Snow Fun

Overnight we received our first substantial amount of snow.  When Samara came down the stairs this morning, she beamed and said, "It's my birthday!" (because everything revolves around you when you're 3 years old)  We waited until James came home for lunch to venture out to play.  There were snow balls thrown at each other and George.  As I'm typing, George has crashed beside me.  Poor tired pooch.

RUN, Samara!!!

Being a Target Doesn't Phase George

He Got Me!

Poor George (again)

"This is Frosty the Snowman"

Duck Isaiah!

Fabulous First Day of Christmas Break

Today is Malachi's first full day of Christmas break.  It was oh so lovely to not have the mad morning rush out the door.  I do have to say it was quite humorous because right after breakfast Malachi rushed upstairs to get dressed, teeth brushed, and actually had his shoes, coat and gloves on. I found him sitting by the front door waiting for us to drive him to school.  He forgot that he was on break!

He was quite prepared, though, because the rest of us got ready to go outside and enjoy the first snowfall of the year (we had the slightest bit of dusting a few weeks ago, but this actually covered some of the ground and cars.)  I pointed the snow out to Samara and she said, "Yeah! It's my birthday!".  She always assumes that if there's something special going on then it MUST be her birthday ;-) 

All of us enjoyed playing in the snow for about 20 minutes (George attacked the snow as shown in a picture below.)  We came inside and enjoyed hot chocolate with marshmallows (or "coffee" as Samara calls it) and warming up by the fire.  George is quite exhausted from running outside.  What a wonderful way to start our break!

History Made

Yesterday made history.  The Summer of 2011 has gone down in the books as reaching 100+ degrees more than any other summer.  It seems like forever since we've had a day where the temps were bearable. During the winter, I remember dreaming of being warm and yearning for summer's heat.  Well, I wasn't dreaming of a furnace, but that's what we ended up with!  I am hopeful that we will soon be enjoying a long fall with lots of crisp mornings and comfortable afternoons. Aww, yes, that sounds just right.

Now That's Just Plain Hot!

I was finally feeling back to my normal self yesterday; I can say that I have fully recovered from last week!  The plan for the day was to clean the house top to bottom because it needed it.  At 9:30, I was getting ready to start on the list when James texted me that we had a house showing at 6:15pm.  Wonderful!  I had plenty of time to get all the deep cleaning that needed to be done.  I wasn't rushing around, but I wasn't going at a snail's pace either.

Then at 11:42, James calls.  We have another showing for today.  But this one is at 1pm.  A little more than an hour away!  I was pretty far along on the list, but still was not close to being finished.  I rushed and got the basic tasks completed.  James came home and was on dog poop removal patrol in the yard.  I was so thankful for his help.  Unfortunately, because of the time constraint, the kiddos did not get to eat lunch before the showing.  Nor did I have time to get their swimming gear so we could go to the water park.  I hurriedly packed a few snacks with water.  At 12:40, I was in the process of finishing the vacuuming when the prospective buyers showed up.  Are you kidding me?!?  They really only gave us an hour to get ready.  They all stood outside by the porch while I was finishing the foyer rug.  I didn't get to do the "once over" that I normally like to do right before I head out.

Once everyone was loaded into the truck, we headed to the park.  We are very limited to where we can go since George has to come with us.  We sat in the gazebo while we ate and drank.  IT WAS 115 DEGREES...no I'm not exaggerating.  It was really 115 degrees.  Of all days, why would 2 people be out house hunting in this miserable heat?!?  The poor kiddos would play for a few minutes and then come back for more water.  Their faces were red from the little amount of activity they did.  I could not wait to get back home.

Since I had ran around for the first showing, there were just a few things I wanted to do before the 2nd showing.  It was a much more relaxed atmosphere (well until I was finished and then the kiddos kept getting things dirty or moving something out of place!)  For this showing, we made it to the water park.  It was only 108 degrees now and for most of the time, we were the only ones there.  Hmm...no one else wants to be outside when it's that temp???  The kiddos had fun splashing, I had fun cooling off with some water, and George roamed around the park in search of treasure.

We made it back home and then I had a sinking feeling.  Because we were going to the water park, I didn't want to bring my purse. And I had forgotten to lock the door because we were rushing.  My purse had my keys in it.  My set of keys are the only ones that has our house key on it (James' is in the lockbox).  We were locked out.  GOOD. GRIEF.  So James called our Realtor and she hastily came to unlock the door for us.  Thank you Realtor Lady!!!  To my dismay, the Realtor who showed our house was the same Realtor who came to measure carpet and thought our house wasn't stable and recommended we low-ball the price to get rid of it. So my hopes aren't really high for anything to come from the last showing!  Oh well, life goes on =) 

Stormy Weather

Yesterday and today have been filled with storms.  We were in a high risk area for tornadoes yesterday and in light of the devastating tornado in Joplin, MO this past weekend, I was not going to be ill-prepared. Early in the afternoon I saw our elderly neighbor in her yard and so I went to talk to her to make sure she had a basement.  She didn't so I offered for her to come over if the sirens went off.  A little bit later she came over with 2 bags of water and food to have on hand in the basement just in case.  Before she left, she hugged me and kissed my forehead and said that she loved me.  What a precious lady!  I had already packed a bag with a change of clothes for everyone along with water and snacks and another bag of toys for the kiddos.  Also, I packed the kiddos' Social Security cards and some cash.  A little excessive?  Maybe, but I felt that since we had a long warning for the potential of severe weather, there was no reason to not take it seriously.

In order to accommodate all of us downstairs, I had to move a few things around.  And because Malachi was concerned for George's safety, I brought his kennel down there as well.  I felt that if a tornado came we would be as prepared as we possibly could be.  Malachi and Isaiah had seen the pictures of the Joplin tornado and so I prepped them for the idea of possibly needing to take shelter from a "tomato" as Isaiah calls it.  ALL day they kept asking when it was going to come and if they could go downstairs and eat.  It grew tiring explaining that it MAY come, or it may NOT come, but I was thankful they were taking the situation very seriously.  I am so happy to report that the need to take shelter did not occur.  We had high wind, lots of rain, and some hail, but nothing major.

Today has been a wonderful day of dreary skies and rain.  I had a doctor's appointment first thing this morning and then came home and played with Samara.  James was playing a new computer game; the boys have been obsessed with watching him play it.  Samara brought down her Tinker Bell lawn chair along with her "babies".  We spent quite awhile reading books to them.  Then she requested to watch Iron Man 2 so she laid on the floor watching it on the laptop.  What a combination of girly-girl and tomboy!

She and I just woke up from a glorious nap and I am refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the day.  Oh, and I should probably unpack those bags now =)