Whether there's weather or not.....

I'm still not sure if I prefer the perma-sunny climes of Southern California or the four seasons of Show Low but I gotta say, I'm enjoying the ridiculously warm "winter" this week.

We went to the park.
We went to the beach.
We're hanging out in the yard, riding bikes, picking flowers, searching for four-leaf clovers.

I got a sunburn! In February!

Back in Arizona, there's snow on the ground. We'd be trapped at home or at least restricted to a minimal amount of outdoors time.

But even while I'm sweating and tanning in February, and sort of enjoying the novelty of it, I'm still pining away for the chilly winter air, the snow angels, seeing my breath in the air.

I miss having my freshly washed hair freeze into ice dreadlocks on the walk from the house to my car.
I even sort of miss having to de-ice my windshield.

Everytime I drive my car here in sunny SoCal, I look over and see my ice scraper and wonder if I'll ever use it again.

And sure, if I wanted or needed snow so terribly I could go to Big Bear or Frazier Park or even Tahoe. But it's not the same as making a giant snowman in your front yard or sledding at noon on a snow day or having an early morning snowball fight while the kids are still in PJs or breaking off the longest icicle on the house and tossing it onto the toasty hot wood stove and watching it sizzle and crackle and melt into steam.

Wearing a tank top outdoors in February just doesn't compare.

My Annual "I'm sick of winter" Post!

I'm SICK of winter!
It flurried last night. SNOW! In April!
Enough already Coldmeister!!!

Tune in four months from now for my annual "I can't take this heat" anymore post.

Yay Snow!

We got about 5 inches of snow Saturday night, which made Sunday a fun day!
Bob groomed up our sledding hill and we prematurely gave the kids one of their Christmas presents, saucer sleds!

Dylan even went down the hill all by himself this year, multiple times! It was a big improvement over LAST year when he stood at the top of the hill whining about hating snow and didn't even want to touch snow so he had to stand in a bucket and eventually he went back inside to watch Spongebob...
But not this year. This year he was FUN!

Naturally Bob had a lot of fun too and I even went down the hill a few times...once as rescue patrol when Dylan really biffed!

The snow was mostly powdery but there was an underlayer of frozen slush, since the snow started out as freezing rain Saturday night.
It's supposed to start again today but since the temps yesterday hovered around freezing we've still got lots of white stuff on the ground...and on the cars...and everywhere.

When we woke up yesterday we had no power, and thus, no cable, no phone, no internet!!! I had to make coffee by boiling water and pouring it over the coffee grounds. Ugh. It was horrible coffee!
About two hours later the power was back on, but still no cable services. Since we bundle...no cable = no phone and internet too.

Stinks!

While Bob ventured into town for last minute supplies the kids and I watched the classic "Frosty the Snowman" DVD, which Elizabeth calls "Smokey the Snowman"

"Smokey the Snowman/Was as high as he could be/And the children say/He could roll a J/Just as fast as you and me"

I just made that up!
Wow, even I'm impressed with me.

Anyway...yeah, Smokey the Snowman.

I took a break from making hats to make a crocheted nativity scene. It came out really cute. The kids are using it like action figures. It's funny.

I should really get back to the hats now...



Pic added: This is a BBQ on the table on our front porch.

Holly Jolly Christmas

It's the best time of the year???

I'll tell you now that there IS snow, and I'm currently having a cup of "cheer"

We're having a low-key, minimal, small scale Christmas again this year. My mom is going to play Santa, arriving on the 23rd with a sleigh Mitsubishi full of presents.
As for us, well, we've had some Christmas miracles that will allow us to get a few gifts for the kids from us. I've been doing well this month at work so, that's a major blessing. Also, Bob has found a guy who is willing to pay him to help hang Christmas lights on his huge house and do minor landscaping and other odd jobs. So Bob has been working some weekends helping this fellow out and making in a weekend about what he makes in a week working his regular job. This has helped the family finances tremendously, obviously.

Other miracles have also happened which will also help make a nice holiday this year and help us beyond the holiday too...all good things.

Last night it snowed about four inches. School was cancelled and Bob couldn't work so we brought the kids to their cousins' house and they all (Bob included, actually Bob leading the way) made a snow igloo using a plastic storage box as a brick form.
It turned out to be QUITE the impressive sculpture. I don't have pics yet...but will post when I do.

The kids are all over their terrible illnesses, thank goodness. Bob and I and the baby all escaped the horror. Now we'll move onto the next round of illness. I noticed Benjamin coughing a bit today...sigh...obviously he's getting the Tazmanian Flu or something.

There's other new news here, but...eh...another post, another day. And no, I'm not pregnant. At all. In any possible way! :)

It's all happening so fast now!

Thanksgiving was a major headache. Major. Headache.

I may have mentioned before that we were going to my father in law's for the holiday. He lives waaaay out in the middle of nowhere. Literally. You turn off a tiny two lane highway and drive down about 4 miles of crazy, unmaintained dirt roads to get to his house, which is in the middle of freaking NOWHERE! You can see miles and miles of nothing from his house. Seriously.
I should have snapped pics to better show the isolation/desolation but I was too traumatized from the trip out there.

