Snowmageddon 2012

We waited for the anticipated snow with hesitation.  So often the forecasted snow turns out to be little more than a dusting, a couple inches at most.

Tuesday brought exactly that...2 inches of snow everywhere but our yard.  You see, we have about a dozen tall fir trees beside and behind our house sheltering our yard.  While our neighbors' yards were covered in the beautiful white stuff, our yard was almost entire green with grass.  Still we bundled up to go play in the street.  Happily, we were invited to enjoy the snow in our neighbor's yard.  

We built in a small snowman with strawberry eyes, a baby carrot nose, and fir cone mouth; it stood for a hour or two.  

Tuesday night and Wednesday was expected to bring the most snow.  We all climbed into bed with high hopes, and we weren't disappointed.  We awoke to find 13 inches of snow covering our yard; I didn't measure elsewhere, but I know other yards must have had at least 15 inches given the differences from the day before.  We were ecstatic.  No one cared much that we couldn't drive out to find a hill to sled on.  Sam and I walked a mile to Cutter's Point Coffee to enjoy hot chocolate and a pastry.  When we returned, Mika and Scott headed out for their own trip.  Meanwhile, I bundled the littles up and took them out to play.  It was an enjoyable day.

Maddie loved the snow.  She's yelling at me in this photo that she fell down (and couldn't get back up).  I had to get my photos first.  

Old Zach turned into a puppy again.  He loves the snow!  I was riling him up and throwing snow at him.  

Gracie, on the other hand, did not like the snow.  I brought him out there to see what he thought, and he was freaked out.  He didn't seem to know which way to go or if he even could go.  I rescued him pretty quickly.

Later Scott took Maddie back outside to play some more.  While he was out there, he built a much better snowman than I.  It had four balls of snow, was taller than he, and had the cutest big nose and hair.

By evening, it was quiet and peaceful and wonderful out there.  Just like a winter postcard.

But then the ice storm hit, leaving a quarter of an inch of ice on top of the snow.  We have one tree with thin, light colored branches that was beautiful.  Each branch and twig was fully encased in a clear ice tube.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture.  Beauty aside, the ice storm brought an end to the delight.

We lost power at 6:30am Thursday morning, when the house was still at overnight temperatures.  We weren't worried.  We had some wood and some blankets.  Our gas stove could be lit manually for hot water and cooking.  No big deal.    We sat in the darkened house, playing games, using our gadgets until the batteries wore out, and listening to large tree limbs crashing down into the yard or onto the deck periodically.  The big kids tried playing a few board games.

I spent a good portion of my time cooking meals and heating water to do the dishes.  I took a walk to the store for some food for the day (we had plenty of food but not the kind you can easily prepare in the dark without electricity and only a stove).  I brought back hot dogs, chips, and cookies for dinner and a bundle of wood.  Later, Scott headed out and brought back another bundle of wood.   The house was getting colder so we bundled up and tried keeping everyone in the school room where the fireplace is.

Here's our candlelight hot dog dinner.

After dinner, we pulled out every sleeping bag, comfortable, quilt, blanket, afghan, and throw we owned.  Our plan was to camp out by the fire with Scott trying to keep the fire through the night if he awoke.  I couldn't get the littles to sleep so we ended up moving to the master bedroom.  On the bed we had a sheet, a summer weight quilt, two twin comforters turned sideways, and an open sleeping bag.  It felt like we were sleeping under a ton but we were warm.  The big kids and Scott each had at least three blankets and the fire but it wasn't enough to keep them warm.  

We woke up to no power and the thermostat at 51 degrees.  We called the power company and were told to expect at least another day without power (205,000 homes in three counties lost power).  We couldn't get the littles to stay under the blankets.  We decided it was time to leave.  So, we put out a call for shelter and got several offers.  After packing a couple of backpacks with underclothing, pjs, technology for keeping the kids busy, some pillows, and Josh's carseat, we hiked four blocks to Safeway where a friend picked us up in two trips.

Our power came on briefly Friday and went out again.  It came back on Saturday morning, but we stayed with our friends until after dinner to ensure it would stay on, to give the house time to heat back up, and to help eat the dinner started just before the heat returned (way too much food for their small family).

We were so thankful to come back home Saturday evening.  We picked up some of our camp out, enjoyed some dessert, and headed to bed.  Sunday we lazed about because we were still rather tired.  Today, I headed out to inspect the damage and start clean up.  Here's what I found:

Several large branches fell in the front yard.  To the right, you'll see a branch arc off the side of the photo.  It impaled itself several inches deep.  The green patch in the center is large and small branches of fir about a foot deep.  

