Current State of the House

So they called for snow, but they often call for snow.  It rarely stays around.  To be completely honest, we didn’t get snow, we got sleet...  The world is a sheet of ice.

These three think it is great fun.  That is an old mower (no blade or motor) that Justin let Nate tinker with—it became one of their favorite toys!

I didn’t make the crazy Southern run for milk, eggs, and bread, so I spent a chunk of the morning figuring out what we have in the freezer and pantry.  (If you are from an area that gets much cold weather, here they don’t clear roads, which are usually iced, not covered in snow, and few drivers learned to drive in this, so even if you know what you are doing, most people don’t.  I drove on ice in Kansas, but I don’t do it here!)

Everyone is pleased with our meal plan for the next week.  Everyone will be fed, even if we are having peanut butter on leftover hotdog buns instead of regular bread one day!

Justin is able to teach from home these days, so we are grateful he can do that!

Unfortunately, the kids’ shower sprung a leak.  We’ve had this part go out before, which isn’t too big of a deal, however, we can’t get to the hardware store for a replacement.  So, we are collecting the water to use to run the washing machine, so we aren’t wasting water! 🤣

Hopefully life will return to normal soon!

Winter Wonderland

The world around us has gotten rather cooler than usual.  We spent several days watching the forecast seeing the expected totals of snow and ice oscillate between 1" and 11" and back again.

By Sunday afternoon, we decided we were actually going to get some snow.  Justin ran out with Kate for a sled.  They couldn't find any, but they did find a river tube.

We woke Monday with a bit of a disappointment.  Justin checked and his school was still listed as open.  By the time he was out of the shower, the situation had changed and he was home for the day. 

Someone missed out!

 

We had two days home with him.

 

The second day he and some neighbors cleared out the street and people's driveways.

This morning we wake to snow falling on top of our ice.  He had a delay, and couldn't get out on his first attempt up the hill with the fresh snow, but got to go in to work a little later than his normal start time.  The rest of us are safely home.  My normal shopping day is Monday, so we've made do with odds and ends of food we keep around and are emptying out our pantry.  We'll do a good restock in a few days when the temperatures melt the mess.

We have been so thankful to have kept our electricity, despite the ice, and that we have food and supplies to keep us comfortable.  We are awfully blessed!

Change of Weather

We had several weeks with no rain at all.  We were watering our tomatoes daily, sometimes twice a day.  I gave up on my flowers out front because I expected a watering ban any day.  They are pitiful.  The grass in the back is brown.  The grass out front is gone--the ground is mostly bare.  Then it began to rain.  And it has rained every day since it began--five or six days ago.  I looked at the forecast and every day has a chance of rain listed again.  Every day in the 10 day forecast.  Should we be building an ark?  At least we aren't in a drought!

Sunshiny Day

I guess I've not been writing much. You see I've not been quilting, or writing, or much of any that requires one to stay indoors. Spring has sprung early around here, so we've been heading outside as soon as possible after our school lessons. I've got Nate (and the girls walking 3/4 of a mile). Sometimes I'll carry him a little way, but we don't need the stroller or the backpack carrier these days.

We're on Spring Break this week (Yes, I know it is still winter on the calendar, but then again, I didn't set the university's academic calendar either!), so if you need us, we'll likely be out back soaking up some sunshine.

It is September, Right?

100*? 100*! Really?!

That's all.

Snow, Again?!?

I am amused. We moved to 'the south,' but we are getting regular snow accumulation this year. We've not had quite as much as we had last year in Kansas and it surely doesn't stick around as long, but it has competed with our first two years out there in volume and frequency. I grew up a bit north of here, so I know there are years like this from time to time. Global warming, global cooling, a new ice age...I dunno, but the kids sure like to play in the white stuff.

I wonder how much we'll get this time?

Snow!!

It snowed here.


So we took a 90 minute delay to play in the white stuff.


Miss Kate didn't have snow pants, who knew we'd need them here?! She had fun anyway.


Gabriella, again not wanting her picture taken, but she did have fun.


The little fellow fell over and wasn't thrilled with the initial shock.


He decided it was fun after he got over the surprise.


The girlies warmed up with hot cocoa.

Kate and I did a little science experiment.


She got to hypothesis the depth of the snow and the measure it.

During the afternoon measure, I tested to see how cold it is outside.


It's chilly--what can I say? I'm from Kentucky...


The joys of winter!

Happy Spring! On Thursday it seemed that spring had sprung a couple of day early. Justin's parents were here for a little visit.

We pressed his dad into slave labor working to help with a little sprucing up around the house.

The girls played outside.

Then, yesterday, the snow began to fall. We weren't even sure that his parents would be able to leave this morning, as the road they needed to head east was listed as snow cover 1/3 of the way across MO.

In the end they were able to go and the girls were able to do this.


Gabby even made sure Nate wasn't completely left out.

Well the calendar says it's spring anyway.

Sunshine!

As I was driving yesterday, I hear a panicked little voice from the back of the van, "I don't have me coat!" That's right Miss Gabby because--you don't need a coat! Well, at least we didn't yesterday afternoon.

