Staying Warm

Well, we are in the midst of a winter storm. We were warned it was coming and just like promised it arrived early this morning. First with sleet, then with snow. It is not yet 10:00 AM and we are already in a winter wonderland.

The fire is crackling in my fireplace across the room, it is pretty but doesn't give off much heat. I miss my super duper heating fireplace in our old house. That fireplace could virtually heat almost the entire house. There is something to be said about little brick houses that were built in the 1950's. My kids are frantically duct taping an old plastic sled. I now regret not buying that super duper sled that was on clearance at Target the other day. Oh well, I was just being hopeful that spring was on it's way I guess. But there will be no sledding until the snow stops blowing in horizontally and the wind chill reaches the double digits! I do not need 3 frozen Popsicles on my hands.

It would be a great day for snuggling up to read or write. But I think I will have my hands full keeping the troops entertained. Maybe this afternoon I will get a chance to curl up for some me time, we'll see.

How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

MMM...Snow Man Building and Kite Flying All In One Weekend

If you've never been to the Texas Panhandle you might think we are crazy, or at least given to telling tall tales. But I assure you this isn't true, well at least when it comes to our weather. To say that it is unpredictable is a bit of an understatement. Let me give you an example...Thursday it was 72 degrees outside, Friday morning it was blizzard conditions with roads closed and blowing snow that made visibility next to zero, Saturday it got up to 50 degrees and the snow was melting, and then Sunday we were back to wearing short sleeves.

My children had a long weekend. Friday schools were closed due to snow, Saturday they were sledding and snowmen building, and then Sunday they were flying kites. All in one weekend, and people think us Texans exaggerate, humph!!

WB and Little One braving the snowstorm!

View outside of blowing snow.

Saturday morning our neighbor came over with his 4-wheeler for some sledding fun!

Even though the snow was melting by afternoon we had some friends over for some snowmen building!

And of course Sunday we were flying kites!

WB mastering the kite in the high winds with Soph and Em at his side (Little One was hiding in front of Soph).

And just in case you think I'm telling a tall tale, here's the kite flying above Em and what's left of the snow:)

The weekend was full of Memorable Moments!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Not only is my blog looking more holiday like, but so is the weather outside. Yes, we went from 60+ degrees outside yesterday to blowing snow and temps hovering around the 20 degree mark with windchill in the single digits today. What a way to bring in the first day of winter and to help get you in the holiday spirit!

Last night I listened to the wind howling outside my window. I watched as our live Christmas tree swayed and bent as the gusts topped 40 mph. Sometime in the middle of the night the ice and snow began to fall. Since our house faces North and the wind was coming from that direction our front windows frosted up pretty quickly. This morning the winds are blowing at about 20 to 30 mph (that's sustained wind speed) and with gusts up to 50 to 60. That is a cold wind!!

Here's a picture out my office window this morning:


And here is a picture of our quail and some finches gobbling up the corn left out for all our wildlife:
Today we are staying inside and making bread. I love the smell of baking bread on a nice cold winter's day!

This is our upstairs temperature reading for outside. It's showing it is 67 outside. Obviously, this thermometer is basking on the beach in Florida somewhere. (Look at that dust, my, it's a good thing today is cleaning day!)

Now here is our reading downstairs. 23 degrees without windchill, that is more like it. This thermometer is obviously sticking around and braving the cold!