Dream Come True

When the children were little I remember getting "cabin fever" even before they did. I just needed to get out of the house!! Now that I have teenagers I find we spend so much time out and about that my new "dream day" would be to stay home with all of my family for an entire day wearing pajamas and doing nothing but hanging around. That sounds heavenly!!

Last week a major storm system arrived in our area.  The temperature plummeted 60+ degrees. The temperature did not get above freezing for several days. Along with the cold temps came ice, straight ice and lots of it. North Texans are not used to this type of weather.

Here is the thing, it was still warm when the storm arrived so the first of the precipitation was rain, then the sun went down and everything froze. On top of that, we had even more freezing rain and sleet. The result was 2-3 inches of ice. There are very few snowplows in the area because we get a storm like this every two to three years so it isn't a high priority on city budgets. A number of people from this area don't know how to drive on icy roads and those of us who have lived farther north know better and don't want to drive on icy roads. In the end, it is just easier if everyone stays home if possible until the temps warm up and the ice thaws. Schools were closed, all church meetings were cancelled, businesses did not open, roads were closed. The city came to a standstill.

When we woke up the next morning, this is what we found. Everything was coated in ice.

The girls took full advantage of the snow day and break from school to play outside. Gratefully, we still had proper attire since we moved all our snow gear down with us. We just don't pull it out very often.

They soon discovered it was not snow. It was ice and only ice. That made it less fun but, they still enjoyed playing outside. At one point I noticed the girls were simply playing with an ice scraper. How fitting!!

They weren't the only ones that learned to improvise. Friends and neighbors posted photos of the children using cookie sheets, cardboard, pool tubes, laundry baskets, and tote lids as sleds. Any tiny little hill became a gigantic snow sledding event.

The ice didn't melt for days. Life stood still for four days. As the ice started to melt on the fourth day, the girls went sledding. Is it still considered sledding if you only use a piece of cardboard? Even then, they didn't even really need the cardboard.

Long time readers know that I am not a fan of winter, snow, and cold temperatures. Winter is best enjoyed standing inside a warm house looking out the window while drinking hot chocolate. This card sums up my feelings on winter....

We were grateful that we had power. There were 500,000 people that at one point that did not have power. We had plenty of food. I stopped by the store while I was out running errands the day before the storm arrived. Apparently, I wasn't the only one......

This isn't so far from the truth. It wasn't quite this bad, but the shelves were getting pretty bare. It took almost a week for Target to get milk back on the shelves.

As the days came to a close I loved the effects the ice had on our outdoor lighting.

My dream day turned into a dream weekend. It became the never ending snow day  A four day weekend where we stayed in sweats and pajamas and didn't leave the house. I was pleasantly surprised that I quite enjoyed the wonderfully cold, icy, days. They were actually a dream come true.

Scarface

Even though I grew up here in Utah, I have never been skiing. Someone once told me that living in Utah and not skiing is like living in California and never going to the beach. I would bring up the fact that in most places it doesn't cost a dime to go to the beach, there is no equipment involved (although a boogie board makes it more fun), and it doesn't require lots of specialized clothing, only a swimsuit. Plus, it is usually warm and sunny.

Anyway, I'm just saying I know nothing about skiing. The problem comes when my kids participate in the school sponsored ski day. Luckily, my good friend Brynne has helped me walk through all the necessities. Yesterday, Esteban went snowboarding with the school. It was a cloudy day so I didn't think much about the fact that he didn't have goggles. Brynne later explained that the goggles not only keep the sun out of your eyes and your face warm, they protect your face if you crash.

