Snowpocolapse 2014

It has been an absolutely crazy week in Atlanta.  The snow started on Tuesday around 11 am and didn't stop until around 9 pm.  What was supposed to be a "light dusting" ended up causing the entire city to shut down.  Kids stranded.  Parents stranded.  Cars left on the side of the road.  These types of events really do show you how amazingly kind and compassionate people can be given the opportunity.  Lance had to abandon his car and stay at our friends' house...thank you a million times over Nesmith Family!  Thankfully Davis did not have school and Harrison made it home on the bus (thank you Lord for living .10 miles from his school!!!), so we had a very mild past few days.  Unfortunately, most of my friends did not.  Our prayers still go out to all families trying to get home, as well as to those who spent the past two days helping others!

As soon as Harrison got home from school yesterday, we got to work putting on as many warm clothes as possible so we could enjoy the snow.  I kept thinking the snow would only stick for a little while so I thought we needed to get out as quick as possible.  The kids have had a blast sledding, playing with ice and sliding around the neighborhood.

This was after the first hour of snow:

Davis showing me his snow angel.  I was amazed that he knew exactly what to do without us even talking about it:

Harrison wanted to make one too:

We spent most of the afternoon sledding in the backyard.  The boys loved it!

The boys really wanted to make a snowman but the snow just wouldn't pack b/c it was so dry, so we opted to bring out the beach toys and build a snow fort instead...we didn't get very far before they got bored.

There is nothing better than warming up with some hot chocolate after playing in the snow.  I still remember that feeling of taking off all your gear and having hot chocolate from when I was little.  We may have set a record for the amount of hot chocolate and marshmallows we have consumed over the past two days.
 
 Our neighbor Ava came over for a few hours to sled with the boys and then they played hide and go seek inside while they warmed up.  Ava's poor mom had to wait at the bus stop for about 2 hours for her son to be dropped off.  I brought her some hot chocolate after about an hour b/c I knew she was freezing, I just wish I would have had some Baileys to put in it for her!  God bless the bus drivers, who took such great care of our kids!
This morning we decided to venture out further into the neighborhood to try to find some other kids and other hills for sleddding.  We didn't have to go far.  The main street in our neighborhood was completely covered in ice, so just around the bend, we found about 12-15 boys out playing (and about 3 dads).  We hung out there for a while, sledding down this driveway and sledding down the street.  I'm not sure how I took this video with no one else in it, there were a ton of kids out!

We then headed over to the pool to sled.  The hills were smaller than I had in my mind, but they loved having it all to themselves. 
Lance finally got home around 2:30 today and of course, as soon as he gets outside, he finds a ramp for the kids to sled off of.  What can I say, they loved it...

I have to include one last thing so I don't forget.  Harrison has been watching a lot of the news coverage with me and he is just in shock about how aweful the roads are and the accidents that are out there.  Last night he said a prayer for a person who's car flipped over and they had to climb out of the front window. 
We talked about how fantastic his bus driver was to be so careful and get him home safely, so he wanted to write her a letter.  He also wants to get her a coffee cup as a present.

Its been a crazy week, but we are thankful for our safety, a warm house and family and friends who help in a time of need.

Fall Recap

This fall was a little crazy here and I decided that something had to give.  That something ended up being this blog.  I was at a breaking point and wasn't sure whether I should just stop, but I am going to write a few posts to capture the last several months with a few highlights.
I left off with Harrison learning to ride his bike.  That has been his favorite activity and we have taken quite a few walks up to the park so he can ride.  It has been even better for the boys now that the skate park is up.  They loving taking a break to watch the big kids skate around.  Harrison is always concerned about the fact that the big kids do not wear helmets...hopefully he will still be worried about that when he is 15!

Football was another big part of our fall.  We went to quite a few games with the boys this year, which they love because that means they get to hang out with their cousins and fish and ride the little boat at Grandmommy's house.  Here is a slideshow with the highlights of football season with the boys

Next up was Halloween.  Part of the chaos of this fall was that we had quite a bit going on around Halloween.  Harrison played flag football this year, I was in charge of our church's Tailgate Treats event, we had Harrison's school fall festival, and of course, the big night on Halloween.  It was all fun, but a lot to juggle in the span of 2-3 weeks.  Slide show # 2:

After the Halloween fun was over, we were able to take a deep breath and then all of sudden Thanksgiving was here!  We hung tight for all of the school parties and then headed to Tuscaloosa to spend the holiday with my family.  My older sister went to NYC for Thanksgiving, so it was a smaller crowd, but we had fun.  The weather was terrible all week, except for the final day we were there, so we mostly stayed indoors.  Once the sun came out, we practically ran outside to get some fresh air!

Its been crazy, but fun.  The slide shows were a little easier to insert than posting every picture.  This sums up most of our fall.  Next up: Christmas!