A Ravens-themed snow fort, from Thomas Keller in Towson.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 3:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Here's an adorable snow penguin from Sue Slade of Catonsville. Keep sending me your pictures of creative snow contraptions and creatures for our snowmaggedon contest.

Don't forget to include your name and neighborhood with your photo, please.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 2:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: School's Out
        

Latest in our snow creature and snow contraption contest: a merry snowman from Hollins Market.

Shaina Wahl writes: "Here is our Snowman at Hollins Market- buttons of beer cans, a cucumber mouth. Photoed with: Peter, Brian, Trevor, Sebastian."

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: School's Out
        

Nick and Anna Berte of Bel Air sent me these pictures of the giant snowman they made with their children in front of their home. "My husband is an engineer and decided later on to make the snowman breathe fire," Anna Berte writes. "Hope everyone enjoys this snowman as much as the rest of our neighborhood does."

We like! Now if you could just get him to work on melting all the snow before the next storm comes...

Can you top this? We're running a contest for pictures of the most creative snow forts and snow creatures. Send your photos my way.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 9:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: School's Out
        

Liz Atwood muses on the possible end of Valentine's Day for her tweens this Tween Tuesday:

If you're the parent of a tween, beware. Valentine's Day might come early this year--or not at all.

My third-grader is supposed to have a Valentine party in school this Friday (provided schools are back in session by then). I only know this because I got an e-mail from the teacher asking what I would like to contribute to the party. I think if I had not received the e-mail, I would have never known about it. Valentine's Day for tween boys is no big deal, it seems.

Concerned that my son would be frantically addressing his cards Thursday night, I dragged him to the store Monday to pick out cards for his classmates. He spent barely 15 seconds glancing at the display before he picked up a tattered box of 3-D Transformer cards and declared they were less stupid than the others.

The cards are still on the kitchen table where he left them and I guess I'll be nagging him on Thursday night to address them and sign them. At least the third-grader is having a party. My 13-year-old looked like I had lost my mind when I asked if he intended to hand out any Valentine cards.

I remember when I was in school the fun of getting Valentine's cards, especially the cool ones with candy or puzzles. My friends and I worried over just which cards to give the cool guys and which to give the nerdy boys and which were appropriate for just friends.

Do boys care at all? Perhaps one day a special someone will reawaken my boys' interest in Valentine's Day. But for now, it seems the fun has passed and it has become one more chore on the to-do list.

Is your tween celebrating Valentine's Day this year?

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 6:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Holidays
        

Who needs the Winter Olympics when you've got this awesome toboggan run David Hewes built for his kids (and, as he says, "anyone passing by") in Bowley's Quarters.

In case you haven't heard, we're running a contest all week for pictures of the most creative snow forts and snow creatures from Snowmaggedon Snowpocalypse SNOMG 2010.

Send them my way with your name and neighborhood.

UPDATED: Here's another view of the toboggan run:

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 3:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: School's Out
        

I'm starting to get a few entries for our creative snow creature and snow fort picture contest. Please send your pictures early and often, and include your name and neighborhood. Looks like we'll be doing this all week.

Pictured: The White Rabbit in Halethorpe, courtesy of Qian Deng.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: School's Out
        

Now that we're finally starting to dig out -- and learning that many local schools will be closed tomorrow -- it's time for the kids to really have some fun. And for you to get them some fame for their best snow people and snow forts.

Send your pictures of creative snow buildings, snow families, snow pets, and the like to me and I will post them here, and probably elsewhere on our site. We will vote on the best ones for a fabulous prize.

By the way, there's still time to vote in our snow day screen time poll. From the results so far, it looks like kids are going to get away with a lot of TV viewing today and tomorrow.

(Snowman photo, 2002, by Baltimore Sun photographer Karl Merton Ferron)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: School's Out
        

Our morning went something like this:

6:30 a.m.: "Good morning, mom. May I go on Webkinz?"

7:00 a.m.: "May we watch a show?"

8:30 a.m.: Husband: "OK, kids, what are we going to do now that does NOT involve TV?"

Soon after that they went out for about an hour to play in the snow. But then they were back asking to watch another show.

We said no, then served lunch. But as the snow piles up outside, I know the clamoring for mindless entertainment will only grow louder. And typically, we limit the kids to a couple of hours of screen time on the weekends.

Considering all of the people in the area who don't have power, I'm thankful for this problem. Still, I wonder what the rest of you are doing about it as this snow event threatens to mean many days of kids stuck at home:

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Screen Time
        

Guest Dad Joe Burris is thinking about 13-year-old quarterback David Sills, who has given a verbal commitment to play football for the University of Southern California -- while still in middle school:

The latest news dominating sports circles involves a 13-year-old quarterback from Delaware who has been offered a football scholarship to the University of Southern California, one of college football’s premier programs.

Seventh grader David Sills has verbally committed to USC (though he can back out of the commitment at any time) after reportedly being offered a scholarship by USC head coach Lane Kiffin, a 34-year-old mentor.

Now, I don’t know how talented Sills is (as an 11-year-old he was hailed as being one of the best prospects ever in a Sports Illustrated piece) or whether that talent or his body will ever blossom into anything worthy of major-college football potential .

And keep in mind, until he signs a letter of intent (which comes much later), he is not legally bound to attend USC.

But at an age when it means so much to be popular among one’s peer groups, this kid must be having the time of his life right now. Even the most modest youngster would struggle keeping his ego in check.

It makes you wonder what frame of mind he’ll be in a couple of years from now -- particularly if he’s a good, even great, quarterback, but not the phenom that would warrant a scholarship offer at 13.

I don’t know who this kid has in his corner advising him against the dark side of major college sports -- be it his parents, guardians, coaches or whomever.

But here’s what I do know: In the 18 years I spent as a sportswriter, I witnessed some of the greatest NFL quarterbacks in history _ including Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Steve McNair. And I don’t recall any of them receiving this much attention as seventh graders. That’s because at that age, none worthy of it. It’s just way too early to know.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Sports