Icemageddon 2013: Hunker Down

In February of 2011, my family got iced in for a week by freakish Winter weather in Texas (it happens occasionally), and I wrote about our adventures then.  When we got the word that temperatures would not get above freezing for at least three days and that school was closed on Friday due to an ice storm, I got giddy. Even though we have just returned from Thanksgiving break and have only been back in school four days, who doesn't love an unexpected day off from school?

We knew the bad weather was coming (thank you, Pete Delkus from WFAA Channel 8. (You know you are officially old when you have a news station and weatherman of choice.) When Pete started using terms like "Icemageddon" and phrases like "the Metroplex will be enshrouded in ice," I knew we needed to prepare. Most people raided the grocery stores on Wednesday night, the empty bread and chip shelves a preview of the Zombie Apocalypse, but I hit Hobby Lobby when it was still  72 degrees. I knew these precious ice days would be a perfect crafting opportunity. Don't worry, I also made a last-minute trip to Wal-Mart (with the rest of the procrastinators on Thursday at 5:00 when it was 33 degrees and sleeting), so we had all the provisions that we needed for comfort food and crafting. Just give me some Mod Podge and a crock pot, and I can survive for days.

So I cooked ALL THE THINGS on ALL THE DAYS. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner; I felt like a 50's house wife. It confirmed that I am so glad to be a working 21st century woman. Thank you Pinterest and my trusty crock pot. We could not have survived this arctic blast without you.

The biggest hit was SUPER-EASY and SUPER-YUMMY potato soup pictured in the top right corner. You can get the recipe on my Pinterest board. 

And I crafted. These projects have been on my radar for a while, and this little gift of time allowed me to finish them. You can see the inspiration for this one on my Pinterest board.

This one was VERY time consuming, but I had nothing but time thanks to Icemageddon 2013. You can see the inspiration on my Pinterest board. I decided to paint the canvas red so that it would "pop" off my mustard-colored wall.

We all read, too. (duh)

The girls ventured out into the cold and got to play with friends one afternoon. I'm thankful to live on a street with a slew of girls who travel in packs and always end up at the house across the street. God bless that Mama.

We made cookies. Peppermint icing is DELISH on sugar cookies, by the way.

Landry perfected her Rainbow Loom bracelet-making skills.

I booked a plane ticket to Houston for after Christmas to visit my Tattoo Sisters.

I ran on the treadmill because I would have lost my everlovin' mind if I had not, not to mention gain 10 pounds.

The girls colored and made messes. And watched some movies. Peyton assured me her brain was not turning to mush by spouting off random math facts.

More messes were made, and I didn't really care because it's the Ice Days of 2013.

I posted entirely too much on Facebook (sorry, Mom). I knew it was time to abstain when several of my posts included the word "peeps."

We watched football (of course!). Our beloved Ags weren't on, but WAY TO GO Auborn, Baylor, and Michigan State!

And we enjoyed the Christmas decorations because it's usually 80 degrees about this time of year, and it just feels more festive knowing that "Baby it's Cold Outside" is really telling the truth.

I worked on "the book." About that, my November writing goals fell a little short, but I'm still chipping away and finding some inspiration in some interesting places. Like this tree...

Was it perfect? No. We are a normal family that sits on each other's fingers (that happened and crocodile tears were shed, but all fingers are functioning) and loses our patience (that happened, too). But it's times like these that I just want to savor. When we are forced to S-L-O-W down and go inside our house, hunker down, and be a family--an imperfect, flawed, human one, but a family just the same.

Today we decided it was time to venture out because the Fever was setting in. Even though I had banished the "B" word from our vocabulary on Friday morning, we all needed a change of scene and some interaction with the world. We went to Chili's and Wal-Mart, which after being cooped up for two days felt like an adventure.

Schools to the north of us are already closing for Monday, but something tells me that we will be getting back into our normal routine tomorrow. Forney ISD already called and gave us the official word that school will be on schedule tomorrow, so I think MISD will follow.

I will remember Icemageddon 2013 with fondness, but I know that many will not, unfortunately. We were lucky because we had power and no tree branches crashing through our roof. My prayers go out to those of you who were not so comfy and cozy over the weekend.

Christmas vacation will be here soon, so until then, these memories and this rest will sustain me. And to think, it's not even officially Winter in Texas.

Crazy.