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.
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