Friday Snow Day

I guess I should hurryitup and get this blogged....especially since its supposed to happen AGAIN.
{But shhhh...don't tell, I'm looking forward to another snow (lazy) day. I KNOW, crazy, huh?}

We woke up to a heckuva lotta snow on Friday morning. The meteorologist said "eh, maybe an inch" but we got at least 3 or 5. I dunno. THEY are the experts. ahem.

This is a first glance....the paw prints. James was convinced the 15 cats that hang out around our house would be frozen in this weather. They proved him wrong, didn't they?

Whenever the weather gets like this....Bella asks if the pool is "ice" enough for us to skate on. Not yet, sweets....

We took the girls out to play in the snow a bit....Daddy had fun chasing the girls around, pelting them with snowballs. They tried to retaliate...but Daddy just knows how to throw faster and farther!

Bella tried to make a snowman...to no avail. Unfortunately, the snow was very fine and didn't want to stick together. You see the circle, tho? She tried her durndest to roll that snow into a big enough ball!

I find myself romaticizing snow...I love to look at pure, untouched snow. It's quite the beautiful site!

And then go traipsing thru it....in my nifty rainboots {we don't own snowboots in TX...even tho after the past two years, we seem to snow supplies!}. These are actually the rainboots James bought me in California for our Disneyland fiasco. They've come in handy lately....I don't know how I've lasted 4 years in Texas without rainboots! I actually wore them the whole week! Even to my Stake meetings on Saturday {with a skirt....got lots of compliments, thankyouverymuch, even tho my friend who picked me up said "you're brave" haha.}

Our awesome neighbor across the street hooked up some "sleds" to his Bobcat and was giving rides around the neighborhood.

This totally reminds me of growing up in Sikeston and when it would snow, my dad would hook up the "sleds" {usually trash can tops} to the back of the Vista {or Aerostar} and take us for rides around the church parking lot!
They had so much fun!

Frozen.

We've been having some wicked weather here in good ole Texas this week. It started with Monday night...when it rained buckets...then turned into sleet....then it all FROZE. Leaving us all in a perfect sheet of ice...topped with a bit of snow.

Not a big deal for all y'all northern states, I know....

you've been laughing at us all week.

But its a ginormously big deal for us. We, who do not own ice scrapers. Or snow shovels. Or heavy coats. Or snowboots....the list goes on and on.

We are good in the hot and humid....we've got a pool! But give us snow and ice, and we get cranky!

Well....they closed school (and James' work) Tuesday because of the ice.

And Wednesday.

And Thursday.

And Friday (which deserves a post all in its own...because we got a good 5-8 inches of snow....which was only supposed to be ONE inch, thankyouverymuchstupidmeteriologist....I think he was trying to be optimistic since there are gillions of people here for the Superbowl).

The girls begged to go outside and play in the "snow"....so I let them, being the good mother I am...I sent them out in what they were wearing at first....skirts. haha. Whoops. That lasted about 2 slip-and-falls....then they were back in for warmer duds. They never seem to believe me when I tell them its cold outside!
So...they changed into pants...and played for another 4.5 minutes...then came right back in. Its not really a ton of fun to play with.....ice.
Throwing ice chunks at each other just isnt as fun as snowballs!
What the crap is this, mom?!

I dunno what got into me....but I was feeling very inspired Tuesday....maybe it was being stuck indoors all day. There is just something about being STUCK inside that makes a person (or littler persons) crazy. It's not like I've never left the house for a WHOLE day before....sheesh.
So, I got it into my head to make FONDUE for dinner. It seemed so FUN.
So, I did. Using the recipe for October Dinner Fondue on Allrecipes.com.

I suggest you try it....cause it was delish.

We cut up some baked chicken, polska kielbasa and broccoli. When we do it again, we're definitely adding steak too!
It wasn't just yummy....it was FUN. I wish I could come up with FUN dinners every night!

There's Snowbody like You.

Or...Snowone had more fun than they did! Or....Snow me the money!

Err....something like that...

In order to do some sledding....my dad took us all (minus mom, Jax and I....cause we are wimps Jax needed a nap) up the mountain....well, halfway up the mountain, since the road was closed further up.

The found a nice, partially wooded spot....and had some fun!
Emily and Bella.

Hannah had the fun task of taking Aube on a sled down a few times....until Aube decided to freak out about snow on her boots. But this picture proves that she DID have fun....look at that face!

Bella and Bubba (my youngest and only brother) are about a year and a half apart. They are the best of friends....and the worst of friends.They miss each other terribly and  fight like siblings when they are together. BUT they do love each other so much....so that's all that matters.

