Snow Blows

oooooooh winter weather...

mother nature, do you not realize it is now march?
what i would have welcomed in december or january is not cool during march.

i know winter doesn't actually end until later this month. however, i'm officially over winter. i often accuse jarrett of having seasonal affective disorder. this year, i feel like his bad mood is rubbing off on me.

lets talk for a minute about how weather effects people's moods, shall we. i found this little gem of information on wikipedia.

* Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression or winter blues, is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter or, less frequently, in the summer, spring or autumn, repeatedly, year after year. *

the actual snow doesn't make me depressed.

it would be totally awesome if winter actually looked like this.



source



but it looks like this.



source



it looks like a white knuckle drive home. it looks like a sore back & shoulders from being so tense during the drive. it looks like cars in ditches. it looks like a huge pain in my ass.

then once it is plowed, it looks like gravel in my yard. it looks like my mailbox knocked sideways. it looks like the snow plowed into my driveway rather than away from my driveway. it's a nuisance.

treacherous is not a word i want to hear associated with my drive home.

right now, it looks so very very pretty gazing out the window. huge flakes. but before long it will get nasty.

at least we are on the tail end of winter.





Valentines Sparkle

Christmas came down. I don't know about you, but I just today got my house restored to pre- Christmas standards. The last box got shuffled on down to the basement mere minutes ago. Nothing like getting things back to normal.

Now, one issue remains. I miss the sparkle. When I was putting away my Christmas stuff away, I found these Valentine's candy boxes. At first, I wondered why on earth I had kept trash for nearly a year. Then I remembered. Duh, I kept them for Valentine's day. I wanted to make a garland or something out of them.

I bought red craft paint. It took 3 coats. The glossy fronts covered much crappier than the backs with the nutrition information. Plus waiting each coat to dry, not my strong suit.

I also bought sparkle paint. Extreme Glitter to be exact. Which just happens to be my new favorite color. Love!



I bought the cheapest ribbon walmart had. And I used the hole punch to string them all up.


I also enlisted the help of one grumpy husband to help me hang it. He got frustrated and decided to put an end to my obsessive compulsive need to have it centered and perfect so he just stapled it to the mantel. It will do for now.

I had to keep a little tree. and sparkley snowflakes on my mirror.

I'm liking it. I have decided with each season/holiday I need to incorporate sparkle. Now I just need some red lights and heart ornaments for my little tree.

Deck the Halls & all that Jazz

we decorated for Christmas yesterday. and by we, i mean, mostly me. the girls are at that awesome age where they are totally & completely excited & all about it for about 1 hour - then the novelty wears off. but they loved helping & decorating while it was still fun for them.

i did do something a little different this year. every year, i tuck away all of our pictures & put out the Christmas decor. but this year, i wrapped the frames in my favorite Christmas wrapping paper. this way they are still in their spots & added to the decor. no pics of those yet though. it was an after thought.

we also did a tree in the girls' room again. no pics of that yet either...but there is plenty of time.

jar was at work while the decorating was happening. but he did come home in time to help me with the star. and we had our own little Christmas Story moment where we argued about whether or not it was straight. haha - i had him fix it three times.

these pics are a little backwards in sequence. it's like rewinding...



i adjusted settings on my camera in an attempt to get a good pic sans flash. this one is alright.





and with flash...this way you can see the ornaments




mantel - it has been the same for several years.




photography by Olivia




wearing a santa hat to get in the spirit



again with the popcorn garland...why do i do this? oh yes because it looks super cute.

fluffing branches for over an hour.

and Liv talked her into putting on her "Christmas" read - footy pajamas.

ok, so...

It isn't all bad...

We had a blast playing out in the snow for about an hour yesterday afternoon. A huge snowball fight, girls vs. boy. And we kicked his butt. SnowAngels, Snowballs, jumping in the snow, snow adventures. The girls certainly enjoyed themselves. And I enjoyed watching it all & hearing all of the laughter.

it's beginning to look a lot like...

a huge pain my ass...Winter that is. How foolish I was to think we would sneak out a winter free of snow, ice, salt, drifts, etc...

