Fourth Snow of 2011 and Other News

This is for MeMa and PopPop, since I know y'all still check my blog. :)

We had our fourth snow of the 2011 year today. It was kinda like a crazy blizzard for a while. We got about 2 inches in an hr. There were the biggest, wettest snowflakes ever and it was snowing sideways!

I, of course, had to get the kids out in the middle of the worst part to take JuJu to the doctor. She's been sick since Friday, maybe Thursday, but I didn't notice her huge tonsils with white patches on them until Friday. She's had a 102 degree temp since Friday also. Given her previous history with her tonsils, I got her to the urgent care right away on Friday night and then to her pediatrician today. The consensus seems to be that she just has a virus. She is actually better right now. I'll still keep her home from school tomorrow though. I don't want to expose her recovering immune system to any other bugs!

Anyway, the snow was crazy and so beautiful! It stuck to everything and all was white- street signs, utility poles, tree trunks, etc. The fact that we've now had four snow episodes in 2011 is crazy! AND we're supposed to get more on Wednesday! It's funny how the kids don't even freak out about it any more. It's just something now that happens once a week.

In other news, Phil's sister had baby number SEVEN today! This make grandchild number 12 on Phil's side. Yes Sarah, we are all amazed by you! :) He is so cute and looks a lot like his older brother Jacob. He is also tiny, although I don't think he looks tiny in these picture. He weighed 6 lbs and 15 oz and was 18 in long! He's gonna need some short pants. :) Congrats Sarah. Hope you don't mind me stealing your facebook picture for MeMa and PopPop!

Okay, I'm still working on Parker's first birthday post. It's almost done. And up next will be JuJu's THIRD birthday!! It's a week from tomorrow! Someone please slow this ride down!!

First Snow of 2011

We had our first snow of 2011 last Sunday night into Monday morning.



We woke up to 4-5 in of fresh, sparkling white snow! It was beautiful!





Of course, it also shut down the whole Memphis-area within a 50 mi radius.



Schools were out for 2 days here, but in some counties around us it was 3 or 4 days. Places south of here, like Atlanta and Birmingham, were out all week!



Phil was able to be home the morning of the snow, but was quickly called into work for the whole week. He first headed to Miami (we weren't jealous at all!), but was then sent into the New England Blizzard. Brrr........He finally made it home around midnight Thursday night.



But before he left, we were able to play in the snow with the kids and we all had a blast!!



We got my old sled from my parents' house on Sunday and that was a hit!



We happen to live on a hill, so we had plenty of room to pull the kids around on the sled.



And boy was that a workout!



We also made a snowman and did snow angels.




Chase stated that our snowball fight was his favorite.



I would say that eating snow was his favorite however. He constantly had a handful of snow in his mouth!



JuJu's favorite was sledding. Look at that smile!!


The night before the big snow I thought ahead and put out a bowl to catch some clean snow for us for snow cream.



Also the night it started snowing I had a lot of fun making lots of cut out snowflakes to decorate the house so the kids could be surprised when they woke up.



They loved it!

Then we had snowflake french toast with powdered sugar.

They also loved those!

And then after lunch it was snow cream time! This was the first time we have ever made it.

And yes, it was a hit as well. More so with Chase than Julianna. We still have some in the freezer and he's the only one asking for it.


Parker was sleeping for the first time we went out. We took him out later that afternoon just to get some pictures and take a walk. The sidewalks had all melted by then, but everything else was covered! The snow stuck around until Saturday, which is a long time for us.

I had to get these pictures posted because it's supposed to snow again tomorrow! Not nearly as much this time though, so we'll see.

Also.......we have a big birthday coming up that will need to be blogged about- Parker's First Birthday is Friday!!

Better Stock Up!

We are getting our first real snow of the season and it is beautiful, but of course it also sends everyone here in the South into a tizzy!

I'll get some pictures tomorrow. The snow didn't start until it was dark tonight and it's supposed to snow all night.

(I borrowed this picture from the local TV station's site)

The stores are totally out of milk and bread and yes, I was one of those people there today picking up some essentials. I probably wouldn't have but Phil is #1 to get called out for a trip and with this weather, we know that he won't be around long before his phone rings. To prevent dragging 3 kids out in this mess, I skipped church this morning and got all my errands run.

So the snow is coming down...at least 2 inches now. We are in the 3-8 in. range on the map, so we'll see what it looks like when we wake up.

The kids were totally ecstatic before they went to bed and checked out the window every chance they could get. I made sure and set a bowl out on the deck when the snow started so we could collect some fresh snow to make snow cream tomorrow.

I also spent a good part of tonight cutting out paper snowflakes and decorated the kitchen with them. I made some folded paper triangles all ready for them in the morning to make their own snowflakes.

We grabbed my old sled from my parents' house today, so we are prepared! We don't have snow boots, so hopefully rain boots will do.

Stay tuned for snow pictures tomorrow!!

A White Birthday

As Leslie said today on Facebook, Julianna is celebrating her birthday over several days, and yes, she is! I feel like every day when she wakes up we are telling her that it is her birthday. But I'm sure she doesn't mind the month long celebration.


I made 2 dozen "boo" cupcakes with "pish" on them yesterday afternoon for Julianna to take to school today. Chase and JuJu got to enjoy one each for dessert last night.


Then this morning, she got candles on banana bread muffins.


And if you think she looks too close to the candles here, she was. She burned her lip. I'm sorry baby girl! Mommy has a video of her blowing out candles on her 2nd birthday cake and burning her lip too.


Her teachers and classmates all loved the cupcakes today, and her teachers loved her outfit! I guess it's not every day that kids wear a tutu to school, lol.


We picked her up from school and headed to lunch at Panera. She was a hit there and scored free chocolate candy for her and Chase, and free big chocolate chip muffin/cookie thing for them to share as well.

We were going to take her to Dinstuhl's to get candy after lunch, but we thought she'd had enough by the time we got out of there.

Me and my sweet boy! My other sweet boy was asleep on the other side of me in the carrier. Today was the first time I had a hard time finding a table big enough for our new family of five!

Trying to get JuJu's picture in the snow. It was really coming down, but you sure can't tell. She was pretty fussy by this time, as it was nap time.

Too.much.party.

This was the scene when we got home today. It snowed like this all afternoon and was so pretty. It had already snowed all night, so there was already a blanket of snow on the ground when we woke up. I wonder how many years Julianna will get a white birthday.

We hope you had a great birthday sweet girl! We had fun celebrating, and celebrating and celebrating! You deserve it all!

Did I Mention.....

....that I don't like groundhogs! Apparently the groundhog was right this year, as we have had our second winter storm in 2 weeks, and our 3rd snowfall for the season. This is way more snow than we usually get for the year, and I hear there are 2 more chances of snow yet to come this week! Ahhh!


I definitely could not live anywhere where it snows and is this cold more than it has been here. I am so ready for spring!!


We got 5-6 in of snow with this storm, and the funny part is- it wasn't even predicted. We all woke up totally surprised to the snow on Monday morning. Don't you know that school kids were SOOO totally excited when they got up! I lived for days like that when I was in school.


Our little snowman. Sadler later destroyed it so that he could eat the carrot nose.




That's my girl, wearing her bracelet out to play in the snow. :)

Chase is in there somewhere. Not sure how he was able to see to build that snowman.

Here it is 3 days later and we are still snow covered, as temps haven't made it above freezing yet since the snow fell, but at least we have our electricity and heat this time!