Here's an overview of our backyard.  There's a large branch behind me as well.

Here's more of the backyard.  It's kind of a mess back there, too.

The deck sustained only minor damage.  There are three small splinters/chunks missing from the horizontal rails.  The hand rail on one side of stairs is split down the middle as well.  

The bad news:  Scott lost a week of work and his car is very dead.

The good news:  I have great neighbors and friends.  My neighbor, John and I, helped another neighbor I hadn't met yet clear her driveway so she could get to work again.  Then he came over and helped me with the front yard.  He cut the larger branches into firewood I need to stack for seasoning.  He also let me use his wheel barrow for hauling the small stuff.  He's going to come help me with the back yard also.  He also offered to let me borrow his van when I need it, provided insurance is ok.  Another neighbor offered me rides to the store or wherever if I need it.  Several homeschool moms offered husbands and brothers to help us fix our car (though it is unlikely to be fixed because it has a different kind of transmission that requires computer aided installation and programming.)

Yes, I'm still here

The month of December always gets away from me, and this year was no exception.  In addition to the usual insanity of the month, I lost almost an entire week to vertigo.  Life ceases when the world spins wildly with every move you make!

So, anyway...

We spent the first two weeks of December wrapping up school work: finishing up chapters so we wouldn't end mid-chapter or lesson and finishing up two big projects. 

The big kids finished the volcano they were building.  It looked great.  They added Monopoly houses and Life people.  They even had a guy fishing in a lake on the bottom of the mountain.  We erupted the volcano which, unfortunately, took out the fisherman and slid his car along with the flow.  It was great fun.

Mikaela finished her continent.  I think it looks great!  Sam finished all but the ocean.  He ran out of colored pencil and had to wait until replacements arrived.  He'll be picking it back up to finish now that school is back in session.

I also did some Christmas crafts with the littles, which I already shared in a previous post.

We made some ornaments.  The snowmen were really cute.  The swirled colored balls did not work out well at all.  Over time, the paint inside all slid to the bottom leaving a lot of the bulb uncolored/see-through.  I don't know if it was because we used plastic instead of glass bulbs, but it was really disappointing.  We scattered the cinnamon applesauce ornaments throughout the house and cars hoping they'd make everything smell nice. They only affected the scent in the cars, so that was kind of disappointing.

Then I spent a week dizzy.  I ended up taking myself to the doctor on morning when I was steady enough to drive.  Unfortunately, while I was there, I was so tired from lack of sleep that I tried to lay down and sent myself whirling again.  After a shot to stop my vomiting, I had to call my husband to come get us, stranding his car in another city from where we live.  A friend came and spent the next day with my kids because I wasn't sure if I would be functional.  Meclizine got me through the next few days until I finally recovered completely.

Finally, there was the mad rush to finish Christmas shopping and handmade Christmas gifts.  I got everything done, just barely in time.

I spent a lot of my evenings working on this Ood ski mask for Sam.  He loved it.  An ood is an alien from Doctor Who.

My dad visited for a few days and then there was the mad dash to get ready for Sam's birthday party, which went off well with the exception that I forgot to give out party favors.

And now it is time for school again despite the fact that I never got around to finishing grading for December or planning.  We're kind of winging it for now.

How did your December go?  

Our New Pet

Living among the trees, we have a new pet...not really...but we enjoy feeding and watching a new critter.

This is a Douglas Squirrel.  He's smaller than the abundant Eastern Gray Squirrels that we have around here.  His coloring is quite a bit different from the gray we are used to seeing.

As you can see, he and his gray friends (not really...the big gray squirrels chase him away) make quite a mess with the food we put out for them.  When I went out to try to get pictures of the squirrel, there were at least half a dozen small birds enjoying a meal also.  If you look very closely, you can see a black circle almost dead center...that's a bird.

If you don't have a zoom lens and very quietly and slowly try to get closer to get a good photo of him, he takes off up the tree.  He stops part way up to chew you out, too.  It's a cute "chirr, chirr, chirr" sound.  He's noisier than most birds, in fact.

We like our new outdoor pet.   Even Josh likes the squirrels enough to specifically request that I buy more food for them.

Cats and Moving

We moved into our new home yesterday.  We even managed to get all three cats here on the same day.  Watching how they've adjusted, or not, to the new house has been interesting.

Gracie, being the needy cat that he is, was the easiest to catch.  He hated the car ride but survived it fine.  He's adjusted the easiest.  His stuff is here.  His people are here.  All good in the world.

