Snow Days

The kids have had an extended Christmas vacation the last three days due to snow and the windchill.  I have to say that I've been loving it!  Over the actual vacation there were still places to go and things to do, but the last three days have been awesome!  We've been snowed in and enjoying playing games, doing projects, reading, baking, watching some of the new movies we received for Christmas and generally taking it easy.  The kids also had a snow day the day before Christmas vacation, but that one wasn't the same.  There was so much to do to get ready for Christmas still, it just wasn't that fun...plus they missed out on a fun day of school. :-(

Picture taken from our garden area of a fairly large drift...the largest in our yard anyway.

Here you can see that the drift is above the top wire of the electric fence.  Our area got somewhere between 14 and 16 inches of snow.

Despite the bad roads, Rich did make it to work on Monday.  He worried me the whole time I knew he was on the road.  Before I knew he'd be leaving work to come home, the kids and I stopped what we were doing to pray for his safety in making it home.  I hadn't seen a single vehicle go through ALL day and couldn't imagine him making it through-even with the truck.  He was about 5 miles from home when I saw the snow plow go down our road...all I could think was God was answering our prayers.  I called him to let him know right away.  Rich had to take a round about way to get here, but he made it!  (He didn't end up going to work Tuesday, though, thankfully!)

I feel very blessed to be able to be home with the kids and not worry about trying to make it to work, like I know many moms have to.  These few days have made me want to homeschool too...I just love being home with the kids!  Blake enjoys it too, but Morgan can not wait to go back to school...I think she misses her friends more than anything.

Anyway, if you're wondering where I've been, I've been here. ;-)  I'll be posting more soon, but for now I'm going to continue enjoying the extended vacation!

Snow Fun!

With the kids back to school Monday I was finally starting to get back into my regular routine after the busy Christmas season.  I planned on blogging sooner, but I couldn't load pictures from my computer through blogger,  so I waited a couple days to see if it would be fixed.  Since there seems to be no change yet, I ended up downloading Picasa so that I could share pictures...my blog posts would seem kinda boring without them ;-)

 

We ended up getting some snow the day after Christmas lasting into Thursday, so we met up with Rich's cousin's kids who were here from Virginia.  The kids (and Rich) went sledding on the hill at his Grandma's and had a blast!

 

Morgan and Blake enjoy getting together with their cousins, although a they're like 3rd cousins, they're the only cousins on Rich's side that are close to their age. 

When the weather warmed up a bit and snow was better for making snowmen, the kids were busy in our yard getting creative!  This is Blake's little snowman.  Bear felt the need to sit in on the picture...just plopped down next to Blake like he belonged there ;-)

 

Morgan very proud of her snowman.

I love this of Blake...carrying it around like a baby :-)

It was nice to have snow this winter for the kids to play in unlike our very warm winter last year.  And the fact that they got it over Christmas break when they had time to enjoy it with family made it perfect! :-)

Fun Crafts and Books with Snow!

Even though I hope we don't get any more snow, we are going through a cold spell in the 30's, so I thought I'd share some snow related things the kids and I did in February.   (These cold temps are a bit of an adjustment since having temps in the 70's and 80's the last couple weeks!)

We first read a couple books that had to do with having fun with our imaginations in snow (Razzle-Dazzle Ruby) and another dealing with a snow storm (One Winter's Day).

Then we had some fun with a mixture of salt, flour, baking powder and water.  I got the idea from Inner Child Fun.  SO simple and it only takes 30 seconds to dry in the microwave!  (They puff up too!!)

Morgan's snowflakes

Blake's snowflakes

And I had to try it too....of course! :-)

We then went on to read about some sledding in "Ten on the Sled"

Then watched a little video put together from the book "Red Sled".  (Would have loved the book, but didn't think to look for it ahead of time.)  I got this video and the craft idea combination from Brimful Curiousities.

I ended up using hot glue to put the sleds together, so the kids weren't able to do it all on their own.  They then used permanent markers to decorate their sleds, but if we had some puffy paint I'm sure they would have LOVED using that instead :-)

It was nice being able to do some snow related activities, since we actually didn't get a chance to actually play in snow this winter....it was a very mild winter and we didn't have much snow and if we did it didn't last long enough for the kids to play in.   I'm not going to complain though-it was nice not having to try to drive in it! :-)

Snow Days

Today is Morgan's second snow day due to the blizzard that came through. She still doesn't quite understand how the snow keeps her from going to school, but we've been making the most of our days here at home, so she doesn't miss school quite so much ;-) Here's a little list of the things we've been up to:

*Slept in...okay, so I'm the only one who slept in....the kids were still up and running and 6:00 am.

