Snow...Take Four

Four days. I think that must be some sort of record for Texas. Four days in a row at home due to winter weather. Schools were closed from Tuesday through Friday last week due to the fact that many of the roads were still covered in sheets of ice as temperatures remained below freezing. Friday morning we got another four inches of snow on top of the ice that was still on the ground.

We finally felt some relief on Friday afternoon as the sun came out and icicles started dripping. Saturday's high was well above freezing, and by lunchtime the roads were a slushy mess...but driveable! Finally!

I do need to get these pictures up, though, or I will get so far behind and forget which storm was which! Yep...another winter storm in the forecast tonight. Our Wednesday night church activities have already been cancelled because they are calling for 100% chance of freezing rain/sleet/snow beginning at midnight. We'll wait and see if schools do the same!

Here are just a few of the TONS of snow pictures we took over four days at home! Brent was out of town all week and was able to safely land Friday afternoon...before the big melt began. What a blessing that was for us. We all needed some serious together-time!

Snow angels...

Daddy is HOME!!!!!! Bless his heart...he came in the door from a long, slippery drive home from the airport and immediately changed clothes and went outside with the girls to play. Such a great daddy!

Allie thought it was hysterical to throw snowballs at people...specifically at their bottoms. Snapped this picture just in time...

We made snow ice cream! Not a bug in sight! :) It was actually pretty tasty...

We knew it wouldn't be long before the snow melted on Saturday, so that morning we went up to the high school down the street and played in the snow on their football field. The snow was finally wet enough to make a snowman!

What a great snowman!

We'll wait and see what kind of crazy weather comes our way this week! Stay tuned!

Hysterically Delirious

Hysterically delirious...a great way to describe how we were all feeling last night after getting news of yet another snow day in our future.

Yes, three days in a row of being trapped at home, unable to play outside for fear of our faces freezing off, and unable to drive anywhere for fear of southern drivers who have no clue how to drive on ice. Three days in a row of Hubby being out of town on business, I was/am having a major pity party.

High temp yesterday was 19 degrees...today I think it's warming up to around 22. Won't get above freezing until Saturday afternoon.

So yes...when they announced school closings for the third day in a row, and I ran out of entertaining ideas about three days ago, slight panic ensued.

I needed a boost. I needed a light at the end of the tunnel. All of you northerners, I salute you. I can't imagine living in these conditions for three days, let alone three months during the winter. I promise to never complain again when it feels like summer in January.

So, I haven't been very fun to be around this week. But last night, my sweet baby, precious angel of a child, provided me with just the boost I needed.

We pulled out the home movies last night before bedtime. Suddenly my pity party became a full blown pity extravaganza as I watched home videos of two adorable babies who couldn't possibly be these same children sitting next to me. Babies speaking in broken sentences, wearing diapers, lisping, and generally looking more adorable than I can handle. Seriously, I was on the brink of a meltdown.

Then we put in a video that Brent's mom put together for our wedding. It is a montage of our childhood pictures put to music. Not five minutes into the video, pictures of our pre-teen years began to appear on the screen. Everyone knows that is not a good age for anyone. Awkward and goofy, there aren't many people who can escape that torturous time. I was no exception.

Exhibit A:

You know I am a confident adult when I can post this picture for the world to see. (But if I'm being honest, I absolutely adored that vest.)

Upon viewing this picture, Lauryn politely tried to reassure me that I looked, "ummm...a little different. But pretty. I mean you look different but still pretty, Mom."

Thanks, Lauryn.

Allie then asked me to pause the video. She ran up to the t.v. and pointed at my head and said, "What is that hat you are wearing?"

Ok y'all. I haven't laughed that hard in a loooong time. I had tears streaming down my face. Lauryn was nervous, patting my arm, kind of chuckling along. I think she was waiting to see if these were happy tears or not!

When I regained my composure, I explained that there was no hat...just a bad fashion decade. She then asked, "Oh....so you just had a bad hair day?"

I think I passed out after that. Can't be sure.

God has amazing ways of hitting us on the head and opening our eyes. I realized I was wasting these precious days with my girls by complaining and being grumpy about being bored, cold, and lonely (hubby still out of town until tomorrow) :(

Instead, we have had three days of no running around, no rushing to eat dinner to get to the next practice or meeting, no race to finish homework. We have uninterrupted time together.

Today I have a whole new perspective. And we are supposed to get more snow tonight and tomorrow, increasing our already huge chance of a fourth snow day at home.

And nothing would make me happier!

You Knew it Was Coming

It's the obligatory snow-day blog!! Can you BELIEVE two days ago we were basking in the warmth of mid-70 degree weather!!?

Still, I love this weather, too. I can't help it...I turn into a big kid again when it snows. I love looking at it as it falls and love how everything looks when covered in beautiful, white powder.
Although this time is a little different. It isn't fun outside. The wind chill is in the NEGATIVE degrees. As in less than zero.

No. Thank. You.

We did go out long enough to get pictures. And it wasn't much fun anyway because there was a little bit of snow on top of a big layer of ice. No snowmen making for us this time around.

(As a side note, here's a picture of the fence Brent built...didn't he do a GREAT job!?)

The girls immediately began making snow angels.

Then they started throwing "snowballs", which pretty much fell apart mid-air.

Hope was just precious...so frisky and LOVING the cold air! She chased the girls all around the yard!

The wind was (and still is) ridiculous...48 mph with those negative wind chills...YIKES!

See?? Even the dog needs to take a minute to catch her breath...it freezes your lungs!

Lauryn created her own "sled". She couldn't wait to go careening down the hill.

Except we don't really have a hill in our yard. After the rope broke when she tried to pull Allie, she gave up and thought she would just push her instead.

Didn't quite work out.

Allie thought she'd give it a try.

No luck.

Because I completely forgot the last time we had a big snow, I wanted to be sure and try to make snow ice cream! We were so excited!

Then, after mixing the milk, sugar, and vanilla, I started to stir in the snow.

And I noticed a small black thing.

And it was a bug.

A frozen one.

We weren't very hungry for ice cream after that.

It's Official

We got our first snow of 2011! Luckily (according to me, NOT my kids) it's not sticking here and I'm thinking there is most likely going to be school tomorrow. But I won't be too disappointed. Last year we got that huge storm in February, so there is still plenty of time for unexpected days off!
Snow was falling when we got out of church, so we took pictures as soon as we got home because you never know how long it will last around here!

Happy First Snow Day!