Snowed in...

It's snowing again today. We had 16" this morning before we left for school and it's still coming down fast and furious. Just another adventure in Alaska.

I didn't take The Princess out to school because of the roads and The Prince went only because his is across the street. We even took Fishing Guy to work so I could have the 4x4 to get around. We will likely still have all AWANA and Youth stuff tonight, so I can't get too excited.

We've been spending the last few days keeping warm (temps never above 13*) and adjusting to life after Thanksgiving Break. I've been tired and fighting a never-ending migraine since Sunday. The one bright spot in the week has been my Black Friday shopping splurge - a heated mattress pad. Gotta love a pre-warmed bed in Arctic temps! The only store I went to was Fred's (about 10 am) and the only other things I bought were 4 pillows and 2 board games. Crazy shopper that I am...

Oh, and about Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful relaxing day. Some friends came over about noon and we snacked all afternoon on the normal veggies, cheese and crackers and olives. Then, we had Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner and watched the men play video games while the kids played and we chatted. Very nice!

I'm hanging on for the rest of this week since we have a crazy weekend coming up and then start the final push to Christmas. Once the kids are out of school for break, things will calm down considerably. It seems that the entire month is filled with programs and activities for church or both schools. Just a sampling of the next week and a half...

Our Sunday School class is having it's Christmas Party this Friday night.

We have a bake sale this Saturday from 10 - 6 pm for The Princess' school, plus a soccer game from 12-1 and singing at the bake sale at 1 pm. The Fellowship Committee (me) is hosting a Cookie Exchange on Saturday night.

Sunday is church, Girl Scout Ice Skating in the afternoon and 2 hours of practice for the Christmas show in the evening, followed by a church business meeting at 7:15 pm.

Tuesday will also be our first Brownie meeting, since the last one was on a snow day and we cancelled it.

Wednesday is just craziness in the evenings normally.

Thursday night will be the last soccer practice.

Friday starts the rehearsal schedule for the church Christmas program. (The Princess has 2 speaking parts and a solo, The Prince will steal the show as Joseph) The full dress rehearsal is Saturday night and the performance is Sunday night. I'm also supposed to have a Fellowship Committee meeting that night. Which I think I'll cancel.

The next week is just as crazy and then... Nothing during Christmas Break. I have a full week before my parents arrive and minor stuff. We have dental appointments, one Brownie meeting and a scrapbooking night. WooHoo! There is light at the end of the tunnel.

P.S. Katie, the girls earned their Numbers and Shapes and Safety Sense badges that morning. Are you participating in the Thinking Day postcard exchange?

I'm a bad blogger...

You all knew I wouldn't make it for the NaNoBloMo title, right? :o)

We've been digging ourselves out from under 44 inches of snow and dealing with constant temperatures below freezing for the last couple of weeks. This morning it was sunny, but 5*. Fantastic.

The Princess had her Thanksgiving Feast today. She was Cranberry Sauce in the play and we were the letter P for the Alphabet Feast. I brought Pumpkin Roll.

Yesterday was pretty mellow. The Prince has all week off from school and we stayed inside most of the day. We had his parent/teacher conferences last night and things are going well. The Prince is a summer birthday, so we are waiting to see how he does this spring before we decide if he does Kindergarten again at the new school, instead of moving up to first and struggling.

Sunday was interesting. It was in the process of snowing another foot (I'm so not kidding) during the morning services and we had our All-Church Thanksgiving Dinner at 4 pm that afternoon. At 4:01 pm there were about 7 people there, but by 4:15 pm, there was a steady stream of food and families. We actually ate at 4:30 pm and it was declared a success!

Saturday, The Princess went to her first official Girl Scout activity and earned two Try-Its. I almost got stuck in the unplowed parking lot. The Prince and I did a mad dash shopping trip to Costco for the church supplies we needed for the dinner. The kids played for a little while in the afternoon and then we had soccer from 3-4 pm.

Friday - The Prince had his class feast at school. His class was dressed as the Indians and the other Kindergarten class were the pilgrims. Very cute. I can't remember what else was going on, so probably nothing.

