weekend recap...

wow, i haven't seen snow like that since the beginning of 2003...Gabby was just a few months old then, & Jaden was 2 1/2...the snow drifts were taller than he was! so technically, this is the biggest snow the kiddos ever remember seeing!

we knew the storm was coming & that the grocery stores would be chaotic...but regardless, we had to stock up on food...our cabinets were almost bare & i knew getting stuck for the whole weekend with 3 growing kiddos & no food would mean big trouble!

we also needed to take the kiddos shopping for their cousins (& each other - sibling gifts)...we had Christmas with my side of the family planned for Sunday & we couldn't show up empty handed ;0) i made goodies for all the adults & we set the kiddos loose in the Dollar Tree for gifts for their 1st cuz's...they love shopping for each other, & it's so cute to see what they pick out...this way, we knew they wouldn't break our bank - everything in that store is $1! ;0) & wouldn't u know - their Dollar Tree gifts were some of the most popular ones received that day?! more on that in a sec...back to the storm...

here's what the Walmart parking lot looked like when we came out from getting groceries & were getting ready to head home...

& by the time we got home, everything had a thin covering...

but the next morning? we woke to this...

& by lunch time, we had a good bit of accumulation!

we didn't see much of VDOT for the first half of the day...but thank God for farmers - we spotted quite a few tractors out scraping the roads!

& thank God for my husband...i mean seriously, i don't know what i'd do without that man sometimes! u can see, he's shoveled from our front door, out to the end of the driveway...

& by the time he'd turned around & headed back, there was another couple inches on the ground!

look at the front porch steps that he had just cleared!

but he was smart - going out several times that day to clear the way...better than shoveling 2+ feet all at once! here's the bird bath in our front yard...u can see just how deep it is!

& here's the kiddos when we finally let them head outside...

they begged us to go out from the moment they woke up! but we kept making them wait - hoping the snow would slow down & make it easier to get around - u know, without fat, wet flakes pelting their faces ~lol~

finally, in the late afternoon, we gave in...it still hadn't stopped, but it wasn't coming down quite as hard...& we knew if we didn't soon let em out, they'd drive us insane!!! ;0)

but of course, it wasn't the easiest to play in either...they'd get up & start trying to run across the yard...

only to fall again...it was pretty entertaining to watch ~lol~

Gabby really wanted to get to the swings...

cause the snow was almost as high as they were!

the fun didn't last long tho...soon, they had snow down their boots, Corinn had lost her hat, & walking just became way too difficult

i'm not sure what our final total was, but at that time on Saturday (around 3pm) - we had around 22inches already - & it didn't stop until about 8pm that night!

i kept the hot cocoa flowing all day long & we had lots of fun hanging out together inside...the kiddos out voted Curtis & i - we ended up having tacos for dinner instead of chili...but we all agreed that desert was awesome...snow cream of course!

snow cream:
go collect about 16cups of clean snow in a big bowl
stir in 1/2cup sweet condensed milk,
1/2cup sugar,
1cup milk,
1tsp vanilla
add more/less milk to get the creamy, ice cream like consistency u're after
YUM!

i was scheduled to deliver 2 cakes that day...one party canceled on Friday...the other went on as planned, but totally understood when i called to say i wasn't going to chance it & come out to deliver their cake...she didn't want to come after it either & was fine with it being delivered the next day...i would share the cake with u all here, but it was a "naughty" one...that also happens to be the password to the adult themed album on my website...u can check out Scotty's cake there - but only if u're 18 or older please ;0)

(btw, i made the cake in the middle of the night, when the kiddos were in bed - then boxed it up & kept it in a closet until the next day, so they wouldn't get curious & try to peek)

the next morning was just beautiful!

& the total accumulation was amazing to see!

thankfully, the roads were much better - scrapers had continued to come through all day & night...& the salted roads were ok to travel on if u had 4-wheel drive (thankfully, everyone in my fam does)

church was canceled - & so was the children's Christmas program that was scheduled for later that night...but we went on with our family Christmas as planned...after delivering the day-late cake, we headed over to my brother's house for TONS of good food & presents!

thankfully, everyone was able to make it - no one had to work! & the kiddos had a blast...each getting totally awesome gifts from Nana & Grandpa!

afterward, we ran home to get suited up - then headed over to my sister's house for some sledding on their little hill

once again, the brutal cold & deep deep snow brought us back inside sooner than we'd planned, but we still had a great time!

the rest of the evening was spent playing with the kiddos' new toys inside...Gabby got an awesome art set - chuck full of markers, pencils, chalk, paint, etc

Corinn got an amazing little doll house - very similar to the one that Gab got for her birthday last year - she was psyched to have her own...& Jaden was in heaven with his new Bionicle sets! he's played with nothing else since!!! ~lol~

how was ur weekend?
did u get hit by this big winter storm?
only 3 days til Christmas!
(thx to Jaden for my hourly reminder! ~wink~)