway, even though we have the biggest driveway on the block!

How does my driveway end up so clean? You see, Joe is a bit obsessive about having a nice, clean driveway. Maybe it has to do with being raised in AZ where the driveways are never icy, or maybe it's just a safety issue. Since I am a beneficiary (and there are far worse things to be obsessed with), I don't really mind the time my honey spends outside shoveling.

Joe is even gaining his own little shoveling crew. The boys can't wait for it to snow so they can go outside and shovel. They even have shovels their own size! This morning Joe refrained from shoveling the skiff of snow before he left for work so the boys could have some "fun".



So Ephraim and I got started while we waited for Jacob to get home from preschool. (I had a doctor's appointment this morning and since preschool was a the Esplins, Jacob was riding to and from their house with Stephen and his mom).

Ok, so maybe the shovels are a little big for Ephraim, but he'll grow into them! The shovels are just right for Jacob, who is becoming a great helper when it comes to shoveling. We made sure to leave some snow on the driveway for Jacob to shovel, otherwise he would have been upset! Besides, Ephraim and I got cold before we were half done with the driveway, so we went in and continued after Jacob had lunch.

Both my boys know the idea is to get the snow off the driveway and onto the snowbanks. However they are not quite as meticulous about it as Joe.

Ephraim is especially likely to stop mid shovel and carry his snow off to another location. That makes for some pretty interesting patterns on my driveway....

almost like driveway art!

I know that Joe would not really appreciate the aesthetic value of this kind of driveway art, so I follow after the boys, cleaning up the last bits of snow. That way I will get to spend more time with my honey when he gets home (because he will not be outside shoveling!).