Really. Poor Esteban was doing well for his first day ever on snowboard. He was cruising down the hill when he hit up bump and did eight back flips (I'm not sure who did actually did the counting but, it sounds good). By the way, this pictures doesn't even start to show how bad his face really is. He doesn't seem to care, he still had lots of fun and is looking forward to the next ski trip. I, for one, am not looking forward to when his face gets all scabby in a few days from now. I had him start lathering his face up with Neosporin (what's that going to do while he's trying to keep acne at bay?) hoping to keep his face from scarring for the rest of his life. Poor kid. Instead of being a braceface now he is a scarface. His friends want to nickname him Crash. Something about the idea of my face skidding on the ice down the slope is another deterrent for me. I've come home from the beach with some nasty sunburns but, never with my face looking like this. However, if he calls this fun, maybe I should give it a try, just with goggles next time.

Winter Wonderland

Yesterday, we woke up to 2 inches of new snow. Aaron had a horrible commute to the airport (he is in Dallas this week). It was downright depressing. I decided to forget the negative and focus on the positive. Here are some pictures I took a couple of months ago.


It takes at least 15 minutes to get the girls ready to go outside here. They need boots, snow pants (For those of you who don't know, they are like a waterproof coat for your legs that are made to be worn as pants.), coat, hat, and gloves. Vanessa likes to take her gloves off so she can touch the snow with her hands. She loves to eat snow. I even caught her one day licking the snow off the bottom of her boot. Yummy!It is fun to sled down the hill but, getting back up can be a challenge. This is how AJ helped Vanessa back up the hill.AJ crashed his sled at one point. It was then that he decided he had enough. He went in the warm house.

My favorite part of sledding is drinking hot chocolate in the house when you are all done. I recently discovered French Vanilla hot chocolate. I like chocolate, but I love vanilla.
Hopefully we will soon be finished with the snow. I'm ready to move on to bigger, better, and sunnier things.

Let It Snow

I've had several people tell me it hasn't snowed this much for years.

This is a picture of our barn. That is a door and a window that is covered by the snow. This pile of snow was created from snow sliding off the metal roof of the barn and by us shoveling our driveway. There are lots of kids that sled down piles of snow such as this all over town.

This is our Suburban that hasn't been moved for weeks. It is now buried in snow. It might not move again until spring.

We bought the Suburban in Texas 5 years ago. We knew it wasn't 4 wheel-drive but, who needs that it Texas? Well, in a Utah winter, it is a different story. The Suburban is a rear wheel-drive (translation for those of you who do not speak winter language - it's a big piece of junk when driving on slick and slushy roads). The day I got the Suburban stuck in our driveway sideways (that was a bad day that I try not to remember), we decided we needed a new vehicle.

We found on 2004 Honda Odysessy for a good price. Being a mother of four-n-more, you would think my favorite feature would be the built-in DVD player but no, it is the traction-control-system (translation-I can usually get out fo my driveway without any problems-always a nice thing).What does all this snow mean? We have had to shovel our driveway more times than we can count. We have a really long driveway that gets longer with every shovel full of snow. AJ has difficulty shoveling because the piles are now over his head. Esteban has been really good about helping, even if I don't always agree with his choice of winter clothing.

The snow maybe a lot of work, but still makes for great pictures.

I Can See Clearly Now

When it first became cold in Utah, the kids were amazed that the sun could be out and yet, it was still cold. Well, let me give you a little meteorology lesson. During a Utah winter, clear skies usually mean one thing: BITTER COLD. You may find it interesting, but clouds and snow actually work as insulation to keep things warmer. (I'm talking about 10-20 degrees being considered warm).

Last week we had several days that began at -15 degrees. Yes, that's fifteen below zero. I drive Esteban to school at 7:00am and that is really cold. I have to wear gloves because, after being outside all night, the stirring wheel is also -15 degrees. It is so cold that my nose hairs freeze (sorry for being so graphic, but those of you who live here, know exactly what I'm talking about). I have always thought scarves were just an accessory until I was walking out of the grocery store when my nose hairs froze. I saw a lady with a scarf wrapped around her nose and mouth. I realized then that scarves are nothing more than nose hair warmers. (I need to get me one before the next cold front comes through.) I remember in Texas when the weatherman would predict a cool front coming through and the temperature would drop down to 60 degrees. Well, there is nothing "cool" about these fronts they are "don't-go-outside-unless-you-are-going-to-die-a-worse-death-inside-than-freezing-outside" fronts.

