Snow Day 2013!

Yesterday started off pretty blah. It was cold and rainy, and neither Jameson or I had any motivation to get doing. But, Jameson had school and I had to buy groceries, so we pushed on and got up and out. I dropped Jameson off at school and headed straight to buy groceries before the rush of people came in to buy their milk and bread for the predicted "snow storm". I managed to make it through the produce and meat sections and then I got a call from the school. Jameson and some other kids fell while running during P.E., and Jameson took a knee to the groin/lower abdomen. The nurse asked if I could come to the school and bring him "something for the pain." 

So, I rushed through check-out (without most of of my grocery list)and headed to the school. Of course once I'm there, Jameson wasn't thrilled with me just giving him some Motrin and leaving without him. He gave me the sad puppy-eye look, and of course, being the huge sucker that I am, went ahead and checked him out. Who doesn't need a mental health day every once in a while? 

We went home, Jameson did homework and studied for Friday's tests, and then rested on the couch. The funny thing was, within about 15 minutes of getting home, the school called and said they were being dismissed at 11:30 due to bad weather. If he could have just held out for a couple more hours, he would have been home anyway. Oh well, live and learn, I guess. 

We anxiously awaited the snow.  Every newscast was filled with tons of photos taken by people in West Alabama, who were already covered in  snow.  We were all going crazy waiting on those first few snowflakes! 

Chelsea was with my Mama, and they were as excited as we were.  We called back and forth all day long.  Around 12:00, we started to get our first flakes!  Jameson was so excited!  We called Mama and Chelsea and they were mad that they hadn't gotten any yet...which was weird because they live on the mountain and usually get snow before any of us do. 

So, from then until around 5:00 or so, it snowed and snowed and snowed!  The ground was warm, so initially most of it melted, but pretty soon, the snow started to stick!  Jameson decided his "pride" wasn't hurting any more and ran out to play.

I don't know if you can see it or not, but Jameson and Spencer are in Spencer's yard already playing.

 

Poor deer...he always gets stuck out in the snow.

 The snow was pretty light for a while, but then the heavier snow started moving in!

I couldn't believe how fast the snow started to stack up!

 

The grill is getting covered!

By this time, the boys were freezing, and came for for a little while to warm up by the fire and drink some hot chocolate.  They also had to play around and act goofy!

 Then the snow started to come down really hard.  The flakes were HUGE and so wet!  It was SO beautiful to watch!

For some reason, the boys thought Mr. Deer needed an American flag.  Don't worry, it's safely in the dry house now.  The flag, not the deer.  LOL

After a few more hours in the snow, the boys finally decided they should come inside, especially since they couldn't feel their hands anymore.  Jameson headed straight for a hot shower, and I headed out onto the front porch to enjoy another rare site around here these days....the sun!

The day may have started off "blah", but ended up being a day filled with a lot of laughter, fun, snow and SUN!  Even though it may be years from now, I can't wait until the next snow day!

You would think with snow days, I could get something done!

Currently I am enjoying day 3 of Snowmageddon 2011.  No school, no work (for me), everything around here is covered in a sheet of ice, but thankfully, we still have power (YAY Alabama Power!).  

You would think I could get something done around this place.

I've been reading Twitter feeds, and Facebook status updates where everyone is using their free time finishing projects, doing laundry, cleaning house, cleaning out closets...

Not me.

I've been LAZY!

Jameson and I did have fun trying to play in the snow yesterday, but when it's a sheet of ice, then a layer of snow, covered in a layer of ice.... it's not the ideal situation for making snowmen.  But we had fun anyway.

One day, the front of our house will be done and we WILL have landscaping!

Jameson trying, unsuccessfully, to make a snow angel.

 

Trying in a different spot.....still not working.

 Poor deer. Still hanging out in the backyard and now covered in a sheet of ice.

I swear, he ate so much ice out there. 
 

These are my rain snow boots that everyone on Facebook made fun of me about.  It hurt my feelings.  :o(

Our mailbox covered with a sheet of ice.

This ice came off the knob of the mailbox.  I thought it was so cool!

Jameson has decided that he's had enough of the ice, and doesn't want to go out and play in it again today, so it looks like another lazy day in the house!

Maybe I will go try to clean a closet!

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Oh, and as much as this PAINS me....

(Photo from the Official Auburn Tigers Facebook Fan page)

Congratulations to the Auburn Tigers, National Champions!

