Freedom!

 Well, for one of us.

We spent two afternoons digging and made it most of the way up our hill, with that Justin was able to get out to pick up the piece to repair the kids shower—no more dripping and buckets!!! and to get a few groceries—milk, eggs, and butter were about to give way here, despite our great care and using substitutions at every opportunity.

Here’s hoping tomorrow we can all get to church!

A Snowy Week

Like much of the middle US, we got snow.  At first it was sleet, but then the snow fell, and fell, and fell.  Well for here, it is a lot of snow.  Except for Justin’s brief (or not so brief) attempt to get to church on Sunday, none of us have left our cul-de-sac since Justin got home last Friday (all three girls have been home since last Wednesday)!!  We never saw a plow or a salt truck.

Our fridge is starting to look empty and the back door was frozen shut this morning, but thankfully we have canned goods, heat, and snow to play in.  And play they have.

They also worked!  We had a car and an SUV both stuck down here, so we dug, cleared, and salted.  With a thick layer of ice, it was a lot of work!

The thaw is coming, so one more day before it starts turning to slush, and we can return to normalcy...just in time for a super busy week!

Disguised

We have had a disrupted week.  Last Thursday I was sick.  Ellie had a fever that had been coming and going for a week, so Justin ran her to our nurse practitioner's office, for a diagnosis of RSV.  Friday evening, Nate was ill.  Saturday afternoon, Kate caught the bug.  Sunday we kept house bound to prevent spreading our germs.  Monday, Justin was home for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  Tuesday morning Gabby finally came down with the bug.  Five sick people, two sick days and a holiday.

When our local school system was closed on Wednesday and again on Thursday we trucked right on through, though taking a morning recess to allow for some snow play on Wednesday.  Thursday only brought mud, so no outside play then.

This morning my children came down with wide eyes.  What had been rain through the night and when I came down to start my day had turned to snow.  Lots of it (well, for around here anyway).  With wide eyes, they asked, "Can we have a snow day?

 

So snow men, snow balls, waffles, and hot cocoa.

And, while the illnesses were unpleasant, they had the benefit of freeing me up more for potty training.  Miss Ellie has been out of diapers for three days except for bed time.  She learned pretty quickly, with my time free to remind her.

Another odd blessing in disguise, I put the little potty in the living room so we could get to it quickly and easily.  Yesterday, I went to empty it and thought she'd missed it a little bit because the seat was wet.  I was bending down to clean it up when, drip, drip, splat.  I look up to find there is a leak from on high (again).

  

This time it was our shower pipes.  I'm not a fan of the plumber who worked on this house or the maker of the supplies that keep failing!

Justin was able to run home between his classes and fix our pipes.  I am thankful for a husband and a Daddy that both can and will fix these things!  And I'm glad it was yesterday instead of today, with the lovely snow that makes our neighborhood hard to navigate.