Icecapades 2011

We had a beautiful weekend. The temperatures were in the 70's and it was absolutely gorgeous outside. Rob and I knew from the weather reports that much colder weather was on it's way, so we had the kids spend as much time as possible playing outside. Eva, Jack, Beth and I walked to pick Megan and Kylie up from school on Monday and the other moms and I happily hoped that the predicted ice storm heading our way would be bad enough that we would get a snow day for the kids and even a day home for our husbands. We got our wish. Weather predictions were bad enough that schools didn't even wait for the ice storm to hit before canceling school for the next day.

We woke up to a sparkling wonderland. We got about two inches of freezing rain and sleet, which turned everything into an ice skating rink, topped by an inch or so of snow. We don't have salters or sanders down here and no one has snow tires or chains, so the roads were really bad. Rob even got to stay home from work!

Megan immediately threw on a coat and gloves and headed outside. It was really cold though, so by the time I took care of Eva and made it downstairs with the camera, she was already back inside. Kylie, Beth and Jack took a little bit longer to get bundled up and head out, so I managed to get pictures of them.



Beth didn't spend very long outside. Kylie and Jack stayed out for quite a while though and happily discovered that snowballs explode when thrown against the house.



After making Kylie and Jack come in to warm up, the four older kids took baths while I prepared a "hot cocoa party" for them. We filled a teapot with hot cocoa and set out peppermint sticks to stir the cocoa with and thin mint cookies.





Megan went back out again that afternoon.



Even though their was more ice than snow, she still made several snow angels.



Rob and Eva curled up together on the couch and took a nap.



In the wake of the ice storm, temperatures plummeted. We broke 50 year old records and with the windchill, it got below 0. The ice stayed. School was canceled for Wednesday . . . then for Thursday. Rob made it work on Thursday, but the drive, usually 10 mins, took him almost an hour. We got hit by another storm last night and this morning that dumped another 4 inches of snow on top of the ice and snow already on the roads, so both the kids and Rob are home again today. Predicted highs for the next few days are only in the 40's, so I'm not sure all of this is going to melt . . . and more snow is headed our way on Monday! We're going a little stir crazy being confined to the house, but we're starting to shift into the "get things done" mode :)

A few extra pictures from the past week ~

Megan loves cooking and creating. She made popcorn for the kids the other day and added several ingredients, including chocolate chips. Not all the chocolate chips were eaten apparently and Jack discovered that if he held them in his hand, they would melt and he could paint himself with them. A scant few minutes later, he happily presented himself to me, having painted his face, hands and feet with chocolate. I asked him if he thought he was being chased by Oompa-Loompas or something and he seriously responded "They were gonna get me Mom! I had to hide!" So apparently, if you are ever attacked by Oompa-Loompas, chocolate camouflage is the way to go!



And a few picture of Eva :) She has actually started sleeping much better this week. She still stays up until 2 or 3am, but once she goes to sleep, she sleeps until 7 or 8 am, so I get 4-5 hours of straight sleep! I'm not a huge fan of staying up until 3 am, but she is so happy at night though and smiles and smiles and tries to talk to me :)