Snow Days

Finally some snow!

They've been telling us since September that a very strong La Nina weather pattern was building in the Pacific.  Typically, La Nina years bring lots of snow.  Our December was warmer and dryer than normal and it looked like La Nina wasn't panning out.  Being a weather man around here has got to be a tough job.  We have to have just the right conditions of cold arctic air getting trapped under wet tropical air in order to get snow.  And, snow that blankets the Pacific Northwest is even harder to come by.  We usually end up with convergence zones where an area will get snow while the surrounding areas get rain or even are dry.

All last week, the forecasters started saying snow for the weekend.  As we got closer to the date it was looking more and more like some lucky people would get snow and the rest of us would miss out.  That's how it played out.  On Sunday, Marysville (10 miles to our south) got 4", LaConner (15 miles to the north) got 4", farther south and north they got up to 7".  Arlington got nothing.  The kids were so disappointed!  So was Dode, who wouldn't have minded if they canceled church on his day to teach the lesson in our primary class!

Dode and Isaac had planned to replace part of the garage roof on Saturday. When the weather report called for snow, and our 4:40 am wake up call courtesy of the produce truck revealed a dusting of snow with more coming down, they decided to take the newly rebuilt Trail 90's to an ORV park. They left to play early in the morning and it stopped snowing.  They could have easily done the roof!  Still in the truck on Monday morning, they got a good dusting of snow.

While riding at Walker Valley,  Isaac and Dode were admiring someone's jacked up and fancied up 4 wheel drive truck.  That owner in turn was admiring the 90's.  I don't think there are many people who can see them and not wax nostalgic about a grandfather or uncle who had a trail 90 in the garage.  Isaac was quite proud to show off the results of their hard work.

We went to bed Sunday night to green grass and woke up Monday to 1 1/2" of snow.  Not enough to sled down a hill on but plenty to get towed on sleds behind the lawn mower on.  It was already a day off from school (Martin Luther King Jr. day) and the kids were soon enjoying the snow.  It didn't take long before there were piles of melting snow making puddles all over inside our house.  Dode took a retired old wagon and screwed an old pair of skis onto the wheels.  The boys enjoyed dragging that behind the mower.

Isaac had some excitement in the kitchen Monday morning. As I was reading my email on the computer (my back to Isaac) and Dode was reading the newspaper (facing Isaac) we heard a calm, "I think I need a fire extinguisher over here." I thought he was joking around and kept reading. A second time I heard, "I think I need a fire extinguisher over here." I turn around to ask, "Are you serious?" "Yes!" Dode's article must have been pretty interesting because he never noticed a thing. Isaac had accidentally turned on a burner that a plate was resting on. The heat cracked the plate and the paper towel on the plate caught fire. I grabbed the fire extinguisher but it was a small enough fire that a good dump of baking soda put out the fire quickly.

Dode took the kids to Absolute Air park Monday morning. It's an indoor trampoline place where the kids can jump like crazy. I stayed behind because trampolines aren't compatible with my sore foot. He thought maybe once they'd gone, the kids would "get it out of their system" and not enjoy it so much. Not a chance! As soon as they got in the car to come home, they were already begging to attend again.  I took advantage of my time alone to get in as much exercise as I could, two hours on the elliptical.  I knew once I had surgery, it would be a long time until I'd get back to it.  I figured I was already going to be exhausted from the medicines on Tuesday, I might as well have tired muscles too!
 

There are a serious of trampolines on the floors and walls.

The kids loved launching themselves into the large foam pit.

I've had my fingers crossed for snow because if the public schools close, Dode gets a snow day too (and unlike the kids, he doesn't have to make his up at the end of the year!) Now that it was finally becoming a reality, I was watching the forecast closely and worrying. With my surgery scheduled for Tuesday morning, my goal was to be able to get there and get home. Then the snow could come down as much as it wanted. That ended up being what happened. We drove in snow down to Everett and it snowed the entire time we were there but we didn't have any problems getting there and back.  I'd made arrangements ahead of time for people to pick up Elizabeth, stay with her at school, and bring her home.  Isaac can get himself to school and back on his skateboard.  With snow cancelling school, Sharon came over and stayed with the kids while Dode and I were gone to the surgery center.  She offered to make dinner for us.  Since Dode was in charge of the meal that night (everyone is pitching in with dinners while I recover from my surgery), he thought that sounded like a perfect plan.  She made every one's favorite, her fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, fruit salad, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  The kids much preferred that over what Dode would have made (either breakfast or "every man for himself".)

Isaac Colson called after we'd been home for a while on Tuesday to see if he could come over.  Since I was pretty much out of commission, Dode got the final say.  What's one more child?  When Isaac's parents dropped him off, Kim wanted to know if there was anything she could do for us.  She has been a hair dresser for years.  I said, "Yes" and she straitened up my messy self cut bangs and gave William an impromptu hair cut.  We didn't have a cape so she improvised with an empty toilet paper bag.