*Stayed in pajamas ALL day...I wasn't going anywhere and no one was stopping by.... ;-)

*Worked on workbooks

*Played games

*Read books

*Kids did my hair

*Did each other's nails (NOT Blake's though!)

*Watched movies and ate popcorn....for lunch!

*Danced around the living room to fun music

*Watched the truck that got stuck across the road get pulled out

*Made funny poses and took pictures of them

Now Rich wasn't home for any of this. Turns out that he learned in a meeting at work Tuesday that the guys from engineering (which is Rich) could be plowing snow during the storm (Rich works for the road commission for the county south of us.) Let me tell you that before learning of the possibility of being able to plow snow, Rich wasn't sure he was going to make it into work, but when he found out he could be plowing snow he MADE SURE he could make it into work....wasn't sure if he could make it home, but he was going to work!! For those of you who don't know road commission hours during storms....they're LONG! Rich worked from 8 am until 10 pm (regular laborers worked 7 am until 11 pm on that shift) then didn't even know if he could make it home after that. I thought for sure he was going to have to stay with someone in town, but about the time I was hoping he'd be coming, I saw a reflection of headlights in the TV and it was him! (The only headlights I'd seen all day besides those of the stuck truck and the snowmobiles.) He said there were times he didn't know the truck would get through, but it did-YAY! (He's back at work again today too....plowing snow again.)

Earlier on in the evening yesterday, since I didn't know if Rich would be home, I got to go out in the weather and do chores. (I did put jeans on to go out, but got right back in pj's when I got back in.) While out there, I saw some sights that I haven't seen here before (these pictures don't do the drifts justice):

This looks like a big hill, but it's a drift that's probably up to my head! (The outhouse and the play set are on the other side...you can barely see the top of the slide.)

Today, we're doing a lot of the same we did yesterday, plus some actual work and some baking. We're making a gingerbread man. The kids loved sifting the flour....they said it looks like it's snowing. :-)

Wordless Wednesday: King of the Hill

Bear's new favorite spot since our kind neighbor came and cleared our driveway for us. (Sorry it isn't clear, but you can see how Bear towers above the truck.)

For more Wordless Wednesday, check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Go Graham Go! and Healthy Moms.

First Big Snow this Winter

I kept wondering if we were going to get a decent amount of snow to take the kids out to play this year. I made sure that both kids had snow boots and snow pants this year, so I didn't want their brand new snow gear to go unused! Last year we had at least 3 or 4 snow storms by this time and nothing this year...until this last Friday we woke up to this....

So after getting a couple more inches throughout Friday, we headed out Saturday morning to play in the snow when the temperature hit a whopping 17 degrees! The kiddos didn't want to wait any longer!

***

Notice Morgan's snow pants and boots are blue....yeah I'm cheap-I'm hoping Blake can wear them after her ;-)

***

Trying out their new German sled in the snow. It glides SO nice! We just need to put a string on it, so we can pull the kiddos around.

***

Rich pulling Morgan around in the snow on one of their old plastic sleds. I wish you could see the smile on Morgan's face...

***

Oh! There it is! ;-)

***

Morgan trying with all her might to pull Blake in his sled.

***

Rich took over, but didn't make it very far before Blake tipped over and got a face full of snow. No fun!

***

All better now! I nice flat snowy area where Blake won't tip over :-)

***

Starting to really enjoy being outside. This was actually his first time really being able to play in snow.

***

Rich and Bear rolled around in the snow a bit and we ended up with a 'Snow Bear'!

***

Morgan's first snow angel! Didn't she do a nice job!? Now if I could have just been able to see through the camera in the bright snow to get a good picture!

***

Blake with a little smirk.

***

And finally, Rich taught the kiddos about eating snow.

***

Morgan wasn't too impressed, though, and spit it out! LOL!

All that snow fun lasted about 20 minutes...I was froze and wanted to come back in and the kids didn't even protest too much. Now, I'm hoping for a warmer day, so we can stay out a bit longer and maybe make a snowman! :-)

Wordless Wednesday: First Glimpse of the First Snow!

For more Wordless Wednesday, check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Go Graham Go! and Healthy Moms.