The Blog About A Blizzard

Once upon a time there was this snow storm that dumped an insane amount of snow on NW Oklahoma and left us snowed in to spend an insane amount of quality family time together until we all came close to going insane. Did I mention the blizzard was insane? It was the best of times....it was the worst of times. ;) Let me tell you 'bout it.......

Sunday afternoon was spent preparing for the possibility of being cooped up under our roof for a couple of days. I read post after post on Facebook about how awful the Walmart crowd was so Hal and I waited around a bit before trying United instead. The lines weren't bad at all and we got in and out pretty quickly. Lil Red organized the coffee carousel ...the most important item we bought while shopping....well important to a certain dad that we know. If he had been without coffee for two days we probably would've thrown him out in the blizzard......

She took this job "vewy sewiouswy" 

Another job she takes seriously???? Detective!!!

Anytime I mention that I can't find something, whether it be a toy, book, piece of clothing, etc, she is on the prowl with her new magnifying glass ready to hunt it down....

Inspector Hal at your service

We went to bed Sunday evening knowing that we wouldn't be going anywhere on Monday. The thought was rather amazing. And so was this view from above sweetie pie's bed.....

More than a week has passed since this big storm which means that my mind is filled with many other things so I will do my best to recall those days. So Monday morning rolled around and we woke up to plenty of snow already on the ground. At that point I could've easily left for work and navigated in town without an awful lot of difficulty. However...and that's a big however....the weathermen were giving Woodward a clear warning to stay inside and off the roads. The real snow hadn't even begun yet. It was about to get ugly. Well, actually in reality it was quite pretty to watch the copious amounts of fluffy white stuff fall from the sky....well, unless you were out in it. Speaking of people out in it....Riley was one of those people. Despite my pleas for him to stay home with us for pancakes and a lazy morning he went into work for a few hours until all of his clinics were officially closed. I was just the slightest bit paranoid that he was going to get stuck up at the hospital in my car based on what I was seeing out the window.....

Here's a picture that depicts exactly how I envisioned spending the snow day indoors.....

Emmi's got the right idea.....

"If you aren't napping with me then leave me alone..."

And this is what really happened.....

Wallpaper city!

And here's a picture of my slavedriver in action....

Granted I'm very thankful to have such an enthusiastic and hardworking husband to keep me on track with home improvement projects, although I do treasure down time quite a bit. So when he suggested (no wait, more like insisted) that we jump right into wallpaper removal that afternoon I was none too thrilled. Do ya blame me?!?! There I was dreaming of blogging, watching movies, snuggling on the couch with Hal and possibly eating cookies all day.....and before I knew it I was ruining my new nail job by picking off layers of decades old wallpaper using our steamer. I love the man....I love the man....but geez he's got way too much energy for me sometimes. By the end of the day we had removed every last bit of ugly paper and we were ready to prep the walls for texture. Go Team Bathroom Remodel!!!

All of that fun stuff happened during Hal's nap. So that left the morning and the afternoon after she woke up to fill with fun memories. But before I jump into our activities, let's check up on the snow at this point....

Where's the driveway?

Hal spotted this squirrel on the fence and was worried about him staying warm

Making breakfast is something I really love to do. Monday presented a great opportunity to make a fun meal for Lil Red. She adored her Mickey Mouse pancakes....

Covered in syrup and not a Mickey ear left, she had a quick pj change and wasn't through with breakfast just quite yet. So strawberries and Capri Sun it was....

To avoid getting early onset cabin fever I sorted through the craft closet for a project that Hallie would enjoy. Paint, ribbon and a blank canvas left us with endless possibilities....

My Picasso painted her little heart out after watching and waiting patiently as I hot glued the ribbon around the edge of her canvas....

She had painted for roughly two seconds before she decided that ribbon and a glue gun were more her speed. The glue gun disappeared much to her dismay and she was left pouting while measuring her ribbon....

She requested more and more colors as she painted along. The creativity was flowing and her brush strokes were flawless. ;) The end result was nothing short of spectacular.....

As she was posing with her painting I guess the urge to drop the wet work of art on the rug was too much for her to handle so she let it faceplant and then gasped in surprise....

The painting fared well....the rug, not so much. She helped me decide where to hang the work of art. It is now hanging on the wall above the couch in her playroom. She reminds me that it's hanging there everytime we walk in the room. 

We made snow ice cream late that afternoon.....

She helped me do the gathering....

And she even did some picture taking while I stirred....

Check it out! Pink! Yep, that's right. White just wouldn't do.....

She had the entire bowl to herself. I wasn't much a fan of the almond extract flavoring we were forced to use since I had run out of vanilla. Someone didn't mind at all though......