James looks like a vampire.
But isn't it the cutest picture??

One of the many cool things about my dad....he thinks outside the box.
They brought us back a present from the afternoon in the mountains....
A Snowman!

Bella, Emily and Bubba (and me) had a blast decorating the frosty fellow.

Dad joined in....making holes for the eyes, mouth and arms with a chisel.

We never named the cute fella...but he stuck around for the rest of the week! We proudly displayed the only snowman on the block for the entire week!!

Snow, Snow Go Away....

Early in the morning today, the snow started...and its basically been snowing ALL DAY, not letting up. It's a nice slushy snow (makes me crave a Slurpee)....so it's not too slick or icey, yet. It's just so odd...because it's TEXAS...it just doesn't snow here, it ices over...but we don't get 9 inches of snow. Anyways...I'll be happy when it's over. It's one thing to live somewhere like Utah or Minnesota and have it snow, because you're prepared...we don't have the right clothes or shoes (we have rain boots not snow boots!)...we don't have snow scrapers or snow shovels! I used a hand broom to get the snow off the car before we left today! lol.

The girls enjoy the snow...Bella more than Aube....who lasts about 10 minutes and then her little hands are bright red and freezing! Bella on the other hand, would stay out there all day if we let her. Crazy girl Ü. She wanted SO BAD to build a snowman after she saw the kids across the street making one. I had to bribe her to wait till Daddy got home...since building snowmen is SO a daddy thing.

The snowman across the street. I found it odd that the dad who was helping build this for his daughters would go across the street to this vacant houses yard to get the snow to build it! I guess he didn't want to mark up his yard or something? Dunno..

We ventured out after lunch...and it was a mess! I was expecting the worst from the other drivers on the road...waiting to be side-swiped by some crazy moron. I was pleasantly surprised that we arrived to our destination (Target, of course) safe and sound...

But I guess I should have removed the snow from the ROOF of the van before going out on the road. I got it all off the windshield, but didn't give any thought to the roof. Well, with every stop and start, this 6 inch block of snow inched down and down and finally slipped all the way down, covering my windshield...in the middle of the intersection. Which also caused my wipers to get stuck because of the thickness of the snow! So...what to do??

I put the hazards on, jumped (well...not really, but ya know) out of the car and went to removing that snow just as fast as my waddling body would let me. What fun! Geez...totally not cool SNOW!

James got an early-out from work, it's always nice to see him home early! The girls were ecstatic, cause daddy helped them build a mini-snowman. I didn't get a picture, but it's hilarious...it's about 3 feet tall...BUT has a little carrot nose, which Bella just HAD to have. Bella actually drew out what she wanted her snowman to look like....sticks for arms, a carrot nose, a black smile and hat...AND...SPARKLY EYES! She said it like that too, all animated -like...SPARKLY EYES. Oh she was so excited!

Like I mentioned before we don't have the getup for snow...so James borrowed Bella's beanie Ü. Cutie.

So...hopefully it will be gone tomorrow. Not looking forward to what 9ish inches of snow-slush looks like melted...but can't wait for the temp to be back up by Saturday!

I have 162 pictures to sort thru and post...

...so I'll be doing that Tomorrow. Ü I'm just glad I'm out of my non-picture-taking-funk.

Here are some tidbits on our travels:
~We had a blast in snowy Minnesota. Every day Bella asked if we could go out and play in the snow. I went out with her on Monday for a good hour, then James and Topher took her out on Christmas day and made a snowman. I think that's pretty good, considering the temperature was in the 20s! That girl just loves to be outside, no matter the weather.
~We survived our first "winter storm"...it started snowing on Weds, didn't let up on Christmas Eve, but we braved it and headed out to eat at our traditional Timberlodge Steakhouse for Christmas Eve dinner. And it didn't even stop for Christmas dinner, with family friends making it over safe and sound. Just don't drive like an idiot and you'll make it where you want to go! It was pretty cool to see so much snow...but really, there was already like 2 feet+ of snow on the ground when we got there...this extra 2 feet-ish was just a bonus! Ü
~We learned that you CAN fit clothes enough for 4 people, Christmas gifts, shoes, two twin mattresses and two twin bedframes in our van. It didn't seem possible, but James and his dad did it!

~My husband is a rockstar...he never makes me drive and he always gets us where we are going in one piece...and he even stayed calm-ish thru needless traffic jams in Oklahoma. Poor fella had to get up and go to work this morning, too...after getting in at 3am. Ick. Traveling TO somewhere is full of anticipation and can actually be fun....but traveling home always stinks. Especially if you turned your heater off for the week you were gone and its 52 degrees when you walk in the door. Leave it to Texas to be in the 70s one day and have a freak snowstorm the next!

