Snow Day update

It finally stopped snowing about 2:00pm. We took a ruler outside and we have 9 inches of snow. Our backyard is relatively flat, so the kids and I shoveled the snow off our elevated patio to create a mini hill. They took turns using the sleds to slide down our slope. I don't have any pictures however as snow was blowing like crazy and I didn't want the camera and lens to get wet. After our snow adventures we came inside for some yummy hot cocoa! We even used candy canes for stirrers, whip cream and marshmallows!! I didn't accomplish much else today, but I did get some computer maintenance and back up completed. Gary is on his way home now. He tells me he accomplished what he had to get done and now he can officially take 2 vacations days next week and be off until the new year. (Except for phone calls and email checks :) I'll take it, we haven't seen him much lately!

Snow Day

The kids are home for a SNOW DAY today. Today was the last day of school before Christmas Break. Luckily we had school parties yesterday. Gary went to Kyle's preschool party and I participated in Megan's in the AM and Justin's in the afternoon. By afternoon I was partied out! It is 8 am and we already have quite a bit of snow on the ground and it isn't supposed to slow down until after lunch. Right now they say we are getting 1-2 inches per hour. We live on a main road and usually it stays plowed and clear but the few times I have looked out it has been cleared but it doesn't stay cleared! ( The bottom pic is from my front door. Beyond the crabapple tree in our front yard is the road, but in the picture you can't tell what is what under the snow!) Traffic is pretty light as well. However, it didn't stop Gary from getting up earlier than usual and making his way downtown to GM for the day! Hopefully it will be is last before he uses some vacation added to the shutdown and is off for the holidays!

He can't wait I have a big painting project waiting for him in our basement! I don't feel to bad though, I wanted to get it done 7 years ago when we moved in our house....so it is long overdue and I have been patient! I need to get the patching started so all the holes and dings will disappear under the fresh paint.

The kids have BIG plans for some fun in the snow. I slowed them down a bit as they wanted to go out immediately after breakfast but I tried to hold them off until late morning or lunchtime and hopefully the snow falling will slow down. Our black dog was white after going out for her morning potty break. Hopefully I will be back later today with some fun snow day pictures!

Through the years

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

I started looking through the files and was swamped with memories. The time seems to have flown by, it is amazing how much the kids have changed from year to year.

12 days until Christmas

Today we went to visit Santa Claus. We love to visit the Santa in the Renaissance Center, which is where Gary works in downtown Detroit. In years past I would take the kids down and we would meet Gary for lunch and go see Santa. This is our first year with all day school for Justin, so we made alternative plans and went downtown on a Saturday for lunch and our Santa visit. We took the long route home and gave the kids a first hand view of some of the blighted areas in Detroit and tried to give some explanations about poverty and the like. I think Megan and Justin understood at least some of it. Megan kept saying, "this kingdom is very sad and dirty". I haven't thought of Detroit in any fairytale like scenerios lately, but I thought it was cute that she kept using "kingdom" rather than "city".

We are praying that the Big 3 get some government assistance really soon or things will be looking really bad for us and most everyone around us in SE Michigan. So keep us in your prayers. Meanwhile we are pretty much prepared for Christmas and looking forward to getting together and spending time with friends and our families in the upcoming weeks. Danielle's parents and Ryan, Lisa & Matthew will be celebrating together in Michigan for Christmas this year. We started playing card and other games during our Thanksgiving visit and are looking forward to getting our competitive streaks going again during our next visit. Megan and Justin are finally old enough to play some more adult type games and enjoy being part of the fun!

We hope you all are happy and well!

God Bless, Danielle