More snow!

It is unbelievable how much snow we have had in the last week. Just when we think it could not possibly snow more, it does!

On Sunday, we woke up to big sticky flakes falling from the sky. By the time we got home from church, we had lots of fresh snow to work on the snow-boarding hill. It was a little above freezing, which feels like spring to us these days.

Here are a few photos of the kids on their sleds and snowboards in the front yard.

Sun day

Today was another snow day for most of the world, and the temps were in the single digits much of the day. But the sun was shining so brightly and reflecting off of the snow, making it gorgeous outside.

I loved seeing all of the shadows in the snow.

Once we finished our school work, the kids got back to work on their forts and tunnels.

Now that the snow has a nice covering of ice from the extreme cold, everyone seems much taller now. We can almost touch the roof.

And climbing up the tree in the front yard is much easier.

Look at that beautiful blue sky!

This is my self portrait.

 Even Jayda got a chance to go outside today. I bundled her up in her snowsuit, boots, hat and gloves. It was so funny to see her try to walk when I got it all on her. Naturally, it made her tip over, and she was stuck swimming on the living room floor, with arms flapping back and forth as she tried to get up. SHE didn't think it was very funny, but I had to laugh.

The two of us took a stroller ride down the street and back, and then we were both freezing cold.

Snowed in

As I've mentioned, we are studying life in Alaska as part of a class I'm teaching this semester about the Iditarod race. I really have no concept of what it would be like to live in a town that is so covered in snow the only way in or out is by snowmobile or dog-sled team. I can't imagine not being able to go anywhere, only receiving mail once a month or trying to survive temps of minus 40 degrees.

But this week, we are getting just a glimpse of what that would be like.

Tuesday night, the blizzard dumped about 20 inches of snow in this area. The incredible winds blew the snow into large drifts that covered bushes, created awesome sledding hills and sloped up almost to the top of the 6-foot fence.

For the kids, it was like someone dumped the largest sandbox you can imagine right in our yard. (Thankfully, though, this "sandbox" will eventually melt and clean itself up!) The weather people say we haven't had a storm like this since 1967. That means it's the biggest one of my lifetime.

I'm so thankful for my older three kids that they got to enjoy it when they were at the perfect age to spend days building snow forts, tunnels and sledding hills. It was a day they will probably remember for the rest of their lives. And the snow will provide a playground that will help us get through the dreary month of February with a little more excitement.

Our city is typically known for its snow-plowing efficiency. So I was surprised to go out at 7 a.m. and see the street completely covered in about 18 inches of soft, smooth, untouched snow. It was another hour before the snowplow slowly made its way down our side street and uncovered a single lane right down the middle of the street. It took a half hour to plow what normally might take a few minutes.

All day long, I was enjoying the early morning proclamation on the news that "all streets" in our county were "closed." I was feeling very Alaskan that if we wanted to go somewhere we would need to walk. Unfortunately, we don't have a snowmobile OR a dog-sled team.

That meant we would all be forced to find contentment entertaining ourselves at our own home. We could only arrange playdates with friends in walking distance. There was no pressure to invite someone over, run an errand or pack up everyone to go "do something fun." Who would need that anyway with so much fun dropped from the sky right on top of our yard?

By about 5 p.m. when I was missing an ingredient for dinner, my husband burst my fantasy by offering to go to the store.

"What?!" I asked. "I thought we weren't supposed to drive anywhere!"

"It's fine now," he answered. "They cleared the streets."

DARN!

Personally, I spent most of the day checking Facebook and dreaming of what food to eat next. I couldn't imagine how different my seclusion would have been without being able to check on all of my friends and their adventures and watching as they uploaded new photos.

I guess the harsh conditions flipped a switch similar to when you don't eat enough for a few days and your body goes into "starvation mode." But this was the opposite. Apparently, I thought it was time to hibernate because I was preoccupied with mashed potatoes and chocolate lava cake. I didn't have access to either, and I adamantly refused my husband's offers to go to the grocery store in favor of prolonging my dream that we were stranded at home.

On Thursday, we are supposed to experience another extreme of Alaskan life: negative 40 wind chills. I have a feeling we will have to abandon the snow for a while and pull out some board games and movies to get through it.

By the weekend, I suspect I will be done with my Alaskan adventure. I will be ready for a shopping mall, a Starbucks and a nice meal cooked at a restaurant!

How about you? Have you been trapped by the blizzard? Was was the best part for you?

Back to co-op and more skating

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We have all been getting excited about starting back to our home-school co-op this week. For the first time, I am teaching two classes, so I had lots of preparing to do.

We also were excited because our co-op moved to a new location, and we wanted to see what it would be like.

Jayda was happy to have a toddler room all decked out in toys just her size. The first period of the day was my "free" period, so she and I hung out in there. She loved snuggling with the big puppy and looking at books.

Second period, I taught a class called, "It's All in the Rhythm." I will be teaching the kids hand-clapping games, like "Miss Mary Mack," and jump-roping rhymes. I have three boys and four girls in the class, which makes it a lot of fun. In fact, we were having SO much fun, that I completely forgot to take a photo! Both Matthew and Alayna are in my class, while Andrew takes a class called, "Meet the Composers."

After that is lunch. Oh, wait! It looks like we added another brother to our family!

Third period, I teach a class called, "Iditarod: Race Across Alaska." We are studying history, geography and science as we learn about the Iditarod race, which takes place in March. I only have four boys in the class, but we are very excited to learn about this amazing race that pits dog-sled teams against each other, as well as against the harsh conditions of Alaska.

Andrew and Matthew are both in the class, along with their two good friends, brothers Sumner and Jonah. Alayna takes a drama class third period.

Around dinnertime, some good friends stopped by for a family skate on our backyard rink. The kids have been dying to have some adults get out there and skate. They especially love to skate at night when we turn on the "light" (yes... I just mean the outdoor patio light!), and we play our own music. I've been fighting a cold and it was about five below zero, so I had to sit out on the skating and snap photos.

We had a busy Friday, but tons of fun!

After the fun

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Fun on the ice

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Our ice skating rink is finally complete. It turned out far better than I ever anticipated! 

Because we started so late building it, we couldn't even consider trying to level the yard first. It's funny that even in a yard that seems fairly flat, a few inches of decline can make a huge difference when you are thinking of filling a space with water.

The rink is about 28 feet by 26 feet. My wonderful husband had to build up the far side because it is about six inches deeper than the opposite corner. This means we have about eight inches of water in the deepest section and only about two inches in the diagonal corner.

We've learned a lot about the freezing properties of water. It took us nearly a week to add layers of water and let them freeze. In the middle of this process, we got several inches of snow. That seems like a good way to fill the rink with water, right? Well, not exactly.

It's too cold for the snow to melt and create a nice smooth surface. If it freezes, it will create bumps that have to be chipped away. So, snow means we need to shovel the rink!

But after much waiting, much shoveling, much filling, much chipping away at uneven ice, we finally got  to skate this weekend!

I joined in on the fun on Sunday afternoon. The rink doesn't seem like it would be big enough to really get good exercise. But it actually is. It took me a few laps to find my center of gravity. I haven't ice skated in about 10 years. 

Once I did, I spent about an hour going around and around. We brought out some music, which was even more fun!

These days, we closely monitor the weather. But unlike most years when we moan and groan if it drops below 20, we are starting to look forward to those days! We want to keep our ice frozen so we can have lots more fun on the rink.

Fresh snow

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The snow came back in abundance today. We were so happy!