Tag Archives: snow

Snow day…again

Last night the meteorologist predicted that we might have up to 8 inches of snow through out the night.  Most of the snow was to be from 8-10:00pm.  It turned out that ALL of the snow was during that time.  So, in its usual Southern style, there was only .5 inches of snow on the ground this morning and most of it was really just slush.  Schools were cancelled as of last night and now they are delayed/cancelled for tomorrow.  This is due to the fact that Charlotte has only two snowplows (I am guessing) and the snow melt will freeze tonight.  If the buses can’t run then the schools all close.  Depending on what I had planned to do that day, sometimes I am excited about schools closing and other days I am not.  I wasn’t supposed to work today anyway so I would have loved for schools to be open.  I was rather looking forward to going to Bible study since it was cancelled last week due to ice.

We woke up bright and early this morning and were out in the yard by 9:00am.  The kids played with Ella across the street and then her dad, Erik, came out and had a snowball fight with Wilson. Erik is a big kid and is great at giving Wilson another boy to play with since the girls aren’t into snowball fights.  Because we only need gloves once a year, we don’t have the proper equipment for playing in the snow.  No one had waterproof gloves on (only padded cotton ones) which meant that the throwing of snow only lasted a few minutes before everyones hands were wet and frozen.  I am vowing to go find some gloves on clearance so that we will have them for next year.   Here are wilson and Erik…..

Wilson and I threw a few at each other as well.  Of course, I went to take a picture and he threw one right at me with perfect precision.  Can you see it coming at me?  Hit me square in the chest.  Nice one, Son.

My shadow for the day.  Adorable, but overly persistent….

In the end, Miller got tired of the snow and we went back to doing what we do everyday that we are home together and outside…..play baseball.

As you can see, the day started off well, but as it wore on I grew tired and cranky.  Miller did not leave my side all day.  I love him to death, but it is difficult to have someone at your side constantly throughout the day.  By 3:30 I was yelling at him to get his shoes on so that we could take Faith to gymnastics.  I think I yelled at everyone.  Thankfully, no one said a word during the ride to gymnastics.  I think that they knew better than to speak.  This was the perfect time for me to sit by myself, enjoy the quiet and to reset.

The rest of the night went well.  I had a crockpot meal ready when we returned home.  It was delicious and super easy.  It was Chicken and Wild Rice Soup.  I don’t typically like mushrooms but it was very good.  And the best part was that all three kids ate it.  A miracle!  It is from my new favorite website:  100 Days of Real Food.   https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2014/04/04/recipe-chicken-wild-rice-slow-cooker-soup/

Looks like we will all be home together again tomorrow.  I think it will be the perfect day to go to the YMCA to either workout or just sit around by myself.  We may even drive by some houses that I found on Zillow that look very interesting.  :)

Snow day

Here in the south we only get one, maybe two, snow days each year. Half of those snow days are not for actual snow but for what is called a “wintery mix”. Last night we received a half inch of wintery mix precipitation – mainly ice. When we woke this morning things were a little whiter but were as hard as a rock. It didn’t matter to the kids what had fallen from the sky, just as long as they could bundle up and play in it. Of course this dusting of ice and snow caused all schools to be closed today and they will be closed tomorrow because it will all refreeze tonight. Here is what the front yard looked like….

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There was enough for Miller to throw ice dust at me and for Faith and Ella to sled from one house to another on the ice….

(null) I have a video of the sledding on Facebook that I need to bring over to the blog. The sledding actually worked really well. I just had to make sure that the sled didn’t take a turn and head down the road where it would have picked up speed quickly. I told the girls that if the sled wouldn’t stop to “roll off” of it onto the hard, icy ground. Thank goodness we have a lot of bushes in front of the house because that is how they stopped the sleds. Ice doesn’t easily allow for slowing down or stopping. The girls played outside all most all day. It was fabulous. We only get snow once a year so this is all very exciting!

By 2:00 pm I was tired of being at the house. The kids were begging me to take them to Monkey Joes and I needed to go to the Post Office so I loaded everyone into the car and drove around town. The sun had warmed up the roads and it really wasn’t all that bad to begin with. Of course Monkey Joes was closed due to bad weather so I took the kids to the next best thing that I could think of: McDonalds for ice cream and the Playland. Here are my three plus Ella eating sundaes…

(null). We spent a fair amount of time at McDonalds eating ice cream and creating an obstacle course for them to run while to time them on it. It was a nice break.

I have already received news that we are off again tomorrow. :). Faith has off this whole week from school anyway so it is kind of fun that we are all at home with her. It has made for a nice “stay-cation”. Who knows what we will come up with to do tomorrow.

Snow and Sledding Fun

We have had snow on the ground since Tuesday.  As I posted my last blog post on Wednesday morning at Bruegger’s, the snow was coming down and it really started to stick while I was there.  My dad called me at 10:00am and said, “You need to come get your kids NOW.”  I jumped in the car and drove over there to get them.  He was right.  The snow was really coming down and it was making everything very slick.  I got the kids and tried to drive home, but they had already closed the bottom of hill on Sardis Road – the way I needed to go.  Thank goodness for GPS!  I wiggled through a neighborhood and made it to another road that could get me home.  Of course, in order to get to the house I had to go up a pretty big hill in our neighborhood. I didn’t make it up on the first try, but I made it on the second.  Needless to say, we didn’t go anywhere else until Friday morning.

The snow was beautiful.  It snowed nonstop for over 24 hours.  This rarely happens in Charlotte.  The kids and I played outside with Abigail, Erik, and Ella from across the street numerous times throughout the days.  The kids rolled around in the snow, threw snowballs, walked around in the woods out back, and just played in the street.  It was so peaceful and safe feeling.  Everything was white, there were no cars driving by, no fear of strangers snatching the kids….it was quiet and safe.  I loved it!  I wish it were like that all of the time.

