Sunday art by Luke

Another snow day

Last night we got another foot of snow. We now have so much snow, that it's up to our windows on our back porch.

The best thing about this storm, is my husband was actually in town and I didn't have to SHOVEL! Can you believe I tried to talk Mike out of buying that lovely snow blower?

The snow is so deep it's hard to walk around in

so they dig their way around.

Josh says "Mom, come watch us fly."

Updates

Ben survived camping and even with the cold, seemed to have a good time. The low was 3 degrees and the wind chill below zero. But he made it back with all of his fingers and toes so I guess we can't complain to much.

Josh went to the doctor today and we are thankful to report that his lungs are currently functioning back to 100%.

I have also had a few people call to see if our weather is really as cold as is being reported. YES is is! This morning I woke up at 5:30am and the current temp was -8 degrees but with the wind chill it was -26 degrees. That is wrong and cold and not cool. On a bright note, it did warm up to about 10 degrees and tomorrow it will be warmer but with more SNOW in the forecast. What a crazy winter we're having.

Boston

you're my home!

Sunday art

Snow day AGAIN

Haven't we already done this, this week?

The snow just keeps piling higher

The snow storms seem to be over for a few days, but now comes the cold. Tonight we'll be down in the single digits and the next few after that it will be below zero.

Ben is out camping in this nice cold and windy weather.
Sounds cRaZy to me!

Snow and ice

Yesterday we woke up to more snow and yes another snow day

Mike is out of town again, but my little angels shoveled the driveway. The freezing rain started while they were shoveling. When they came in all of their coats, hats and gloves were covered with a layer of ice.

Our snowbanks at the bottom of our driveway are now about 5 feet tall. Perfect for a snow fort.

The boys had fun cutting out sections of the ice that covered the snow.

I got my ears pierced

I got my ears pierced for the first time when I was 12, but after I had kids I stopped wearing earrings and the holes eventually grew back together. Meg (my niece) and I had decided long ago that we would go together to get ours ears pierced. When we were together during Thanksgiving break, she told me to go ahead and go because she doesn't think she will ever want to put a hole in her body (she gets that from my mom who never got hers pierced for the same reason). So Molly (one of my yw girls) and I went on Monday to get the job done!

Puzzles

We've been busy passing the time watching the snow fall.

Sunday art by Luke

Boston

My new favorite picture for the day
Mike has been out of town all week, ok just since Wednesday but he was gone for full days Monday and Tuesday so it felt like it was longer. Anyway by today we were all ready for a little bit of variety outside of the everyday things of life. So after a morning of basketball, eagle service projects etc etc we took off and went into Boston, to two of our favorite places.
Quincy Market
and
Mike's Pastry's

Quincy Market has a place that sells our favorite clam chowder but also has a wide variety of other food options. I told the boys they could have whatever they wanted so dinner consisted of
Gyro's
Monster Hot Dogs
Corn Dogs and
Clam Chowda
(what a combination)

Now you see it

Now you don't

"Holy canoli" that was GOOD!!

Snow Day

Yesterday was how I imagine a snow day should be. We had huge amounts of snow, I believe the grand total was somewhere between 21-24 inches, with the snow drifts, some spots were much higher. We slept in, had pancakes and hot chocolate for breakfast. My kids WILLINGLY did they're jobs. That happens so rarely, I felt that it was worth posting. The rest of the day was spent in the snow. They built forts and tunnels, they sledded and snowboarded, came in for hot chocolate and then marched right back out to play some more.

Mike had to fly out that evening, so he spent a good, 2 hours trying to dig us out before he left. As for his flight, amazingly enough, only a handful of flights left that evening and his just happened to be one of them.

We ended the night with more hot chocolate, a fire in the fireplace, lots of blankets and a movie. It was an awesome day. Why did it have to end?

Snow Day

They said it would snow

It did


They said it would
snow A LOT

It is (14 inches and counting)

The weatherman FINALLY got it right

I'm impressed

The leprechaun is coming

Luke and Josh have already started making their leprechaun traps. This trap was on the table with a note attached.

Mom,
"We need some
styraphome,
clothespins,
popsicle sticks
and a new bag of rubberbands
to make this trap what it's supposed to be."

Guess I better get some creative juices flowing.

Sunday art by Luke

Tree

We have a German couple in our ward, that still practices many of their German traditions, especially around the holidays. I have so enjoyed listening to the different things they do to celebrate the Christmas season. Nobody sees the tree until Christmas Eve. The Dad decorates the tree during the day in a room that is closed off from the house. No one is allowed in that room, until after their large festive dinner. They then open up the room to a beautifully decorated tree, piled with presents underneath. Another thing that they do is they light the tree with real candles. I know sounds like a fire waiting to happen. But I wanted to see it. They invited us over to see the tree today before they took it down. It was so picturesque and peaceful to see this beautiful tree with the candles burning. I don't think I'll ever do it at my own house, but I'll go again next year to sit and stare at theirs.

Basketball time again

Luke is a great defensive basketball player but hasn't ever been a big "points maker" in fact other then foul shots he hasn't ever made a basket, and of course, it's something he's always wanted to do. More then anything, he lacked the confidence to try. He practices A LOT on his own, which is never a bad thing. Today, I'm not sure where Luke came from, but he played so well. Within the first 5 minutes of the game he ran the ball down the court and scored his first basket! YEAH! He didn't stop there, he hustled the entire game. Making play after play. It was so fun to watch him. Great Job Luke!