Our family survived the winter storm of 2011. We are only slightly worse for wear today. Jesse is home sick with what appears to be the flu, and Brian is suffering with a hacking cough and congestion, though he made it into work. Frankly, I had been sick all week that the ice and snow kept us homebound, so I really needed the time off. I feel much better today. For those in the north who think that Texans can't handle the ice and snow, well, it's just not true. We're not equipped to handle the ice and snow, and there's a big difference. Most of the smaller municipalities in the North Texas area don't have access to sandtrucks or snowplows. The Dallas Morning News ran an interesting article on the shortcomings of the DFW metroplex in handling the winter storm. Even the public transit system--both the light rail trains and buses were ill-equipped for the weather. Those of us in the outlying areas were pretty much stuck close to home. I noticed that our city had thrown a couple of shovels full of sand on the bus stop near our home. I'm not sure what that was meant to do, but at least they tried.
The kids enjoyed the novelty of the snow, and we got some good shots of them playing out in the front yard:
Matthew and Blizzard are enjoying the snow. Blizzard absolutely loved it!
My sweet Jesse Bear, pre-flu.
Jacob is such a good big brother! He set up a kind of "sled" for the kids to slide down the hill in our neighbor's yard. He is pulling Lily down the hill, and she loved it! You can barely see Blizzard in this shot. He seems to be meant for snow.
Jacob and Matthew had a lot of fun pulling the giant icicles off of the house. Matthew, of course, pretended they were weapons. Yikes.
And so did Lily. Double yikes.
I got lots done during the break, though I did get a little stir crazy. I cooked and baked and cleaned and did LOTS of laundry. Makes me tired thinking about it, actually. I was determined to use the time to de-clutter and also to get caught up on homework. I managed to do both. Today, I'll look after my Bear and see if I can get ahead on homework. What a novel idea! Ahead! I got several good suggestions for my Valentine's tablescape, and I made a table runner last night out of some Valentine's fabric I had in my stash. One lovely lady suggested I put some candles on either side of my punch bowl, and I am going to do that. I need to get some bright red tapers, but I'll have to do that later. Can't get the Bear out today. He kept some Motrin down today, and there has been no vomiting since last night, so he may be over the worst. Poor little guy, he slept all day yesterday. His cough sounds terrible. He probably won't make it to school tomorrow, either.
I'll post pictures of the table as soon as it's finished. I still can't find those red hearts, so I'll have to come up with something else.
[The latest news is that North Texas is under another winter weather advisory beginning Tuesday and extending through Wednesday. I guess we'll see whether or not the winter storm of 2011 is over!]
Many blessings,
Jennifer
Very sweet!! Looks like you all enjoyed the snow, especially Blizzard. We didn't get even one snow flake here. It was just a little cold, but not bad.
ReplyDeleteI hope your little bear gets well soon. I always enjoy your post.