MaeLyn's Musings

 The warning came early in the week: a snow storm was on its way and it was going to be a big one. They said it would arrive on Friday, but it didn't. We awoke Saturday morning hoping for a blanket of white, but there was nothing. All day Saturday we waited. Some snow fell, but there was not enough to even cover the grass. Where was the big storm? Where was the blizzard that had been predicted? Was it a case of "much ado about nothing"?  Our first winter here in Colorado there was a huge snowstorm and we expected every winter to have storms like that... Later we found out that storm, in March of 2003 was the second biggest snowstorm the Denver area had ever had. This storm was supposed to come close to that, if it ever actually arrived. Finally, that evening, it began. Sunday morning it was snowing. It fell and it fell hard. Church was cancelled and we cozied up at home. We listened to church music as Steven baked pies (for pi day) and I worked on a jigsaw puzzle. Every f...

On Wednesday, March 23rd, our morning began with a cell phone buzzing. Seminary was cancelled. Shortly later came the call that school was cancelled. A peek out the window showed maybe a half inch of snow on the ground but snow was falling steadily, and weather reports were calling for a blizzard that would last the entire day. By the afternoon, we had almost two feet of snow on the ground outside our front door! The kids had a blast building forts and caves that afternoon. Josh checking the depth - 21 inches! Hannah climbing out of her snow cave Hannah inside her snow cave Josh building the walls of his fort John working on his fort Peter enjoying the snow When the sun came out... kind of.  A neighborhood squirrel came around looking for a warm nest and discovered my Halloween craft pumpkin on the shelf just outside our patio door. He proceeded to chew a hole in it, dig out the stuffing, and spent the next couple days warm and snuggly inside it...

Snow brings adventure. Sleds become rockets, soaring over an igloo. The other side of the jump. Josh could fit entirely inside!

I'm sick of the cold. I'm ready to move somewhere warm - like Tahiti. Yes, it may be their rainy season right now, but at least their temperatures are in in the 70s and 80s, not the 0s or -0s like we've had here recently. (Yes, I realize that some of those who are reading this are experiencing colder temperatures than these, and all I can say is I'm sorry. This is plenty cold enough for me.) Usually, Denver, Colorado isn't a bad place to live. We get seasons, which means a gorgeous autumn, a green summer, a wet spring, and snow in the winter. But usually the snow in the winter melts off really quickly. We can have six inches of snow and have it all melted off within three days. It doesn't usually stick around the entire winter, turning black and dirty on the sides of the roads. We don't have to keep chains on our tires from November to March. We have winter days that reach 60 degrees, and that feels warm! And then we have weeks like this one, snowing ...

Last week the weathermen said we were going to get a blizzard. The school called a snow day . Businesses closed. We got a couple inches of snow... but at the end of the day, we could still see the top of the grass poking through. We wondered - where is all the snow we were supposed to have gotten??? Yesterday we awoke to snow falling. It wasn't sticking to the roads and sidewalks in the morning. School wasn't cancelled. We trudged to school. The snow continued to fall all day. I had to walk to the library to return some things that were due, but decided to do that on the way to pick up the kids from school. It was still snowing, and by the time we all got home again, we were pretty wet and cold. It continued snowing. Josh asked if this was the blizzard we were supposed to get last week. I don't know. This morning's snow depth. This morning, the snow had stopped falling, although we are supposed to get more this afternoon and evening, and tomorrow. Again schoo...

No, we didn't get another snow day today. The snow stopped in the afternoon, started up again a little in the evening, but stopped overnight and today is bright and sunny. (A little too bright really. There's a lot of glare out there!) The kids are all back at school, Steven is at work, and the house is peacefully quiet. So why the title? Well, yesterday I drew snowflakes . But I wasn't entirely happy with the result. Last night as I lay in bed, I was thinking about how I might have done them better, and I decided to try again, this time going back to the basic building blocks of snow flakes - building them up starting with the hexagonal water molecules. Anyway, I tried again this morning, and I do like this one better. I thought these flakes had more of the lacy quality of actual snowflakes. (Remember that you can see pictures bigger if you click on them. Most of my art here is 1680x1050 pixels, so I can use them as desktop screen backgrounds. You can too!)

School was cancelled today due to snow. I think this is the first time our school district has cancelled school because of weather in two years. There was only an inch or two this morning when we woke up, but it has fallen consistently all morning. My institute class this morning was cancelled. Relief Society tonight has been cancelled. I don't have to go anywhere all day. Steven's work called this morning... he still had to go to work. I hope the drive home tonight isn't too bad. Meanwhile, I have a house full of children at home. Hannah went out to play with a friend... I assume she is playing in the snow by her friend's house... there are no visible footsteps leading away from the house any more. The boys haven't gone out yet. Do I want them to go out... and then come back in frozen and dripping, crying for hot chocolate? Or do I want them playing - noisily- in the house all day? I don't know. I guess I'll wait and see what they want to do.

