How low can we go?

I used to keep the house at 69 degrees. I was freezing. So, I bought some silky long underwear, new thick socks, and indoor crocs. I was finally warm. I looked around and saw my kids in various stages of undress all day long. What??? It's winter. BUNDLE UP!! Every day I am dropping the temp a degree until the kids are dressed like MN kids and complaining or until I can't stand it. We are at 66 degrees today. Looks like we'll be hitting 65 tomorrow. As long as I have my long underwear, it is all good.

Butter Sandwich or Bread with Butter?

Which do you prefer? A butter sandwich sounds disgusting to me, but bread with butter is palatable. Wonder why? There's no difference, right? Maybe I should be wondering why the kids love butter sandwiches.

Will we get out today?

The trucks were supposed to be plowing yesterday, but we didn't see them. I am sure you are wondering what Mark did last night. He found himself in quite a pickle. He called from work at about 5:00 to ask if we had been plowed. He didn't like the answer. I suggested he try to come home a longer way since he wouldn't make it either of the short ways. I had already seen a number of vehicles get stuck between our house and the highway. Well, he ventured out and made it as far as our neighbor's. There he met the Sheriff who was out here digging out the local police. (Note: Our police obviously are fools to be patroling our high-risk airport when we still hadn't been plowed out from the blizzard. I am sure a large number of terrorists are trying to fly in at the tail end of a blizzard.) So, feet from the neighbor's driveway, he ran into a waist-high drift. Our neighbor was in front of our house with his tractor pulling two other vehicles out of a drift, so I told Mark to stay put and wait for the tractor to get to him. He started shoveling, and he said it was surreal. While he was shoveling, he heard the coyotes howling. I think he was glad he wasn't walking home. Our neighbor found him and towed Mark the rest of the way home. Mark decided he wouldn't be returning to work until we were plowed out. This morning we woke up to someone blowing out our driveway. I don't know who it was, but whoever it was continued on down the road. I guess someone got tired of waiting for the snowplows and decided to plow out the road himself.

Foolish, foolish, foolish

The court adminstrator called this morning to report on Mark's rescheduled court hearings. While on the phone, she told me that the roads were impassable and that the sheriff recommended no county traveling today. Well, Mark thought he needed to get to work. I told the kids to watch Dad out the window becuase we would be able to see him either get stuck or go in the ditch. He started out strong and then got in a large drift about 100 yards up the road. He got himself out of the drift and tried to back up to our driveway. Well, he couldn't get here. The truck kept running into the ditch. So, the only way out was through the drift to town. He took another strong run and got through. Then, he called me to ask me to watch for the plows. Apparently he now thinks he should get home soon after the plows go through. Ya think? Here are some pics. The plows went through Sat afternoon and we haven't received much snow since. Here is our road in the opposite direction of the highway. Here is our stranded mailbox.

Here is the road to town. You can see Mark's tracks. I'm amazed he made it through.

We were plowed out...for a minute

and then Mark tried to go to town. He barely made it there, and then he barely made it home. Looks like we are still snowed in, but we did get our milk supply replenished. He said the roads will definitely be closed again within a couple hours. We did find someone to clear our driveway this morning. Here are the pics. Here are Sarah and Eli with loving their pets. Our cats are so spoiled. We even let them in the house for leftovers and water. Stinkers!!

And here is Jonah waving to his California cousins. Wish you were here to enjoy the snow!!

White Christmas!

Sorry, no pictures of the snow. We've been snowed in since Wed night, and my new camera didn't make it before Christmas. The old one is barely hanging in. I can't find any official stats on our snowfall, but we are definitely in a blizzard and we have a LOT of snow. They were thinking 20" before Sat, but I'm guessing it's more than that. The snow has been falling thickly and steadily since Wednesday. We hope to get plowed out by Monday. The kids had a good Christmas, and most of them were happy with their presents. The boys received Indian dress-up costumes, play rifles, and Playmobil knights and dragons (red set for Eli & green set for Jonah). Anna received American Girl clothing, play makeup, and two pairs of earrings. Sarah received....well....not much. And let me tell you, she noticed! After we were done opening presents Christmas morning, she realized that she had gotten the shaft. Her little face scrunched up with tears and she ran crying into the bedroom. She was so cute, and I felt so sad for her. The other kids had gotten new slippers with their pajamas Christmas Eve, and she didn't get slippers even though she loves shoes. Anna's AG doll had gotten new clothes, and Sarah didn't get a baby even though she loves babies and AG dolls. The older three had gotten their own packs of gum, and Sarah didn't even though she would love to chew gum. Every time she saw something fun, it wasn't for her. I don't blame her for crying. Here's Eli with some of his new knights and horses and the fierce red dragon. Here's Anna opening her presents Christmas morning. Jonah is in the background as well.

