Snow Day!

I jumped out of my skin when the phone rang at 5:45 this morning. It's never good news when someone calls super early or super late. My first thought, in my groggy and half awake state, was that Cody had already left for work and there had been an accident and it was the police calling. But nope, it was a recording from the school district saying that schools were closed! Cody was, in fact, safe and sound downstairs ioning his clothes. But he too said that his heart stopped when the phone rang. When Joseph died, it was a 6:00 phone call that woke us up. But this call was super good news- at least for the kids.

After Cody left for work, I tried to go back to sleep (my heart had finally stopped racing).  I couldn't sleep, but it felt wonderful to snuggle all cozy in my warm bed.  At 8:05 Ethan came bursting into my room, panicked because they were going to be late for school.  When I told him it was a snow day, he ran and told Hailey and Lauren and hoops and hollers rang through the house!  After breakfast the older three bundled up and headed outside to meet half the street of kids, already out there building snowmen and snow forts.  Devin and Garrett were content to stay warm inside with their mama.

Honestly, the snow didn't hit us nearly as hard as it hit some other areas.  But I'm sure the district closure was due to an ill-supply of snow plows for the main roads.  But we still got PLENTY of the white stuff.  Two nights ago the wind blew all-freaking-night-long.  I didn't sleep much because of the direction our bedroom window faces and the noise that the wind creates.  Then yesterday afternoon, the storm started coming in.  Hailey had Ballet last night and it took over an hour to get there and back.  Ethan ended up missing piano because we couldn't get there in time. 

Our "Joseph" tree.  Come hell or high water, this tree is strong and stands through anything.  I have total faith that as always, in the spring it will be overflowing with green foliage with delicate white flowers.  And then come summer, it will have an abundance of pears...way more than we can use!

Our fun neighbor, Skee, took his four wheeler and attached a towline with a sled on the back.  He pulled kids up and down the street and there were LOTS of cries of excitement ringing through the air!

While the kids finished up their morning play, I made cookies, cocoa, and mini grilled cheese sandwiches inside.  A lot of hungry and red-nosed kids poured through the front door and wolfed down lunch.  It's snowing again and there's a basement full of rambunctious kids playing the Wii.

So far it's been a noisy but fun day. It's a madhouse, but I like how neighbor kids tend to congregate over here.  Tonight we're going to brave the snow to go grab dinner at Rumbi.  Ethan and Hailey had excellent report cards so we're going to celebrate a successful term for these guys.  Then they are off track for the next three weeks!