Winter Storm Octavia

So as of February 15th, if you had asked me about our winter, I would have exclaimed the injustice of it all. We had only gotten enough snow to barely cover the ground the whole live long winter. I think maybe once we got 3" and school was closed. Spring kept getting closer and it looked like our chances of getting a big snow was slim to none. Then we woke up Sunday morning on February 15, 2015 to news everywhere declaring a winter storm headed our way. 

We were stinking super excited!!!

We had church at 2 o'clock that afternoon so everyone would be safely at home before it started snowing and plus the roads were a little icy from the night before. 

After church we went to the grocery store. Bad mistake, but we were for real out of toilet paper. 

I only needed a few things because we had groceries already at the house, but the lines were long and the shopping carts were scarce. I had several ladies waiting for mine while I unloaded my groceries in the van. I wanted to start the bidding, but decided these ladies may be armed and dangerous. 

We woke up to this Monday morning. 

It looked like my van was sinking. That's a lot of snow. It snowed and snowed and snowed. Maynard called and said his boss called all his Fed Ex trucks back in so Maynard was home by 11 which was nice. Then he didn't have to work at all on Tuesday because the interstates were shut down in places and their main trucks couldn't even get there to drop off what needed to be delivered. 

He still had to get Tara back and forth to work which was rough. We sure was thankful for his 4 wheel drive truck. 

The kids had a blast playing outside. I didn't set one foot out until Thursday evening and that was because our groceries were low. I mean what do you do all week when you are snowed in?  You cook, bake, and eat!!  We had some good meals that week for sure!!!

We had snow cream and "snow" cones. 

Lots of playtime outside for the kiddos!!

Daddy played with them and Tara did one day. 

Amelia was proud of her giant snowball. 

I wasn't much on getting outside and playing in it this year. Last year I almost broke my neck while sledding and I was a tad apprehensive this year so I opted out. 

Poor kid's sled didn't survive last winter so they used whatever they could find. They used tote lids, trash can lids, and their most favorite was a plastic kiddie pool. I kept meaning to get them a new sled and never did and now it was too late. 

School was canceled all week, but my kids still woke up between 7 and 7:30 every morning. They couldn't wait to get outside even though the temperatures kept dropping.

 Yep!!  That's pretty cold!!

Titus would have lived outside if I let him. I had to force him inside to warm up. 

8 days later, after I had only been out for an hour to the store, we had church on Sunday at 2 again. I was happy as anyone to get out of the house. After church I was the last one in the car because I did not want to go back home. I had been stuck in the house and it felt good to talk to grown ups once again. We went out to eat with friends and just took our time getting back home. 

The kids went back to school that Monday. Well, their school did, but the county has still been out for 2 weeks now.   There is still snow on the ground and I'm not sure if it's ever going to melt. The snow is so hard and crunchy that it's hazardous. I made it almost 2 weeks without falling and then I fell yesterday on the sidewalk. Titus was watching from the window and found it quite hilarious. 

I jut wanted to blog about our snow storm because it apparently hit some records of snow and temperatures. We ended up having almost exactly a foot of snow. I think the last biggest snowstorm was in 1994. This will definitely be a winter to remember and I'm glad to have it documented. 

Valentine's Day 2015

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!!!

We had a very busy few days. 

I was asked to help Titus' class at school to celebrate their Valentine party. Amelia and I got there around lunch time and brought Titus a Happy Meal from McDonalds because Josiah's class was having pizza. We all know that it's just easier to bring your child a Happy Meal than to listen to the injustice of it all!!

Then it was time to Party!!

First game was to have a contest in stacking the Conversation Sweethearts. That actually entertained them for awhile. 

They were cracking themselves up by reading the little sayings on the hearts. 

I didn't get a whole lot of good pictures because it's just hard to take time to take pictures when you are super busy entertaining children. 

Then we let them make heart shaped pillows. This was a tad bit more challenging because 13 kids and 13 needles and thread.............

We survived and the kids were super proud of their pillows. 

I was amazed at how some of the kids took to it so easily. 

After spending so much time sewing and concentrating we went to the gym to play another game with our heart candy. 

The object of this game was to fill your spoon with candy and then put the end of the spoon in your mouth. Walk to the other side of the gym and drop your hearts into your team's bowl. 

The boys took on the girls, but the girls beat them big time. 

 The gym floor was covered in candy hearts. 

After that game we went to the kitchen to decorate cupcakes. 

They loved decorating their own cupcakes. Their sweet teacher bought bright blue and pink icing. These kids were covered in icing. 

Time was running out so they went back to their classroom and passed out their valentines and treats. 

I had to include this in my blog because Titus was so excited about this valentine he got. He came up to me and grinning ear to ear. He said, "This card says Will you be my MAN?"  It struck me so funny. 

Amelia was happy to be included in Titus' class party. She worked really hard on her Valentines. This was her first year signing her own cards. It was kind of a big deal. 

Check out this heart hairdo I gave her for the party. 

I was also proud of my first Pintrest treats for their class party. 

 

Here is a picture from Josiah's class party his teacher shared. 

His classroom was decorated super cute!  He said he had a fun day as well. 

Saturday afternoon I made more Valentine treats for our Sunday school parties while Maynard cooked us a big breakfast. He also had bought me flowers and candy. He even washed all the dishes and cleaned the kitchen back up. What an amazing man!!

That afternoon my Mom came over and suprised my kids with bringing my nephew Cameron with her. She offered to watch the kids while Maynard and I went out for Valentine's dinner. We ordered them pizza and hightailed it out the door. 

We met up with 2 other couples and drove to Lexington. It was fun to hang around other adults for awhile. My friend Heather even offered to cut up our food if we needed her too. Ha ha. We were all used to having our kids with us. 

We ate dinner at Cheddars and then done some shopping. I hadn't bought Maynard anything yet and he lucked out at Kohls with a new shirt and sweater vest off of the clearance rack. 

We were getting calls that the roads back home were getting slick and we decided we better head back. 

We had to make a small detour though because of this:

Who wouldn't stop, right???

Got some festive donuts to bring back home to the kiddos. 

I had a blast with these ladies!!  They have took me in and loved me when I needed loved the most. 

I am also grateful for this man!

Besides the Lord, he's the best thing that has ever happened to me. 

Sunday we ended up only having one mid afternoon service because of the weather, but I decided to go ahead and have my Children's church class a party anway. 

They ate treats and played games and had a good time. I only got one picture and it's not a good one. I literally was hopping and moving around the whole time that I never had time to take pictures. 

I had a table decorated with lots of pink and treats and even failed to get a picture of that. This was their craft and game table.