Winter Storm 2024

 It's the middle of January and my kids have not had a full week of school since early December. 

Just as things were starting to get back to normal again with the return to school after almost 3 weeks of Christmas break, we get an ice storm that shuts down school, cancels events and traps us at home. 

However, I use "trap" loosely because the hill by our house was soon the local gathering spot as kids raced down the it, crashing into parked cars and spiraling into curbs. 

 

Many many people lost power; somehow, we managed to stay heated and lit. Some of our dear friends lost power and heat. With temps dipping into the low 20s, we opened our home to whoever needed a warm place to stay. Our friends have 5 kids, so the house was full and  food was constantly being cooked. Surprisingly it was not as chaotic as it seems like it would be, and it made the icy weekend really fun and memorable. We cooked homemade pizza and drank great wine; it also just happened to be their oldest son's 14th birthday! Homemade cinnamon were made rolls, which we got to enjoy together Sunday morning. 

At night, we feasted on amazing steaks. My in-laws also lost power so they came over to join us. By early evening, our friend's power was fixed, and so they headed home; however, if we were honest, we were  a bit disappointed because we were anticipating another fun sleepover night. 

Shortly after, we got another phone call from a friend who was losing hope that their power would be on anytime soon. So, with a quick wash of the sheets and some Clorox wipes to the bathroom, the room was ready for the next guests. 

As the week went on, the sledding hill became more and more intense as the kids created an ice "jump," that shot kids into the air at terrifying speeds. Plastic sleds cracked in half, body parts were bruised; sometimes as I watched the wreckage through the window, I thought for sure some of these kids wouldn't get up again off the ice. However, time and time again they all recovered from their wipeouts and proceeded up the hill to attempt it all over again. 😬

During the  second half of the week, things started to really drag  as the snow turned to freezing rain, trapping everyone indoors for real this time. The sledding hill turned into a sheet of ice that even the daring-est of daredevil kids on our street decided not to attempt (or maybe their parents insisted)

Dogs couldn't even lift their legs on the sheet of ice that covered every inch.  

John got into an organizational mode and reconfigured/cleaned out our basement storage area. While doing that, he came upon boxes of old baseball cards that he gave to the boys to sort through. They spent hours looking up the value of the cards on eBay, cataloging their treasure in hopes of someday cashing in the cards.

As the ice began to melt, they quickly turned it into another money making endeavor and walked around the neighborhood, shoveling and chipping away at driveways. 

We also kept busy by making sure our hummingbird friend "Zippy" was properly nourished by keeping up with his nectar supply. James took on the job of replenishing his frozen nectar with liquid ones, thus keeping him happy and well during the whole wintery week. Zippy's antics brought delight as he zipped in and out of the hummingbird feeder John got me for Christmas. 

School was cancelled for the entire week; so were the baseketball games, for the second weekend in a row. 

On Friday night, a huge oak tree fell on our school property, crushing the fences and part of the playground, knocking out power. 

Would we ever return to school?!

Despite the crazy week of weather related disasters, there are always blessings that can be found. I loved being able to open our home up to people, and I felt very cozy at home with my family next to our fireplace. The big memories of life are usually the unexpected ones. Winter storm 2024 will definitely be one we will remember. 

Lucy, as usual, was living her best life with all the guests... and all the things to chew on. 

 

SO MUCH CHRISTMAS

It's January, and I expected life to be slower and less hectic; however, I was naive to think this. 

December was so busy, but John and I experienced it very differently. He had surgery on his foot to fix a bone spur, so he was laid up the entire month, unable to put pressure on his foot. He managed to still do life well, as he always does. But I was the one running around doing the class parties, Christmas parties and all the things Christmas requires. I suppose Christmas is mostly a woman run holiday anyways; but the contract between my Christmas season and his was stark. One funny memory was us out one night trying to get last minute stocking stuffers at Fred Meyers; after I finally convinced him to utilize the electric scooters, I never lost him in the store for too long because I could hear him getting around! I thought it was hilarious; he, not so much. 

The Christmas season started the day after we got home from Hawaii. Evelyn insisted on unearthing all the Christmas boxes from the basement. At first I was overwhelmed and annoyed; but, then I realized that now I didn't have to do the decorating, and I was grateful for that. 

Our Christmas tree was decorated quickly because in a few days, John would be out of commission with his surgery. 

The elf made her return to our house. The kids are always enthusiastic about this tradition. I'm not sure how much of the magic the boys still believe in; but nonetheless, we all have fun with it. 

One night I put the elf among some cupcakes that a friend had given us. The joke would be that she pigged out while we all slept and because touching the elf means a loss of its magic, the kids would have to wait an extra day before they enjoyed the cupcakes. 

When the kids saw the elf, they laughed, a bit annoyed that they couldn't enjoy their treats, but willing to wait the extra day. 

