Day 5

Well, we woke up this morning to a whole 9 degrees outside. Of course, Katie was out of school again, so we had class in the Dining Room today. We reviewed sight words and math problems. After the review, I gave her a quiz. She did pretty good. I had her write two stories that I started and read her books aloud.  If you can imagine, Katie had to dress up for homeschool every morning this week.  The dress included her Minnie Mouse ears or one of her headbands. 


While we did classwork, Doug stayed busy cleaning off the driveway. It still had some ice on it. After all of Katie's studies, she was ready to release some steam. She got all coated up and outside we went. I was telling Doug yesterday how I don't ever remember seeing snow on the ground for 5 solid days. And I know I've never been out of school for a solid week like Katie because of the snow and ice. Our neighbor told me, while she was driving down the highway it reminded her of when she lived in Indiana because of all the dirty snow on the sides of the road.

Katie wanted to go for a hike outside. I grabbed the camera and outside we went on an adventure. One of our neighbors has a huge hill and Katie had a blast trying to climb up and slide down the hill. I had fun taking snow photos of my little snow bunny.






We actually reached a balmy 41 degrees this afternoon.  It was nice to see the sun out all day, instead of a peek every now and then.  The high temps with the help from the sun, a lot of ice and snow melted.  Don't get me wrong, we still have quite a bit of ice and snow for tomorrow. 

Once Doug got all the ice off of our driveway, we loaded up and went for a drive in town. We were running low on food, so we ended up at Walmart. This may sound a little dramatic, but hey it's me. Looking out the window onto all the lawns of white snow, it was beautiful.  Have you ever seen snow that's beginning to melt?  With the sun shining down, it has this diamond glisten to it.  As we were driving, it was as if God dressed the dirty, ugly, dead ground with a beautiful silk cloth.  The most delicate, expensive, white silk that you would find a bride wearing on the day of her wedding. 

Walmart was full of cabin fever survivors.  I don't think they were able to replenish their shelves because it still looked bare.  The most crowded aisles were the snacks and chips.  LOL!  Why is it when you are stranded at home, the only food items that's appealing are unhealthy?  Of course, we ran into a few people that we knew.  Millard and Peggy were there, so Katie went with them shopping.  Later, they came by the house and picked a few clothes for Katie and took her home with them.  HAHA!  I know it was a treat for Katiebug.  She took an armful of dolls and a couple of movies that she wanted to watch with her grandparents. 

We are expecting some warmer temperatures this weekend.  Rain is supposed to be coming in on Monday or Tuesday, but I'm already hearing threats of snow flurries by the end of the week.  I don't think it will be anything big. 

Four days later and I'm still at home with the kids. So many neighbors and people I know have griped and complained about being stranded at home or having all the snow. So, I won't say a word (bad) about our situation. We are just trying to make the best of it.

Katie hasn't returned to school this whole week. I let her have Monday and part of Tuesday off, playing and acting silly. Yesterday and today, I set up a classroom on our Dining Room table. We went over her sight words and I tried to help her in pronouncing her "wh" "th" "ou" and "sh" words. I've noticed in the past, she wants to sound them out individually. As you know, doing this makes the word sound nothing like it is spelled. I know it will come in time, but I'm just trying to help her in the long run. I know that Mrs. M wanted to introduce addition to the class this month. I thought it would keep Katie busy to write out a sheet full of math problems. I had her exercise how to read the problem and then figure it out by counting on her fingers. She was doing fabulous until I made my answers go past 11. Ugh! I think I have some hair left from this morning. Have you ever tried teaching your child to continue counting on their fingers past 10? I guess they figure, well I don't have any more fingers so the answer is 10. Ugh! Once I got Katie to start all over on the first hand, in order to count to 13. She got that down pat, but when it came to finding out the total. All she could see was 8 fingers in front of her face, so she would answer 8 instead of 13. I feel sorry for Mrs. M. Surely, she's got a better way of teaching a 5 year old to add past 10 than I do. Saying all this, Katie did good overall in her addition. She just has to practice. I had her read her new school books, which have harder words. Another hurdle to jump over, but she doesn't see it that way. She gets very frustrated if she gets stuck on a word.

We still have snow and ice on the ground. We are at the point where what snow the sun melts, it freezes overnight with temps in the lower to mid teens. We've got salt on our driveway, but there is still one large section of ice that stretches across our driveway. I stepped on it this morning, taking mail to the mailbox, and yeah slipped there a little bit. Thankfully, I recovered my balance and made it over to the hard icy snow. If Katie does go outside for a little bit, I remind her to stay off the sidewalk and driveway. Basically, I try to keep the kids inside. Colton's developed a cold from all of this, so I don't let him out at all.

