Snow much fun

Just two weeks ago we sat at the table discussing the fact that it was mid- December and we'd yet to have any snow.  Usually by Thanksgiving we've at least had a measurable snowfall, but this year was looking to be a repeat of last year where there were only a handful of days in the 30's and we didn't get to play in the snow at all.  The next day, we got a surprise snow that came with an entire day of 67 mph winds.  It was horrible.  It blew so hard that it blew through all of our a/c vents and our house was freezing.  Christopher adjusted our heating zones to warm the upstairs more and we're still trying to get them back to normal...  It blew off several sections of shingles, particularly on the corner right above Kate's room.  We heard a loud banging so I went out to look and a huge section had blown loose and was beating down on the roof.  It sounded like someone taking a bat to the roof every 10 seconds.  Thankfully we got the roof repaired the next day.

Winter has officially arrived in Southern Illinois, and even though I hate cold weather, right now I'm enjoying it!  We were supposed to get 6-10 inches Christmas night, but it missed us by miles and we got nothing- not a flake.  Then Friday afternoon, it started snowing a bit and I didn't give it much thought.  With the kids home on break, I don't get time to watch the weather.  Well, that little snow turned into 3 inches!  I went out Friday night and took some pics because I knew it would be gone by morning.

Come morning, it was still here.

We had our last Christmas with Christopher's mom's family at noon, but when we got back we went outside.  I didn't think we needed to get our snow clothes down from the attic, so we just went outside in coats.  We were back in within 5 minutes.  We were COLD!  And the sole came off of Preston's boot!?!?!  I'm glad he got a new pair for Christmas- the others went in the trash!

The snow was amazingly still here today, so this afternoon we got the snow clothes down and headed up to Granny and Pa's and spent the entire afternoon outside.  When we were little, their house was our snow day destination.  They live on 7 acres and Pa would spend the day pulling us behind the four-wheeler on sleds.  When we'd get cold, Pa had a fire going in the wood burning stove in the garage, so we'd warm up and go right back out, only going in to eat.  Though he didn't have a fire going today, we did go in the garage to warm up a bit between rounds.  I'm so glad my kids have had the chance to have Pa pull them, and I know it means a lot to him, too.  He was ready to take them out as soon as we walked in the door!

 Kate outgrew her snow clothes, so she wore my snow pants, so I had to wear Pa's.  They were quite big!  On the agenda tomorrow... buy Kate some snow pants!

It's only supposed to be 24 degrees tomorrow, so the snow's not going anywhere, and we're getting another 3 inches tomorrow night and the rest of the week is slated to be cold.  I imagine we'll be spending the week up the hill enjoying the snow since the kids are out of school until next week.  Loving it!

Busy Christmas

Hold on to your hats, folks!  This one's pretty long- you might want to grab a cup of tea, maybe something to eat, because you might be here a while!  I plan on doing some catching up posts, but wanted to get Christmas out before we got too far behind!

We have a BUSY Christmas every year.  With big families, we have to split things up, which makes for some long days, but it's always fun and we enjoy it.  Last Saturday we had Christmas at my dad's.  As always, the food is GREAT!  Steaks, baked potatoes the size of small footballs, salad, and more goodies than you can shake a stick at.  I left feeling so full!  The kids had a blast and got so many fun gifts!

 We got a kick out of Lilly's Christmas sweater!

Sunday morning we had Christmas with my in-laws.  The kids were so excited and were practically begging to leave to go as soon as they were dressed and ready!  Again, they got way too much, but had so much fun!  We also gained a new member of our family...  Harry Styles now resides in our home- Kate's bedroom to be specific.  She'd been begging Grammy to kidnap one of the boys from One Direction for her Christmas gift, so here he is, and Kate couldn't be prouder!  He's scared the &@%& out of us a few times, but at this point, we're pretty used to seeing that smiling face.

 Abbie and Issie got a go-cart.  Issie climbed right in and so did Kate.  Issie promptly pushed the gas and ran Abbie over.  That's why you don't drive with a horse in one hand!

Christmas Eve is always spent with my mom and grandparents.  It's always a lot of fun- especially giving Pa his Christmas toilet paper each year!

 I made Cooper this dinosaur tail since he's super into dinos and he was SO excited!  He put that tail on and proceeded to swing it at everyone there!  He even figured out that he could move it around to the front so he could sit down.  That was a sight!

Christmas morning the kids woke us early at 6:00.  I told them that was the earliest they could be up.  Preston was up at 4:00, though and asked me to check the santa tracker to see where he was.  By that time, he was already back at the North Pole, so he did a quick cookie check, saw that he'd eaten them and went back to bed.  He says he didn't go back to sleep.  All I know is that I did!  And no, that's not a bottle of wine from her stocking!  Santa always brings her sparkling grape juice!

 After getting ready, the kids enjoyed a few of their gifts before we headed out to Uncle Kent and Aunt Karen's house.

Kate got One Direction tickets from Santa and is thrilled!  She and I will be headed up towards Chicago in July for a fun night.  I've never driven that far by myself before.  She's already begging to drive into the city but I'm not sure I'm that brave!