We left our house at 9:30 am. It was raining and cold. I took the kids in my car, Bob drove his truck so he could bring a load of firewood to his dad. This was NOT how I planned to go out there since a) the weather was crappy and b) I have NO idea how to get to his dad's house. At all. So before we even left the house, I was in a foul mood. Oh ha! get it, a "fowl" mood. Ha ha. No seriously. I was pissed.

Then Bob had to stop and pick up Cool Whip because his sister forgot to get it. Fine, whatever. We had already pre-arranged to meet up with his sister and her family at the gas station and caravan out to the middle of nowhere. So I drove ahead to the meeting place and Bob bought the Cool Whip at Safeway.

Once I parked the car at the gas station it started to snow. Big flakes of sticky snow. Great. Now I was going to drive my car in snowy weather to a place I didn't know how to get there in the middle of nowhere. I am not a great snow driver. I am not a good snow driver. I would rate my snow driving skills as poor to fair, and that's if it is NOT sticking. If the snow is sticking...I rate, well, what is the rating for "I drive off the road"? I think it's "dangerously poor".

Bob showed up and we talked to each other via cellphone, since it was butt cold outside and I wasn't leaving my vehicle. We calmly discussed the weather situation and came to the mutual decision that he would leave his truck at the gas station and drive my car out there.

Ahem.
Which is to say that I cried until I wore him down and got my way, for him to drive us out there which is what I TOLD HIM I wanted in the FIRST PLACE! Sigh.

Anyway, during our lovely discussion, we were waiting at the gas station for his sister to show up for about 45 minutes. Who knows what took her so long since she lives about 10 minutes away. It was freezing cold.

Once we decided that Bob would drive, and it had been 45 minutes of sitting there, we just left and drove through what was now blizzardy snow and very crappy visibility. Ugh. It was not fun.

We parked our car at the beginning of the horrible dirt road to nowhere and loaded up into Bob's sister's Suburban for the rest of the journey. Oh my hell. It was rough. The dirt road was now a mud road and even the Suburban filled with people slid all over the road. Very scary.

We finally made it out there and dinner was good and the desserts were better and nothing really of note occurred while we were there.

Except that the Suburban broke.

Something about a pumpkin and a gearcase and a "big flippin' hole" I don't know. Maybe a car person could explain this better...All I knew was that the Suburban wouldn't go and we were stuck 4 miles from our car and it was freezing cold and pitch black. Sigh.

We ended up borrowing my father in law's 4-wheel drive truck to drive out to the car, which was even a worse journey than the drive out there, mostly since it was pitch freaking black! My sister in law and her husband drove that truck home since their truck was parked back at the house, damaged.

It rained the whole way back to the gas station where Bob picked up his truck and I drove the rest of the way home in the rain. Thank goodness it didn't switch back to snow...see above "dangerously poor" snow driving rating.

Dylan and Benjamin both went to bed in their winter coats. We didn't want to risk waking them. Dylan later came into our bedroom in the coat saying how he didn't like "these 'jamas!" It was pretty funny.

For the rest of the weekend we concentrated on Christmas. Bob hauled out all the lights and decorations and our fake tree and he and the kids did a great job of setting everything up. I gotta say, I'm not that enthused for Christmas this year. Maybe it's the economy, maybe I'm just tired.
I'll have to muster up some excitement though, since it's Ben's first Christmas.

My mom arrives in three weeks, which will help with the holiday cheer. By which I mean, she's probably bringing brandy and egg nog.

Snow in Arizona!!!

This happens for us every winter, but it's still a shock to our many friends and family who just can't believe that it actually snows in Arizona!
Well check these pics out!

This is during the middle of the storm. I took this picture from the top of our property looking behind us, which is up a big hill. You can't even SEE the house that is up there. It was a total white-out.

This is Elizabeth getting ready to sled with help from her cousin Shanel.

Here's Bob pioneering a very dangerous sport called Sledboarding.

This is later on in the same day. This pic is taken from the front of our property (near the road) looking back on what is usually our garden area. You can ALMOST see the fence posts on the garden area.
Here is Bob last night demonstrating how deep the drifts are, about knee high, two feet. That giant snowy mound to his right is our propane tank. I took this pic from underneath our porch!

Here are the kids trespassing on the property behind ours, looking for a good sledding area.
There are our power lines covered in snow. No wonder we lost power over and over yesterday and lost cable, internet and phone from lunchtime until this morning!
Here's the fenceline.
There's Bob and I enjoying a moment in the freezing cold without the kids! Uncle Todd was babysitting them in the house. Weenies! They were all cold. Notice that my hair is coated in snow.
Here's Bob's truck. He got out of the driveway early Monday morning and came back as it really started to come down. He got the truck about six inches into the driveway and couldn't go any further. It's still right there. All those footprints are in the road!

