Remember when Snow Days were fun??

***  Note to self...  Auto save on blogger is bunch of yahoo nonsense!  Before hitting send or any other button, COPY all work.  So far my most favorite blogs have been zapped.. If it happens again, will be in the "shopping for another blog mode!"   That being said.. attempt #2 at my snow day madness!  ;)

The above prayer, I'm sure, can be heard after we say our prayers together and I close their doors at night.  I remember those days.  I remember hoping and praying and asking my mom to call the school.  Okay, I remember begging her to call the school and see if we had school!  Snow days were awesome!  I remember...  I really do!  Then something changed....  I had kids...  I started a business with more kids, in our home.  Somewhere in the midst of those changes, snow days lost their appeal.  Well maybe not snow days exactly, but freezing cold days have DEFINITELY LOST THEIR APPEAL!  ;)  lol  The one good thing about rewriting this blog entry, is that today, the bigs were back at school and I have a whole new perspective on this topic!  lol

God must have thought my kids had done their fair share of praying and rewarded them with not 1 but 2 glorious days at home with the crew!  ;)  I think He went a lil' far by turning the heat off and not just down, but who am I to question Him?  lol  Ok, so I do that alot!  ;)  The thing about below 0, is that you can't go outside.  If an adult can't handle it, a kid has no business trying!  And well, the state licensing dept agrees...  Anything below 15 degrees, dig deep into the brain bank and hope you find your best energy burning ideas in there, because you "aren't allowed" to go outside!  I was digging alrighty, but the kids had dug into their own banks and had their own ideas.  There were points I felt more like the student than the teacher for the past few days!  lol  Never a dull moment...  Just 1 of many things to be thankful for!

We played games.  We cooked, baked and ate!  We danced.  We had stair races.  We froze bubbles outside (which last 4 almost 5 minutes!  LOL!).  We played the wii (If you would have told me 2 yrs ago we'd be playing video games on a snow freezing cold day (accuracy is everything!) I'd have laughed in your face!)...  We watched movies..  In fact we watched more tv and played more video games than we normally do in 3 or 4 months!  It was radonkalous!  By naptime, I was ready to pass out and they were still going strong!

Colorado kids need their outside time!  It's crucial to their development!  Ok, so that may be taking a little bit far, but really!  Our kids are used to getting outside!  The fresh air, and running around, it's what brings on the naps!!!  I live for naptime!  I know alot of people wonder how I get that many kids to sleep at the same time every day....  it's a fine art, I classify in my "survival method" handbook!  ;)  I need naptime as bad as they do.  They rest up for the remainder of the day, I get to catch up on mine.  Sometimes I clean or do laundry.  Occasionally I get to have a friend over for a late lunch and coffee.  On the RARE occasion I put my feet up and read, and sometimes I just turn everything but the lullabies and monitor off, and just defrag from our day.  It's a crazy thing.  But it;s imperative for a good day to be called good, to have a good naptime!  My own chitlins (word?  tonight it is!) know that messing with naptime is worse than getting in my purse!  I get a little hypervigilent about stomping on the living room floor (right above the mats), being loud and flushing the toilets!  Naptime hangs in the balance when the Bigs are home, and so do they!  ;)  Add to that the fact the bigs are trying to contain huge amounts of energy that they cannot seem to rid themselves of and you can see why naptime, when they are home makes me want to eat an entire bag of cadbury eggs!  ;)  lol

There is always some sweet sweet times during these impromptu snow days freezing days...  We laughed hard during Twister where the littles wanted to be like the bigs and when they couldn't, they'd just push the bigs over!  You see the littles love the bigs and they are thrilled when they are home with them all day.  It always impresses me how the bigs love and adore the littles and want to be with them too!  I love that we really are a big unusual family unit!  :)  The Bigs were super helpful and even offered for me to take a nap, "they'd watch things.." lol  I wish I could have taken them up on it!  Sleeping in until 7 didn't hurt my feelings...  Eating yummy treats and great food with my favorite people under 10 was fun and I have the extra 5 pounds to prove it!  I'm not the only one who gets the crazy baking and cooking bug when the temps drop, am I???  And I got killed a record # of times at Candy Land, which was really starting to get under my skin!  I wasn't even trying to let them win!  Man!  ;)

Yesterday morning as I was getting ready for the day I started boo hooing yet another frozen day...  And then God softened my heart to the mommies and daddies who had no where warm and safe to be with their babies.  They would be thrilled to have a warm place to let their kids mess it up, to be able to play with them and love on them and eat warm treats with them...  It hit me pretty hard...  I pulled my big girl pants up...  Went down the hall, turned the thermostat up, and thanked God for such a profound blessing...  And had a pretty funny and great day with all 8, yes 8, kids.   ;)

Last night, the kids waited and waited for the call to come in about another frozen day...  No such luck guys...  They begged me to check the district FB page (my how times change...  my mom had to call the school and wait for someone to answer, my kids asked for a FB update!  LOL!).  I happily tucked them into bed at 8:30 to ready them for school today!  I couldn't wait to get up today, pack our snack bag, go out and start the big red van and head over to open gym with the kiddos!  It was going to be great!  Cabin fever no more! 

Bigs off to school?  Check!  Snack bag packed?  Check!  Start the van?  YA BUDDY (Good girl Red!)!  Check!  Potty, shoes and coats?  Cheee...?  Where's my #3?  "Mommy, I don't feel so good...  BLECKKKKK *and other hurling noises*..."  Shoes off, turn Mr Marty on the tv.. clean up throw up...  Realize that all hopes and dreams of escaping the walls of this cabin have been dashed...  #3 and I both shed a few tears...  the borrowed kiddos were easily distracted with the long time favorite, playdough...  I even broke out the WHOLE box of accessories...  Which was awesome, because they played like sweet ladies for over 2 hours...  #3 is feeling much better, but I am overcome with cabin fever and it aint' pretty!  I learned something pretty sweet about #3 today.  He doesn't know how to live without his girls.  He missed them terribly for the hours he was quarantined and begged me with big tears after naptime, "since he didn't puke, if he could come out of his room.."  I let him.. What the heck...  He's been cooped up in the same air for 3 days already with them anyhow... 

Scrapbook lady who made this, were you spying on me or what?  That's me on the right, kids on the left...  Tomorrow is a new day...  One that promises above 0 temps once more...  I hope to make it out of the house with my kiddos, if only for an hour!  But 3 would be best! 
I'm sure I heard the boys pray again tonight for "another great snow day!"  I refrained from opening the door back up and interrupting any prayers they were saying...  It was hard, but the urge was soothed by a handful of cadbury eggs...  Immersed in hot chocolate...  ;0)  A mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do! 

Hoping you are all sustaining your weather with a smile like no other!!!
Fried and frazzed!
K