A few happenings..

Monday: had another run in with the wretched woman knows as the secretary for Isabelle's school.  Requested a sit down with the principal & received a nasty phone conference instead.  Long story short, Isabelle will be attending Geddes Academy for the next year and a half.  Porter will be enrolling next fall and will attend through the 2nd grade unless we move to a parent friendly school.  Older siblings are a bit miffed... life just isn't fair!

Tuesday: blessed with a snow day... didn't have to deal with the school issue! 

Wednesday: A trucker got stuck behind out house.  I invited him in for breakfast.  He declined.  I let him know if he wanted to come in we cleared off the back steps.  A little while later he knocked at the door.  He waited with us until the tow truck came.  He's from North Carolina.  It was a nice visit.  The kids watched and cheered as he got back on his way.  Lost power... NO heat!  We put our 72 hour kits together.  Nothing like a little power outage to get me working on our preparedness.  

waterproofing matches

Early afternoon it stopped raining & started snowing.  The kids & I cleared the drive of at least 3 inches ice/slush/snow.  The temperature dropped so fast we were trying to get it all off before it froze solid.  We have a large driveway; I was exhausted, the kids were exhausted but we got ur done!  I was so proud of them.  They worked so hard & didn't quit.  The kids & I enjoyed playing outside despite coming in to a cold house.  Ryan picked up gas logs for the fireplace on his way home from work.  Had to return to town to pick up a connector.  Still no power... installed the logs by flashlight.  We finally had a little heat about 7pm.  The kids all camped out in the living room.  They loved every minute of "roughing" it!  The house stayed around 55-57 degrees.  It really wasn't to bad.  Casey ran around in shorts half the time... that kid is NEVER cold.  

a little power outage fun!

Thursday:  Still no power.  We clean out the fridge & create our own fridge out in the snow.  We use the gas grill to boil water for dishes & hot chocolate.  Ryan is obnoxious & makes me promise not to delete his pictures before letting me back in the house... & before giving me the camera makes me promise to post one...

"you can take the girl out of hickville; but you can't take hickville out of the girl"  I've never been real good with the social stuff.  I like my sweats & t's, my pig tails & braids.  I love that my kids could careless about brand names.  I enjoy the surprise I see when stuffy uppity people find out Ryan is a doctor.  I'm not sure if it's his humble demeanor or that I just am not the typical "doctors wife".  I love manual work... it just feels good.  Don't get me wrong, I love that I get to chose when I do manual work & that I don't have to do it to support my family.  I love that my kids pick up a shovel and work along side of me until the job is done.  I absolutely love where & who I came from.  The lessons I learned growing up are priceless.  Friends of ours have a good saying... "keep your wheel round".  I hope my kids are well rounded socially.  That they feel comfortable having a conversation with anyone; a bum, a teacher, doctor, politician, etc.  That they will find worth in every sole.  That they can look past the outside and see what really matters.  I hope they learn that money has nothing to do with making you "worth" something.  They have an amazing example in Ryan.  There has never been a job beneath him.  It didn't matter that he was a doctor... he bussed tables at my mom's diner just the same.  He's crawled around in the mud with my older brother fixing plumbing at our rental property.  I love the fact that he would do ANYTHING to put food on our table.  I love the way I feel after we've accomplished something together.  Clearing the trees & brush on our unsellable 5 acres was exhausting but so fulfilling.  Ryan has the softest hands.  But after working like that you can't help but get them filthy, scuffed, & marred.  I think it's the memory of my dad's hands that make me love the look of a working man's hands.  I can close my eyes & still see my dad's hands.  I think it's my favorite thing about him.  I love Ryan's soft hands but like when they look a little like a working man's. 

the power comes back on in the afternoon; rebellion ensues... the kids are SO upset.  Sorry guys, I like having power!