~I survived a weeks worth of snow and ice in Minnesota, but I slip and fall at a gas station in Oklahoma (of all places...OK really stunk this trip). I don't know if I've ever fallen on ice before, but it's mucho embarassing...I landed on my knee, then hand, then side-ish...so of course, I freaked out, yelling "JAMES, JAMES, JAMES" at the top of my lungs, haha (yes, I can laugh at it now). Followed by images of having this baby on the side of some dern Oklahoma faux-construction road! Sheesh. But all is well, no pain and baby is still moving like crazy.

~My girls seem to think its appropriate to throw up the night before we leave on a long car trip. Aube on the night before we left to go to MN and Bella ate too much at dinner Saturday night and upchucked everything. Big thanks to Grammy for cleaning it up...there's nothing like puke to make you want to puke. :X

~16 hours is a lot of time to fill up....so this poor Manchild of mine received a LOT of new name suggestions. Poor, poor Manchild (the nickname of the week). It's fun to think of things, but I can't wait to settle on one! Naming a kid is such a difficult thing.
~After getting out of the car at 3am last night....I was SO HAPPY that we probably wouldn't be taking anymore long trips again till next Christmas. But of course, today is that usual after-traveling slump where I don't want to do anything but sit and read (Hunger Games...oooh yeah). Of course, 2010 is going to be full of interesting things going on...new baby (3 more months till I get to meet him!), I'm either cutting my work hours in half or quitting, James' job will more than likely change, we may move...it's all up in the air from here!

Pictures to come!!!

SNOW!!!!!!

I've been complaining alot about this arctic tundra cold we just came back from, haven't I? Winter happens...and it happened to us. That's fo sho. I think I'll cross the family vacation to the Arctic Circle off my list.

This is on the way to Idaho. I think we were free and clear till we actually got into Idaho, then it did this to us...and there was also this patch of freaky fog, and the temp got down to 13 degrees.
To say the least, it was slow going. This was a pretty patch outside of Nephi? I think. Pretty now, not so pretty on the way back.

This was Saturday morning's temp. Mmmm...fun.

Miraculously, I did let my underdressed children play outside. They loved the big piles of snow the plower-guy left for them.

Snow-bowling.

Look Gramma, it's snow.

Look Mommy, it's snow. "I eat it?" As long as it's not yellow, sweetie.

The best way to keep warm...snuggling. Ü I think mom's gonna miss her next year.

Laura and child. I still can't believe she's a mommy. She's a natural though! Now if only I could get her to move to Texas and thaw out Ü.

What's in here?

Oh! More snow!

On the way back...Mother Nature decided to throw a "Winter Weather Advisory" at us. We were tough and kept on going, going, going...40-50 MPH.

We stopped off at Jen's house in SLC...it was snowy. But good to see her and her warm house.

Bundled the kiddos up best we could when stopping...seriously underdressed! :(. Bella has gotten pretty banged up this trip, not surprising at all...she skidded her face across the pavement on Sunday, poor girl (I could literally do another post on her bruised up legs, but I'll spare James the worry).

Pretty, yet not so much.

So, we braved it till Filmore, which was still about an hour and a half from Cedar. Mom heard the roads were snowpacked and figured we'd end up in a ditch or worse. So we stopped at the Spinning Wheel Motel for the night. It was....interesting. But you can't be picky, right? I've just watched one too many remakes of Psycho.

We got a nice laugh at the bathroom:

The next morning we got up bright and early-ish to get Em back to school (she didn't want to miss golf practice, yes...thats right...GOLF. My sister plays golf. Hilarious.). After seeing the roads, I am SO GLAD we stopped. The pass or whatever at Beaver is totally insane...going up, up and then swirly-down. Even in the morning, with clear skies and semi-clear roads, there were people flying off the road left and right. Crazy.

I just have to say...my visits will now only consist of Summer or Spring. So please have your children and your weddings in those seasons. Thanks, management.

And I promise...no more complaining about the cold. It's actually thawed out here in Cedar City and now turned to mud....so I'll complain about that! haha.

Sledding fun!

When we first got to Cedar City, my dad says
"Let's all go sledding, I know this great hill."
So on Christmas day, we started up into the canyon.
We all thought it was a park fairly close,
But we kept driving and driving....
It was worth it, though...because there sure were
some great hills.

Bella was SO excited to be out in the snow.
Until her dad took her down the big hill and
got snow all in her face...then she freaked out.
Nice going James!
But she was back at in no time after showing
her that the small hills were not so scary!

I love this pic of my mom and I...
all bundled up!