Compare this to my sunflower picture here We had a snow storm this weekend. It snowed pretty much all day on Saturday, and we got several inches of white fluffy stuff.  Hannah went to the park to go sledding with a friend, but the rest of us stayed home all day. The boys spent a lot of time on the computer, playing Monkey Island. I read a book. By Sunday, the roads were plowed and dry and we had no trouble getting to church. Today is sunny and fairly warm and the snow is quickly melting. The kids are still waiting for a snow day from school. It doesn't look like they will get one this week.

Yesterday, church was cancelled due to heavy snow. I was kind of hoping school would be cancelled today, too, but it stopped snowing yesterday afternoon and today dawned bright and clear, the streets had been plowed over night, and this morning the district website said all schools were open. Steven got notice he could come in to work late, so he accompanied us on our trek to school this morning through the freshly fallen snow. Here are some pictures I took on our walk to school:       I would rather walk in this kind of weather than drive. Trudging through 12" deep snow gives me more exercise, and if I slip and slide while on foot, I find it a lot less scary than when the car I'm driving won't stop as I slide into traffic. The sun is still shining, the snow is already melting, and it is a beautiful day!

This morning we awoke to a layer of white on the grass and the car. It was still coming down as we ate breakfast, but by the time the kids left for school it had stopped, and the sky was blue. I love living in Colorado. Peter kind of looks like an elf in his chosen coat and hat. The coat is actually one of Hannah's... Josh chose to wear layers of about three hoodies, rather than one coat. John wore a regular coat - and two hats, one big knitted one to keep his ears warm, and a smaller felt one on top of that to keep the snow from coming in through the holes in the knitted hat. Is it a good thing my children don't seem to care what others think about what they wear?

For Christmas, my sister sent us a snowman kit - just add snow! She wanted pictures...unfortunately, it didn't snow for most of January. Finally, however, we have had snow and the snowman kit has gotten some use! Thanks, Lia! Who needs snow? Finally put to proper use!

Something must be clogging the gutters. We get huge icicles! Last Thursday we had parent teacher conferences. All my children are doing wonderfully well. Because of conferences, there wasn't regular school Thursday, and Friday was a furlough day for the teachers. (In order to save the district money, the teachers "get" a day off school with no pay.) So, we had to find ways to keep the kids entertained. Thursday morning we spent a couple hours at the school visiting not only with the boys' teachers, but also with the specials teachers (P.E., art, music). When we got home, I left Hannah to watch the others, and I took Joshua with me to the store to pick up some groceries. He was supposed to go shopping with a parent as part of his homework for the week; otherwise I would have done that shopping trip the day before. When we returned home, the kids had pulled out the beads and put on a movie. The beads kept them occupied for pretty much the rest of the day. Can yo...

Last week was the kids' Spring Break. Five days, four kids, one mom, one snow storm. Monday was sunny and warm. We started by straightening up the house from the weekend, then we went to the library for books to read during the week, and then played for an hour or so at the park. Hannah made Rice Krispie treats for FHE and cut out the pattern pieces for a dress. (She loves to sew, and I thought it would be interesting to teach her how to make clothes from a real pattern and cloth rather from just her imagination and newspaper bags.) We (Hannah, John and I) started writing stories and I had Hannah and John practice their times tables while Josh and Peter watched a "All I need to know in 1st grade" DVD that Josh's teacher had sent home for him to watch. All in all it was a fun, busy, and exhausting day. Tuesday began crisp and cold. I got the laundry started for the day, and then we began a science experiment: making homemade yogurt. Once that was incubating (sittin...

Okay. Today is random picture day. No, it is not as exciting as seeing pictues of a brand new baby, but oh well. The first picture was taken on one of the days a couple weeks ago when Lindy was here. She was impressed to see Hannah helping Peter on his little laptop game. The two of them do get along really well together most of the time, and it is nice that Hannah can help Peter when I am otherwise occupied. (Can you see the two cats under the table?) This was taken on November 2nd, a few minutes before we left to go to dinner and see "Wicked". I know I already said it, but I really enjoyed having Lindy and Thom here, and our evening out was a blast. We should do things like that more often! (Note the black cat lying on top of the TV stand on the right.) This picture was taken on my bed on Sunday. Yes, we really do have four cats here. From left to right they are: Abish(the mom), Ishmael(the dad), Lamoni (called LaLa by the kids) and Moroni (called MoMo by the...