Tomorrow, The Princess has a half-day at school. The Prince has 2 playdates with the same friend, one here in the morning and one there in the afternoon. I need to pick up pizza for Thanksgiving and I need to clean up the entryway. It should be a pretty laid back week for me.

Back to School

Back to the grind today.

Tomorrow, Fishing Guy goes back to work and with him goes the 4x4 vehicle that I've been plowing around town in.

Still snowing off and on. More people came out to the book fair today and it was almost worth it.

More tomorrow.

Snow Day Part Deux

So, ummm, we've had a bit of snow over the last three days. The back porch is showing about 2 feet, but officially, I think we are somewhere around 18 inches. That means we all have about 4 feet in our yards and there are no sidewalks. So, no school again today.

We went shopping at Fred Meyer this morning - for about 2 hours. Long and painful trip out and I'll spare you the details. However, I have creamer again.

Fishing Guy took the day off, so while he was available to reach high things for the kids, I put myself in the Den of Creativity with my iPod and went to work.



I managed to get my swap cards done about 5 minutes ago. Now I need to get them to the post office in time for the last pickup.



This is the current state of affairs on my desk right now...



...so you can see that I really need the kids to go back to school tomorrow. I love having them home and we really needed time to stop for a couple of days, but I'm feeling ready to get at things again.

I've been reminded that I can miss so much when I'm busy doing instead of just being. I had coffee with a friend yesterday afternoon with no rushing off to something else. I've chatted on the phone more in the last couple of days and I've gotten good sleep.

Plus, there's something that quiets my soul when I watch it snowing out the window...

Snow Day

It's still snowing!

The kids were actually sad when I told then last night that they might not have school, but The Prince was fast to recover this morning. We knew The Princess wouldn't have school last night - benefits of the small private school. The Prince's school has more students, so that decision waited until the public schools made the call this morning.

I'm hoping to get out and take some pictures today.

We are planning a lazy morning at home for the kids - I need to make my 12 cards for the swap and get some Girl Scout stuff done. I'm just really happy not to have to deal with the Book Fair today. Later today, we are planning a Large Scale Sledding Extravaganza.

How long that lasts will also be dependent on if we have the Brownie meeting or not. I'm thinking not, but that means we won't have our first meeting until the first week in December and then we start selling cookies in January.

I need to get my caffeine going, but my storm-planning self forgot to buy creamer...

Weekend Recap

I am only partly to blame for my lack of posting this weekend. Fishing Guy has been working overnights, so my time on the computer has been severely limited.

Anyway, Friday was pretty good. I subbed in the morning for the other Kindergarten class at The Prince's school. We went from there to my Girl Scout leader planning meeting, by way of a short stop home to see Fishing Guy. Another friend picked The Princess up at school and I got her on my way home. We stopped to drop off a Girl Scout parent letter and The Princess ended up staying with that friend and going to a birthday party I thought was the next night. The Prince and I headed home and watched a movie. The Princess got home about 7 pm. Fishing Guy and I were commenting later that she already has a teenager's social life.

Saturday, I didn't leave the house until just before noon to go to The Princess' soccer game. Fishing Guy got off work in time to come too. We went for a walk in the snow later in the afternoon, but it was a very mellow day. I made roast, mashed potatoes and corn for dinner.

Sunday, we had church in the morning. It was Fellowship Sunday, when we potluck breakfast. I took mini muffins and the kids ate there. Everything went pretty well. I took the kids to a playdate in the afternoon, while I went out to The Princess' school to help set up for the Book Fair. I worked for a couple of hours and then had to go get the kids and go to my Fellowship Committee meeting and evening service. The kids had their practice for the Christmas program as well.

We got home about 8:20 pm (I was chatting) and the kids were in bed about 9 pm.

I really didn't want to get out of bed this morning. The forecast is for 8-12 inches of snow today with a total of about 22 inches by Tuesday night. I just want to have a snow day and stay home.

I'm off in a bit to get The Prince from school and then go back out and work on Book Fair stuff. We will have book night tonight and the kids will be in bed early.

