Going for Gold!

Friday I went out to meet the bus after school and Logan came running off the bus and down the driveway yelling, "I got the gold medal!"

With the excitement of the Winter Olympics going on in Sochi, Logan's 2nd grade teacher had a 

Math Olympics.

Logan won first place and got to stand on the tall stool in the classroom during the medal ceremony. 

He told me his teacher helped him get down. 

He was so excited he couldn't wait to tell everyone as they got home and even wants to wear it for his school pictures.

Way to go, Logan!!

Ribbon in Minecraft

All 5th graders here have to participate in 4-H. They come into the schools once a month. 

As part of that, Jake had to do a powerpoint presentation on anything he wanted. He chose Minecraft, of course, and put the whole thing together himself.

I'll be to the first to admit that there aren't many warm feelings between me and Minecraft and I echo this mom's letter to her sons.

But, when Jake then had to do a presentation for the 4-H Project Achievement competition and Minecraft fit into the "technology" category, I was glad he didn't have to come up with a whole new topic.

His 6-minute presentation on how to play Minecraft gave him a 1st place blue ribbon at the county competition!

Yesterday he competed at the district level and got 2nd place!

I guess Minecraft can be good for something. :)

Way to go Jake!

As a funny coincidence; the following was in the Sunday Comics -

An Earthmoving Valentine's Day

Our Southern Snowman morphed into a Minion Valentine! 

I love it!

 I had all the Valentine's stuff for the kids well before the storm hit this past week, so I was ready for the day to arrive.

Realizing school might be canceled and the kids (well, really just the boys who are still in elementary school) would miss their Valentine's Day parties, we made heart cookies, decorated them and passed them out to our neighbors.

Once school was canceled officially, I was glad I didn't have to wake up super early to get everything ready before the bus.

Alyssa helped me prepare the red velvet pancake mix, shape the bacon into a heart (some didn't stay in form well), and we used a metal heart cookie cutter to make heart shaped scrambled eggs.

I had gotten the girls Willow Tree figurines and Minecraft t-shirts for the boys. Everyone got a box of conversation hearts and there was a bouquet of heart shaped lollipops.

For sleeping in every other morning they had off this week, the kids were anxious to get to the table for Valentine's Day.

They loved their gifts and enjoyed their breakfast.

I put a card and box of conversation hearts in Robert's luggage so he wouldn't be left out.

We ended the day with a late night earthquake that shook Natalie and I awake. Alyssa woke, because of Natalie asking her if she "felt that," but the boys slept right through it.

The epicenter was over 90 miles away, so it was pretty crazy that we felt it at all.

What a way to end the week!

Snow in the South

Our bit of warm weather ended with a storm heading our way at the beginning of this last week.

After the last snow and crippling effects it had on Atlanta, everyone took great precautions with this storm - especially since it was going to be a doozy!

All reports had the storm starting with off and on rain Tuesday night - no accumulation. But that didn't stop every school from canceling classes for Tuesday . . . . by Monday evening!

DAY 1 - Tuesday:

As predicted, off and on rain - just sprinkles here, some snow near Altanta and north, but no accumulation. We had a very nice day off of school where the kids could get together with their friends and Robert to could make his flight for his meeting in Washington DC.

On the way home from picking up Natalie from a friends we saw two snow plows and were excited that at least we had those for clearing roads once they got bad.

I heard on the radio about the order in which they clear roads in our area: routes to hospitals, steeps graded main roads, then other - our neighborhood never gets plowed, they just let the sun do it's job. This is usually fine as it warms up within a few days, but we have a long steep hill to even get out of our back part of the neighborhood and with our front wheel, 2-wheel drive, no weather tired van, I don't even attempt it.

I also heard the order of best to worst weather for power lines: rain - best, then sleet (because it just falls through trees and off power lines), then snow (it's usually heavy here in the south because of the humidity and will build up), the worst being freezing rain - coating branches and power lines with ice causes the most damage.

DAY 2 - Wednesday:

By Tuesday afternoon, school for Wednesday was called off with the storm really

 heading into the area this time. Wednesday was always going to be the worst day of the storm. 

We did get our first round of sleet during the night. I didn't sleep well after waking in the middle of the night to hear the tinkling of sleet on the window and roof, always checking to make sure the power was still on by looking into the hall for the night light coming out of Jake's room.

Come morning, there wasn't too much accumulation here,

but enough to need to clear off the driveway so it wouldn't ice over.

I also really love to shovel (and I realized I love to shovel not only snow, but dirt and mulch as well) and will shovel snow/ice with the smallest bit of an excuse to do so.
I got a good work out and enjoyed the peace and quiet of a snowy (well icy) day where everyone else was staying inside.
The kids did come out play.
And yes, one of my southern boys didn't have on a jacket or gloves.

There was enough snow to sled on.

And, yes, Natalie did sled right into a tree. :)

DAY 3 - Thursday:
Our next round of sleet started Wednesday evening (of course there was no question that school for Thursday would be canceled). It lasted throughout the night but I woke up to seeing snow falling gently outside the window.
My big concern was our power - and it stayed on.
My brother, who lives in Augusta, wasn't so lucky - getting the worst of the freezing rain and lost his power. Fortunately, they were able to have it restored within a couple of days.

I love how beautiful the ice and snow is on the rosemary bush 

 

and other trees and bushes.