We haven't developed cabin fever yet, but we are driving each other a little batty. Katie and I are keeping each other occupied by playing Wii. I try to do a little more effort, in hopes to keep my body moving. Katie has found a new love other than Swordplay, she has discovered Cycling. She loves it! This is good because she is jumping around and moving her arms and legs. It really wears her out and me too. I thought that if she liked cycling so well, maybe she would like boxing as well. I love boxing! Nope, I was wrong. Actually, she doesn't like being knocked out. Good Sportsmenship is another thing I have to teach Katie. She doesn't like losing to any game. When we first starting the Wii, sure I let her win. Later, I got to thinking that I might be doing the wrong thing. If she loses at a game with someone else, how would she react? Plus, I hope it challenges her to try better and harder. I've explained to her that I'm older and know how to do some things a lot better than she. She doesn't like it, but she's got to learn. I know I sound like such a bully. I hate it because I want her to win and yeah there are times where I decrease my effort, just so she might win.

Until then, I'll be here watching my chickficks and playing games. See ya!

We woke up at 15 degree weather this morning. I was so prepared to receive at call from school stating that school will be delayed for a couple of hours, but nothing. Instead, we looked like a few Eskimos getting into the vehicle this morning.  We drove by the church and the fountain out front was froze over.  Katie pointed it out to me right away. 

Katie's school has already cancelled classes for tomorrow because a big front is suppose to come through here.  This front will warm things up for the weekend. 

Show and Tell
Do you remember the hard time I had decorating the Gingerbread Haunted House this past Halloween?  No, well here's the post to remind you HERE!  I just knew it would be my last gingerbread house to decorate for many years.  It wasn't long before Katie began, "mom, when are we going to make a Gingerbread House for Christmas?"  Ugh!  I told her more than likely we won't be decorating another Gingerbread House anytime soon.  That was until I discovered this lovely already assembled and decorated Gingerbread House staring right at me as soon as I walked into the Walmart.  About a week ago, I purchased this gingerbread house for the kids for Christmas.  Katie is already wanting to know when we can take it out of it's box. 

Laura posted yesterday about how she's been deliberating on doing the Gingerbread House for Alise.  This post reminded me that I had not shared this little jewel, I found, with you.  I believe I paid $20.  It's pricey, but it is so worth keeping your wrists and fingers intact.  Decorating the last house, the icing was so thick that I had some trouble squeezing it out.  When I finished, my hands were throbbing, but it was worth a smile on my babies' faces. 



I took the kids with me to Lowes to get more supplies for my renovation project.  Katie has a hard time listening to me.  I like to blame the age she's in right now.  LOL!  I had some more paint mixed and they always dab a little on top of the lid, to show you what color you're buying.  I just got through telling Katie not to touch the paint because it might be still wet.  Well, I turned around and she was looking at her finger.  Yep, it had paint on it.  {sigh!}  It looked like she wiped her finger on her pants, but I couldn't find any paint on her clothes.  Ugh!  I finally asked her the big question, "will you finally listen to me when you're married with children of your own?"  Do you know what she asked me?  "Will I be married to Miles?" she asked.  Then she began giggling.  I asked her if she really wanted to marry Miles.  "YEP!" she responded without a second thought.  Little girls, little girls are something else.  All I could do was giggle.  Of course, she added "but I will marry Miles after I graduate from college.  Right mom?"  I'm so glad she's thinking ahead.  Surprised because the last time we talked she didn't want to go to college, instead she wanted to become a mom.  I asked her what made her change her mind about going to college.  She said she needs to go that she wanted to become a ballet teacher.  Sounded good to my ears and her daddy's when I told him the story.

Project Kitchen/Living Room Remodeling
I'm on my 3rd week of remodeling.  The cabinets are finished, as I posted before.  The rest of the walls are coming right along.  I'll try to post a few pictures this weekend.  We'll have to stop painting and remodeling by Saturday because I've got to get to decorating for Christmas.  I do have the Kitchen and hallway painting finished, except for the lime wash and above the cabinets.  I started on the Living Room painting today.  Doug is planning to stay home Thursday and help me finish up.  Roller painting goes much quicker than brush painting, but I have to do some puttying and priming.  Let's not forget that I can't paint while Colton is here.  I am able to paint and do little things during his nap time, so that helps.  Millard and Peggy have been complete angels picking Colton up twice a week for the day.  Bottomline, things are coming together (slowly) and we couldn't be more pleased.  Katie told me today that it's like coming into a different house. 

Nashville Tragic Flooding
Now that the flood waters are receding and bodies are being discovered, reports are 17 people have died due to the flash flooding in Tennessee alone. A total of 30 deaths have been reported out of three states (KY, TN & MS). This is so awful to hear and to see the pictures makes you go numb. Those poor people! I just want to give them a hug and let them know that it will be alright. God is in control and this happened for a reason. We may not understand it fully, but it happened and we must accept the fact that it was in God's time.

Opryland Hotel reported they received $75 million in damages and will be closed for 3 to 6 months for repairs. I didn't post the picture, but I saw where the Titan's stadium was under water as well (not completely). It's reported, the storm dumped rain on Tennessee more than a foot from Saturday to Sunday, causing the rapidly rising flood waters in the middle of the night. Please keep these people in your prayers. I know they would appreciate it.

