More Snow

This winter seems endless. We got over a foot of snow on Friday, which was both unexpected and unwanted. Poor Joe got stuck in the driveway on his way home from work Friday morning and had to be dug out. Luckily we have a very nice neighbor!

Xander loved it, of course. He couldn't spend too much time outside because it was really cold, but he managed to get in some sledding, some fort building and some general snowy mayhem. As for myself, I'll be happy to never see another snowflake for as long as I live!

NO MORE SNOW!!

Man, am I ever tired of looking out my window and seeing snow. Especially after last week. Three snow days in a row, which meant that Joe, Xander and I were stuck at home together for three long, long days. Xander loved it, of course. Plenty of snow to play in. Me, not so much.

Despite my deep, unabiding hatred of the white stuff, I was persuaded to get out and play in it. I honestly have no idea how Xander can play for an hour in three feet of snow and not be exhausted by the time he's done. I had to take a lot of naps in the last few days!

We even made Joe come out and play with us a couple of times. Xander loves that because Joe will toss him into snowbanks and bury him. Xander got his revenge when he buried Joe for a change. (Mommy doesn't get buried, no way!)

Of course, Xander doesn't need anyone to toss him because he's pretty good at tossing himself. He especially loves the wall of snow left over after our driveway has been plowed out. The kid can get some air! (It wasn't as high as it looks, though.)

I'm so ready now for the snow to be over. It's March 1st and I think Spring should just roll right in. Give me 45 degree temps and sunny days, and I'll be so happy! Still, I did get some pretty good pictures!

Snow Day!

A big storm was predicted for yesterday, with estimates of up to a foot of accumulation. Xander and I were both hoping for a snow day, and we got our wish. What we didn't get was a whole lot of snow.

It snowed all day. Not too heavy, but persistent. But there was nothing on my car to show for all of that. There was enough for Xander to go out and play, though. He spent most of his outside time sledding down the driveway and possibly setting himself up for future knee surgeries, LOL!

My job was just to take pictures and video. I like a job that easy! Xander did lots of sledding stunts for my amusement, and got to work out a ton of energy running up and down the driveway. Afterwards, he was immobile for at least an hour. :)

So, it was nice to be home for the day. We had hot cocoa, played some games, watched some movies. My favorite thing about snow days? Xander's big red cheeks after he's been playing outside for a while!

Snowy Weather

It's been quite the weather week this week. On Monday it was 55 degrees, but so ridiculously windy and rainy and floody that our power was out for 10 long hours. Then it turned back cold again.

Yesterday morning was about 35 degrees and snowing pretty steadily.

In the afternoon it turned windy again, plus snow squally, so much so that when I looked out my window at work I couldn't see anything past the parking lot. Scary! I had Joe pick me up early from work because the roads were bad and I didn't want to wait for it to get dark before we hit the road.

So I guess Winter is really here. Today it's about 10 degrees, but with the wind chill it feels like 20 below. I wish Winter could just stay about 35 degrees all the way through, that would be fine with me!

1st Snow Day of the Season!

Wednesday dawned snowin' and blowin', and shortly after 6am I received the call. No work, no school for Xander. Our first snow day of the season! I crawled back into bed, but Xander came in around 7:30 to shake me awake because he thought we overslept. He sure was happy to have a snow day!

We lazed around for a little while, then I helped Xander assemble and decorate his new tree. He wanted one for his room, and I got this little four-footer at the Family Dollar for just $10. Perfect! Xander pulled out all of his Christmas ornaments, and I lent him some of mine.

Xander made the tree topper himself out of a toilet paper roll and items from my craft box. You can't see the back, but there's a little red Christmas present taped between the angel's wings. Not sure of the significance there, LOL!

And when I couldn't avoid it any more, I went outside into the snow to play with Xander. Actually, it felt about 30 degrees, which isn't bad when you're all bundled up. I took some pictures, then got busy building my fort so we could have our snowball fight. (I had to build mine. Xander just waited for the driveway to get plowed and he had an instant fort. Unfair!)

After I clocked Xander a few times with snowballs, he decided to try his hand at some sledding. I suggested the top of the driveway, where you can at least get a little momentum. He had a great time doing this, though I don't know how his knees aren't pulverized because of all the running and diving on the sled that he was doing. For all that my driveway resembles a luge, Xander was only able to get about halfway down before the sled stopped.

We finished off the day watching Christmas movies and drinking hot cocoa. I got almost nothing done that I'd planned on, but we sure had fun!

What the Heck??

