Deep Freeze 2008! (Day 1)

I just love the news stations this time of year. Our local NBC affiliate had "Arctic Blast 2008" coverage from 4 am to 11 today. Seriously! Another station coined our current storm, "Deep Freeze 2008". Exciting! In all honesty, once this stuff starts I get completely sucked in. I watch the 'news' reports. I check the doppler constantly, and I refresh the 'school closure' page every few minutes. I love it all. My favorite part is all the reporters stationed at every over pass in the metro area, reporting on the size of the snow flakes and the speed of the traffic below. Can't get enough.

Let me back up a bit. There have been reports for the past week or so that the weather was going to get COLD this weekend. "They" were predicting snow on Saturday and Sunday! Our kids were so excited and when Joel found out his parents had been covered with 5 inches of snow on Friday night, he was harassing me all day Saturday to drive 2 hours North for some snow play time. I refused, because we had prior obligations and I was worried we'd get stuck up there. Plus, I was positive that "Blizzard 2008!" would hit McMinnville. I had faith!

Well, Sunday at 3:30, we still had NOTHING. Seriously. We were watching the fabulous winter coverage of Portland, a mere hour away, were everything was covered in snow and chains were required everywhere and all that, and here in the banana belt we were getting ice pellets. My 4 kids were NOT HAPPY. I say 4, because when it comes to snow, Joel must be included as a kid. I don't mean that as an insult, but he truly loves snow as much as Maddy, Garrett, and Carter. (He also loves Disneyland, carnival rides, fireworks, and Christmas as much as kids, which is a big reason why I married him.) And he was probably the most irritated about the snow situation. By 4 some snow started to fall. The kids went out to 'play' in it.


Around that time, Papa Vroom Vroom came over for dinner, and he took the kids on a quick walk to the store in the snow.
By 5, the ground was covered, and the sleds came out. The snow was really coming down by now! Since it was getting dark, we told the kids they could just go out really quickly- and let them go for it in their sweats/jeans. I underestimated the street lights! They ended up being out for an hour or so and got good and COLD. Neighbors joined us (one fun thing about living on a hill), parents watched the roads, and the kids had a blast! We finally talked the kids into coming in for a shower and some hot soup.


At 7, Our neighbors called to see if we were heading back out. We were all cozy in pjs with warm tummies, so we declined. And then . . . I received the 'emergency text message' from the school district. SNOW DAY! We headed back outside for more nighttime sledding. How many chances do we have for nighttime sledding here? Next to none. This time we took the time to suit up properly. It had snowed another couple of inches during our break, and the sledding was superb.

Take 2! My 4 Happy Kids! (wink)

By 8:30 we were all cold and ready to head inside for hot cocoa and our warm beds!

Next up: Deep Freeze 2008: Day 2!