Stir Crazy...

So most everyone in the country is experiencing the arctic air blast, right? So I am sure you can sympathize when I tell you that we are going sTiR cRaZy in here!

Day 1, Sunday: I leave church after sacrament meeting with three of the kids because the Bubbs has the crud now and her cough can be heard and felt in China. And the Buns is still sick, slept (and drooled) on me during the meeting. And the Buggs goes where I go. Then I try to entertain them at home.

Day 2, Monday: We keep the Bubbs home from school in hopes that we can get the cough under control. All four kids home all day long. Meanwhile, I am attempting to finish reconciliation for 2010 for work.

Day 3, Tuesday: School is canceled! We only got about 3 inches of snow, but it is freezing cold, bitterly cold when you add in the windchill. Pretty much a sheet of ice everywhere. No snow plows/salt trucks for residential areas here in Texas. So we don't leave the house. Well, except for the brief attempt to play in the snow.

Time spent getting kids bundled to go out: 20 minutes.
Time spent getting the kids un-bundled, dried off, warmed up when they are ready to come back inside: 30 minutes.
Time actually spent playing in the snow: 6 minutes.
Watching the Buns run around in her super adorable hat and snow pants for that 6 minutes? Priceless :)

We tried to entertain ourselves inside all day. It sort of worked. At least the missionaries came over for dinner to help break up the boredom. And freezing cold weather means yummy food - BBQ spicy chili on cornbread waffles, with chocolate-mint cookie ice cream sandwiches for dessert... Mmmmmm.... We said goodbye to an elder who is leaving us for Waco when the storm clears out.

Day 4, Wednesday: School canceled again!! Yikes. The ice isn't melting, it is like negative 500 degrees with the wind chill, they are issuing rolling blackouts to save on power so our power could go out at any second. Luckily we've been blessed - no frozen pipes for us, heat is working, DH telecommutes so we haven't had to face the roads, and we have food, wood to burn, water, and plenty of sweaters and blankets! BUT my wonderful children are going a bit crazy with all this inside together time. Games played, movies watched, books read, toys strewn out all over the house, crayons worn down to stubs, lots of make-believe heroes and monsters running in and out of every room. We're running out of love people. If absence makes the heart grow fonder, we need some absent-ing to make that happen? Ya know?

Who knows if we'll have school tomorrow. Nothing has melted. Our driveway and street are still basically sheer ice. If they have to keep cycling power on and off, it doesn't make sense to have school. I heard on the radio a while ago that the main highway right next to our neighborhood has been closed due to ice buildup. So does that mean even if I wanted to go somewhere, I couldn't? Yikes. It isn't supposed to get above freezing until noonish on Friday.

On the one hand, you would think that with all this time off from seminary, school, errand-running, kid shuffling, etc, I would have gotten a TON of things accomplished! And have a perfectly clean house and everything ready and prepared for weeks in advance. But the reality is that with the kids inside all day everyday pretty much since Saturday night, the house is suffering. I am following kids around to remind them that even though we are having free days, Daddy is still working and we still have to be relatively quiet. I'm trying not to do laundry or other energy-consuming projects to save a little on the electricity consumption. I am trying to find new fun and happy things for us all to do together that will not result in tears. Mine, mostly. :) *sigh* Yesterday was still a blast, today it's getting a bit old, and if we're still stuck in tomorrow? .....

At least the Bubbs had found the time to document her philosophy on loving someone. She also seems to be trying to master the transitive property (she just needs to add no nice = no good life to make it complete). And for those of you who know me well, you know that the transitive property is pretty much my favorite. Glad to see she's just a chip off the not-so-old block! :)