Iced In

Last weekend started with a full schedule of events...and then ended with being snowed in at home. On Friday, the kids and I went to the Snow Ball Dance at their elementary school. Emmy hung out with her girl gang, while Eli, hesitant at first, found several other boys from his class to play tag with. I kept my head on a swivel as I tracked both of them around the dance floor. On Saturday, Eli played in his basketball game that morning, but because of an approaching winter storm, the afternoon games were cancelled, including Emmy's game which was supposed to be at 2PM. The sleet and rain didn't in fact start until much later in the evening, so we continued with our plans of going to the Claytons' for Barrett's 7th birthday party. Eli and Barrett played on the same baseball team in the fall, and we have become close friends with their family since then. Barrett's party had a reptile theme, and a reptile expert brought several cold-blooded animals for the kids to view and hold. Eli wasn't interested in the 'holding' part, but Emmy held the snake and alligator! As we were leaving from the party around 7PM, the precipitation began, and we made it home safely to hunker down for whatever was to come. Church services were cancelled on Sunday, and when we woke up that morning, there was an inch of hard snow covering the ground and surfaces. The kids spent some time outside with the neighborhood kids, but with temperatures in the teens, it was too cold to stay out long. We warmed up with hot chocolate, muffins, and taco soup, while playing the Wii and watching football. With road conditions too dangerous for travel, we have been out of school every day this week, and the days have continued in a loop, more or less: some outside time, some Wii, meals around the kitchen table, and a movie each night. Wednesday was the first Remote Learning Day, so the kids had schoolwork to complete. The same on Thursday and Friday. Boomer went to work on those three days, so I did my best to oversee schoolwork while completing some work of my own. We all survived, mostly with smiles, when Daddy got home in the evenings. The meteorologists are currently calling for another winter storm, which is on its way overnight and in the morning. We'll see if we get a second round of snow or ice this weekend - we may be home for several more days! 

P.S. Although my car isn't getting many miles this week as it stays parked in the driveway, I did get this sticker in the mail from Toyota in recognition of 300,000 miles! What a good car it has been!