Elizabeth's snow hair style

Miriam got her feelings hurt and decided to play in the snow inside where she could be warmer.  At her back is the wood stove with the fan blowing warm air her way.  In front of her, a pan of snow. A perfect solution.  She and William spent hours playing inside and replenishing their snow as it melted.

The kids enjoyed their traditional snow fun activities...

Isaac was determined to use the motorbikes in the snow.  After a while, so much snow built up that the back tire wouldn't rotate anymore.  He switched over to the lawnmower, with the deck removed and custom chains on the wheels.

sleds pulled by the lawn mower are a classic activity

Anastaya getting pulled on the sled

Anastaya driving, Nicole Anderson in the trailer, Elizabeth on the sled

With the lawn mower "train" up and running and the snow coming down heavily, Dode decided to treat the kids to a trip to Haggen on the lawnmower train to get doughnuts.  Everyone loaded up and they were soon off on their grand adventure.  (White trash you say?  Yep, and proud of it!)  The trip was so popular they repeated it the next day.  He knew the gas on the mower was running low but thought he could make it there and back.  Not so.  They had to push the mower home, with Miriam as the driver.  She thought it was great fun, Dode not so much.  We have seven 5 gallon gas cans in the garage but I'll let you guess how much gas was there when Dode got the mower home.  Nothing!  All empty.

the girls spent days working on their fort

finished fort with plywood roof

Our metal roof always gets tons of icicles as the snow slips off during the warmer days.

The kids love pointing out just the right icicle for Dode to break off.  They suck on them like a Popsicle.

Wednesday night even Jacob got into the fun and did some snowboarding down the ramp. 

practicing his "grinds"

the littles were happy to serve as audience

his snowboarding run.  He marked the edges with pink paint so he wouldn't go flying off.

He tried to build a banked turn at the bottom.  Isaac went sailing down on a sled, caught some air and fell on his arm with a lot of force.  He thought he'd broken his arm again and the area where it was hurting was so localized that I figured he was right.  A "quick" trip to the ER revealed that he'd just sprained it.  The ace wrap gives him a good excuse for getting out of working.

Isn't an ER visit what everyone wants to do on a snow day?!

I don't think I could have picked a better time to have surgery.  Dode had scheduled to take Tuesday as an emergency day (paid leave that doesn't count towards sick leave) and Wednesday as a sick day to take care of me.  Tuesday the tribe closed early so he only used four hours of emergency leave.  The tribe was closed on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday so he got to stay home (paid) and help with the kids and fetch things for me.  He says it would have been better to actually get some vacation fun in but I think we did pretty well considering what's been going on this week.  I am so thankful that he was here to help.  Snow days are NOT lazy relaxing days.  They are days where children continually leave the doors open, track snow into the house, take off wet clothes and leave them in a clump, and loose their mittens/boots/hats/coats.  If I'd been trying to manage all that chaos from the couch, well, let's just say, I wouldn't have been.  I'd have been hobbling around trying to help and only delaying my healing.  Dode will tell you that I didn't stay on the couch enough but honestly, I really tried!

Thankful for the wood stove. 

(It is buried in there !)

We're able to get the snow things dry before the kids go back out to play.

It makes for quite a mess when the kids go digging through for that one item they're missing.

The same view without the clothes when everyone went out to play at the same time.  It doesn't look like this very often!

Snow tracks!  Throughout the house,everywhere.  I've been crawling up the stairs and sliding down them.  Every time I end up with either a wet knee or bottom from snow melting on the carpet.  The cane hasn't slipped in a puddle yet but I fear it's only a question of "when" not "if".

On the Mend

This is what I feel like I've been doing for days.....

Sit on couch, take a pain pill, try to read a book, fall asleep, wake up, hop to the bathroom, repeat. 

The kids are being very helpful.  Each time they see me struggling around, they are quick to offer their  help.  Miriam has seen Dode giving me his arm to balance on so she decided she should be a help too.  It was more hindrance than help to have her put her arm around me but she sure felt good to be helping.  Lynn was nice enough to bring over a cane on Thursday which really helped me get around.  If I just lay on the couch, I can hardly tell somethings wrong with me. 

looking good with my cane and big black "shoe".

As I walk, I hold on with both hands,  lock my arms and put as much weight from my left side as possible into my hands, which are now sporting bruises.

As soon as I get up and try to get around though, the pain is right there.  With a cane, I can put less weight on my hurt foot.  Dode says he's never seen anyone use a cane the way I'm using it.  I'm not using it for balance, I'm using it to take as much weight off my foot as possible.  You'd think that first thing in the morning my foot would feel its best and it would get more sore as the day went on.  Not so.  My digestive system is still recovering from two weeks of amoxicillin for my sinus infection which means a lot of trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  At first I'd been leaving my fancy shoe off at night but after five bathroom trips, my foot was screaming so the last two nights, I've slept with the shoe on.  It's an improvement but my foot is definitely at it's most sore first thing in the morning and gets progressively better as the day goes on.