a HILL of a good time.........: Snowapalooza 2011

As I am writing this we are experiencing 2 feet, yes..FEET of snow. But let's just start at the beginning. ~~~~~~~~~~Last Monday (1-31-2011) we get a winter storm warning that goes something like this "up to 2 inches of ice and then an additional 6 inches of snow" REALLY?? Buckle down people, Northwest Arkansas doesn't do "winter" well. I was secretly hoping for maybe a half day school close and then we would be back to the normal swing of things (it had been a very rough week to say the least....I will explain later) but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.. Mother nature had different plans. She dumped ice and snow. So, these Hills were stuck on the hill. This wouldn't have been such a bad thing if it didn't last for DAYS!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We had weather reports such as this.....7 degrees? That is NOT normal.

We try our best to embrace the weather as there is really nothing we can do about it. We are going to be stuck, that is it. I try to make sure we have somewhat of a schedule. I make sure we have food and snacks for multiple days. I make sure Chaz has some special activities to keep him busy. Now don't get me wrong, we spend a lot of time plopped in front of the TV. There is really no way around it. We really just try to go with it.
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The majority of my "snow days" are spent in front of this...If you know me you probably are thinking.. don't you spend the majority of your time there anyway?? Yes, it is true..I do laundry constantly. BUT on snow days I find other things to wash....All the blankets, extra bedding, stuffed animals, etc. You name it, I washed it. I know, it is an illness.

The remainder of my time is spent here (my "work station") My work was actually closed on Tuesday because the conditions were so bad. I have been there 9 years and never seen such a thing. Now to be clear, this doesn't mean that my "work life" slowed down in the least. I had to make sure the work got done...so it was spreadsheets, emails, Webvantage and conference calls for me. I was very lucky that my 3-year-old decided to be on his best behavior for the 3..yes, 3 days that we were stuck.

I live for my cold 44 ounces of unsweeted tea with lemon from Sonic. I stop there religiously every single morning before work. Sometimes I grab a friend and go to Sonic Happy Hour in the afternoon. I have even been known to stop on my way home from a rough day. So, what do I do when I am stuck? I make my own version. I stopped by Walmart on the way home Monday night (Walmart is insane the day before a storm but I have to get tea for me and milk for Chaz..these are both necessities) I still have the cup I got from the hospital when Chaz was born. I call it "my favorite" which Ryan thinks is weird. Whatever. I add a little lemon and.... This was my heaven for a few days

Here are a few pictures out my back windows..and NO, I did not go outside. It was like an Arctic blast. They were warning us of MAJOR wind chills and snow drifts. What?? A snow drift in Arkansas? This is Chaz's little roller coaster that sits out back. Just wait until you see the pictures from this week...you can't even see it!

So my morning began with a conference call, a few emails, a quick shower and this..Naked boy in a bucket. What the heck? Let the insanity continue. I mean we are snowed in, what the heck else are we suppose to do?

Again, a trapped 3-year-old will do all kinds of wacky things. We finally got him dressed but next thing we knew he had ventured into the office. What did he find? Our return address stamp and some house plans. Well, needless to say the plans were quickly COVERED with stamps. He was so proud of himself! He came to me to show off his work. God love a 3-year-old.

Chaz got a bike for Christmas. We let him ride it in the house until Springtime. I know, probably not our best parental move but I just couldn't see taking it away from him. We will probably have to repaint the bottom 1/4 of all the walls once it is all said and done. Oh well. He loves it! This day he decided he was "delivering lunch." This kid and his imagination will keep you going for days. Later this day, he did the same thing but decided he was in a parade, tossing out candy. He used his bucket of army men. The army men were the candy. HA!

As we were pulling things out to cook for lunch I discovered this..........my pantry was BEYOND messy. I know, an illness. Something came over me and I just had to clean it out. I literally took everything out, vacuumed the shelves, check expiration dates, comboed up cereals, etc.