Don't get me wrong, snow is definitely pretty - from inside, all warm, free from harm, & all cozy like in my snuggie. (see below) And I think I would have maybe been able to enjoy it slightly if we had a white Christmas. Or if it hadn't been 50 degrees the day before it snowed & blowed all the live long day.

it's even leopard print...be jealous


Anywhoooo, we weren't so lucky yesterday. It snowed & the wind blew all.effing.day. Me being a pansy, did not want to drive home in this in the dark (I think I made the right decision) left work early. In town, roads were HORRIBLE. On the interstate - not too shabby. Visibility was the definite issue with the 40 mph winds. (see below)


I do not condone taking pictures of the snow blowing across the interstate while you are trying to drive. But I did take this picture yesterday on my way home from work. You're welcome.


Once I got the girls & went home we were in for the night. Which meant, I skipped my FAVORITE night of the entire week - Thursday Night Bowling with mah BFF Haley.

Here is a vital part of this story. When I arrived home with groceries & children, Jarrett was home already. Our driveway was one ginormous snowdrift. He says, just park here - here being in the yard beside the driveway. I'm like, ok. Assuming this was short term & he would be shoveling or getting tractor out to plow out the drive later. Well, that never happened.

Important note, I don't blame Jarrett for the snow, or drifting, or inability to park in the driveway. We both equally hate winter weather.

The weather did not improve over night. Jarrett leaves for work no problem. We heard the snowplow come down our road around 6:00 am. Jar tells me, it looks pretty decent out now. And, happily reported that there was no drift behind the car so I shouldn't have a problem getting out. I'm thinking, sweet!

I go about my morning as normal. I get ready to go, start the car to warm up a bit. Then have the girls loaded up & ready to go at 8:00. Which is my normal time. Olivia has to be at school no later than 8:30, I have to be at work at 10:00 today - we are going to be golden. I can even get McDonald's for myself after I drop Rachel off....oh foolish foolish Natalie.

I put the car in reverse, nothing. Ok, I've played this game before, I should put it in drive & see if I can go forward a bit, nothing. Lather, rinse, repeat about 10 times. I text Jar - "ZERO traction in the yard. The egg is stuck." No answer....I'm growing more & more agitated. I get the shovel scoop what little snow is in front of & behind my wheels out. Let's try this again, nothing. I even get gravel from the driveway put it in front of & behind the wheels, nothing. I unload the girls, take them inside. I call Jar - no answer. I text Jar again rapid fire style - "I'm going to have to take your truck", "or do you have any other suggestions", "this is getting ridiculous".

I figure I will give it one last try before I fire up the diesel truck. And I had success. I about clipped my picket fence in the process. I slung mud all over the front of the house. I rutted the crap out of the front yard. And I most definitely side-swiped the bushes in front of my bedroom window. But I made it onto the road. Albeit, the opposite direction from which way I needed to go, so we looped the section because I'll be damned if I have to try & turn around on this little country road.

Our road, inevitably sucked. Drifts plowed out but still snow-covered. The drift at the end of our road is always ridiculous & it was no different this morning. You can see nothing but snow piled taller than my car. It's pretty awesome. The highway was fine. In town, a different story. It looked like nothing had been done.

way to be small town - so happy you were able to get the plows out in the am for folks travelling the roads

Olivia made it to school right at 9:00 - a half hour late, sorry. I made it to work, without McDonalds, unscathed. And I parked in a 2 hour limit parking spot, been there since 10:00, sorry.

ugh it's starting...

Welcome December

I cannot believe December is here already. Tis the season..........

Winter officially kicked off for us this weekend. We changed the house from fall/harvest to Christmas. All things shiney red, green, & silver. The tree is up & looking extra pretty this year. There is a popcorn string of garland that was painstakingly put together by myself. The girls lost interest after the popcorn was done popping. Cinnamon scented pinecones are filling the house with an overwhelming aroma. Jarrett said they were a little much, but I love them.

