More pictures from the posting below.

Here are more pictures from my posting below. I finally decided to take some pictures from outside!! Brrrr, it sure is cold! Out thermometer says it's 26 degrees.

Harrison and Samuel REALLY wanting to throw some snow at me!!

My two cuties!!

This is how much snow and ice we have.


Don't you dare!!!


Shaun cutting down some of the branches from the power lines. Hope it helps!

Ice storm 2009

We have been out all week because of the ice and snow here in Kentucky. I was so excited on Monday when school was canceled because I was feeling terrible and really didn't want to take a sick day but didn't want to go to work either. When we woke up, we couldn't figure out why there was no school because there was only a "dusting" of snow. It was ridiculous but I went back to sleep anyway because, like I said, I felt terrible. Monday night is when the ice hit. We woke up Tuesday morning to a thick sheet of ice covering everything and we continued to have freezing rain all day. Harrison did get out and TRY to go sledding but it was difficult. Going down was fine. He absolutely flew down the hill. Coming back up the hill was another story. It was so funny to watch him and his friend Diana. They would get almost up the hill then start sliding back down. They had a blast though. We continued to get freezing rain all day and night Tuesday. Wednesday (today) we finally got some snow. It was huge, wet snowflakes. It only snowed for a couple of hours and now the sun is out. Here are some pictures I took. I took them from inside the house so please excuse the quality. I wasn't going to go out in this mess. I'm scared of falling branches of chunks of ice!!!

Harrison going ice sledding.

The ice on our shrubs.

The front yard. It is shiny from all the ice. It looks like an ice skating rink!!

After the snow, this is the branch that fell. We typically park our car in that spot but Shaun moved it down the street when we knew we were going to get all this ice! Smart move, honey!!

The tree limbs on the power lines that attach to our house. We still have power!!

I LOVE long weekends!!

This has been a really nice LONG weekend. On Friday we had a "cold" day. I was really surprised at around 3:30 on Thursday to hear that we would be out of school on Friday just because of low temperatures. But hey, I sure wasn't about to complain. AND Monday was MLK day so we were out of school on that day as well. But wait, there's more. Preschoolers do not come to school on Tuesday so I will have no kids tomorrow at work. YIPEE!!!! I spent this weekend working on lesson plans/newsletters for the rest of the year. I have made pretty good progress but there is still much to do.

Last night it finally snowed so the boys were really excited to get out and go sledding. They had a blast. Harrison really wants to learn to snow board so I caught him trying to stand on his sled and go down our hill in the back yard. He didn't have much luck, poor kid. I might have to see about getting a snowboard for him to use in the snow. He is so athletic that I don't doubt he could learn to do it quickly.

If you notice the time this is posted, you will see what a Pepsi does to me if I drink it late in the evening. UGH! I'm going to be wiped out tomorrow morning at 5:30.

We're back!!

I always forget how difficult it is the first week back at school after Christmas break. It is like day 1 all over again only with more children than the first day. You would think that the children would come back in the classroom and think to themselves, "oh, I remember this place. It has rules and consequences". But no such luck. I am completely exhausted and can't wait for tomorrow at 2:40 when all of my lovely students go home for the week and I can get the room back in order and ready for next week. I also can't wait until all of the work is done and I can go home!!

If it has been difficult in the classroom, it doesn't compare with my kids at home. We were total bums over the 2 week break; staying up late and sleeping in until lunch time (and I'm not exaggerating). I will not make that mistake again!!! You would think that as a teacher I would know that routine is very important in a child's life but, hey, teachers/parents get lazy sometimes too.

Friday is almost here!!

The end of the ponytail :(

Shaun finally did it. He let me cut off the ponytail he has been growing for 3 years. It was finally long enough to donate. We chose Pantene Beautiful Lengths because you only needed 8 inches of hair (but he had a little over 10 inches) and because they provide FREE wigs to women who lose their hair to cancer. Many years ago, my grandmother had breast cancer so I really wanted him to donate here. Here are the pics of me cutting it. Harrison was videotaping while Samuel was taking pictures. They turned out pretty good for an 8 year old. Doesn't he look so handsome with his "new do".

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

We had a great New Year. We stayed in and watched the ball drop from the comfort of our own room. Shaun, Harrison, Samuel and I cuddled up in our bed and watched TV to ring in the new year after making and eating cookies (yummy). There has been so much good food this holiday season that I really need to go back to work just to keep myself from becoming as large as a whale. Anyway, we just wanted to wish all of our family and friends a great new year!!