Abby has been freaked out since the first box appeared in the old house, or so it seems.  She did NOT like the car ride.  In fact, she spent the entire ride trying to rip open the box she was placed in.  She has spent most of her time in the new house in hiding, and when she comes out to explore she's rather jumpy.  Overall, though, she is handling this move better than the last.

Pandro wasn't around when we picked up the other cats, so Scott went back for a second try.  We figured he'd be ready for his nightly let-me-in-let-me-out-let-me-back-in-ad-nauseam routine.  We were right.  He didn't sound happy in the box when they arrived.  He's been ok, though super needy (you better pet me NOW!) all night and this morning.

Remember Abby?  Ever since her son, Pandro, arrived at the new house, she has made it clear that she's displeased to find he made the trip as well.  That boy refuses to obey his mama and find his own home!

Our New Digs

We're moving next week.  Our new home is totally different from anything I've lived in so it will take some getting used to.  I'm looking forward to having a school room again and having a laundry room for the first time.  I'm worried about the size of the kids' rooms, but we can get bunk beds if we really need them.

Scott and I were there today.  I took my camera long.  They still need to get in there to clean and do a few repairs we noticed.  I hope they get it done before we move in so we don't have to continue to bother then like we did this house.

Anyway, here's the new digs:

Here it is.  The front yard is landscaped and lovely.  We love the large parking pad; it should fit 7 cars, so parking won't be a problem if we want to have a party.  I'm hoping to find a freestanding basketball hoop for the kids.  The area is wooded, and there's a small pond across the street.  We heard frogs today!

This is the view from the front door.  There's a narrow entry that leads to the dining room at the back of the photo.  The carpeted area at the bottom left is the living room.  The opening just behind it leads to the kitchen, family room (school room) and laundry.  That little window way back on the left is a pass through window from the kitchen to the dining room.  On the right, you can see the hallway.

Here's the living room.  You may have noticed in the previous photo that it is a "sunken living room."  I have no idea why you would want to sink the living room.

This is the nicest kitchen I've ever had.  There are tons of cabinets and drawers.  Some of them are pretty cool.  The one over the fridge is really deep; I have no idea what to store of there.  To the left of the gas stove (haven't cooked on a gas stove in 19 years), is a pull out spice rack thingy.  To the left of that is a corner cabinet with a spinning rack.  The kids thought that was cool.  The kitchen sink is deep with a pull down faucet.  The kids are also excited to have a fridge with ice and water in the door...assuming it is hooked up.  I'll need a step stool, I think, because I can't reach the top shelf of any cabinet.

The family room has a wood-burning fireplace.  The doorway at the back is the laundry room.  The slider leads to the backyard, of course.  The entrance to the garage is also in here.  We'll be using this room as our school room.

This is the laundry room.  I haven't had one since I left home.  I won't need all of that cabinet space for just laundry soap.  I wonder what I can store up there.

This is the hallway off to the right of the entry way.  That first door on the right is a coat closet.  Then the boys' room, followed by the girls' room, are on the right.  To the left is a bathroom and then the master bedroom.  The small door at the end is a linen closet.

This is the main bathroom.  It has a tub/shower behind the door.  I love that each kid will have their own drawer.

The master bedroom is smaller than any we've had.  It will fit our bedroom stuff just fine, though I don't know if my craft table will fit.

We'll have a master bathroom to ourselves with tons of storage.

Here's one of the kids' bedrooms.  It's small.  It may not fit two beds and a dresser.  Maddie doesn't have her  own bed yet, but we may have to buy bunk beds rather than buying her a bed.  The boys will probably be able to squeeze into their room by putting Josh's bed perpendicular and under Sam's loft bed.  A bunk bed would probably be better as soon as we can make it happen.

Outside that sliding room in the family room is a very large deck with built in seating.

Here's the rest of the deck.  That area up the three steps just screams, "Perfect place for a nice grill" to me.  We hope to finally buy a grill before next summer.  Then there's a little bridge leading to another deck area that used to have a jacuzzi.  They took it out and filled in the deck.  There is also a large shed on the side of the house.   We're thrilled that the garage will be less crowded.  The backyard is natural (read: mostly dirt, pine needles, and weeds).

We also found a ton of cool-looking mushrooms in our front yard.  Maybe we should do some mycology soon.

Moving Again

This is kind of old news (decided October 3rd) but I haven't gotten around to posting about it here yet.

