Frugal Snowy Fun

Today, we got hit with snow, but the weather was actually pretty mild at about 30 degrees. Just cold enough to freeze, but not bitter cold. Perfect for sledding. The kids each got a new sled for Christmas, and this was actually only the 2nd time I've taken the kids sledding.

When we lived up north, we didn't live near a hill of any sort. When we moved down here, we lived in an apartment, so sleds weren't a priority for storage space, but we were only there for a year. When all 3 kids were home, we had a snack, and bundled up. Or, some of us did- apparently, my son didn't put new socks on. He had a pair of ankle socks on, with holes in them. -sigh- More on that later.

We live right near the hill, but I knew walking would mean crabby kids, and a tired mama, so we drove. The hill was steep, and today's snowfall has been slick. I fell multiple times just getting up the hill. Then, because it was so thick with fresh snow, it took us quite a while to get paths cut in the snow so we could get down without running and jumping on the sleds.

I took a few turns down the hill, then took photos, then took one last, disastrous trip down the hill. Why was it a disaster? Ooh, well... the sled took off before I could sit down, so I chased it, and jumped. Oh, big mistake, Heather. Big, huge mistake.

I missed the sled, landed on my tail bone, and I can't stand up or sit down without a LOT of pain right now. Yes, I have a pain in the butt, and for once, it's not my kids or husband. OMG, it hurts a LOT. I took a few motrin and a naproxen, but just moving around really hurts.

By this time, Chris was in near hysterics over being cold (at this point, I didn't know about the socks, or lack there of). He has severe ADHD, and tends to highly over react to a lot of things. He's having a bad day, so he really over reacted to epic proportions. Screaming fit proportions.

Raegan went down one last time, while Chris walked to the car. Gilly kept coming back up the hill, despite me telling her it was time to go. My rear end hurt very much badly walking down that hill, especially since I tried very hard not to fall on the way down. I had wiped out about 7 or 8 times before, and with a sore bum, had no intention of doing so again. I'd have slid down on my bum if it didn't hurt so bad.

When we got towards the car, I could hear it. Chris was having a global meltdown. People were staring, he was going all out, acting like he had broken an arm or something, screaming about the pain. This is one of those things I normally deal with by taking a deep breath, and talking to him. I was in pain, though, and had to sit down to start the car, then stand up to scrap the car off (and man, does THAT hurt, the sitting then standing thing, it apparently puts a LOT of pressure on the tailbone). Anyway, I asked, then yelled for everyone to knock it off, cause Gilly was screaming at Chris to stop screaming (I know- horrible Mom award- telling them not to do something by doing it myself).

Anyway, we're home, I'm in pain, and waiting for my meds to kick in, and sincerely hoping I didn't do something really bad, like fracture it.

Nick's on his way home. I had Raegan just get me a pillow to sit on, and man... I almost couldn't stand. I think my next post will be post-ER. -sigh-

It's Snowing

I love how snow looks, all pretty, and fluffy, and white, when we are getting a good snowfall. I hate how cold it is, how slushy it gets, how dirty it gets, how bad the roads get... I dislike winter.

Today, it looks gorgeous out. Big fluffy white flakes littering the sky, and coating the Earth in a pretty white blanket. It's supposed to keep up all day and night, resulting in the first major snowstorm of the season for us. We've had a few others, but no real accumulation. Today, they are saying 4-6" by dinner. I'd say we've already gotten close to an inch.

Gillian and I walk through the yard, to the road every morning and every afternoon on our way to and from the bus stop. I stomp out the exact same path every morning, to make sure we have a path. That path is now covered already. Once the snow gets deeper than about 2 inches on the ground, we walk around, but because the weather hasn't been as cold as it should, our dirt road has been a quagmire of mud, so I have avoided it thus far. Hopefully, it'll freeze over soon.

In the meantime, my fingers are numb. I went out to put some mail in the mailbox, and stopped to shovel. However, I did so sans gloves. Oops.

And in other news- I've been featured today by Dollar Store Crafts for my handmade fuzzy socks!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

Yesterday, Nick came home, and we decided to run into Lansing for a last minute (to us) Christmas shopping trip. Nick had a video game he had been wanting to pick up at Gamestop, and they finally had a great deal on trading games in. Nick took in 5 games to trade in- 4 were for PS3, which came with a deal. If the trade in value was $2 or higher, you got an extra $5 with it. One of the PS3 games was only worth $1, though. In the end, he got his new $60 game, plus a $20 gift card for our son for Christmas (all 3 are getting one, but we already had 2), and we only paid $5 out of pocket. Score!

Anyway, about the time we left, it was barely snowing. It had snowed on and off through out the day, but the ground was wet, so it just kept melting. Flash forward. We were leaving Michael's (what, you thought I could go into Lansing without a craft store stop?), and the snow was coming down really hard.

The highway was slick, so I stuck to 45-50 mph the whole drive home (yes, I drive- I'm a driver, I love to drive, and Nick has a rotten sense of direction, so it just works for us), with snow coming down horrible. We stopped in at the grocery store real quick, because we were out of milk. In the short time we were in the store, our tire tracks in the parking lot were gone.

-sigh- We were under a severe weather warning from midnight until 9am with high winds, snow, and rain. I did go out last night after we got home around 9, and it was really coming down! Check out these photos!

Do you see the foot steps in that picture? This was taken about 10 minutes after we made those foot prints!

 

 

...yes, I still have pumpkins out. Don't judge, you've all done it. I'll be doing good if these lil guys don't sprout leaves in the spring.

 

I think perhaps I should have re thought the "Let it Snow" ornament on my wreath...

This was taken at night- it shines and sparkles so nicely, the photos don't do it justice!

 

So... yeah. Next year, I'm going for the "Let it Sunshine" ornament for the wreath.

The point of this story? We had no power for at least part of early morning. It was off when Nick got up at 5:30, and was chilly, so it had been off for a bit at least. We scrambled around to figure out if there was school, which we could not get from our cells. Raegan woke up to her DS alarm clock before we could find out. Of course, she then woke both Gillian and Chris.

Power came back around 6am, and from there, we were able to ascertain that our very school happy super had decided to cancel school. This is only the 3rd time in the 2 school years we have lived here. She hates to cancel school, and lived in Alaska, so bad weather is part & parcel to living in the North, and no excuse to close school.

We have a strong feeling at least one of the school buildings was without power today, otherwise there would have been school. Almost no other area schools were closed, where as usually, it's all the other area schools closed, with us being the lonely town that sends em to school still.