The next morning, I woke up before the kids as usual and imagined a new hiding place for the elf. I figured they would probably ask to eat the newly released cupcakes for breakfast. However, when I came downstairs, the elf was still laying in the same Tupperware as I left her the night before, but all the cupcakes were totally gone. 

Hmmm. Maybe John decided to get creative last night with the elf.

But what did he do with the cupcakes? Surely he wouldn't throw them away. 

He knew how much the kids waited patiently to enjoy them. 

And surely He himself wouldn't eat all of them...unless something extremely depressing happened after I went to bed. 

I was puzzled, but went on with my plan and hid the elf elsewhere. When the kids woke up, they were angry that the elf indeed ate all the cupcakes and left nothing for them. The day went on, and I didn't mention anything to John until late that night when I asked, in passing, what he did with all the cupcakes last night. He looked at me, confused. We were both confused. If I didn't do anything with them... 

and he didn't... 

and the kids were sleeping........

I stared hard at that magic elf. 

Then, as if we thought of it at the same time, we knew who the guilty one was: no one else but Lucy; in the middle of the night, she chowed down. 

 Four chocolate cupcakes, gone. 

However, we were not lacking sweet treats in our home.  I hosted a 4th grade Mom's cookie exchange. I made grinch cookies, which are green, mint flavored cookies with a little red candy heart right in the center. They were the cutest cookies I've ever made. 

All the women really went all out with their creativity and by the end of the evening, we had a tray full of Christmas delights! 

Early one morning, a few days later, I once again awoke to a cookie mystery when most of the cookies on the tray were nothing but crumbs. It really wasn't a mystery though. 

guilty

She needed to take extra laps to walk off the Christmas cookies. It goes right to her hips. 

Besides tracking down missing Christmas cookies, the season was full of really wonderful things.

I was in charge of the 4th grade class Christmas party. We had a fun festive time, but also made "blessing bags" for the homeless and read scripture about Jesus coming to earth to be a light in the darkness. 

Evelyn had her Christmas performance, another fantastic evening. She even had a solo. 

It's her last class show. 😢 

Caleb and Evelyn had their Christmas violin performance. John played the guitar on stage with the students this year. 

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My parents came into town on Dec. 19. 

It was a very fun 10 days, filled with activities. Some of the things we did included :

Volunteer to help serve dinner to people in the community in  low income/homeless situations:

Our school partnered with a local church to help create a dinner and a movie experience. 

We stopped and marveled at light displays. 

Took walk in the woods and found real holly that became a decoration on our Christmas table. 

 

One beautiful evening I took my Dad up to Pete's Mountain vineyard and we enjoyed a glass of wine together watching the sunset outside. We talked and talked; it had been a long time since my Dad and I just sat and talked like that. 

This is something that I am striving to prioritize more in my life: intentional time. I am so bad at forgetting my "to-do" lists and all that I want to get done and just be present with the people who mean the most in my life. 

On Christmas Eve, we went downtown and saw a Holiday Cirque de Soiel show. Afterwards, we walked down Broadway street to Pioneer Square and saw the Christmas tree. We ended up at the Benson Hotel

to see the gingerbread castle display.

 

 Christmas morning came early, but it did not disappoint. I could hear the patter of feet around 7:00 am of the boys spying out the gifts below. "Yessss." They whispered. Santa came, despite their fears that he wouldn't make it. 

After a morning of gift opening, there was a flurry of excitement around preparing the Christmas Day meal. This year Rob and Melissa and their girls were in town too for Christmas, so we had a big gathering of family. It was really wonderful and so special to have everyone together in one place. 

Why do I get so stressed out about the holiday season?! Why do I let all the things consume my emotions and outlook when THIS is what it is all about. 

John made a beautiful homemade peppermint ice cream cake

After a busy day, we made neat little piles of all the things, and went to bed, ready for our reset day.

After 12 years, we are used to our Christmas season routine of Christmas-one day: reset:

Evelyn's birthday. 

Yes, Evelyn Grace turned 12. And although it is hard to believe, it isn't. 

She has turned into quite the responsible young lady this year. 

During Christmas break, she kept up with three different pet sitting jobs in the neighborhood. 

John made her the most special birthday cake, a poppy seed lemon cake with macadamia nut ice cream. 

Later on during the week, she celebrated again with two close friends. After all these years of curating her perfect birthday party, this year she was in charge of it. 

( I was needed to drive everyone around and pay for it) 

They got their nails done, and then I drove them to Red Robin. I quietly planned that they would have their own table. They were thrilled to be able to sit by themselves. 

I sat in the bar by myself. I could hear them laughing from where I was. I love that she has reached this age, and I am thrilled by who she is becoming. 

Her birthday rolled right into New Years. We went to a dinner party on New Years Eve and on New Years day, we has an open house with friends. It was fun to see who walked in the door throughout the day. It was the best way to ring in the new year.