Winter Storm

You know, I really should listen to the weather guy. He sometimes gets it right. Everybody anticipated the winter weather. Nobody anticipated this much ice. We got so much ice that the power was out for WAY too long. We lost power for about 44 hours. It was cold. I mean super cold. We all bundled into our bedroom and tried to stay warm. But it was cold. Really cold.

My car had a 1 inch block of ice around it.

The ice came first. The grass blades each were encased in ice. Then it snowed. Well, the ice covered grass stuck up through the snow. It was crazy. It made the snow look polka-dotted.

Books Books and more Books

Well, I finished up the Twilight series this past weekend. I loved it. Loved it. Can I say it again? Loved it. Not deep, thought inspiring books, but great anyway. It was quite cheesy in parts. Definitely takes you back to high school with your first love when you really do think that the sun revolves around your honey. If you can get past that, though, it was fun to read.

I read the first three in one week. The fourth, and last, took me five days. Why? Because I didn't want it to end. I had to push away from the book. I couldn't think of a way that it would end that would make me happy.

I highly recommend the books. Quick, easy reads-- again, if you can get past the mindset of a 16 year old girl :-).

Now... go right over to goodreads.com and register. You make a list of books that you have read and can make reviews of them. You can list the books you want to read and read reviews of what others have said about them. But what I would like for you to do is add me as a friend! I'd love to see what you are reading and recommending (or not recommending) as a good read. So, go. Go now. It takes a minute. What are you waiting for?

Snow!! and mints

We finally had enough snow for the kids to get outside and play. They had a blast. Unfortunately, I didn't get out there -- I think Sam is a little too little to get out and make snow angels. He still makes that gasping noise if it is too cold out :-) Plus he is getting a bit of a cold, snotty nose and all.

The girls both made snow angels and Bubba ate the snow. Last year, we got about 9 inches of snow. Faith HATED it. She only stayed out for about 2 minutes last year. This year, though, she warmed up to it (ha, ha).

*it is good snow for snowballs :-)


*Bubba eating snow

I made some buttermints yesterday and split the big bowl's worth of 'dough' into three pieces. Each kid got their own piece to shape into smaller pieces. This is the first time I have made these mints since I was in high school and still lived at home, so I wasn't quite confident in my 'recipe'. I definitely overdid the peppermint, but Rob and the kids still love them.

*Grace went for the squished ball look

*F liked making perfect balls. She tried making worms first, but made them too skinny

*Bubba liked worms, but they were pretty fat -- can you tell which I did and which he did?

*S just liked sitting in his new high chair and watching

New Records

Back when I was a senior at NC State, I took a TA position for one of the physical geology labs. I had an 8 o'clock lab on Thursdays. Well, during the winter that year, I experienced the coldest weather I had (in memory) ever felt. As I crossed Western Blvd from the US Army Reserve center where I parked, I couldn't believe that people could survive in cold like that. It was 19 degrees at 7:30am. I have no idea what the wind chill was, but I couldn't remember a time when it had been below about 25.



Flash forward one year. I was in the army, stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. A new record... I was standing - outside - in PT formation and it was 4 degrees. I remember standing in a relative shock throughout formation. My company commander even came up to me and asked if everything was okay. I just looked at him, finally getting my frozen face to say I'd never felt such cold. He laughed and told me I'd get used to it. Well, I never did.



Now... fast forward seven years (first of all, I canNOT believe that it has been seven years) and today set a new record. It is currently -2 degree with a wind chill of -14. That is up from where it was at 4am (wind chill was -17). Now, it isn't quite the same, I know. I don't have to do PT in this weather and really don't have to leave the house if I don't want to. I did, however, have to feel it. I had to get the girls on their buses this morning. It is so cold that it took my breath. Funny as it is, today's hi temperature is lower than that first morning in NC when I couldn't believe that it was only 19 degrees. Today is only supposed to reach 16 here.



So it all goes back to -- I can't believe people choose to live in cold like this. We watched a show a couple of nights ago on Barrow, Alaska -- the most northern town in the US. During their 'summer' the hi temps are around -10. Hello?!? WHY? I guess I am glad that people don't mind it, I just don't understand. There are probably people, though, who wonder why I miss the hot humid summers in the south. That is what makes life fun for everybody, I guess.



so-- what is the coldest you can remember??

