Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

Our friends and family in Utah and Idaho will look at these pictures and laugh at how dramatic Texas is, but let me just say we are having some bad weather here! In Utah and Idaho they are prepared for bad weather... in Texas not so much- heat yes, even heavy rain and tornadoes, but cold weather precipitation... no. We don't usually have snow here, and when we do it lasts just a day or so, but on occasion we have ice... a nice thick sheet of ice all over everything. Luckily, most people stay home from work on those days, and schools are cancelled but it is really really scary, pretty but scary. 

When we looked at the weather forecast yesterday, I have to admit that I thought the weather people were being a little bit dramatic, especially when i looked outside and it was just sprinkling... sprinkling ice! But conditions were expected to continue to go downhill, they even rescheduled Brian's office holiday party until January 3rd in preparation for the day. Flights were cancelled, parades were cancelled, school was clearly cancelled, people were preparing to stay home and weather the storm. Brian left work at 3pm and when he got home there was nice sheet of ice on his car. By the time we went to bed (around 9pm) there was ice all over everything... we went outside and tested it out. And then this morning... there is a lot of ice. Freezing temps plus a continuous supply of ice have made for some interesting conditions today. Luckily, Brian has a job that allowed him to work from home today and he stayed home. I am so grateful he didn't have to drive in today, he has a LONG commute and I would have been so worried about him all day. Also, thankfully our power is still on, there are lots of people who haven't been so lucky and I am so grateful instead of worrying about when our pawer will come back on we are sitting around the Christmas tree watching Cars.  So we have a lot to be grateful for- a good job, a warm house, and a wonderful family. We are crossing our fingers Zach doesn't choose today to make his debut... we want to stay safely home until some of the ice melts. 

Here are a few photos of Texas today. 

We were all three cozy in our home (Michael calls our house our home, and he always asks if we can go back to our home and tells me how much he misses or missed his home). So today was a not getting ready day. In fairness Brian did get ready, but Michael and I just put on clean shirts and comfy pants, brushed our teeth and called it good. 

 you almost can't see Zach in this picture (let me pretend ok), but trust me he is still there. Michael loves all things transportation, right now he especially loves his polar express train (thank you grandpa suker!), anything Cars or Planes. He is showing off his Bulldog plane.

 he is pretty proud of his plane. We are a little bit mean and we made/let him buy a few toys with his own money. This has worked out great! He earns money by doing chores and has "purchased" a Chick Hicks car and a Dusty Crophopper plane. He is so proud of these things when he buys them and it has been great motivation to get him to help out. Not sure what that had to do with the bad weather but anyway I guess now is as good as time as any to blog about his new found interest in money. This has been kinda great too because he is understanding that he can't have everything because things cost money. I know he doesn't have a concept of money yet, but he does ask if things are on sale and if he has enough money... kinda great.

Ok here are pictures of the inclement weather. This isn't snow it is ice. The grass is icy, maybe we need an unclose picture, but let me explain. It looks like if you stuck the blades of grass in ice cubes and then this ice dust is on top... well not really dust. It looks non threatening but it is actually scary up close. and there is a visible layer of ice on the sidewalk to the grass. Brian went out to take the pictures, for some reason it didn't seem like the best idea to send me out when I am 9,000 months pregnant, coughing, and already hurt my back in some strange and painful way. 

 The swing is "crunchy". there is a layer of solid ice under the ice powder and when you press on it, it shatters. it sounds like break glass, really strange.

See the icicles. On Wednesday it was 80 degrees. I took Mikey to the park knowing it was the last good park day for awhile. It was even kind hot, he was sweaty and I had to move out of the sun... today I think being hot is not going to be a huge problem. There are also icicles hanging off our roof and the fence... again I didn't take pictures of them because it is dangerous, but it looks kinda cool. 

Brian jokingly said Michael can't go anywhere cause his car is iced in today. When Brian went out to the trash he had to hit it a few times because it was iced shut. I had the same problem with the mailbox last night. Not the same as snow friends. 

have a safe warm day!