Snow! Snow! Snow! Snow! Snow!

I'm singing the title of the blog- think OLD Christmas movie, White Christmas (my favorite!).

So, day 4 of "hunkering down" in the house brought snow. What a gorgeous sight to wake up to! Jacob's sweet little voice on the monitor "Mommy, it's snowin!". Lucky for him, it was already after 7am, so it wasn't a big deal to be woken up.

After a morning of fun- a birthday party for Harry (Jacob's beloved toy monkey- the one in the party hat from Beth), building blocks, painting noodle necklaces, and whatever else we could come up with.

We filled our bellies with a warm lunch and got dressed (the first time out of jommies since Monday night!) to go outside. The kids were so excited to wear their rain boots in the snow. Walking out in the snow, you could hear the layer of ice crunch with each step.

Jacob was thrilled with throwing snowballs or snow-handfuls. They tried to ride their tractor/4wheeler things, but the ice layer wouldn't let them get too far.

I convinced Beth to get on the trampoline to jump, admist all the snow. Once she got it loosened up, she laughed as the snow bounced with her.

We played what we could in the backyard then checked out the front yard. I was fun to see neighbors out enjoying the snow and shining sun, despite that it was still below freezing temperature.

Beth found a great icicle on Kevin's truck. She was carrying around, using it to draw in the snow, teasing her brother that only she had one. Next thing I know, there was a frantic search for it. Apparently Jacob got it or Beth dropped it or something. Kevin asked Jacob where it was. Jacob laughed and said "I hid it!" Oh, that boy! Luckily, Beth was distracted by more playing in the snow,

It's cold out there!

We got a COLD front this week. Temps have been below freezing since sometime Tuesday night, with wind chills often below 0. For us, that's stinkin cold. Because of the icy roads, school was cancelled, and we haven't left the house since Monday afternoon. That's a long time to keep kids entertained. Most of the time, they've played nicely together. Today, we're dealing with rolling power outages (only one so far, but I'm sure another will be coming shortly based on other friends' stories).

We have painted with some fun new paint brushes.

We have baked cookies.

We have done puzzles, played Wii, built blocks, taken naps, watched movies....

We have been busy learning, too.

Beth is working on expanding her story writing, and she's loving it. She has also been busy with crafts. A little double digit subtraction and a little reading comprehension, too.

Jacob is learning the letter W this week. I planned it weeks ago, not knowing what weather we'd have this week. But, the "winter W" worked nicely. I also try to teach him a Bible verse every couple weeks. This week, Psalm 51:7 "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Again, I promise I planned it weeks ago. To illustrate the verse, I drew a snowman, then we colored it "dirty" as we talked about sin and disobeying make our heart dirty. Then, we erased the dirty, talking about how only God can make our hearts clean, white as snow. He really liked the activity and memorized the verse pretty quickly.

Tomorrow, we're supposed to get snow. I'm betting school will be cancelled again. I wonder what we'll do tomorrow!

Record setting snow!

I'm sure you all know about the record setting snow storm in Texas. With the DFW official snowfall of 12.5 inches, it broke all records for the highest snowfall in one day since record keeping began. Wow! We got about 6 inches of that. I also read that 49 states have snow right now! Incredible! Global warming, huh?

We had an absolute blast playing and watching the snow. It was fun to be in the yard and hear families and kids around the neighborhood out enjoying the snow. SO many snowmen too!

Day 1, the day the snow started- We played as the snow continued to fall. We threw snowballs/handfulls and built two snowmen. We tried to run around in the snow. Beth got cold quick and decided to go inside but couldn't handle watching the rest of us playing and came back out. When it snowed at Christmas, Jacob wasn't crazy about the snow. This time, he had a blast! He initiated the snowball fight. The only time he was upset was when snow got inside his jacket.

Day 2- It stopped snowing some time in the middle of the night. Our snowmen were covered with extra snow, about to fall over, all our tracks had been covered. It was an amazing sight! With all the snow on the satellite dish, we couldn't watch anything except local channels. Good thing we had stuff dvr'd for the kiddos. When we headed out to play, we were amazed at how deep it was. We built two more snowmen, so we'd have a whole family. Then, Jacob being the boy that he is, knocked the head of one, laughing and laughing.

When gloves and pants and even socks were soaked, we headed inside for some hot chocolate. Who would think that we'd have a winter day like that in Texas? We still have snow and plan to get back out there to play again today. It's a fun novelty, but I'm still ready for spring. Next year, just in case, I'll make sure the kids have boots of some kind and thick gloves, just in case this kind of snow happens again.

