Is this what they mean by a rude awakening?

Eli had been asleep for about an hour, and I heard him crying. I went into the boys' room to check on him. I found him asleep and crying while standing up on Jonah's bed with Jonah's head between his legs. Eli's pants were slightly wet and I quickly assessed that he was crying because he needed to empty his bladder. Yikes. Jonah was almost rudely awakened by Eli peeing on his head.

Always trying to come up with real work for the kids....

I think shoveling snow off the roof counts as real work, but it seems a little questionable. Jonah's already fallen off once, and he looks like he might be going head first pretty soon. That kid is crazy.

Are you smarter than a 3yo?

The temps are negative and we are snowed in. Here's what Eli is doing. Here's what Mark is doing. He's the guy with the shovel next to the truck stuck in the snow. He's crazy, but at least he provides us some entertainment and groceries.

Sky

Anna literally stopped in her tracks yesterday when she noticed our beautiful sky. Then, she ran for her notebook so she could draw the sunrise. She learned that you have to draw a sunrise quickly because they literally change before your eyes.

Our sunsets are equally breathtaking. Every morning and every night we watch out the windows and marvel at the beauty.

Epiphany

Epiphany was yesterday, and we celebrated with our 2nd annual Three King's Cake and scavenger hunt. Eli found the clues, Jonah made sure they were in numerical order, and Anna read the clues. They had fun. Sarah is such a ham. She is also very, very crafty (as in sneaky and smart).

We're snowed in again, folks

We had significant snowfall yesterday, and now we have 40mph winds. The snowplows have been pulled off the roads until the wind dies down. Yes, Mark is attempting to make it work today. We'll see if he makes it there and if he makes it back. I expect that we'll have a snowmobile for next winter. I think he would be much safer with that instead of a truck.

Here are a couple of pics. Check out the snow outside our patio door.

Here is Mark checking out the roads.

I can't take it anymore

Yesterday we were at 65 degrees, and Jonah wore shorts all day. ALL DAY. Today the temp outside didn't break into positive numbers, and our ground floor was freezing. The thermostat said it was 64 degrees downstairs, but I am positive that it was truly colder than that. The furnace couldn't keep up with the outside temps so low. I couldn't take it. The kids were fine, but whimpy me was not. Then I made a wonderful discovery. Out little attic room above the kitchen stays very warm and cozy if I turn on the electric heater in there. The rest of the house can freeze all day but we can be warm and cozy in one room, and our heating cost is somewhat controlled. Bulls eye! I love it when a plan finally comes together.