Snow, Snow, Go Away!

All Right. I've had it.

I admit, last November when the weather guy said he predicted a cold and snowy winter, I was kind of glad. I thought how nice it would be to actually have some fluffy white snow on the ground, the kids building snow men, and maybe even an occasional snow day...

Well, we got our cold and snowy winter but this week was the last straw. The kids missed four days last week and when they were out again Monday and Tuesday, I knew I was in danger of loosing it. So Tuesday, I pulled on my boots, gloves, coat and wrapped my scarf around my head because the wind was really cold, and headed to Wal-Mart. The trip served a dual purpose. First of all, I needed to go shopping. I mean, when you're out of toilet paper what are you going to do? Second of all, I didn't like feeling being confined to my home for another day. When Garrett and Hannah were very small (like ages 1 and 2) Louie worked an hour away. He was gone from 7am-6pm every day (sometimes longer depending on traffic) and I was a 24 year old stay at home mom. So some days by the time he got home, I was physically, emotionally and mentally spent. As a cure, I would simply meet him at the door with my coat on, kiss him and tel him I was going "Wal-Marting". Whether I needed to buy anything or not, I would drive to Wal-Mart and spend about and hour simply pushing the buggy around the store until I felt sane again. Well let me tell you, Tuesday, I went Wal-Marting.

The kids were happy to see me go because they knew I would come back with a better attitude AND food. The roads were passable though the parking lot was pretty rough. Needless to say, there were only about 50 people in the Wal-Mart Supercenter. I have never in my life had a more peaceful shopping trip. I actually ran into a woman from church who was on a Wal-Marting trip of her own. Apparently she and her husband ran out of coffee 24 hours earlier and she was willing to brave the elements for caffeine. Instead of standing in line forever, the cashier was straightening magazines and perked up when I came to her register, happy to see me. After checking out, I realized that I had to maneuver a buggy full of groceries across the tundra to my car. Well, it may have just made America's Funniest Videos. I'd push right and it would go left. I was trying to remember high school driver's ed when they explained how to steer when you start to loose control... apparently buggies aren't like cars. I did make it home with groceries, toilet paper, and a better attitude.

But I'm still over winter. I don't know how many events we've had canceled since December. We had our school Christmas program in late January, numerous church services have been canceled, and the ladies Christmas Dinner at church has been moved to March! Today, Garrett and Hannah are supposed to be at the state high school Latin Convention... postponed until March now. I can say, the only event not canceled was the school ski trip last week. They had to wait until later in the day to leave, but the skiing was apparently excellent!

So today is just like yesterday, cloudy and gray. This is what I see outside my window...

I've done nothing but complain in this post. So let me end by saying, I really have enjoyed many things about the snow this winter, especially the look in Becca's eyes when she wakes up and runs to the window and yells, "Yes!". But...March 20th is the first day of Spring. And I'm thinking we need to throw a party when it actually arrives!

Look What God Has Done

When I began this blog in August of last year, we had been having serious problems with flooding in our basement. We had done a repair to part of the foundation 5 years ago when we moved into the house but unfortunately, it hadn't competely fixed the problem. In fact, if you look at pictures from my second blog post on August 24, 2009, you'll see pictures of standing water in Hannah's bedroom. After digging down 6 feet all the way around the house and replacing the foundation drains, I can say with confidence that we have the driest house in the neighborhood! Unfortunately, it took a toll on our finished basement. A few furniture pieces got water damage, and as we continually scrambled to keep things off the floor and away from water, its become and unorganized mess. Since the basement's completion, we threw away some of the carpet, leaving bare concrete. Some carpet that remained was cleaned but had little padding. Needless to say, even though it's been dry since September, it's still been discouraging because the cost of replacing all that carpet is very high.

For Christmas, we received a very generous gift- CARPET! I couldn't believe it. With Hannah and Becca's advice, I chose new, soft carpet for our family room and Hannah's bedroom. In anticipation of the installation, I gave the ceiling and the walls a fresh coat of paint. I was telling some friends that when it was done, I was going to throw myself on the floor and make 'carpet angels' out of sheer joy. And I did!!! Becca just shook her head and said, "Mom, you're so weird". Then I laid face down on the floor, arms open wide and thanked God. And I meant it. This may seem like I'm being a little over dramatic, but I feel like we've not only done work over the last 5 years on the foundation of our home, but also on the foundation of our family as we've grown closer together. And now, we're seeing some of the benefits of all that hard work. Here are some pictures of Hannah's room in progress...

It was hard to pull myself off the carpet (New Carpet Smell) but Louie and I were cooking for a fundraising spaghetti dinner for Garrett and Hannah's show choir. Lou got most everything donated which was fabulous. The dinner was last night and there will be another one tomorrow night, Feb.4th from 7-9 at Central Christian Church (Come-buy tickets!). They served spaghetti (with meat, marinara or Alfredo sauce) while kids from the choir took turns singing solos and duets as entertainment. Garrett sang a sweet love song and played guitar. Hannah sang 'Defying Gravity' from the musical 'Wicked'. First of all, I was surprised by her confidence- it's a hard song. And as she ended the song by belting out a big note that she held onto for a really long time, people clapped and hollered. After they served dessert, the show choir performed their competition show for everyone. Garrett has a solo and its amazing.

My favorite song is their ballad, The Color Purple. I love beautiful lyrics. The words of the song acknowledge the presence of God in our lives and in all of creation. I have to smile at one point because there's this little guy named Franklin who can't be much more than 5' 5" tall with a mop of blond curls who sings a solo over top of the choir... I swear, somewhere inside him is the voice of a large black woman! Anyway, the song concludes as they all stand shoulder to shoulder across the front of the stage, the instruments die down and they raise they faces heavenward and sing the words, "Look what God has done". As I stood there last night by the kitchen door with Louie and Becca, watching Garrett and Hannah, who are so talented and so grown up looking, singing and having a good time, I could hardly hold back tears.

Look what God has done indeed.