It's cold out there!

Disclaimer- For any non-family readers, this may seem odd to get worked up over snow, but I live in Texas and have for 94% of my life . 'Nough said. :)

I'm so ready for spring, but according to ol' Phil, it's not time yet. Today, we woke up to a white lawn. The snow wasn't supposed to start until this afternoon, a reminder that God is in charge, not the weathermen. It's supposed to snow all day and partly into tonight. Both these pics were taken at 10:45 am, and the snow hasn't stopped yet (it's now 1:15 pm)

School let out early today and canceled tomorrow (they expect this to melt and then freeze into hazardous conditions). Sadly, that also postponed the Valentine party I've been planning for Beth's class.

When the kids get up from naps, we'll bundle up and head out to play. I'll take lots more pictures and measure how deep it is. I guess since this is such a rare occassion in our neck of the woods, I should enjoy it. I may even be wishing for it when our temps are in the 100s this summer.

Did I mention we had a white Christmas?!

As if Christmas isn't magical and amazing all by itself, we had a white Christmas! That's right, in Texas, we had snow, on Christmas! I couldn't stop smiling at the wonder of it all!!!!

Christmas Eve day, it was cold and windy. Mid morning, I was on the phone with Popi, staring out the window when I noticed the snowflakes falling. By lunchtime, they were really falling. As we drove to lunch, we noticed it sticking on fenceposts and such. Watching out the windows of the restaurant, we'd see flurries of snowflakes, then nothing, the more snow. We got home, took a few pics in the snow and though that'd be about it.

It kept snowing and snowing and sticking and sticking. It was amazing! The news referred to it as a blizzard. Honestly with the winds gusting up to 50mph, those cold snowflakes hitting our faces weren't fun. It hasn't snowed in the DFW area on Christmas since 1926. I'm so glad Popi and Yaya were here to enjoy it with us! Beth is one lucky kid when it come to snow. Her first Christmas it snowed (near Houston, no less), it snowed on her 3rd birthday (in April), and then this Christmas, plus some odds and ends little bits of snow here and there in between. This was Jacob's first time to see snow, and he wasn't so crazy about it.

Christmas morning, this is what the yard looked like. The "blizzard" had given way to a beautiful white yard, glistening in the sun. Incredible!

The snow did make it a little tough to drive new tractors and 4 wheelers, but they gave it a try.

We had SOOOOOO much fun! Popi helped us build a snowman (experience from TN winter as a kid) that we, of course, had to make look like he actually belonged in Texas.

We had a FUN snowball fight. I stockpiled mine like Calvin (and Hobbs) then rapid fire shot them with horrible aim. We laughed and squealed as the snow ran down our shirts after the perfect shot. Then, Popi fired one at me, but it hit Jacob square in the head. Poor baby! Popi had to say sorry and gave Jacob the chance to get him back, but Jacob wasn't interested in the snow anymore. Jacob was still talking about that today (yes, almost a month later). Yaya stayed safe by taking all the pictures.

We spent the day playing in the snow, coming in to warm up and rest, back out in the snow, etc, etc. It was slowly melting away as the sun shone on it, though it was still pretty stinkin cold.

Even the day after Christmas, there was enough snow along the retaining walls to play with. So, while Yaya and I went shopping, the boys and Beth played at home.

This was the most magical Christmas yet. Beth was completely enamoured with Santa and his magic. Jacob was fascinated by the whole process and fun. Popi and Yaya spent 3 days with us. AND IT SNOWED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you ready for football?

At Beth's Awana program at church, they earn points for completing lessons, attendance, bringing their Bible, etc. Then, right before Christmas, they spend points in the "store" to buy Christmas gifts for their families. Beth did a great job picking things out for us! I got a purple blanket, Kevin got a tape measure, and Jacob got a nerf football.

He's in love with that football. In fact, he slept with it in his bed a couple nights.

Kevin has really enjoyed trying to teach the kids some football plays.

Jacob just grins ear to ear while they play!

A rare day

Since we had an amazing January Saturday of temps in the 80s, we took advantage and went to the zoo. Beth and I used our zoo passes from Popi and Yaya (thank you!). Apparently, everyone else in Fort Worth also took advantage of the nice weather. It was packed! Still, we had a great time as a family- kids in decent moods, no worries about school for Kevin, me enjoying my fabulous new camera. and zoom lens.

Monkeys, um, I mean we were looking at the monkeys :)

Snack time

Can you guess who took this picture?

Fun with my zoom lens- the elephant was having fun playing in the water

Waiting for the zoo train

Worn out and ready to go home