Last night was the small town Christmas parade! I was so excited for it. Olivia was in the parade this year with her dance class. She was a little hesitant at first, but loved it. She had to walk quite a ways. And it was fuh-reezing cold. It was a long one too, about 45 minute parade. Poor Rachey was a tired girl & fell asleep before Olivia made her way to where we were standing.

my girl walking in the parade

my girl after the parade

Santa Claus made his big arrival

other parade fun

The Winter Blues

Oh the winter blues. I feel you over-taking me. Why does February feel like the longest month when it is actually the shortest? It is sad to admit, but since football is officially over it makes this month drag on & on.

I think I speak for everyone here in central Illinois when I say, we are so over winter. This week has been a my-entire-body-hurts-and-my-lungs-burn kind of cold. Never, and I mean never, again do I want to see a "-" before a number in the forecast or on the thermometer. Negative anything is too cold, far too cold. I am ready for some relief. Thankfully, this is what our 7 day looks like.

Do my eyes deceive me? What are those numbers? What a relief that will be. It has been so long since I saw a number that began with a 4 that wasn't just 4. I am ready to get some of the 2 feet of snow melted out of my yard. I would rather have a slushy mess than frigid temps. I sincerely hope that my favorite meteorologist {Hi JC} has this right on the money ::fingers crossed::

side note: the new blog design is in hopes that I will be able to will Spring here in a few short weeks. pretty pretty please. I will be your best friend, Spring.

SNOW

20 minutes of suiting up to go outside to play in the snow. 20 minutes playing outside in the snow. I figure, it's a wash...But they had fun. And we spent the next hour inside thawing out.

As long as we were out there, I thought I'd take some pictures.

This girl loves the snow.


This girl doesn't hate the snow as much as last year.


I made them sit under the pine trees for a perfect winter picture.

Olivia is the kind of kid that can hurt you with a hug. For proof, see Rachel's face...


That's better, she loosened her grip.

Olivia went down the snowy slide about 20 times.

Rachel thought it looked like fun, that is, until she got up to the top of the ladder. Then she made a quick exit back down the ladder.

Our Winter Wonderland

Ahhhhhhh...Winter. Personally, I could take it or leave it.

But the girls, in particular Olivia, LOVE it. "Snow! It's snowing, it's snowing" - was the wake up call I recieved on Sunday. Olivia was thrilled to pieces.

Olivia: "I wanna go play, I wanna go play, I wanna go play!"

Me: "It's 6:30 am...let's wait a lil bit to let it warm up a bit."

a half hour later

Olivia: "It's later, I bet it's nice out."

Me: "ummm, I need to wake up a lil bit more."

Repeat about 4 or 5 times...

And since my boyfriend's football game got delayed due to all of the snow in the Baltimore area, we suited up & went outside.

One liked it...One didn't.

One made a perfect little snow angel...

One cried some more...

Olivia & I decorated the perpetual gingerbread house...

Rachel spent the next 2 hours walking around the house in her coat & snow pants because they were "peety" and "niiice". And upon each attempt to get her out of them she said "No, Mama. I peeety". So, what difference does it make if I let the 2 year old run around the house still fully clothed in winter gear that she played outside in for a mere 15 minutes.

...........................................................

Let's talk a minute about snow. It's pretty, it's nice to look at. I always, always, always will want a White Christmas. It's perfect, I think snow just "goes" with Christmas. However, anytime after December 25th, I don't enjoy snow. If I were staying home all the time, if it was perfect snowman/snowball snow, I would love it. However, the idea of driving in snow causes a near panic attack. It's a white knuckle ride anywhere we go.

I will say, that I cannot wait to take the girls sledding at my Grandma & Grandpa's once we get enough snow. That is always fun...no matter how old I get. There is just something about sledding that makes me feel like I am 5 years old myself. Maybe, it will be a white Christmas & we can take the kids sledding somewhere this coming weekend.

"SNOW. SNOW. SNOW. SNOW...it won't be long until we are there with SNOOOOOW." I love the movie White Christmas, by the way. It's my favorite of all time.