What a winter we have had already... and it's just getting started!! The past 2 weeks have been full of inches of both snow and ice, missed school, lots of fun and some cabin fever thrown in there as well. Overall, we managed just fine and did our best to enjoy the pretty white stuff, knowing it could be a while before we see this much snow again!
It started with a little snow on Saturday the 7th. Not much to get excited about. But Sunday night brought freezing rain... quite a bit of it... and made for quite the shiny and slippery streets. Church was cancelled and we hunkered down for the day.
Hard to see all the ice, but it sure is shiny out there!!
The ice thawed some Sunday afternoon and Doug actually made it downtown to do some work. His company held a HUGE conference last week and hosted all of its salespeople from around the world. Doug and his team had a large role in this event and he need to go into the office to finalize things before the start of the event Monday morning.
Of course, what had melted Sunday afternoon froze over during the night and school was cancelled for the day. This was "Snow Day" #3 for the kids this year (remember the snow that added 2 days to their Christmas Break?). They went back to school Tuesday with the forcast of snow starting that evening. 2-4 inches tops, the weather reports said. Oh how wrong they were!
It started snowing Tuesday evening and by morning almost a FOOT of snow was covering our fair town. It was so crazy.. and so beautiful too! It stayed cold for DAYS and led to SIX more day of cancelled school. Pretty nuts!
Our backyard! I don't know why I didn't get more photos of our yard!!??
Doug made it to work Wednesday, but it was a very dangerous commute. He made the decision to get a hotel for the evening and stay downtown to avoid getting stuck on the way home and also to ensure his availability at the conference, which was in full swing.
The kids were really hoping to sled first thing Wednesday. Sadly the snow, while so pretty, was too powdery and deep. The kids just sank into it in the sleds. They were bummed, so we decided to go for a walk and look around and brainstorm ideas for playing outside.
Almost a foot.. just nuts!
Our poor canoe slid off it's stand in the ice!!
Glad Doug had the truck parked in the shop.. his poor car was covered in snow for days!!
The kids decided to make an igloo since they couldn't sled that morning.. and worked really heard with help from neighbor kids (and me and neighbor parents..haha) to make an awesome ice fort!
Proud of their work!
Later in the day the snow got a little icier and harder.. better for sledding. So we met some friends up at the middle school and had a fun afternoon with them.
Owen, Cannon and Matthew.. good buddies
Elysia (LiLi) is Cannon's little sister. She LOVES Evelyn and Evelyn was gracious and took her down the sled several times. They both had fun together.
Thursday morning, the kids and I adventured out and walked to Sharis. Sadly my phone died right after we left the house (I forgot to charge it overnight) and the above photo is the only one I got. Sigh... We had a fun time, got some good exercise, and have good stories to tell of our journey. Trust me..haha!
Thursday afternoon we met up with friends again to sled. The sun was out and it was glorious. Such a fun afternoon!
Evelyn and Ellie.. so happy to see each other!!
Matthew, Kellan and Sam.. three amigos. So thankful for good friends for my boy!
To top off our day, we went night sledding in our yard, which was way more fun than I thought it was going to be. We could have stayed out all night!! :)
This is the sled Doug made for Evelyn when we had the last big snow in 2008. She was just 2. It was fun to get it out and reminisce see it still working great!
Thankful for great neighbors who like to have fun, too!
After our full day Thursday, we had a quieter day Friday, sledding just a bit in the morning. We did some school work (I printed off writing worksheets and math worksheets) and AWANA studies. I also did a little "home economics" with them and challenged them to make a cake. All by themselves.
I had to intervene only a couple of times but otherwise they worked well together and did a great job. The cake turned out perfectly!!
We did some more night sledding Friday, too! :)
If I am being honest, by Friday evening I was getting pretty weary of all of the "togetherness" that was being had. At the same time, I love these two and they can get me to smile and do crazy things and make my heart burst with pride. Thankful to be their mom and thankful for the extra time we have had together, even if there were times they drove me a bit nuts!
Doug was home over the weekend and we got to venture out in the truck and do things, which was so nice. For some reason I didn't get any more photos of our "snowpocolypse".. but it lasted until yesterday, when the snow started melting and the kids went back to school (after a 2 hour delay). Today they went back all day..yay!!
It certainly was a week (or more) to remember. Thankful for the beauty of the snow and the memories made in it!!