Snow...and other stuff

Finally!
And, conversely, ah crap!

It's snowing!
I woke up this morning to about two inches of snow on the ground and it's still coming steadily.
The children, in their infinite wisdom, decided they needed to test the temperature of the snow by running out onto the front deck shoeless. It's 30 degrees outside.
Dylan's feet were as red as Rudolph's nose when he was done.
But, they had fun!

Of course, the snow falling means it is the first official Take the Kids Out in the Snow Day!
I'll spend the rest of the morning convincing them to wait until there is more snow. Simultaneously, I will collect all their snow gear and get it ready for them to hop into once I get up the nerve to take them outside in the freezing cold. Maybe after lunch.

This also means I will have to find my thermal pants. I do not HAVE snow pants. I wear thermals under jeans under my HBC breakaway pants. Yep.
Gotta love it!
The kids have full snow outfits, bib pants, snow jackets, boots, and all the handmade hats, scarves and mittens they can stand. And thermals! They are almost warmer outside than they are inside.
Elizabeth in snow gear looks like that kid from A Christmas Story "I can't put my arms down!"

Bob went to work today and there was already a rollover/slide off the road/We're from Phoenix and don't understand snow driving accident.
This is the first day of substantial snow.
First. Day.
I am not leaving the house for four days. I hate driving in the snow, I am not good at it. I decline.
Last winter, you may recall, I drove off an icy road into a ditch with the children in the vehicle. I could not get OUT of the ditch. My car had to be PULLED from the ditch.
Yeah. We're staying home.

Yesterday, apparently out of concern that we might be starving, the kitties killed a squirrel and brought the carcass inside.
They even had the good manners to serve it to us in the dining room.
Sweet.

Also, last night the belly baby aka NuBabee was swirling around in my belly like crazy.
It was at the same time cool and nauseating, as I'm sure all my mom-readers can attest.

I did a Chinese birth chart today for NuBabee. First I checked the reliability by matching my other two kids to it.
It correctly determined that Elizabeth was a girl and Dylan was a boy. It does this by matching the age of the mother at the time of conception with the month of conception.
According to this chart, I will have another boy in May. We'll see!
Check your kids and post the accuracy!
Chinese Gender Chart

Off to find my thermals. Whoooo!

Snow, snow, snow!

It's snowing but we're not trapped yet. Then again, the weather has until noon tomorrow to pump it up to the 12-24 inches that was predicted.
I'd say we're at around six inches for the day so far. That six is sitting on top of about two inches of snow leftover from last weekend. This is the third weekend in a row that it has snowed. THIRD.

It's been snowing non-stop since I woke up at 7:30 am.
NON-STOP.

Sometimes, it's light snow, sometimes it's heavy. For about a half hour it was coming down in flakes the size of quarters. That was awesome.
Right now it's light and steady.

Elizabeth and I are baking to warm up the non-fireplace side of the house. Our first treat, banana nut mini muffins!!
Next up...I'm not sure...maybe something chocolatey.

Here's all the stuff the cats (or cat! Louie!) peed on in the house and thus had to be exiled to the front porch where it awaits imminent destruction.



And here's the patio table where we sit and have cool, sweet margaritas in the unbearable heat of the summertime.



Ah yes, summertime...when is that coming around again??

Whoa, winter storm a'comin'

From the National Weather Service

...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH
MONDAY MORNING..

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FLAGSTAFF HAS ISSUED A WINTER
STORM WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH
MONDAY MORNING.

A POWERFUL WINTER STORM WILL MOVE INTO NORTHERN ARIZONA SUNDAY.
SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN LATE SUNDAY MORNING IN THE NORTHERN
PRTIONS OF THE WATCH AREA...AND SPREAD SOUTHWARD THROUGH THE
AFTERNOON. SNOW LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO FALL TO AROUND 2500 FEET
LATE SUNDAY NIGHT IN NORTHERN GILA COUNTY.

THIS STORM WILL IMPACT THE INTERSTATE 40 CORRIDOR FROM WINSLOW TO
THE NEW MEXICO LINE STARTING SUNDAY AFTERNOON...AND THE ROADWAYS
IN NORTHERN GILA COUNTY SUNDAY EVENING THROUGH MONDAY MORNING.

AT THIS TIME FORECAST SNOW AMOUNTS FROM NOON SUNDAY THROUGH NOON
MONDAY ARE;

4 INCHES AT THE 4000 FOOT ELEVATION IN NORTHERN GILA COUNTY
5 TO 10 INCHES IN THE LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY
12 TO 24 INCHES ACROSS THE EASTERN MOGOLLON RIM AND WHITE MOUNTAINS. (This is us)

NORTHEAST WINDS FROM 10 TO 25 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS ARE EXPECTED
OVER MUCH OF THE AREA SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY. AREAS OF BLOWING
AND DRIFTING SNOW SHOULD BE EXPECTED.

A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT
SNOW THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST
FORECASTS.

We're screwed.