[Kitsumi]

"Oh my," she said when the four children had finished speaking. "That certainly sounds like fun!" By now, the hot chocolate had cooled, and all four of the kids were currently sipping the delicious drink. She was happy to see that they seemed to be enjoying the hot chocolate that she had made for them.

[Kitsumi]

"You know," the woman rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "It might be fun for all of us to decorate some gingerbread men later today. It would be a nice snack for the four of you too, since you're probably using up a lot of energy running through all of that snow, right?"

[Kitsumi]

Luke looked at his friends to see their reaction. "What do you guys think?" he asked. "Do you want to decorate some cookies later?"

"Yeah!" Trixie was the first and most enthusiastic to agree. "That sounds like so much fun! And gingerbread cookies are the best, I love them so much!"

[Kitsumi]

Neither Kaleb nor Adam were quite as excited about the cookies as Trixie. But they seemed open to the idea, nodding and shrugging. "Cookies sound good," Adam said.

"And decorating them could be a lot of fun," Kaleb added. "We'll have like frosting and M&M's and licorice and candy and stuff, right?"

[Kitsumi]

All of the kids looked to Luke's mom for confirmation. To their delight, the woman nodded. "Yup," she confirmed. "I have a bunch of different things you guys can use to decorate your gingerbread men." Luckily, she had bought some cookie decorating kits not that long ago, in anticipation of this occasion.

[Kitsumi]

"Okay," Luke's mom stood up. "I'll start making the gingerbread men. Once you guys need another break from playing, you can come inside and we'll decorate the cookies if they're done. Hopefully it won't take them too long to cool down... you don't want to try decorating them while they're still hot."

[Kitsumi]

By this point, the kids were really only half listening. Most of them had finished their hot chocolate by now, and were starting to get anxious to get back outside. They had already had a snowball fight, but there was still so much to do! None of them planned on wasting their first snow day.

[Kitsumi]

Luke was the first to leave the table. He went over to the fireplace, checking to see if his clothes were dry. He was happy to find them not only completely dry, but also warm and cozy from the fire. He rubbed his face against his hat for a moment, enjoying the warmth.

[Kitsumi]

Adam and Kaleb came to stand beside Luke, each of them checking their own clothes. All of them were dry, and so the boys started getting dressed. Trixie, however, took a little longer finishing her hot chocolate. She had been more cautious than the boys, drinking slower to avoid burning herself.

[Kitsumi]

"Come on, Trixie," Luke complained. "We're all ready to go outside, and you haven't even started getting dressed yet!"

"Sorry," the girl said. She finally drank the last sip of her hot chocolate, and hopped off of her chair. Coming near the fire, she started to put on her winter clothes.

[Kitsumi]

The girl was getting dressed much too slowly for the boys. They started to get antsy, feeling quite a bit too warm. Their winter clothing was hot from the fire, and left them feeling like they were slowly being roasted inside of the heat in the house. These clothes weren't meant to be worn inside.

[Kitsumi]

"You guys can just meet me outside," Trixie said, noticing the boys' discomfort. "Go on, get started without me."

They hesitated. As eager as they were to get back to playing, they weren't the sort of kids to abandon their friends. All three boys looked at each other, trying to figure out what to do.

[Kitsumi]

It was Kaleb who finally came to a decision. "We'll just wait for you right outside, on the porch," he said. "We won't start playing without you, though."

It was the perfect compromise. Trixie wouldn't have to feel like she was missing out, and the boys wouldn't feel so warm trapped inside.

[Kitsumi]

Trixie smiled, grateful that her friends were willing to make sure she felt included and that she didn't feel left behind by them. "Thanks guys," she said. "I'll try not to be too much longer!"

The boys went outside, stomping through the snow on the porch as they waited for the girl.

[Kitsumi]

Not wanting her three friends to have to wait too much longer for her, Trixie tried to get ready as quickly as possible. She pulled her snow pants on in record time, zipping her coat up over it. Her hat went on next, and then she knelt to tie her boots.