Here's the Christmas tree with the presents. The kids have fabric gift bags that we use every year. Each kid has their own pattern. I LOVE these bags, and they are even more special since they were made by my Aunt Ellen.

Sharing a serene moment

Now that I am almost recovered from the septic shock, I am ready to post again. Yesterday afternoon I paused and realized we were having a wonderful, serene moment. I wanted to share my moment with you. I was folding laundry while Anna and Jonah were shopkeepers in their stores. Anna's signs say, "Holiday Sale" and "100% off!" Sarah was taking a bath, and Eli was reading a book to her.

I couldn't resist taking pics of the littles mugging for the camera.

And here is another day when Sarah & Eli were counting together.

I could just cry

We live in the middle of nowhere. I know that. All the houses in this town are old, old, old. They all have issues. I know that. We knew whatever we bought would need work. So, we bought an old farmhouse and remodeled it. We bought at the upper end of the market out here, but really there isn't much choice. Lower priced properties would have needed a lot more work, so I think it all evens out in the end. When we bought we even discussed bulldozing the house down and starting from scratch. We did all the right inspections and were OK. Now yesterday we find out that our septic has to be replaced. What??? What was the point of getting a septic inspection before we bought? We specifically told the inspector that we wouldn't buy the house if the septic needed to be replaced. We certainly didn't include a new septic system in our budgeting. So, I could just cry. Just a little vent. I'll be better in a few days.

The Tooth Fairy just can't compete with St Nicholas

So she shouldn't even try. Anna lost another tooth - the 8th according to her - and she told me that the tooth fairy isn't real. Why? Well, people can't fly and magic isn't real. That's all pretty logical. Imagine her nonsurprise then when she woke up and found nothing under her pillow. Yikes!! The tooth fairy ran downstairs, grabbed some cash (you get extra when you are forgotten) and coins, found the rubber cement and glitter, decorated the coins with glitter, and stashed it all in a spot where it could be found downstairs. Whew. A few minutes later all was good again. St Nick, however, came last night right on schedule. He left markers and fruit snacks in everyone's shoes. It's quite exciting to have your own set of markers and your own box of fruit snacks. Mom never buys fruit snacks. Can you believe it?

What a sweet scene this morning

They are coloring like crazy. I just love the huge roll of paper I bought a couple years ago. I have no hesitation in letting each kid cut off a few feet and go to town. Love that our kitchen/dining room has enough room for them all too!

The temp dropped today, and we woke up to snow. I decided that we needed to have a coat rule. If the temp is under 30 degrees, then everyone has to wear a coat outside. Over 30 degrees, and only Sarah is forced to wear a coat. That doesn't seem unreasonable, right? Wonder why it doesn't seem so obvious to everyone.

Jonah is off to the high school to watch his first wrestling match. He went with a friend, so I am sure he will have a blast. He's going to start wrestling next week. This should be interesting.

Silly Sarah

Here are a couple shots of our silly little Sarah. Can you see that she pulled the stool over so she could grab the phone? Caught ya!!!

Little Sarah is struggling with some sort of virus. For the past couple weeks she has had trouble sleeping with a terrible cough. It peaked (I hope) for a few nights when she threw up every time she coughed. Now in addition to the cough and snotty nose, she is looking really homely with chicken pox type marks all over her face and neck. We were trying to wean her, but these long nights and terrible coughing fits put her squarely back to nursing during the night and early morning. I've been sleeping in the laz-y-boy with her quite a bit too. Sigh. Poor little thing (and poor mom, too).