Iced In

These are adventurous times. Last night, with several inches of snow on the ground and an ice storm looming, we decided to make the perilous trip to my parents' house. Our gas logs weren't working, and with the threat of a power outage we thought it better to be where there was a generator, space heaters, a wood-burning fire place, lots of food, and we would be closer to Adam's work. An hour later, we made it there after passing an accident where an SUV was way off the shoulder of the freeway, in the woods where it had hit a tree facing backwards. Don't ask me how that happened.

The freezing rain started, and by 10pm we began to hear loud crashes as branches broke all over the neighborhood. Unfortunately, a rather large branch fell on my parents, old van. Luckily, their new Odyssey was safe in the garage. My dad, Jenna, and I ventured out to take a look, trying to be careful to avoid all the old trees that might have branches that could fall.

It was gorgeous and menacing at the same time, if that is possible...especially because we were due for 3 more inches of snow the next day.

This morning we woke up and got an even better picture of just how bad things are. School is cancelled for the rest of the week. So, in celebration, we took Connor out for his first try at sledding...and he loved it! We picked a path that was not underneath any trees and away we went!

Jenna had a few wipeouts.

Connor found out there was a very cool tool associated with snow...the snow shovel. He might have liked that even more than the sledding. The only shoes we brought were his slippers and we only had a 4T size snowsuit, so we rubberbanded the feet to keep the snow out (in case you were wondering why he looked like Lt. Dan).

Even when he got a little bit of snow in his eyes, he was still a good sport and wanted to go right back up the hill again.

And, my parents are in the minority that still has power, so we'll probably just stay holed up here tonight, and eat scones and play Wii, hoping for better weather tomorrow.

"Not Me" Monday

An idea from a friend...

• I did NOT purposely not do the dishes because I knew my husband would do them when he got home.
• And of course I did NOT snatch the bread tray out of the deacon's hand because I was mad at my child for being so loud in church.
• And I would NEVER ignore both the first and the second friend requests on Facebook from someone I barely knew in high school...that would be heartless.
• I did NOT lie to my child and say we did not have any suckers...just cause I didn't want to clean it up.
• I was NOT the person who used up the toilet paper without replacing the roll.
• I would NEVER let my child watch 3 movies in one day...just to have some time to actually get something accomplished.

I would never do those things, because I am a perfect wife and mother. Of course.

Photo Tag

I am supposed to post the 6th picture from the 6th folder of my pictures. Well...odds are it was going to be this.

Connor. We have about a thousand million bizillion pictures of our little boy. He loved to play with our laundry basket, and really still does. He thought it was so cool to tip it over, and then if we put it on his head he would laugh and laugh...until he realized it was a little too awkward to get off on his own. These days, he likes to use it as a basketball goal and throw his blocks into it. (If it is unfortunately not present, he'll just chuck them across the room as hard as he can.) It also functions well as a racecar to zip across the carpet with him inside. He loves to go fast. We're still a little worried about the chair that can go 5 mph, but I guess we'll just take it as it comes.

Oh, so I guess I'm supposed to tag 6 people. Hmmm...Lynnie, Megan L., Laura, Erin, Stephanie, and Jill.

The "Large Equipment" Mechanics

Ever since we got our new crib, Connor has been really into "fixing" things. The crib came with this little monkey wrench, and C carried it around with him everywhere for a week. For Christmas Santa brought him a "real" tool set, and he loves it. It came with this sweet tool belt that he likes to wear around. Whenever he sees Adam fixing something, he says he needs his screwdriver and proceeds to poke in the middle of whatever his dad is doing with his tools. Then, the other day he was being too quiet in his room...you know, the too quiet where you know they are probably into some type of trouble. So I go in there, and this is what I see.

He was silently working and totally absorbed. So when I ask what he's doing, he tells me his firetruck was broken, and so of course he is fixing it.

Sure love that kid. And if he really had those skills I could have used him when earlier this week I ran over something in the road that ripped a hole down the side of my tire. Luckily, a real "large equipment mechanic" that works for the state of Kentucky stopped with his "cool" truck with flashing lights (according to C), and got us back on the road in no time. I could have changed it myself, but it was FREEZING outside, and I had no gloves/scarf/hat and a very thin jacket. Normally I would have been freaked out at a stranger stopping, but he did have a state vehicle with the seal and everything, and was obviously doing his best to make me recognize he wasn't creepy. He told me about his kids and that he lived in Waddy (a real town name) and that he'd want somebody to stop and help his wife if they were stuck on the side of the road in 15 degree weather. As I drove away, I saw him stopping again to help another car further down the road that obviously hit the same thing I did.

When we got back on our way I called Adam again to tell him what happened. (He would have come to help, but he was 30 minutes away and I knew he was having a very busy day at work so I convinced him I could do it myself.) He said he was glad I got help and that he had said a prayer for me. I'm pretty grateful that there are still good people in this world, and that God sends them your way when you need them.