Way to bring that NC title back to the state of Alabama!

2 Heisman winners in a row/2 National Championships in a row for the state!

The game was definitely a nail biter until the end!

My most unusual Christmas ever!

I hope all of you had a wonderful and fantastic Christmas holiday!

I will have to say my Christmas week was my unusual one yet!

As usual, I waited until the last minute to do just about everything.  I worked for days-on-end to make sure I finished all the ornaments for my co-workers and then planned on spending the week of Christmas finishing up my decorating, buying a few last minute gifts, wrapping all the presents, baking with the kids, making treats for the family, and just spending a lot of quality time with my family and friends.

All it took was a case of the flu and strep throat to bring all of my plans to a SCREECHING HALT!

I spent all day on Wednesday and Thursday in bed, barely able to hold my head up.  I was so worried about everything that wasn't being done.  Fortunately, my hubby stepped up to the plate, and finished all my last minute shopping for me, so at least I didn't have to worry about that anymore.

Friday morning, I made myself get out of bed, shower, get dressed and fix my hair.  It took just about all the energy I had for the moment, but I was determined to do something with my kids on Christmas Eve.  I didn't want my kids to remember this Christmas as the one where mama stayed in bed all week.

I managed to get all of my craft supplies put up and actually have a clean dining room. I didn't get finished with the decorating in there, but I did already have a few things up.

Jameson painted this in art class.

  

Then it was time to let the fun begin!

The kids and I decided to bake Christmas cookies!

Since I was sick, I cheated and used store-bought dough, but we did roll it out and use cookie cutters to make gingerbread-looking men.

I let the kids have free-range when it came to using the sprinkles, which may have been a mistake....haha!

Yes, there are cookies under all that red stuff....haha

Into the oven they go!

And here is the finished result.....

Round two only went slightly better:

I definitely think I need to keep my day job.  They sure did taste* good, according to the kids.

*The flu/strep also did a number on my taste buds. As of day 5, I'm still unable to taste or smell anything.  What kind of a cruel joke is that at Christmastime?*

Anyway, after the cookies, the kids were absolutely bouncing off the walls with anticipation.  Chelsea was so excited, she literally went to bed before 7:00, just in case Santa wanted to drop by early.   We managed to get Jameson to go to bed around 8:30, but he didn't go to sleep for a while.

Once they finally went to sleep, we hurried to get the house prepared for Santa, and wrap all of the gifts.  Around midnight, after visiting with Santa for a few minutes, here is what everything looked like:

Early the next morning, the kids woke up bright and early, and decided to separate all their gifts and shake and squish every one of them before they decided to let mom and dad in on the fun.

This is Jameson's "fake passing-out" because he's so happy....

You think he's happy with his Lego's?

Dad helping Chelsea with her iPad.

This is what I saw the rest of the morning....the back of Jameson's head where he was playing with his Playstation 3, and Chelsea walking back and forth through the living room, looking at all her stuff.

While they were playing with their gifts, something happened that has never happened in the recorded history of Alabama....

IT STARTED TO SNOW!

And it snowed, and snowed, and snowed.....

ALL.DAY.LONG!

The snowflakes were HUGE, unlike anything I've ever seen!

Don't fear, that's not a live deer....it's a shooting dummy that collapsed under the weight of the "blizzard"  HAHA!

We were all so excited!

Marty and the kid's went to see Marty's family, and left me here to get some much needed rest.  I hated I missed them, but I had just about done everything I could possibly do.  I was wore slap out!

Marty said they had a great time, and played in the snow out there until they were freezing and soaking wet!

Here are some pictures of the gift-opening frenzy:

When they came home, somehow, they had picked up another passenger:

Well Taylor Lautner came for a visit!  Isn't that sweet of him?  Actually, Mr. Lautner was a gift from my niece Shelby.  He's now living in Chelsea's room and scares the mess out of me every time I walk by.

Since the snow was so pretty, and because I missed them playing in the snow out at their grandmother's house, I asked them to go out on the porch and let me get a couple of pictures to remember this unheard-of Christmas Day snow.

You would have thought I had asked them to go out and roll in the snow naked or something.

Needless to say, these are the best pictures I got:

**sigh**

It's better than nothing, I guess.

So, in the grand scheme of things, I would say it was a great Christmas.  The kids had a fantastic time and said it was the best Christmas ever.

And that's all that really matters, right?