My 4 year old got expelled -- and other adventures of the day

That is right... my 4 year old brought home a letter today saying that she had been 'excluded' from school until documentation was given that she had had her second dose of the HepA vaccine. Hello? Really? The regulation says that dose #2 should be administered at least 6 months apart. AT LEAST, people. She only hit her 6 month window two weeks ago. Is it really that drastic as to say she can't come back?!? PLUS, when did AT LEAST become AT EXACTLY? We got the notice just before school let out for Christmas break and I knew I was going to wait to take her until January. Anyway, it meant that I had to pack the little three back in the car and drag them into school. She had the shot yesterday, but I forgot to put the paperwork in her backpack because I was trying to get Sam a dr's appointment for this morning while getting the girls ready for school.

So, Sam did get an appointment for 840 this morning... I had to take a shower and dry hair and feed the baby and get Josh fed and ... and... and... so, of course, we left the house late. As I am sitting at the traffic light, I look down -- hmmm, where is my wallet (and enclosed ID, for that matter)? At home, that is where it is. In my library bag. Did I already mention that I was running late?

Finally got to the hospital parking lot, which is PACKED. I had to park on the very last row, almost to the end! Load up the boys and take off running -- much to Bubba's enjoyment :-) The parking lot was covered in ice, which made it even more interesting!

Sign in at the peds clinic only 5 minutes after the appointment time. Whew, we made it.

The nurse calls us back and puts us in the tiniest little room they have -- which made fitting the Sit 'N Stand double stroller interesting. Strip the baby down -- he pees all over everything. He weighs a whopping 16 lbs, 10 oz and is a massive 27 inches long! All of the worry that I had last month about him being 34th % was for nothing. He was about to go through a spurt :-)

While we had the doctor's attention, I talked to him about Sam's cough. He doesn't want to sleep unless propped up on my arm and when he does get to sleep he wakes himself up arching his back and screaming. I thought it was all because of drainage and not being able to breathe. Apparently, these are signs of infant acid reflux. So, as much as he looks like his daddy, poor baby got my acidic stomach, heartburn and all. He has a 2 week prescription of Zantac. I gave him his first dose today and he slept, peacefully, for almost 3 hours! That included when I picked him up and put him in the carseat to take him to school, brought him home and put him back in his bed! Amazing for him! Maybe this will make for some better nights, too :-) Hopefully.

So now we are home. G has a friend over and F just went down the street to play with one of her friends. Bub is quite upset, so i have to figure out something for him to do special, too. Any suggestions?!

Yesterday's drama

Well yesterday was the girls' first day back at school after Winter Break.

Sam thought it was a good day to get up early -- much to my dismay. What is a mama to do with a 5 month old (almost) who doesn't want to sleep past 6am?!? Add in the fact that said mama is NOT a morning person?

So, I got up with him but didn't know what to do with myself. I couldn't be loud because I didn't want the girls to wake up early and get grumpy at school. What to do, what to do? I was SO excited about the first day of school that I made muffins for breakfast. Okay... that took five minutes to mix and put in the oven. What now? Diaper changed, dishwasher emptied (as quietly as possible)... hmmm... still have another 20 minutes.

I couldn't wait. I just woke the girls up early. My thought process was that this may allow them some extra time to get back used to getting up. G jumped right up, ready. F, however, had quite possibly the worst morning EVER! Between "my tummy hurts" and "I want to stay home with you" I finally got her up and dressed. She was excited about the muffins, at least.

Took G out to the bus, early -- caught up on the neighborhood gossip - which isn't a lot. Came back in to get F ready for her bus. She got her coat on, backpack on. Bus #5 pulled up and F grabbed hold of the cast iron railing outside and held on crying that she would NOT go to school. What in the world got into her? Who knows. She had a good day, though. When they got off of the bus, she was all smiles with lots of stories about what happened.

*PS* I had more pictures, but blogger won't let me post them :-(

isms

Graceism

We were watching the Kentucky/ECU game the other night and Gracie came in.

G- Do we go for Kentucky?

me- No, the other team.

G (looks again at the tv) - Why do we go for E car?

Bubbaism

Faith got a plastic cake decorating kit with her Christmas gift card. The three big kids were decorating slices and bringing them in to us on plastic plates with plastic forks. Well, Bubba has a big of an issue with the *r* in fork. It comes out sounding like a not so nice word ;-) So I was trying to get him to correct it.

me- Listen. This is a (speaking slowly and emphasizing the r) FF-OR-K

Bub- Fork (said correctly).

me- good job

Bub- See this? (holding up a piece of cake on a plate) This is CCAAAAKKE on a PPLLLAAAATTE (speaking just as slowly as I did to him)