First Snow!

All he's asked for for Christmas are 3 things:

1. A swimming pool
2. A Labrador Retriever
3. Snow

Needless to say, we've been praying for snow!

One morning this week, my Facebook newsfeed was all a-buzz that there was, of all things, right here in Texas on the second day of December... SNOW! My daughter texted me from two towns away, where my husband was taking her to a class. "Tell Minte there was snow coming down while we were driving on the highway!" So, I told him, even though there was no trace of snow at our house yet.

And so he took up his watch:

And waited...

...and waited

...and waited.


If you've lived in Ethiopia for the first 10 years of your life, there's been no chance that you've seen snow. If you've been transplanted "deep in the heart of Texas" your chances have not gotten much better! So, if you're going to see it, you have to watch for it. Which he did, for a long time!

Finally... some snow!

If you look reeeeallly hard in the picture behind him you can see a few wet flakes coming down, which melted promptly upon impact. But, that counted. His official first snow!

I know, I know... it's hard to see.

Almost as hard to see as the sandals he's wearing. LOL

Is it SO wrong...

to be HOME?

So far this weekend:

I have gone through the kids' schoolwork, grading and filing papers...
Bethany and I have curled up and watched our favorite HGTV shows together...
Luke and the kids have made homemade pizzas...
Luke and Kyle have had a Mancala tournament...
Kyle has built all kinds of configurations with the Marbleworks game...
Bethany has cleaned out her dresser and her desk...
We've read whatever books we're into...
I've worked on our school plans for next week...
Luke's been touching up paint around the house...
and
we've generally enjoyed one another's company. Alot.

And you know what? I've felt guilty the whole time! As Linda pointed out yesterday in her comment, sometimes these "weather events" turn out to be "not so much." Well, it's been insanely cold, and awfully gray and rainy (sometimes even thunderstormy)... but not frozen. We could've gone to _______(fill in the blank with whatever activity we either chose not to attend or which was canceled.) I feel guilty because we could've gone. It was physically possible to get there. We aren't socked in by ice. But you know what? I'm glad we've been home! If the threat of winter weather is what has to happen to get us to all s-l-o-w down and stay home for 48 hours, then I'm glad it was on the radar. We had an Awana event this past Tuesday (which over 370 people attended) so it's okay if everyone stays home tonight to watch the NFL playoffs enjoy family time. Right? Besides, the sore throat and general ickiness that's been passed around lately has landed on me at the moment, and I feel ooky.

So, I'm hoping this feeling of guilt which tells me that we could've or even should've been elsewhere this weekend goes away, and it can take my sore throat with it. Whether it freezes later or not is still up in the air (!) but I'm enjoying being at home in my comfy sweater and fleecy houseshoes.

And if that's wrong, I don't wanna be right!

Frozen in Time

Like most families, we head into the weekend each Friday with a fair amount of plans and obligations ahead of us. We look forward to it, of course, but nonetheless our weekends usually involve running from here to there. Well, this weekend in our area of the state, three little words have brought that to a screeching sliding halt: "Winter Storm Warning."

My sweet nephew, Thomas, had his birthday party this morning. Being the weather wimps we are, and given that they live an hour + away, in the direction of the "arctic blast," we chose to stay home.

I just wanted to say a quick, "Happy Birthday Thomas!" Thanks for singing "The B-I-B-L-E" to me on the phone this week. You made my heart melt! After the Great Thaw, following the Big Freeze, we'll come see you and bring you your birthday present. Aunt Cyndi loves you!!

It just makes good sense to stay home today. The roads between here and there are frot with danger. Of course, they're not icy yet, but they will be. And if that knowledge isn't disturbing enough, the rain itself, which we hardly see around here, can be pretty distracting to drivers. Although the bridges and overpasses are clear of ice at this moment, they are not clear of the news reporters who have stationed themselves along the highways. So, of course, we must be careful...

We also canceled Awana for tomorrow night. Anytime you try to coordinate 500+ people, its best to make decisions sooner rather than later. Since yesterday we were able to send a mass email out from the church office and maximize the time needed to spread the word, we called it yesterday. So, I feel like I have just been given T-I-M-E this weekend!

So what am I doing with it? (Besides blogging about it?) Folding laundry. Grading the kids' work from this week (and majorly having a "teacher work day.") Staying hopped-up on pseudo-Sudafed and Zicam because I'm not feeling 100%. Enjoying my family all being home together. Watching the news of the approaching weather. We'll see if it turns out as icy as they say, but it's definitely good stay-in-and-sip-spiced-tea weather.

Have a good Saturday! For those of you in the path of the winter weather, stay warm!