On Thursday afternoon the sun finally came out around 3:00pm and immediately the snow on the trees began to melt.  It sounded like it was raining.  We decided that this would be the perfect time to try to go sledding in the backyard.  Tom found some boogie boards in the shed that could double as sleds and we all went to find a suitable hill.  We practiced on a small hill and then realized that the backyard would be perfect.  We loved it!  Even Miller got in on the action!  We would sit on the boogie board, sled down the hill and end with a jump off of a fallen tree.  Lots of fun!!  Here is the video to prove it:

The next day some friends invited us to go sledding with them at the Siskey YMCA.  The snow had stopped and people were beginning to venture out of their homes.  I decided that it was time for us to do the same.  I am so glad that we did.  We had so much fun sledding.  The hill was a big and fast one.  We brought our boogie boards while our friends had two disks to go down on.  Me and the kids were there for over two hours.  We borrowed a two man sled from another girl and the kids were able to go down by themselves.  Sidney and her two kids found us and sled for a while as well.  It was so refreshing to be able to do something so fun together as a family.  I can’t wait for it to snow again so that we can sled!

Here are two videos that Adam Berke took of all of us:

 

 

 

 

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Snowing…

It has been the craziest winter so far.  We have had record low temperatures which have caused schools to either close or have a delayed start.  It has already snowed once which caused schools to be closed for a day and a half.  It snowed again yesterday, schools are closed today, and it is supposed to continue snowing for the rest of the day.  Right now I am at Bruegger’s Bagels enjoying a coffee, catching up on things, and am enjoying watching the snow come down.  It is snowing now, but later on in the day it is predicted to ice.  Here in NC, ice is not uncommon.  The only problem with ice is that if there is too much of it, the power will go out.  Yuck!  We are praying that this doesn’t happen.

The snow is beautiful!  Everything looks so pure and clean.  It is quiet.  I love it when it snows.  When it used to snow at night in Frisco, Colorado I would walk down the middle of the road and enjoy the quiet.  There were no cars on the road and the snow would fall in silence.  It was just me and the snow.  I loved that feeling.  Charlotte is much busier than Frisco, but it still takes me back.

Yesterday the kids enjoyed playing in the snow.  Miller just walked around in it while dragging his feet.  He and I would laugh because it was all over our heads and on our clothes.  Later on, Faith and Wilson went out in the yard and into the woods to play.  Today they are at mom’s for the morning and are out in the yard playing with Gabriel and Shepherd.  It is going to be a fun couple of days!

Miller and I were at the library when it really started to come down….

 

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My silly Wilson was outside in his bathing suit, sneakers, hat and gloves.  He was throwing snowballs at the glass.

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Little Miller on the library lawn enjoying the snow…

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Charlotte Weather

You never know what kind of weather to expect in Charlotte.  I guess you can rely on the fact that it can fluctuate more than 30 degrees from one day to the next.  We will have a high of 35 on Sunday, 65 on Monday, and then it will snow on Tuesday.  We used to have a saying in Colorado:  “If you don’t like the weather then just wait ten minutes.”  We should have that saying in Charlotte except change it to: “If you don’t like the weather then just wait twelve hours.”  We were literally playing outside without jackets on Monday afternoon.  By noon on Tuesday, schools were closing early and preparing for it to snow.  It finally did snow around 6:00pm Tuesday night, but it only snowed maybe an inch.  Southerners have no idea what to do in the snow.  Schools were closed on Wednesday and the public schools are closed again on Thursday even though most of the snow is gone.  There are a few icy spots in the neighborhoods, but that is it.  I guess if the buses can’t make it everywhere then the schools have to close.  This only happens once a year so I guess a few snow days can’t hurt.

The amazing thing that has happened this year is that there have been three days when the schools have either closed or had a two hour delay due to extremely cold temperatures. Once again, they are looking out for the kids that have to wait outside for the bus.  It has gotten down to 10 degrees at night and in the early morning.  This is nothing for those up north, but us southerners are not used to it.  I have gotten some unexpected days off from school which has been nice, but now it is time to get on with the regular schedule.

I am just glad that the kids finally got to play in a little bit of snow.  They went out into the yard once today to make snow angels and throw snowballs.  There wasn’t much to work with, but they tried!  (and yes, Miller only has on socks and fleece lined Crocs.  He insisted)

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It Snowed!

It finally snowed in Charlotte! After two years of waiting patiently, it snowed about an inch in thirty minutes. It was enough for the kids to play in, throw some snowballs, and make everything look beautifully white.

Faith and I were out shopping and getting her a haircut. We parked at one end of the parking lot, put her name in at the hair place, and walked to the other end to shop. During this walk I saw some very dark and ominous looking clouds heading our way. By the time we left the store it was a total blizzard outside. I had to carry Faith, carry the groceries, and walk as fast as I could to the car, which was about 100 yards away. She and I laughed so hard at ourselves. The wind was whipping, snow was getting us soaked and we continued to laugh and walk. It was great!

Here are Faith and I after her haircut with snow in our hair.

 

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We threw snowballs in the front yard and drank the milk shakes that Faith and I brought home as a surprise….milkshakes during a snow storm….I know, unusual. Wilson was too young to even remember the last time it snowed.

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Faith’s new, shorter haircut.  After much complaining about how it hurt to brush her hair, she decided that cutting it was the best solution.  Her hair is so curly that it was nearly impossible to brush out in the morning.  A very mature decision!

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