I think it's also very important to mention that we stayed in our pajamas ALL. DAY. LONG. 

This clearly made us very happy....

Later that afternoon we realized that it would be a couple of days before we went anywhere. The snow drifts were already almost knee deep.....

Oh yeah, and I can't forget to mention that we built a little fort and talked about all of the people we would allow in our secret place....

We ended the night on the couch reading a pile of books in our third set of pjs....

The snow continued to fall until late that night. Our power flickered at least a dozen times but came right back on every time. We were prepared with food, water and light in the case that it went out but I can't express how thankful I was that we didn't have to go without....mainly because I couldn't imagine the nightmare we would've had putting Hallie to bed without her lamp on. Even with power we still ran into some bedtime woes. Apparently the thought of snow outside her window scared the bejeesus out of her. The mean ol' snow blew and blew and blew until our yard looked like this the next morning....

Sunshine was gladly welcomed come Tuesday. The gray skies were gone and the sun was shining bright. Well actually it was hard to tell if the sun was actually that bright or if it was the blinding white snow everywhere we looked. Our fourth snow day in less than a week was a dandy. The three of us had loads of fun as we bundled up and trekked outside to explore the winter wonderland. A perfect blanket of snow covered every inch of EVERYTHING. For the day, life completely stopped. Well, I guess I should be more specific. The life outside of our little family came to a screeching halt and we were blessed to spend a day making memories together. I was a bad momma (shame on me) and I still hadn't picked up proper snow gear for Hallie. She didn't seem to mind at all when I layered her up with tights, jeans and sweat pants. Well, okay, maybe she minded a bit when she got off the bed to try and walk. She had a little hitch in her get along due to all of the layers. Once we got outside she forgot about her wardrobe......

Riley picked her up and plopped her down in the knee deep snow. Who would've thought that this would be the BEST. GAME. EVER?!?! She plopped and plopped and plopped all over until there were several Hallie shaped holes in the snow.....

The street looked like a war zone with big ruts where a few trucks had driven through. Hal had to scope out the situation....

The powder was perfect and beautiful and so abundant it was almost overwhelming. So what to do with all of the snow?!?!?!

Eat it of course!!!!

Throw snowballs at dad!!!!

Packing it just right

Make snow angels!!!

Here are a few blizzard-y shots from around the street.....

My car was trapped in the garage. Ask me how concerned I was about this....;)

Not going anywhere and loving it!!!

We lost quite a few bushes and had some damage to trees around the house due to the weight of the snow....

Riley decided to dig out and see if he could make his way around the neighborhood....

The doggies were pansies and only took little dainty steps on the outskirts of the snow. Notice their footprints where they did their business on the concrete....

Love this picture of the bird bath 

Hal's playhouse survived but I'd say she had a pretty major snow drift to deal with at the front door ;)

Once we were back inside where it was warm and toasty, I made a big breakfast for the fam and Hallie was a pal and picked up some last minute items I needed at the grocery store.....

Low key is the type of day we had. Lots of Ring around the Rosie, more than my fair share of laps around the couch playing chase, plenty of tickles and giggles and some much needed sitting. Oh how I do love sitting. Did I mention how much better sitting is than shoveling snow??? This is why I'm oh so thankful for our friends, the Vaps, for graciously coming to our rescue with the Skid Steer.....

Jesse and Austin cleared out our driveway in a matter of minutes while Sarah and I stood nearby and watched. Riley gave a big thumbs up once it was cleared. I forget to mention that he had spent two hours that afternoon shoveling snow at his clinics to prepare for the next work day. I am pretty sure shoveling our entire drive have taken three whole days.....

Later that day after Hallie's nap we had the pleasure of spending the evening with Jai and Ryan. I made a BBQ chicken pizza and Jai brought some yummy cookies. 

We ate, we talked, we laughed. Hal used Jai as a jungle gym until it was clear that she needed a bath and bed ASAP. All of those days at home had left her even more spoiled than she was to begin with and in need of structure again. Because Lord knows that we didn't have any structure during blizzard days. I really, really, really, really, really love snow days.....BUT.....BUT....BUT....there's always a price to pay while playing catchup with work. The pretty white snow had turned to dingy brown piles of mess in the way. Speaking of dingy brown piles of snow, there is still one in front of our mailbox a week and a half later that just won't melt. Over the next week as I made my way through huge ruts on the dirt roads to my patients' houses slipping and sliding in the mud I kept repeating "Praise God for the rain....this moisture is good....this is not annoying in any way....I so love blizzards." 

I do love blizzards. I just love them from my couch. ;)