Tomorrow, I have to drive the Suburban for The Prince's field trip to the library and we have our first Girl Scout meeting in the afternoon. I have Brownie training in the evening too.

Gah!

Another crazy day. I have to sub tomorrow and then I have a bunch of Girl Scout stuff to do. Thankfully we don't have anything for the evening and we will be going to be early.

TGIF!!

It's Beautiful

It's been snowing most of the day and we have close to a foot of snow here at the house. I might just break out the x-country skis tomorrow and go for a short jaunt. The kids have been asking to get theirs out too and they can just go around the yard.

I had a lovely relaxing day with the kids gone for most of it. I got a lot done for Brownies and Youth group and enjoyed the silence. Of course, having a busy night at church too, now I feel like I missed out on them today.

Tomorrow is another day...

Quiet Day

It was cold again, 10* this morning and never above freezing all day. Had a mellow morning, worked on Girl Scout Stuff. Went and voted with The Prince after picking him up from school and rented him a video so I got some peace this afternoon. The Princess had a friend over after school who is still here. I took care of homework and dinner. I need to do the worksheets for Youth Nite, but I think I'll keep reading my book.

A few key words...

Snowing - it is currently coming down full force.

Cookies - there is dough in the fridge waiting to be baked. The Prince was the Little Chef and helped me with it before we went to get The Princess at school.

Good Book - I'm reading a book about a group of men that were the pioneers of mountaineering as we know it. The story starts in the 50's and I'm assuming, will go to the 80's. So far, a good read.

Kids Home - see #1 above. It's always better to have them home.

Fishing Guy works late - nuff' said about that.

Book Night with Grandma - we missed last week with all the Harvest Fest stuff going on. Full tank of Gas - see also Gas at $2.79 finally and #1.

Wind gusts to 50 mph - not pleasant, but the sure sign that the winter storm season is upon us.

Last night's power outage - actually a nice break from the normal routine. Only lasted for an hour and it was a good test run for knowing where all the flashlights and candles are.

I totally suck...

I can't even keep this up for 3 days in a row.

Friday, we had school and then The Prince had a friend over. In the middle of that playdate, I found out that we are not going to be a Daisy GS Troop, but rather a Brownie Troop. Forget all the planning I did for the Daisy stuff and welcome cookie sales right after Christmas. Joy. One of the gals in the GS office brought by new books for me on her way home and took the Daisy ones I had. We chatted for a few minutes and I'm feeling better about it. I still wish they hadn't screwed up and I could have put the 15-20 hours of time into what I was actually doing.

Friday night, we had a youth event to pack boxes for Operation Christmas Child starting at 6:30 pm. We took the kids with us and I wish I would have stayed home. The kids were tired and hungry and I was stressed. We got home about 9 pm.

Saturday was good right up until Fishing Guy got a phone call from work 5 minutes before we were walking out the door to The Princess' soccer game at 9:30 am. He offered to go in and I had to scramble to get to soccer on time... Start my car, scrape all the windows and get the kids together. I walked out the door without my coffee too.

We got home from soccer at 11:15, I sat down on the couch and flipped through the Brownie books and listened to The Princess read for a half hour or so and then we loaded up to get the sitter for the afternoon. Backing out of their driveway, I scraped a tree and I have sap down the side of my car and a small crack in the rear light cover. Fishing Guy and I had a CPR/First Aid class to go to from 1-5 pm. That went as well as could be expected, minus the 40* room we were in. I hadn't really forgotten anything and it's nice to be re-certified again.

We stopped at the store for something for dinner and I took the sitter home. When I got home, I made dinner and was planning to head out the door again to do the church shopping at Costco. I called to check the hours and Costco closed at 6 pm. Shoot.

So, I went over to the church and apologized to the lady that cleans - I didn't have the supplies she needed. Then I finished wrapping the boxes we left from the night before and I came home to put the kids in bed.

Today, we have church this morning and I have to go to Costco this afternoon in order to get the stuff we need to serve dinner tonight. Then, I have to put up tables and prepare the sandwich stuff. Two other ladies are bringing soup. I was thinking that I would just set everything up and leave, but The Princess has practice for the Christmas show from 6-7 pm, so I'll have to stay until she is done.

