DC Snow Storm 2010

This was hands down the BEST snow storm I have EVER been in. It was amazing. We got anywhere between 28 and 36 inches of snow. Trees were falling down everywhere, power lines were down, and the snow kept on coming! I think the best part was how life here completely slowed almost to a stand still for a few days. No cars, just some snow plows, softly falling snow, and tons of people out walking in the streets. I met neighbors I never would have met. Even borrowed one of their shovels (not the brand new yellow one, though. He was out every 30 minutes shoveling with that sucker and I did NOT want to break his "good shovel"). It was exciting and b-e-autiful!

I tried to get Landon to build a tunnel
with me, but he wanted to work on the car.

I walked down the road to see the power line
that was down, and this tree limb was hanging over the
road. Not yet broken, but cracking as I was almost
going to walk under it. I decided to walk around.
A day later, it's still there. Cracking slowly
until someone's unlucky fate.

I don't think we're getting mail any time soon.

This is where the power line went down. Snow plows
couldn't get down this road. Today I saw people
with their shovels shoveling the road!

Again, the power line down on my road.
We were pretty much stuck.

There were so many people out walking and enjoying
the calm after the storm. Beautiful sunset that night, eh? This moment
really did feel so calm. Except that my hands were freezing.

One of only a small handful of snow trucks here in
the area. In Boston, all the roads would
have been clear with in an hour after the storm.

We set up a tent in the house, just in case our power went out.
It was pretty toasty in there. Here's Taylor and Landon
watching old episodes of He-Man and She-Ra. They love it.

Hmmm....

We went on a drive to the DC Temple. It's only 2 minutes
from our house.

January 2010

Stuck somewhere in New York

Our car broke down on the way home from Christmas holidays.
Yes, it was in the middle of the blizzard and yes, Taylor had
to go #2

So we got a hotel and the kids got some rest.




These two pictures of Landon and Taylor are quite indicative
of how Erin and I sleep. Erin looks peaceful, like Landon, while
I look....less attractive (my mouth is usually opened a little wider--
I'm sure I've eaten plenty of spiders).




Audra entertaining herself by trying to put
on Taylor's clothes.



Luray Caverns
Virginia


We went to some sweet caves in Virginia.



I don't think any of these pictures do the caves justice.


It was a self-guided tour that lasted a little
over an hour


Erin and I tried to pretend that Taylor and Audra really
weren't whining and crying. I mean, seriously.
We just spent over 2 hours driving to get here, spent money for
this tour, still had not had lunch, but dang it, we were going to
enjoy it! Our poor, starving, tired children.


Landon LOVED it! He also was trying to pretend
he didn't have any sisters.



This was a column that fell over in a small quake.
It ended up fusing with the wall. So cool!



My favorite part was at the end. Some guy, a while back,
built this organ right into the cave. There are no pipes. Instead,
it's attached to hammers that tap on stalactites to produce
the right tone.


However cool the organ was, the girls were
done. Audra threw herself on the ground
and just laid there. Lucky for them, this was
the end of the tour. Maybe they'll look back
at pictures some day and say "Oh yeah, Luray Caverns was
awesome. I loved it! I totally remember going
there. Thanks Mom and Dad for taking us
to so many cool places. You guys are the coolest parents."
Maybe? Maybe not.

Jet Packs

Introducing the new something to do inside on a winters day--
"Jet Packs"
Easy to create with out mess or clean up, this ingenious contraption
promises hours of entertainment for your little ones (and yourself after
they go to bed). Created by Landon himself, simply find
a plastic soda or water bottle from recycle bin, strap securely around belly with
packing tape and see your kids racing speed increase ten fold.
No more being late for school, or yelling to get your kids to hurry
and clean up their rooms. Just try "Jet Packs" and your heart
will be eased with the speed with which your kids can move.

A day in the life...

Wake up around 6am. Erin's already left for his run to work. Workout. Kids wake up--always happy it's a new day. Make pancakes with blueberries and whip cream. But run out of whip cream when it finally gets to be my turn. Oh, the life of the mama. Landon sings "Pants on the Ground." And then sings it some more with his pants off his body and on the kitchen floor. Then puts his pants on and sings "Pants on the Landon, Pants on the Landon." Order children to get ready for the day--about a million times. Lead Landon in piano practice. What normally should last 15 minutes, turns into a 30 minute lesson. But he endures. Use the bathroom--take extra long to have some time without children hanging all over me. Sometimes I use the bathroom even if I don't need to go, just for some alone time. Flush toilet, toilet floods while I'm on it. Not cool. Landon gets plunger. Clean bathroom thoroughly while pants are around ankles. Help build Lego firetruck. Buckle Taylors princess dress--daily. Feed Audra--again. Kids clean entire room and playroom--awesome! Friend picks up kids for an hour at the gym. Hurry to get whatever I can get done in one hour--emails, phone calls, hem some pants. Kids get home--feed kids again. Let kids watch TV--hey it's a day off! Play and sing "If We Hold On Together" (our family theme song) with the girls at the piano. They sing and play with me. Love it! Sit down to dinner. Taylor calls me Captain and salutes. Eat Mahi Mahi with rice and french beans. Rice all over the floor. Landon does dishes. Taylor cleans off table. Audra roams around hitting brother and sister. I finish cleaning up while kids have a jam session on the keyboard. Kids done with jam session. They come into kitchen looking like a chinese dragon with a big brown blanket over their heads. They say they're a hot dog. The chinese dragon/hot dog walks out and Taylor runs into the couch and hits her head on the hard wood. Chinese dragon/hot dog abruptly ends. Lay kids on rug and throw blanket over them like a parachute--entertainment for hours. But it's bed time Read books--"Knuffle Bunny" for Taylor, some baby one for Audra. Brush teeth while Landon serenades us on the harp. Put girls to bed. Sing "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" to Audra and "I am a Child of God" to Tay. Family prayers--Taylor says it. She says "Thank you for my friend took us to the gym and that I came home with mommy. And bless Daddy will come home tonight." Say happies and sads--Taylors happy--the gym with Danielle; Taylor's sad--she didn't get to go to the gym yesterday with Danielle. Landon reads books--"We Can Share It" and a Curious George. He's gotten really good at reading. We have a nice conversation (see below). Carry Landon to bed like a baby--way to big to do that, but he loves it. His song pick tonight: "Love is Spoken Here." Happy--gym; sad--Dad didn't come home. Watch American Idol. Erin comes home late 9:30. I miss basketball, but I'm happy to give Erin his Hump Day (aka middle of the week hump, you sickos) gift. Email, blog, "research" internet for swimsuits. No luck. Bed time!!!

Prayers and Boxes

Landon: Mom, I know how Jesus answers so many prayers from so many people at the same time.

Me: Oh, yeah...

Landon: Yeah. There's these boxes...rectangular boxes....in space. And they have holes in them. And prayers float up there on pieces of paper. And then when it's full, the box floats to Jesus and he reads them super fast. Like, all at the same time.

Me: Hmmm....sounds like you've really thought about this.

Landon: Yeah, I can see it in my head right now. The boxes are purple, the meteorites are blue, and then I can see the earth too...

Landon: Mom, I bet Jesus has a big TV where he can watch everyone on earth and know how many prayers are being said on each continent. So He sits there with his remote control and can see that one continent has 12 prayers being said and another continent has, like 8.

Mom: Hmmm...you know, I bet Jesus probably knows so much, he doesn't even need a tv to know all the prayers that are being said.

Landon: You mean, he wouldn't even need the boxes?