It almost feels like Jersey. OK, not even close.

But this week I did find myself sharing many of my "you think this is cold; this ain't nothing," stories with my kids.

Friday morning when temperatures dipped into the low 30s and 20s, I bundled my babies up for school.

Elizabeth was thrilled to pick out a very fashionable pink and brown set of gloves, hat and scarf.

Meanwhile Daniel stuck to his Spiderman set and fought with me about not wearing his "poofy" coat that he thinks makes him look like a monster.

My last point in the battle was, "Daniel, you'll see how 'poofy' everyone else looks when we get to school." And boy was I right.

One by one the little Eskimo looking kiddos filed into school all the while chatting about whether or not school would close because of "snow."

My kids stared at me in disbelief when I told them up north we had to shovel our way out of our house each morning in the winter and still went to school.

Elizabeth said, "no way," when I told her how the snow was so deep I remember falling into it (wearing a very stiff snowsuit) only to look up and see I was stuck. "Get me out of here," I'd yell to my brothers.

I told them how on really treacherously freezing mornings where the snow barricaded our doors, we'd sit around the radio to hear which schools had been closed.

And there was nothing like a snow day in New Jersey or New York … make shift sleds (on garbage lids), snowball fights, icicle sword wars, snow angels and snowmen – we did it all.

Though Central Texas only saw a few minutes of light flurries that didn't stick Friday, I took my kids out on that cold night to enjoy the weather.

We attended Killeen's Holiday Under the Stars and the Krist Kindl Markt in Cove Saturday.

Holiday Under the Stars gave us the opportunity to pretend like we were at Central Park skating on the synthetic ice rink.

I use the term "skate" loosely here because maneuvering your way around synthetic ice is not quite the same as the real deal. But it was great fun. So now I've promised them a trip to a real ice rink next weekend.

I've already warned them, however, that falling on that rink is going to hurt quite a bit more.

At both Christmas events we enjoyed the perks of cool weather and got into the holiday spirit.

Even more so, I've enjoyed seeing the difference between tried and true Texans who've been here all their lives, former Yankees like me who have been here a while now and those that are only making a stop here in the Lone Star state.

The first group dresses like they're going skiing even when it's mildly cold. It's cute.

I'd probably suffocate wearing such garb in 40-degree weather. The second group is entertaining.

We act unfazed by the cooler than usual weather until about 30 minutes later when we realize our bodies are just not accustomed to this anymore.

Then, we get mad. It's not supposed to be this cold! How did I used to function is this craziness?

At Friday's event, I could clearly see those in the third group.

While most people stayed inside enjoying the rink and other activities, those new-to-the-south festival goers were playing outside with their kids, enjoying inflatables without gloves or even coats.

I was with them, but I was cold and wearing a scarf. My son, on the other hand, kept taking his coat, gloves and hat off. "I'm hot and I can't move right," he'd yell as he dove into the inflatable.

He's never even lived in New York and it seems he'd be OK.

But my little girl would probably enjoy the cold north for only a short while before saying what she said when I described how many layers of clothes I wore growing up – "that kind of cold is just ridiculous. I'm glad I live in Texas."

Managing Editor Olga Peña lives in Copperas Cove with her two children, Daniel and Elizabeth. E-mail her at opena@kdhnews.com.

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