 We had lunch with Christopher's extended family at his aunt and uncle's house.  It's always a busy, fun time, but we have to cut it short every year to be at my dad's family's Christmas that evening.  Kate and Sarah getting excited about something...

A few months ago, I got an idea to do and ugly Christmas sweater theme at Me-maw's Christmas, so I told my sister, Ali and she thought it would be more fun if it was just us, and to act like it was no big deal.  Then she got Ashley in and Kate wanted to.  When we were at dad's Saturday, we decided we couldn't leave Diana out, so she was in.  We almost had Seth agreed to dressing up like Cousin Eddie in his bath robe, but he chickened out...  So we all showed up at Me-maw's house dressed up in out homemade ugly sweaters.  It was so much fun!

Diana went as Cousin Eddie with his dickey.  Loved her bow!  Her earrings were taken straight off her Christmas tree and went back on when she got home!  Hilarious!  Ashley was a gingerbread man.  When I was helping her spray paint the "flour" on her shirt Saturday night (she was wearing it), I accidentally painted her hair!  I still wish my hair curled as well as hers!  She got the good hair genes of the bunch!

 Ali was a Christmas tree. Kate had a googly eyed Santa.

 And then there's me...  I was an elf.

 Three sisters, a sister-in-law and a daughter.  I can't wait to see what ideas we cook up for next year!

Overwhelming

Hello!  It's been a week since I last updated and figured that with this next week, I'd better update or you might wonder if I was still alive.  Things have been busy- way busier than I expected, and this week is going to be the worst.  Backing it up a bit...

Thursday I did a little baking.  Didn't go so well.  I've been making these pretzels with Hershey Hugs for years (way before Pinterest) and decided to start with these.  I obviously wasn't paying attention and bought Kisses instead.  They don't work- they have to be Hugs.  So after trying to no avail to press an M&M into them, I just gave up and used a spoon to somewhat mash the Kiss into the pretzel so they'd still be edible.

 I'd like to say that my go at fudge went better, but alas, it was an epic fail, too.  You pretty much have to eat it with a spoon if it sits out for more than 5 minutes, but I'll admit that it's good.  GOOOOOOD!  I had planned to give them to our ENT Friday for Christmas, but we went empty-handed.  But we did get a good report!  Preston still has his left tube and the right is completely healed.  We see him again in May unless winter rears its ugly head and things go downhill like usual.

We've been having fun with Bobby Boy, our elf on the shelf.  His first week back, he was pretty tame, but he's been a little ornery since December hit.  One day we caught him driving around with his arm around a married woman!  Mrs. Blueberry from Kate's dollhouse family was out and about with Bobby while poor Mr. Blueberry was asleep in his bed.  Tsk, tsk!  I've been keeping up with his daily adventures on twitter.

Our weekend was pretty low-key and we spent most of Saturday working on Kate's newest Lego movie which should be finished this week.  I was promoted to Supremo Editor-in-chief for this project because of the amount of editing required.  We're so close to being done, and it is SO good!  That girl has talent, and it keeps her focused for hours.

This week is going to be a mess.  I have to volunteer at Habitat again tomorrow, then we're going to the Lions' Christmas party with my grandpa that night.  I have two dress orders to make this week and have out by Friday (Sat. at the latest) and the fabric has yet to arrive...  Plus, we're going back to Fairview for the second Wednesday in a row to finish up Christmas shopping.  We have two parties next weekend (birthday and graduation).  A guy is coming next Monday to refinish our bathtub.  We have a dentist appt. next week, plus having to do ALL of my baking then.  Such a mess.  I'll be happy once I get these dresses done.  But that means I still have to do my sewing projects for gifts...  Next year I promise to start early!

Is it April or December?

Holy cow!  It's been a warm weekend around here, and I'm not complaining!  It was 68 degrees here today and it's supposed to be even warmer tomorrow.  I swear this morning when it was really sunny, that it looked like spring- then the clouds came and it looked just like December, but as soon as you walked out the door, it certainly didn't feel like it!

Saturday was the Christmas parade downtown and Kate had to march.  She was all decked out in necklaces and a Santa hat, and even wrapped wrapping paper around her flute!  The parade only lasted 5 minutes (short and sweet) and it was nice not to even be cold while we waited.

That afternoon we went and borrowed Keith and Dee's slide projector and spent the evening watching old slides.  It was fun.  Everyone always tells me that Preston looks just like Christopher and I never really saw it until we saw those old slide and he looks JUST like him.  Heaven help us!

Today was just too warm to stay in, so we went to the park for a little frisbee golf.  I still can't get over being outside in just a shirt and not being the least bit cold.  I'm afraid we're looking at another snow-free winter this year.  Boo!  I at least want one good snow to go out and play in.

Preston is really big into dominoes lately.  That's all he's wanted to do since Friday.  Tonight he built a tower that was 5 feet tall before it finally fell.  I was able to catch a pic shortly before he finished it.

I also ventured out to take a picture of our lights while it was warm.  I hung the ones on the bushes.  Spiffy, huh?