We met a friend and her son at the park. For the first time in many moons we were able to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. In fact, this was the first time that Nate had ever been outside other than to run in or out of a building, ever!

Katie-Kay


Gabby Girl


The little helpers pushing Baby J's stroller


Me with all the munchkins:
Baby J, Kate, Gabby, & Nate, all snug in the Moby wrap


Me and my little brood
(Thanks to Ann for some of the pictures and a great time!)

I even opened up the windows to let some fresh air in.

It's Gone!

It's gone! It's gone! It only took 28 days, but the snow has finally melted. *Dancing a jig!*

Now we have mud. Lots and lots of mud. But I can drive down the right--not left--side of the street!

Just Call Me Grace

We're finally getting some relief from the frigid temperatures we've had here since just before Christmas. I even saw a spot of pavement on our road today, instead of the ice we've had for three weeks!

This means the mountain of snow that has been piled in front of our garage is starting to melt--yay. Once that's gone the garage can be rearranged--some of our Christmas things have been haphazardly stashed out there due to the cold and the lack of easy accessibility to their rightful locations.

All this is wonderful.

Yesterday I carried Gabby to the van because she insisted on wearing a dress for MOPS. She never does this, but it wasn't a big deal. She was wearing dress shoes instead of boots and the girls have been kicking the snow as they walk to and from the van, so I thought it best to take her out first rather than letting her walk. As we were walking, I was paying no attention to our cleared driveway. The problem was that it was, in fact, no longer cleared. The melted snow had refrozen over night and formed a nice little sheet of ice, which I discovered as my hip hit the pavement.

I didn't drop Gabby and I was fine. "Mama fell down in da snow. Mama all wet!"

I was so thankful that she wore dress shoes, so I didn't have them all three at once. God is gracious--giving my two year old a desire for a dress, even when I'm not graceful!

Snow...again?!

This is only our third winter in Kansas, so perhaps I'll adjust, but I really don't think so! Besides, it's never been this crazy here before. It started snowing on Christmas Eve. Here we are two weeks later...and it's snowing again--for the fourth time in that period! I haven't seen a blade of grass in two weeks. Forget that--I haven't seen the street in two weeks! Or the end of our driveway--we can't clear it because of the work the city did, leaving us with a bunch of gravel and ice.

The girls have been begging to play in it, but I hadn't let them out all week because it had been so terribly cold. Today we had a heatwave--it's 20 degrees, so the munchkins were frolicking in the white stuff. Gabby came to the door nearly in tears, "There's snow all over me boots!" I chuckled. No joke--there's close to a foot of it on the ground. I asked if she wanted to come in. "No! Me wanna play in the outside."






I don't mind the snow on the lawn, really. I do have trouble with handling getting all of us out with the constant mess on the driveway, roads, and parking lots. I'm not a big fan of -12 (degrees Fahrenheit--units included for my husband the chemist, aren't you proud of me for remembering?) either. Happy winter Kansas!

Brrr.

Life has gotten cold here in Kansas...like it was 4 (degrees Fahrenheit--look Justin I included the proper units) outside--right next to the house--this morning.

Yesterday morning we had to leave the house fairly early. I got everyone fed, dressed, hair fixed, winter coats, mittens, hats, and baby blankets ready. We made our way the the van...where I found I couldn't open the doors to the back. Neither of them would budge. It seems that the rain from Monday mixed with the plummeting temperatures yielded doors that were frozen shut. In the mean time, Kate threw snow at Gabby, Gabby fell, and Nate woke up.

So I take my now crying children back to the house. I go back out to start the van. I have recently been made aware that it is illegal to leave your started car to warm in Kansas, so I'm back and forth between the children and the van. I ran upstairs to get my hair dryer, just to find that our extension cords are being used on Christmas lights.

I did eventually pry the doors open and we were able to leave. I have also found that the roads here are not cleared like I'm used to, so I took it rather slow. Other people seemed impatient when we were behind a salt truck, but I didn't mind him clearing my path at all. Thankfully my parents always taught me to get every where early, so we made it right on time, even with our delays.

The girls, of course didn't see our weather as much of an inconvenience. They were just excited about the very first snow of this season.

Never mind it took as long to get dressed in all the warm clothes I made them put on than the length of time I let them play!



They got to be in the snow.



And, of course to throw some of it!



The Little Man, was not so impressed by the cold weather clothes I've made him wear this week.

Winter's Last Horrah.

Church was canceled here in Kansas yesterday because of *SNOW*!

Here are some pictures from our snow fun yesterday. Gabby hadn’t had a chance to play in it before, because she wasn’t walking well enough in the previous snows this year, so this was her first trip out in the white stuff.

See Mama--it's snow!




Kate's favorite snow related fun--throwing it at us!




Striking a pose.




The snow man that the girls knocked over before I got a picture.

It was melting the whole time. I thought that was perfect—it was warm enough not to need gloves unless you were digging in the snow. Justin disapproved—it was awfully wet.

Notice the buds under the ice.

Yesterday we played in the snow. Today the high is supposed to be 62. I feel like I’m back home in Kentucky!