SNOWPOCALYPSE 2010!!!

We're snowed in right now, by state order. We're not allowed to be on the road unless we have an official reason, or legitimate emergency. Over the weekend we got a little more than 2 feet of snow, which kept Melissa in Texas for a few extra days due to her flight being canceled. She got a new flight yesterday, and it literally got in a few hours before the next storm. So far we have gotten a bit over a foot of new snow, and we're just hitting the biggest part of the storm. I've been out and cleared the driveway one time with the expectation of doing it again.

This is the drift next to the driveway. It's almost as tall as us. Maybe by the end of the storm it'll be taller than us.




This is the walkway from the front door that I dug out. It's pretty much a canyon of snow. I guess it doesn't matter too much, we're not getting mail today, or maybe even tomorrow.



This is the view of the house. There is a ton of snow here. If you notice there is a big chunk of snow falling off the roof. I believe the only reason why it hasn't fallen is that it has frozen itself around the gutter which is bending down and will most likely need some repair when the snow melts around July.

We're hunkering down and waiting for the snow to end. So far we still have power(obviously) and we're hoping it stays that way. The satellite is still working, much to my surprise, and we've got everything we need to survive, as long as we don't go crazy.

Catching up

So it's been a while...



This is Thanksgiving. I was put in charge of carving the turkey. It was kind of a bittersweet day, being so close to the anniversary of my dad's death, I couldn't help but think of him doing the carving like he normally did. It was still a fun day, filled with family, and food.



A few days later we put up the tree that we cut the week before. It is always a fun time to decorate the house.



Kyleigh thought that she could help with the ribbon that was for wrapping the tree.


A few days before Christmas we were hit with a huge snowstorm. This is the second round of snowblowing. We ended up getting around two feet of snow, or as you can see enough for Melissa to sink to her knees.


Christmas was a fun day, we spent time with family and mostly just relaxed during that week because Melissa was lucky enough to have the whole week off.



On Dec 30 Melissa and I had our three year anniversary. These are the roses that she got for that special day. She liked the roses, but she really loved the vase that they came in.




On New Year's Eve, it was about 7:00 and we thought that we needed something to do for the next few hours, we put this puzzle together along with my Mom, all in one night, again Kyleigh thought that she could be a good helper, but mostly just tried to put the pieces on the floor.

It's been a good few months. The good days have outnumbered the bad days, and that makes life much better.

Our Cats are Such Good "Sharers"

So Kyleigh was in the window enjoying herself, when Reno came up and placed himself in the window too. I watched him kind of back up as he was laying down. He's so nice.



In case you feel bad for Kyleigh, this is how I found them about an hour later.




It's a good thing we have taught them to share so well.

Melissa's Birthday

On the ninth was Melissa's Birthday. It was Sunday so we woke up and went to church. Melissa was substituting for the chorister in Primary, so she got to sing happy birthday to the kids and to herself. After church we just relaxed for a while because in a few hours it was going to get a bit more exciting. My sister Lauren, her husband and her two boys came over, Melissa's sister Sharon, her husband and her three boys came over, so for dinner we had seven adults, and five very active little boys. It was exciting. My mom mad a recreation of the top tier of our wedding cake, except it said Happy Birthday Melissa on it.



That was all good and fun, but the family that Melissa nannies for was on a long weekend and so she had Monday off. We decided to go to King's Dominion for some more fun. Growing up my family loved King's Dominion and went most summers. It had been many years since I had gone however and I was excited to go back.



This is the drop tower that takes you up and up and up and then lets you free fall for what seems like a lifetime.



This is us just before leaving on "The Dominator." It was my favorite ride. It has the world's tallest inverted loop. Lots of fun.
It was really hot and in the afternoon we went to cool off in the water park, which felt wonderful. Aside from the heat it was a great day.

So Melissa came home on Monday after watching the two kids. She was tired but happy. I saw her driving up so I went to meet her at the door, and as she came in I just started laughing. She had no idea why I was laughing, but this is what I found:





Mary had thought that it would be nice to decorate Miss Melissa. Melissa said that she remembered Mary touching her back, but she didn't realize that stickers were being placed. I guess that's what happens when you give a three year old stickers.

Nothing too exciting

Daily strawberries from the garden here in Maryland.


Reno and Kyleigh love the windows, they can hardly fit.


Kyleigh was not too sure about moving to Maryland, she loves it now though.

It's not so much that I don't like posting, it's that's there is nothing too exciting going on. We have moved to Maryland. Matt will be finishing school and working. I will be working as a nanny. I love being with children, so what better way to be with children then to be a nanny. The hours are great, Monday-Friday 8-6 p.m. The pay is amazing and the kids are adorable. Rob is eleven and Mary is three. Between swimming, story time, playdates, games, lessons, cooking, cleaning and just being plain silly with Mary, we will have a fun, busy summer. Once school starts, Mary will be in pre-school three days a week, so I will stay busy cleaning and organizing. I love doing all of the above, so it will be a perfect job for me. We are excited to start new here in Maryland, there is so much fun stuff to do. We will have something fun to do every weekend. My sister Sharon and her family are here, so that is even better. We are expecting lots of fun filled days in the future. I will be sure to post our fun times. Looks like Matt already posted the fun we had at the D.C. mall. I also will be posting my weight loss progress. There will be pictures and journals on my progress. I need to scrape off about 60 lbs. It will be hard but worth it. So look out for that.

A day on the Mall

Melissa's sister Sharon arrived in town last Saturday with her three boys. It was exciting to have them here finally. John has been here for two months already and I think that everyone was ready to be reunited. We went to their house for Sunday dinner and had a good time with them, and decided that Tuesday would be a good day to visit Washington DC and the Museums on the Mall. We went back and forth as to whether they would drive down and park, or spend the money to take 5 people on the Metro. In the end, they took the Metro. We met at the Archives and were on our way. We first went to the Air and Space Museum, which has always been my favorite. Melissa and I, not having any kids, didn't bring any bags, and since the Metal detectors there only seem to detect if you are carrying a chunk of metal the size of your head, we walked through and then turned around to see Sharon and John having their bags inspected. We were very sad that we don't have kids at that moment. Our life is much too simple right now. Anyway, the three boys loved the museum. They had seen the new "Night at the Museum" movie and were looking for all the things that they had seen. Unfortunately the effects of too little sleep and waking up early began to show. It was at that point that I thought again, "My life really is too easy, I need some kids." We solved the issues and moved on to the Natural History Museum. The kids all loved the hall of mammals and Justin especially loved the gemstones and crystals. Justin seems to be a geologist in training. The gift shops had lots of neat things and being kids they wanted some, but having just started a new job, and paying rent and Mortgage for a couple months, Sharon and John decided against buying them stuff. Sadness ensued, made worse by how tired the kids were, but we got through. At this point we headed toward the American History Museum. The last time that Melissa and I were here and went to DC we missed the opening of the remodeled museum by a month. We were excited to see it, but with Melissa having an activity that she needed to get home to and the tired kids we were only able to see two of the six wings. It was at that point that I decided I really needed to come back alone. Melissa doesn't get as tired as the kids, or at least is old enough to not let it ruin her day when she is tired, but she looks at Museums like most people read National Geographic: Look at the picture, move on. I was lagging behind because I like to read stuff. I don't generally read whole articles in Nat Geo, but I do like to read the blurbs that go with the pieces. Regardless of tired children and speedy look throughs, it was a fun day, and we look forward to spending more time with Sharon and her family as they explore the sights of their new home. By the way there are no pictures of the day because we forgot to bring our camera. We'll have to get them from Sharon who had hers.