Snow Day(s)!

Sunday we woke up to snow and it continued the rest of the day and on into Monday night. We usually have a snow this early in the season, but it isn't usually this much! Once it was all said and done, we probably had 6-8 inches. So, of course we've been playing in it the past 3 days and of course the kids have had off school. It has also been extremely cold so our playtimes have been pretty quick with multiple layers of clothing that end up in big wet piles all over the foyer. But it's so fun!
Monday I invited a bunch of families to come over and have a snow day at our house. We had 7 moms and 13 kids ages 6 weeks to 11 years. It was a blast! Everyone was so thankful to have a place to go and not be cooped up at home all day. We stayed mostly in our yard that day becasue we tried to venture to the golf course and the wind was so cold, no one could stand it for long.

Yesterday we had PMO because it rarely closes for snow, but the elementary school was closed to *A* got to come with (H) and me. We went caroling around the seminary and then send sledding. Super fun!

Today *A*'s school is still closed and they're calling for a wintry mix this afternoon. (H) went to school which is good because *A* now has the fever virus that's going around so she's been asleep all morning. The snow is getting kinda yucky but it's still fun to look out and see white and be able to stay warm and cozy inside. On today's agenda, celebrate ^J^'s birthday and start baking holiday goodies to give as teacher gifts!

Catch Up

Between the tree incident, hosting Thanksgiving, illnesses, planning Morning with St. Nick, lessons and carols, and trying to close out the semester, I've not had time for this blog. I'm hoping to improve since this time of year is my favorite time for reflecting and sharing holiday fun. Here are a few fun things to catch up on...
We've enjoyed many fires the past couple of weeks. After a mild start to Fall, we are making up for it now with highs in the 30s and lows in the teens the past week or so. It's not just the humans in this house that like fires...

It was too warm on Thanksgiving to have a fire, but the next day was freezing so the kids were glad we had a chance to have S'mores. YUM!

Sadly, these were the only pictures I took during Thanksgiving weekend. It was a great Thanksgiving this year though and I felt like I was actually able to spend time with my family while still hosting and cooking. It was relaxed and everyone stayed until Friday afternoon, so we were able to share more than just one meal together. We talked about how this is a year of "lasts" and how this would be our "last" Thanksgiving in Sewanee. While that is sad, it is also exciting to think about where we might be hosting next year!

Last weekend we had a few more "lasts" with Morning with St. Nick, Lessons and Carols. ^J^ was able to read at Lessons and Carols as student body president and get us great up-front seats, it was as beautiful as always and the sparkling tiny snowflakes all night long made it really special.

We also went to get our tree and the kids picked a very full one that is just an inch shorter than our ceiling. We've been slowly decorating it and trying not to rush the season, but we're all a bit anxious about Christmas this year since we'll be gone longer than we usually are and we want to be able to celebrate at home as much as possible.

Things are slowing down though for the semester and we're starting to pass on some of our responsibilities to get ready for our departure. I've been able to start thinking about what the future might hold. It's becoming exciting. Looking forward to more exciting Advent happenings this week and then a nice long break.

The Tree Incident

This is why we are SO glad we rent...

We are all fine and have a lot to be thankful for, the house is almost back together, the kids were scared but now think it's pretty cool to have this construction stuff and giant tree in the yard. Hoping Thanksgiving week will be a little more low-key.

Finally, Halloween

A certain rockstar and jedi I know had a fabulous Halloween (and so did their parents).

While I was against the local ordinance to have Halloween a day early, it actually ended up allowing us to stretch the holiday out all weekend and enjoy a variety of Halloween events. Saturday we went trick-or-treating to a few of the "big" houses in town, like the vice-chancellor's house, and then ended up at a friend's house helping hand out candy and enjoying cider and caramel apples.

 

Sunday Nana and Gramps came for a visit (Gramps was on crutches for a sprained knee and the kids were very concerned so they gave him lots of attention) and then we headed to the park for a cookout followed by seminary trick-or-treating. The seminarians decided amongst ourselves that we were going to celebrate on the actual day so we went around to each other's houses and enjoyed the semi-quiet night since no one but us was around. Although, that was quite a lot of people as you can see, and this is just a picture of those who were in costume!

This year *A* totally got it about trick-or-treating. (H) was still a little shy and at some point decided he didn't need anymore candy. We were able to borrow a really cool, fancy lightsaber from one a friend and after that he was done with candy. He just wanted to have lightsaber fights with Daddy. It made for some really cool pictures too!

 When we got home, even though it was a school-night, I let *A* dump all her candy and go through it. This is how she organized it, then she counted it.

That was so me as a child, I loved looking through my stash after a night of trick-or-treating and seeing all the good and not-so-good things I got. I do not remember meticulously organizing it like this, because that was so not me. But I loved watching her and remembering.

We ended up with way too much candy this year with all the events, but Sophie-dog took care of most of it the other night when I forgot and left the bags out. Crazy dog!



A Perfect Fall Day

Today we had *A*'s last soccer game and then came home to carve pumpkins. The kids were so involved in it this year and insisted on scraping the seeds, drawing the faces themselves, and *A* even wanted to cut most of hers herself.

Afterwards, ^J^ and I worked around the house, roasted pumpkin seeds, and enjoyed the day off while the kids proceeded to play outside for hours.

Here they are pretending they "had no home and were poor". They would find food (acorns) and cover up with blankets. (H) told *A* they weren't poor because they had blankets and toys. They used Ella-kitty as a means of transportation for their stuffed animals. She was very patient.

I even had time today to play with my camera a bit and take some photos with my big lens. Here are some of my favorites. I'm hoping to get some good Fall leaves shots this weekend too.

Happy Halloween tomorrow, even though no one wants to celebrate it then, but we still are! Boo!