I should also mention that the high temperature in the last 4-5 days has been below freezing. This morning, it is 10* as I type this. I really don't want to be out running around in this weather. I want to be inside under a quilt, curled up with a good book.

Looking good...

Well, I made it back today. Which is a good sign.

Yesterday went fairly well. I'm stressing more this week, so I had a few moments where I wasn't at my best, but I also haven't crossed over into mean scary mommy either.

I got everything for youth group and the snacks, but went and got the kids before switching vehicles. They played well together and picking up the big kids was fine too. We headed off to the drop off location and The Princess' playdate met us there. All the kids went to school together last year, so this was sort of a reunion for them. We had frozen yogurt and then headed home.

The Prince went straight to his room - in trouble and ended up napping, which he really needed. The Princess and friend played goofy games and giggled a lot. I made dinner and we headed off to youth group.

(There was a phone call in there and we almost went to sit with a friend's kids while they took their oldest to the ER. That all is better now.)

Anyway, youth group went well. There was more drama afterward, but that too worked out in the end. The kids were home in bed at 9:25 pm.

This morning, I got both kids to school on time! Go me. I helped in The Princess' class for reading time, which was lots of fun. I headed back to the church after that and prepped for a weekend training conference that I have to have a meal ready for. That falls under my duties of Fellowship Committee Chair. After I got that stuff ready and made my shopping list, I came home. I cleaned out the car, picked up some stuff under the porch and now I'm updating here.

I need to scoot and take Fishing Guy some lunch. Then I'll get The Princess at school, pick up The Prince at his Thursday playdate and we will come home for dinner. We have soccer practice tonight and then it's bathtime and bed. I might have my mom read books too, since we missed doing that on Monday night.

Anyway, gotta run.

NaBloPoMo

From Pez.

I'll at least give it a try and see how far I get. If nothing else, I'll post my daily goings on. It seems like the days just blur together for me right now.

So, this morning first. We had a tired start because of last night. I came upstairs to get the kids breakfast and pack The Princess' lunch only to realize that it was sunny. Score! The downside was about 10 minutes later, when we walked out the front door and I saw that I should have started the car about 15 minutes earlier because it was frozen solid. I quickly scraped and turned on all defrosters and we were out of the driveway in about 5 minutes.

Because of the state of the roads, we took The Princess to school first, so she wouldn't be late. The Prince's school is right across the street, but he hadn't finished his juice and they are better about tardiness there.

We got The Princess out to school on time, I turned in the book orders and picked up the not-needed school supplies. Trhe Prince was only 15 minutes late to school and the class was making flying squirrels before their field trip - that I had totally forgotten about. I wasn't driving, so it was ok.

I went and got 2 breakfast burritos and an OJ from McDonald's and came home. Where I now sit at the computer at 10 am, putting off typing the notes for youth group tonight. I have to plan a game too and I just don't have the energy, even though I really need to get it done now.

Since the rest of my day looks like this:

Sometime before 11:15 am - go to the store and buy the game props we need, switch my car for The Beast, buy juice boxes and some special snacks for the afternoon playdates, mail the rent check and plan the youth stuff.

11:30 am - pick up The Prince and Samantha (friend's kid) and bring them home for lunch

(Entertain and supervise playing, continue with youth stuff)

2:30 pm - leave to go get the bigger kids from school

2:50 pm - pick up The Princess, Sarah, Megs and Jonesy from school. Drop the friend's kids off with their Grandpa and meet The Princess' friend Maddie at our house for a playdate.

(Be available to referee the girls and entertain The Prince if he doesn't just crash in a heap of goo from exhaustion, finish youth stuff)

5:00 pm - Make something for dinner

6:00 pm - go over to the church with the kids and get ready for youth group

6:30 - 8 pm - Be a youth leader/Kids go to AWANA

8:00 - 8:30 pm - help pick up the youth area, plan anything for next week and get the kids gathered to go home.

9:00 pm - Hopefully the kids will be in bed.