Good ol' fashioned "Snow Day"

The meteorologists have been predicting this storm for almost week but most of the time they just blow things up and we end up with a Trace of snow. But this time they were right.



Josh's daycare closed early on Tuesday night and when I woke up this morning to see it was closed today I figured it was a sign I should be staying home, too. Dustin had gone in at midnight but was home by two am. So we were all home today and boy did we make the most of it!

I got up at my usual time to sit and watch the news....by myself. Normally, I'd say that was a waste of good sleeping time, but to be able to watch something that isn't in cartoon format is also a treat. Then of course I had to call work and the girls' daycare and let them know we would all be staying home.

I started a pot of chili for lunch and by 7:00 Lauren was up. So her and I made a nice big breakfast to give the boys fuel for clearing all the snow. (Sometimes it's good being a girl.)

By the time breakfast was over it was time to start the "bundle up" process.

Time: 8:10



Time: 8:12



Time: 8:13



Yes, Lauren was only out for about three minutes. The girl who has begged to sleep in her snow pants for the last two nights would only stand the wind for three minutes. I figured I'd have to drag her frozen body in from the snow before she'd come in on her own. Boy, was I wrong!

Time: 8:20



Time: 8:31



I had to drag Josh's frozen body in instead. Pretty amazing what the promise of a cup of hot cocoa can do!

Then we decided to do some holiday baking. I've never made the Resee's Peanut Butter Cup cookies so we gave those a whirl. And of course we had to do the annual Chow Mein Noodle Haystacks.





After we addressed all of our Christmas cards we got back to work on the annual craft project - lovingly dubbed the "Annual Bricker Craft Project Nightmare". I have no idea what in God's name I was thinking. The kids and I did one - ONE - the other night and it took me a couple of hours.

I should have taken the entire Michael's disaster as a sign from God that this was not a good idea!

Nonetheless, I have spent about five hours working on these things and we still have four steps to go.





But the end result is really pretty!



It stopped snowing for awhile but then picked right back up again some time this afternoon. I have no idea how much we've gotten total, but honestly, the wind is the worst part of this storm. Brrrrr!!!!



Tonight we made a homemade pizza and I wrapped the rest of our presents. Correction - all of our presents but the last two. Then as I worked on punching out the rest of the snowflakes for the crafts (and watching Shrek the Halls) the kids played jousting, swords and whatever else they could think of with the empty wrapping paper tubes - including tease the dog.

All the while, Ella watched them intently and analyzing all their bad behavior and storing it for future reference.




School has already been called for tomorrow but I am going to do my best to make it to work. So my "snow day" is quickly coming to an end.

But I am happy with all we got accomplished today and glad that I did it all without having to leave the house!