The most hilarious part was the "kids" shelf. I keep it high enough that the treats are hidden and it quickly becomes the messiest shelf. Apparently, I am hoarding Mac & Cheese. Actually, I am not. I just thought 3-year-olds liked Mac & Cheese. Oh no, not mine. Darn you, picky eater. I guess I will pack it back on the "kids" shelf and try and pawn it off on the cousins and friend-cousins. Those peaches on the left may also need to get pawned off.

and the treats.. Yes, we may have a slight addiction. Don't judge. I have never claimed to be above bribery. I will also point out that there is an abundance of this because he doesn't get them whenever he wants. He gets some sugar but it isn't freewill. Now that I have defended myself, let's get back on track. When I pulled the treat bucket out from the very back of the "kids" shelf. I could not stop laughing. Check it. I mean, we have a football team of PEZ dispensers (and this isn't even all of them as there are some in the car, bags, purses, etc.. not.above.bribery people.) The tub of candy, what can I say. We could restock Walmart. What makes me giggle is that most people HATE PEZ and this is just something I cannot comprehend. I have loved PEZ for as long as I can remember. And although I am not a big sweets person I can still take down a roll in 2 seconds flat. What can I say, the apple doesn't fall far.. :)

After much cleaning, reorganizing, vacuuming and properly categorizing everything.. THIS is my sanity. I just stared at it. Clean. Organized. Perfect. I am such the dork that I would randomly walk by and open it for days.. Yep, organizational dork. Which in my mind is a compliment, by the way.

Some other sites of the day... Manny. We love Manny.

The fireplace. Oh, how I love my fireplace. Chaz will say "Daddy you MUST turn on the fire. We are freeeeeeeeezing" Yes, he is a little dramatic but if it gets the fireplace on, so be it!

This is Chaz's version of a spaceship. He usually uses every pillow in the living room and even grabs a few from our bed. On this day he decided to toss in some storage bins. What an odd kid. An odd kid that I adore!

The little old man said he needed his coffee because he was cold. What is funny is neither Ryan not I drink coffee. He must get this from Gaga and Papa. Note: I do not give him coffee, just OJ in his coffee cup.

At one point I looked down and saw this....remember I am hella OCD so this is a MAJOR mess in my book. I was very proud of myself that I just let it sit. I was shaking uncontrollably (kidding..sort of) but I let it sit.

"Ariel" view.

How could I bother such a cute little boy when he was playing so wonderfully!?!?

Remember when I mentioned "special activities?" Well, I am pleased to say this snow finally gave us an excuse to breakout the paints Santa got Chaz for Christmas. He was SOOOO excited.

Now this mess.. This one REALLY made me shake. One hour on a conference call, the boys upstairs unattended and this is what happens.. WOW!

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And so we made it through day one.. What would day 2 bring us??
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I figured I would take a few more outside pictures. It was bitterly cold so needless to say we stayed inside. Chaz was very clear in telling us it was MUCH too cold to go outside. Did I say bitterly cold? Because I meant BITTERLY cold!! No, that is not a typo.

This is our porch.. Yes, our covered porch.

and I guess our brilliant cats thought it was a good idea to go outside.

Out the front window. ZERO activity on our road. You know it is bad when we aren't even getting the mail. I thought there was a slogan about "rain, sleet and snow.." Kidding!!

My evil husband decided to make puppy chow. Really? I eat everything in sight when I am snowed in and you are going to put this yummy goodness in front of me? Evil.

If you have a kiddo you have seen this.... the cartoon trance..It is known by mothers all over the world.

This was my accomplishment of the evening. I put the train table back together. This calmed my OCD and let me "organize" some of the toys. Chaz never keeps this thing together and it drives me nuts. It shouldn't but it does. I thing it is just lovely when it is all together.

The view from our upstairs deck that evening were simply breathtaking.

Day 2 down.. Day 3, we woke up to a lot of sunshine. Trust me, the "melt please" dance was done a couple hundred times that day. The sun was shining off the ice covered trees.

After I was done taking pretty pictures and cleaning up from the days before, I walked in my bedroom to see this. How stinkin' cute is his little bedhead ducktail??

and to add to the cute one.. My adorable sleeping hubby in the background. I heart these boys!

"and then he was released from his cartoon trance to notice his momma taking his picture."

If you follow me, you know I tend to take a series of pictures. I love it. Our most recent have involved Chaz showing me his facial expressions. He loves that he has control over them and likes me to tell him which ones to do. Today's face "Supercute." This series is actually 9 pictures but I picked my favorites. You will notice in the top three we have a slight problem...no eyes.

I then said "Chaz, you need to hold your eyes open" Thank you for this, Captain Literal.

We were finally able to break out of the house... it was either that or we hit complete insanity. We knew we couldn't go far because the temps were dropping so we headed downtown to Damgoode Pies. Serenity now!!!

The next morning we had to head to Bentonville for my uncle's services. The sun was gleaming off the house. It was beautiful. I think it was a sign that he was ok.

That weekend I was determined to be out as.much.as.possible. I didn't care where we went as long as we were not stuck in the house. I knew we were expecting more weather the next week. I had to laugh when we got out of the car at Kohl's and saw this. Really? There is no better place for this snow pile? I find that hard to believe.