Let it Snow

It has been two weeks now since you have heard from me.  Things have been a little crazy around here.  Last weekend we moved and ever since we have been trying to dig our way out of boxes, set up for Christmas, finish installing parts of our kitchen so that we can have running water, and getting ready for family who starts arriving on Tuesday.  On top of all this, apparently my body decided this was as good of a time as any to get sick.  Oh...and I slammed by hand in the car door and possibly (but unlikely at this point) broke something in my wrist.  Fun times around here!   To add to the excitement, we had our first snow.

Last Thursday school was cancelled in anticipation of a big storm.  The storm did come, just not until later in the day.  It turns out that the snow was not as bad as they had thought, but by Friday things were very icy so school had to be cancelled again.  There was not really enough snow, but the kids got in their first sled of the season.

Then this past Wednesday the scenario replayed itself.  Snow was scheduled to start around noon.  They didn't cancel school because of their previous overreaction.  About 1pm the snow really started to fall.  Since schools start getting out just after 2 here they decided not to release early.  Big mistake.  When the snow started it fell hard and fast.  Merrick made it off the bus and before the bus could make it to the next stop it got stuck.  Eventually they had to call parents to come get the kids off the bus and chain up the bus.  They were the lucky ones though.  A bus slid and crashed into a tree.  Kids got stuck at school for hours and hours with no way to get home.  I finally convinced Jeremy to leave work at 3.  Over 5 hours later, just after 8pm he finally walked in the door.

Once everyone was safe at home and we could relax the next day, we had fun sledding with the neighbors and Merrick discovered that when the rest of us were done sledding and he still felt the itch, he could sled in our backyard (and I could watch from the comfort of our warm house).  School ended up being cancelled on Thursday and Friday and we are now officially on winter break.  Now I just need the snow to melt and for me to get feeling better so I can actually get something done.

Christmas in the Mix

A couple of weeks ago I was commenting to a friend about my crazy high stress level over the past couple of months.  We have taken the average, everyday stresses of life and then compound them with remodeling and moving.  Now we have decided to ramp things up another notch and add Christmas into the mix.  I realize that regardless of the fact that life is about as much as I can handle right now, it is not fair of me to spoil Christmas for the kids.  So somehow we will carve out time and make room to celebrate the season.

On Friday, after Merrick went off to school, I found out that Santa and some of his reindeer were stopping by a local nursery that day.  I decided to grab Merrick right after school and head over.  Lines were long but the rain stayed away and the kids got to see Santa and Vixen and pet Joy (Vixen's baby who is not yet ready for sleigh duty).

Yesterday we had planned to spend the day at the new house.  We had a list of thing that needed to get done before we move in (hopefully next weekend).  We worked away all morning and when we finally got ready to break for lunch about 3pm we noticed that even though it was supposed to start raining in the afternoon, the rain had not yet come.  We decided to make a break for it and go get a Christmas tree.  As we drove to "The Farm" it sprinkled off and on and dark clouds began to build but we made it, found our tree, chopped it down, bailed it, loaded it, and headed off before the rain really came.  Unfortunately we weren't really prepared for the tree in our house so for now it sits in a bucket of water in the garage.  Hopefully today we will be able to rectify that situation because the kids are anxious to decorate.