Last week, the high for the day was usually 5 degrees and like most highs, that was around 5:00pm. At the elementary, they won't let the kids go outside for recess unless the temperature is above 0. Which means most days last week, when the temperature at recess time was still negative, the kids had to stay inside for recess.

The temperature might not be so great but, the pictures are spectacular. (I would have taken more, but I've already described the nose hair problem I was having.)

I love the crisp blue sky that comes this time of year, especially, when I look out the window while standing on the heater vent.

Icicle Tree

I looked out the window and what did I see?

An icicle growing on an icicle tree!

The Road Not Taken

When the sidewalk gets buried by a winter storm, it is hard to clear the snow because I can't tell where it sidewalk turns and where it doesn't. It doesn't really matter if the walk is cleared or not for Vanessa. She prefers to walk in the snow next to the sidewalk. Everywhere we go she refuses to walk on the sidewalk. She'll even walk in the snow as we go to church. She doesn't seem to mind her wet shoes and cold tights. She always has been the type to choose the road not taken.

Shoveling Snow

I've seen a sign that reads:

Cleaning house while children are growing is like shoveling snow while it's still snowing.How true it is.

Favorite Things

Yeah, it snowed again. I have decided I need to embrace the snow (not literally, the less I actually touch it the better).

Growing up, one of my favorite things about winter was seeing new fallen snow on evergreen trees. When we were married in the month of December, I chose forest green and white to be my wedding colors for that reason.
I still love the look of snow flocked trees, but after living in sunny south Texas for 10 years, I prefer looking out of my window at the trees while I'm in my warm house drinking hot chocolate.

Lotion

The last few years I've been several gifts of lotion. I've always liked using lotion but, before I moved to Utah is was more of a novelty than a necessity.

Well, these days my hand feel like they are falling apart. They are dry, cracked, and even bleeding around some of my joints and knuckles. I use lotion all the time. I feel like I'm losing the battle with dry skin. I'm grateful I moved all the half-full lotion bottles with us, because I'm using them faster than ever. So, to all of you who have ever given me lotion, Thank you. It was thoughtful at the time, but now, I really appreciate it. If you ever need a gift idea for someone living in Utah, try a nice big bottle of lotion. It will be the best gift they'll ever receive.

Warm Winters, not Anymore

Here's my problem. I keep working on putting my house together, but the more work I do , the more I discover needs to be done. Does that make sense? Well, it does to me. In other words, I have been working like crazy and come January 2010, I'll be nearing the finish.

Once upon a time, my parents came to visit us in Texas in the middle of August. That time of year is hot, very hot. I remember walking out of a store with my dad and feeling the gushing hot air in my face. He made a comment like, "Yep, it's still hot." This memory came back to me the other night when I walked out of the grocery store and felt the frigid night air. It was -1 degree and getting colder. I said to myself, "Yep, it's still freezing. I'm going to die of hypothermia before I get to my car. What the heck am I doing living up here?"

South Texas is famous for it's warm humid winters. I am finding that Cache Valley winters are famous for the opposite reason. I guess I just need to make the most of it. For one thing, up here, hot chocolate is a necessity not just a novelty. Maybe life isn't so grim.

Warm Spell

Our weather has been warm the last few days. At least that is what they say on the news. I guess they consider 50 degrees warm. In South Texas, people don't leave their houses if the temperature dips below 60 degrees.

I was in the store the other day, when somebody asked me if it was cold outside. I didn't know how to answer. I think anybody else would say it's down right balmy, but for me, everyday is freezing. I have to put on my coat to take out the trash or to get the mail. It's going to be one very long winter. I agree with AJ who recently told me it was 12 degrees below cold.