We're moving again.  Scott got a call on his work cell from an unrecognized number a while back.  When he returned it, it turned out to be a real estate agent wanting access to our house for a market analysis.  Apparently, the homeowners want to list the house for sale...as a short sale...and some of her comments made it sound like they might be defaulting on their mortgage.  The results of a sale could be okay for us or bad news depending on who bought the house:

An investor could buy the house.  They would be required to honor the rest of our lease (13 more months).

Someone wanted to live in the house could buy the house.  They would be required to give us 90 days notice.

If the bank forecloses, they could give us cash for keys, or moving out in a timely manner.

If the bank forecloses, they could honor our lease while they try to sell it.  If it sold, we're back to option 1 or 2.

We could just sit tight and see what happens.  We could deal with people coming through to look at the house, opening our cabinets and closets, etc.  But we don't want to.  We don't want to risk being given 90 days notice at some future date and not being able to find a suitable place to live in that time.  So, we decided to leave when we found a new place to go, provided the owners let us out of our lease.

Fortunately for us, the property management company, who is no longer an agent for the homeowner, want to keep us as tenants.  So, they set out looking for a new place for us.  And they found one....

It's only 3 miles away.

It's 300 square feet larger.

It has both a living room and a dining room.  We'll use the latter, which is open to the kitchen, as our school room.  It also has a fireplace to keep us warm during the day.

It has a real laundry room in the house.  I've never had a laundry room.

It's cheaper than what we are paying now.

The neighbors are nice and tell us the neighborhood is quiet.

The owner owns it free and clear so no need to offload it quickly via a short sell.

It'll work.  There are some negatives, but nothing is going to be absolutely perfect.

We move on October 29th, a day before we moved last year.  We're hoping to continue schooling through the packing, move, and unpacking.  I'll be busy!

Puyallup Fair 2011

We took the day off school today, and headed out to the Fair.  It was crowded, sunny, and hot, but we had a good time.  We spent the day with a good friend, which always makes things even better.

Because it was opening day, we watched the parade first.  We found a good spot near the end of the parade route.  It isn't a fancy parade, but it is fun nevertheless.

Maddie enjoyed everything about the parade except for people who wanted to interact with her.  She's much too shy for that.

Mika wanted to find a cowboy hat to buy, and she succeeded.  Ever since we went to their first rodeo, my older two kids have wanted a hat and boots.  Today, they got their hats.

On the way to see some animals, we found the fire truck and firefighters.  Josh loved his new tattoo.  I put Maddie's on her forearm,.

We spent a good deal of our time looking at animals.  We loved this chicken.  We think the black-tipped feathers are gorgeous.  If we ever get chickens, we want this kind.  It's a Wyandotte.

We also enjoyed looking at some rather odd looking birds: pigeons (I think) with curly feathers, chickens with wild hairdos, and another with while tuffs of hair on either cheek.

We thought the coloring on this duck was particularly pretty too.

A row of sleeping ducks were just begging to be photographed.

On the way to a restroom, we found the 4H cats.  One of them was decorated with Doctor Who.  We love Doctor Who in this family, going to great lengths to see the new episodes even though we don't get broadcast TV or cable.  (We all sit huddled up around my laptop.)

We decided to head over to the Mutton Busting where kids under 60 pounds get to ride sheep bareback in an attempt to win the contest, much like a bull riding contest.  We were in the direct sun waiting for the show to start.  Doesn't Josh look hot and tired and a little bored?

The show turned out to be a lot of fun.  I caught this spectacular wipe out.

With no qualifying rides half way through the lineup, the announcer offered this kid $5 if he stayed on all the way to the other end of the arena.  He made it, and won the round.

Here's cowboy Sam watching the show.  He loves his new hat.

After mutton busting, we headed out for rides.  Each kid was given the choice of one ride each.  Sam wanted to go on the wooden roller coaster, but it was closed.  He chose a spinning ride and rode it with my friend's daughter.  My friend and Mika went on the Ferris wheel.  I took the littles on the carousel.  Maddie had initially spotted the canoes and took off running in an attempt to board one, but she was too short for the ride's requirements (a silly requirement for that ride).  She was pretty unhappy about that.  But she loved her first carousel ride.

After the rides, we all met up at the Pavillion for the arts displays.  The quilts, as usual, were stunning.  The art was good, though some were fabulous.  I love the photo salon, but I didn't get to see the whole thing.  I suddenly felt very sick and went to sit down for a bit.  I feared heat exhaustion/stroke, and after a while I was concerned that I wasn't feeling better.  Then my friend offered me some nuts and that did the trick.  Apparently, my blood sugar was low even though I never got hungry.  I hate that.


We headed out after that and were thankful we parked close to the gates.

And here's what happens when boys were flip flops to the fair.  Ewwwww!