Blizzard of 2010-Parts 1 and 2

I never thought being snowed in could be so much fun!

This was the view out our computer room window at 6 this morning.

Hayden took this picture of us when we were sitting on the steps looking outside.

We had a delicious and nutritious family breakfast of oatmeal to get us geared up for some house work. After the whining and the work was done, we got down to business with a serious game of sock-er! I thought of the activity last night and thought it would be a good way to get in some exercise for kids who may get stir crazy.

It started out boys versus girls, but the teams kept changing as team members dropped out. Hayden and Connor won.

I think that's Mike's car under there!

The view out our bedroom window. After some more games, lunch and plain old lounging, we ventured outside and had a blast! It's so fun to see my kids so amazed at all this snow (more than they have ever seen), as am I. And you just can't hurt yourself with all this padding. After I came inside I looked out the window just as Mike was climbing on top of the fence and did a front flip into the snow! I wish I had my camera for that one.

The first time the kids have ever sled down the steps.

Our 4 ft. fence. Today was Serena's first time having hot chocolate. She dipped her spoon in once, then again, then dropped the spoon and started gulping! I'm sure she was thinking "Holy cow, why didn't anyone ever tell me about this liquid chocolate before, this stuff is awesome!"

Our Beloved Elmo

For those of you who don't know, Elmo was our guinea pig that we have had for over 4 years. He passed away yesterday from old age. Mike noticed that he was not doing well in his cage around 11, so we all sat around and held him and comforted him and basically said our good-byes.

We are all missing Elmo today. He was a good guinea pig. He never bit anyone and was always patient when the kids wanted to hold him. The kids in turn were very good at taking care of him, always willing to give him a treat of celery, carrots, lettuce, orange, or whatever else we had. And they always helped to clean his cage and feed him. It's sad to see an empty cage.

Serena is too young to understand and Hayden struggled a bit yesterday but is doing better today. Connor keeps talking about it and is trying to grasp the concept that he's not coming back. It's sad because I think Connor loved him the most. I'm just grateful that my kids first experience with death was with a pet and not a grandparent (mine are in their mid-80's).

The day got worse when I got the stomach flu and missed the Super Bowl cause I was in the bathroom. Yesterday was not a good day.