We had perfect sledding conditions with the wet snow, especially over a layer of ice from the day before, and our big hill was the perfect spot!

Luckily we have neighbors with real sleds to share, but our southern sled (the top from a plastic container) worked great as well.

It was beautiful to have the sun come out by 10am (hours earlier than expected) and hear birds in the trees.

Many were optimistic that there would be school on Friday or at least a delayed start, but, looking at the two above pictures of our road, I wasn't too sure that the sun would clear it off (and other even more "secondary" roads) well enough for the busses to run.

I had another chance to shovel snow, but I let the sun help melt it a bit to make it easier. 

Even still, I had to chunk off ice in our shaded spots (the problem with having to let the sun melt everything is that there are a lot of shady spots that don't melt as quickly as the rest).

The snow was perfect for snowballs and snowmen, and a soft spot for laying in the sun.

I had heard 3 trees fall (or parts of trees) in the woods the day before, so when the sun had melted the ice from the branches, Alyssa and I ventured out on a walk.

We found this branch that had fallen and had landed sticking straight up in the path. It looked really funny just sticking there (but that is why you don't go walking through the woods when the branches are icy or heavy with snow).

The woods were beautiful and where the sun was hitting the snow, mist would rise up (the picture doesn't do it justice).

You can compare the picture below to the one from our last snow day and see how much higher the river is and how much more snow we got this time. 

We came back from our walk to find the snowman (showgirl actually), well under way.

Some veggies, rocks, sticks, and a scarf later and she's done.

I had to put in this last pictures - yes, those would be bare foot prints, and you probably guessed they belong to Jake - who had to run out to tell me something, so why put on shoes or a jacket (he was in short sleeves as well).

Day 4 - Friday:

The sun was out again on Friday, melting the snow and drying off the roads. With another day off of school (too much snow on the secondary roads), we had a lazy Valentine's Day breakfast (check out the Valentine's Day post) and finally ventured out of the neighborhood to visit friends.


I'm grateful for the down time I had with the kids. It was too bad that Robert was out of town and missed our week together. 

I'm grateful I keep my home/pantry/kitchen well stocked with supplies and I never had any feeling of panic to prepare for the storm. I just made a stop at the video store to stock up on movies.

My only concern, since Robert was gone, was that if our power went out I would need to start a fire - not one of my talents - but we had everything we needed for that as well and I would have gotten it going and we would have been fine.

Being prepared and knowing we would not get out of the neighborhood for a few days let me relax and enjoy our days.

The kids, of course, had me at their beckoned call - one of the reasons I shoveled the driveway :)  - but we had a great time together.

A Bit of Warm Weather

After our snow day and freezing temperatures last week, we've had a couple of beautiful and mild days.

I took advantage of a sunny 60 degree afternoon to start taming the monkey grass that lines one side of the driveway.

I love, LOVE, working outside.

That's a good thing because I'll need a couple more days to clean the rest of this up.

~The~Scary~Basement~

I understand the fear of a scary basement. I had those growing up - dark, maybe a little window here and there, clanking and popping noises made by who-knows-what. You raced down with your heart pounding and quickly did whatever task forced you there. Turning on a light made it a little better, but you still didn't spend more time down there than you had to.

Our boys, especially Logan, still have a fear of our basement 

(unless they're getting hot chocolate packets or hot pockets). I don't understand this fear though. We have plenty of lights (with switches to turn them on before you ever have to enter the stairs or rooms) and three full sized windows because it is a walk out basement! But, the fear is there.

I often rejoice they that made it back alive when they return! But, they've never appreciated that.

Yesterday I sent Logan to get some toilet paper that is kept, not only in the basement, but, under the stairs! in the basement. He fussed that it was scary and he didn't want to go. I pulled the "if you just went without fussing, you'd be back by now," but he still wanted someone to go with him.

Natalie volunteered, opened the door, picked him up, and carrying him down the stairs said, 

"Oh, spirits of the basement! Please accept the offering of my brother and eat him and not me!"

She continued with more gems, throwing in a scream here and there, and low and behold . . .

both of them came back alive!

Natalie was fabulous, but we'll have to see if Logan wants Natalie to go with him next time.

Snow Day

With the threat of snow, school got let out early on Tuesday. 

Atlanta did get hit harder, especially with all the traffic and population there and in the surrounding area, but we missed the "big snow." 

Both Robert and I grew up where there was always snow in the winter and sometimes the response to snow seems a bit silly to us, but when people aren't use to the white stuff or have the winter gear to deal with it, you can't be too cautious.

With our inch of snow and hard freeze, school was canceled Wednesday, letting us have a day of fun and relaxing.

Alyssa went out from a chilly run.

 The boys played in the flurries Tuesday and the snow on Wednesday.

I missed taking pictures of them sledding up the hill at a neighbor's house. 

 There was enough snow for a little sledding, a bit of a snow angel, 

snowballs, fun on the trampoline,

and Logan's wish for enough snow to build "Olaf" from Frozen,

before he got his nose.

 I love walking through the woods, it is always so peaceful. You are immediately away from the world and noise. 

Snow makes it even more peaceful and beautiful. 

 We spent time warming up inside, drinking hot chocolate, and watching movies.

UGA was closed as well, so Robert got to spend the day at home with us too.