Colton's Teething AGAIN!
Okay, I've survived the molars coming through and now we have the canine teeth to make their appearance. Ugh! Poor baby was miserable yesterday, had a very tough time resting last night and had another rough day today. During prayer time, Katie remembered we were supposed to go to ballet today. She thought I forgot, but I had to explain to her about Colton not feeling well and running a slight fever. Please remember him in your prayers because he is just miserable and when your miserable, you don't feel like doing anything but laying around. I did get him to eat a little more today than yesterday, so that's good news.

Katie's Fright
Poor Katie had her first real fright today. I had her working in her workbook, while I went out to the storage building to air out some of the boxes full of clothes. I knew some of my clothes got a few sprinkles of rain on them from Saturday and wanted to make sure they dried completely before being stored away. I told Katie where I was going, if she needed me and that I would be right back. Apparently, he forgot or wasn't REALLY listening to me. A lady drove up and scared her to death. Bless her heart, she said she didn't know where I was and didn't know what to do. No matter how much you drill your kids, they really don't know the importance until it happens. She sort of forgot the rules, but I won't go into that. She came into the storage building with me and I knew right off the bat something was wrong. I guess she figured she would get into trouble. Once I got her settled down, she had been crying, she told me what happened. She described the lady to a "T", she even told me what her car looked like. I walked swiftly to the front of the house, but she had already left. Katie kept saying she was sorry because she forgot what to do. So, we went back over our rules. In a way, I'm glad she got a little scare. I know that sounds harse, but I'd rather her be scared of a small incedent like today than something very serious. I reviewed our rules and talks about people we don't know and what we are suppose to do. I drilled her a few times before I felt confident she knows what to do next time.

The lady came back later today. I remember her from the yard sale on Saturday. She wanted to know if I sold my Disney Crocs. I'm sorry, but this is Tuesday. The yard sale was on Saturday. Why would you even think that the shoes you should have gotten would still be available? By the way, Katie was correct on the I.D. After the lady left, Katie (all big eyed) was jumping up and down saying "that's her mom. What does she want? She doesn't want me, does she?"

Katie Reads Her First Book
While Colton was trying to get some rest, Katie and I sat down with her book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" by Eric Carle. The first time she read it, I helped her a little (to get started). She pretty much memorized the book from the many many times I've read it to her. When she got the words correct, I made a very big deal about it. I guess it gave her confidence to read it again. This time, she told me she didn't need any help. If I corrected her or tried helping her, she'd get mad at me and tell me again that she could do it. I told her "I have no doubt that she could do it, but ya got to get the words correct." There were times where she wouldn't even look at the words. Memory! Oh well, I was told that is how they get started. She said she would read it every day, so we'll see. I've probably mentioned this before, but I'm planning on getting her the "BOB" books. I went to Books-a-Million the other day and they wanted $16.99 for "My first BOB books" set. Online at the same store, I could get it for $11.99. Go figure! Walmart sells the sets online as well, but I couldn't find them in the store. I looked both in the toy department, where they keep the books, and the book section. NOTHING! Walmart sells the sets for $11. So, I guess I'm buying them online.

Mother's Day Weekend
We are planning on having a Country Boil on Sunday for our mothers, Peggy and Jerry. We figure, we better get our fill of shrimp while we can right now. Shrimp prices are going to start getting higher and higher. In our boil, we like shrimp, sausage, potatoes and corn on the cob. (Yum, yum!) Not only will we be celebrating Mother's Day, but Doug and Jon will be another year older on the 12th of May. Doug-42 and Jon-16! I'm sure Doug appreciates me posting his age. Woo Hoo! Susan wants to try a new recipe for "Hershey's Chocolate Cake" and a sugar free dessert for Jon. I love chocolate, so I can't wait to try it.

So, what are your mother's day plans this weekend? I'd love to hear.

Susan Shout Out
I have to congratulate my big sister, Susan, for being inducted in the Winston County Schools Hall of Fame for her outstanding athletic ability. I remember in the day, she was very good in basketball. Now, she is being honored for her success. Love you Sue and I'm very proud of you!

The snow continues to come down.  If I had to guess, I would say that we got close to an inch and a half. 



It's a very wet and messy snow. 







Our neighbor tried getting out for a brief moment.
Most everything is covered here.




The snow is so heavy, it's weighing down our pine tree.

Here are a few pictures of the snow, we receive this morning. The temperature wants to stay around 34-35 degrees. It's a very wet snow this time.
The snow continues to come down in big flakes and heavy from time to time. According to Mickey F., Meteorologist, he predicts it will snow most of the day. The temperatures are suppose to rise up into the 40s, so the white stuff won't last very long.  Maybe this will be our Winter finale and allow the rest of the month be more Spring like weather.  Meteorologist are already predicting the upper 60s here for next weekend.  And people wonder why there is so much sickness?  LOL! 

I just can't come up with that perfect title today because so much went on today. First, I've got to ask you. What will a woman suffering from severe cabin fever do on a snowy day? She gets out on the snowy roads, while it's nice and wet in 29 degree weather. LOL!

For the past couple of days, we were forecasted to receive a dusting to 1 inch of snow. They said the snow would begin at 4 AM this morning. How disappointed I was to wake up at 6 AM to no snow. About an hour later, it made it's appearance but not too hard. By 9:30 AM, the snow was here and let everyone know it.