So, this is what I saw when I got up Friday morning:

I can't tell you how depressed this makes me! I mean, we barely had a summer, and already we're getting hit with snow. Indian Summer better be right around the corner, or I'm going to scream. I'm so nervous for trick-or-treating this year, I don't want to be out in the cold.

Yes, it's pretty. No, I'm not ready for it. Xander asked me when we could get a Christmas tree. Sigh. I want summer back!!

A Really Good Day

Xander has been very challenging lately - lots of attitude, bad behavior at school - which made yesterday all the more sweet. It was like the perfect day. In the morning Xander helped me make pancakes. He mixed the batter, spooned it into the pan, put in the chocolate chips, and even flipped them over! But his helperness didn't stop there. While I washed dishes, he volunteered to clean the bathroom sink (between Xander and Joe, it's usually a wreck). And he did a bang-up job using just a few Lysol wipes to get everything clean and shiny. More chores followed, as I helped him sort and match his socks.

After the chores, we headed outside. It was snowing, but it wasn't very cold. And the snow was perfect packing snow. Xander showed me how to make a snowman, probably the first one I've done since I was a kid myself, and then we had a big snowball fight. Xander's favorite part was getting buried in the snow, and then busting out like the Hulk!

Nothing goes better after some snow play than hot cocoa, so that was next on our list. One of my co-workers had given me a gift set for Christmas, with two mugs, to packs of cocoa, and s'mores fixings. While we waited for the water to boil, Xander constructed uncooked s'mores for us to share with Daddy. He handed out the hot cocoa and we all had a snack and watched some Scooby Doo.

After dinner, Xander got the stool out and helped me make banana smoothies. He'd been begging for them all day. We read an Iron Man story at bed time and he slept through the night - no bad dreams! It was nice having my formerly-nice son back, even if it was only for one day. (He told me this morning that Bad Xander is back from vacation.) What am I going to do with this kid??

Bring it On, Mother Nature!!

No worries about not having a white Christmas this year! Friday we got hit with a snowstorm - an inch an hour, until we had about six inches. Xander was right out in the middle of it, naturally, and I joined him. It was cold, but we had fun rolling around. After it all stopped, Joe went out to shovel a path to the car.

Sunday morning I woke up to another snowstorm. This one blew around most of the day, dumped another six inches on us. Okay, enough snow now please! Today we've got frigid temps, and the wind is wicked, blowing snow across the road until you can't see a thing.

And of course another storm is expected on Christmas Eve. Figures. The one year I don't try to get a sled for Xander is the one year we actually have snow. So unfair!

Ice Storm Concluded

Well, power is back up around the area and, more importantly, at my own home! Here's how it played out:

Saturday morning we woke up at Cathy's house to find that her power had gone out. Bummer! We hung out for a little while, made a run to Stewart's, and enjoyed the fireplace. Then we went home to get a change of clothes and see if we had any fish left alive. Surprisingly, the two ciclids and the convict were still kicking, so Joe dumped them in a juice bottle and we took them with us to our next destination: my inlaws!

We spent the night on Saturday, watching movies and hanging out. On Sunday morning around 11am I tried my phone and...the answering machine picked up! Hurray!! So we zoomed back home. Joe cleaned out the fish tank and put our survivors back in there. We straightened up the house, then went to Oneonta for groceries and to finally get our Christmas tree. And boy, it was great to be back home in my own bed!!

And to top things off, I took Xander to the doctor yesterday and he's got strep throat. No school for him today! Hopefully he and Joe will have the lights and garland on the tree when I get home, so we can get right to the ornaments. And please send good thoughts our way that our power won't go out again!!

Ice Storm

Well, here we are with another ice storm. Woke up this morning with no power, work was closed, and school was closed. So the Bruno's hung out - we played Yahtzee, cuddled up on the couch to keep warm, and tried to decide what to do next.

Since we couldn't reach Eli on the phone, we went to our back up - my friend Cathy (who puts up with me on scrapbook crop weekends). And here we sit, waiting for our power to come back on. Xander is in Cathy's room watching Scooby Doo, Joe and I are in the living room watching Kitchen Nightmare, and Cathy is setting up her Christmas tree.

Meanwhile, our fish are probably dead and I feel like we're eating all of Cathy's food. Sigh. I hope our power comes back on soon. Cathy's friend heard that some people aren't expected to have their electric back for a week. Please, oh please, don't let that be us!!

Morning Sunshine

It was a bright and shiny morning this morning, perfect for taking some pictures while Xander and I walked up the driveway to wait for the bus. Early morning sun and late afternoon sun are my favorites for taking pictures, because the lighting is so warm. Here are the pictures I took this morning: