Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for snow
Snow…finally!
Everyone in the Kerber household is so excited…it finally snowed! Even though we were just playing outside in mild weather after school yesterday, today marked the first real snowfall we’ve had this winter. After school it was cold and windy and snowing hard, so although the kids were begging me to go outside and play when we got home, I put the veto to that one. Of course the minute Dave walked in the door he said, “I hope the kids will want to go out with me after dinner!” Ha.
So we got everyone bundled up and they had some snow time in the dark.
Dave was so anxious to try sledding down our driveway like we did at the old house. I kept telling him that I didn’t think it would work as well because our new driveway isn’t as steep. He proved me wrong…the kids were having a blast sliding down the driveway and were stopping at the bottom just before they went into the street. It was actually about perfect.
They were only out for about a half hour, but it was so much fun for them. We’re all hoping it sticks around for a while so we can play more!
Snow!
Much to our delight, Sycamore got an inch or two of snow late Friday night/early Saturday morning, so we packed up our snow gear when we headed north. The kids were so excited to get outside since we’ve barely had a flake in Central Illinois. Of course Grandma Judy and Grandpa Scott went out with them, and they had a blast. I wasn’t there to get any pictures that time, but of course they wanted to go back out Sunday morning, so Grandma graciously agreed to go out again. A lot had melted by then, but there was still enough for them to play around. This time I caught some of the action.
Ben began by hitting Grandma with a handful of snow.
But of course Grandma would get back at him.
And then nail him a good one. Good ol’ Grandma will never be outdone. 
They walked down to the “creek” (which is really not much more than a drainage ditch) and it was iced over. Both of the kids found giant chunks of ice to bring back to show me. Ben was calling his a slice of pizza.
Everyone had a lot of fun in the tiny amount of snow that was there. Let’s hope we get some soon!
Our snowman
Ever since the first hint of snow appeared way back in November, Ben has been asking to build a snowman. I can’t remember for sure if he was asking about it last year, but I know that this winter he has had one goal in mind, and that is to build a snowman in our front yard. The first few times it snowed there was always something that wouldn’t work…either it was a weeknight and we had no time to get it done before dark, or it was too cold and the snow wouldn’t pack, or it snowed and then melted too quickly. Even last week, when we had the 13″ or so dropped on us, it wasn’t good snowman building snow…it was too fluffy and the kids could barely walk in the stuff because it was so deep.
But today there were perfect snowman building conditions. It was warm outside; the thermometer hung right around 30-32° all day. That meant that the snow had been melting a little bit and was more condensed, which made it easier for the kids to walk on. Plus it was wetter, so it would finally pack together. We bundled up and headed outside to fulfill Ben’s lifelong (or at least winterlong) dream.
Dave and the kids worked hard rolling snowballs, and before long the first two tiers were done. Both of the kids were totally into their work…they were focused and listened really well. The head was a bit more challenging, and Dave had to do most of that because it crumbled the first two or three times they tried to get it on top. But finally the snowman was completed and it was time to add the accessories. 
This was the part Emma had been waiting for. Grandma Judy and Grandpa Scott had given the kids a snowman building kit for Christmas, and we could finally break it out. The kit contained round discs for eyes and a mouth, a carrot for the nose, a pipe and a red hat and scarf. It was so easy and awesome to have everything together in one kit! But then Emma realized something. “We need ahms!” she yelled. She went over to the hasta plants and pulled off a couple of the dried stems coming out of the top of the plants. None of us thought they would work, but sure enough, she stuck one in and we had and arm. Dave got another one and our snowman was complete.
The kids and Dave stayed outside and played (and/or shoveled) longer since it was so nice out. Then I heard Dave come in and he said that our neighbor Christine, who is 10, was playing in the backyard with the kids. When I looked out the window to the back, I saw them rolling up giant snowballs. They pushed them to the point that they couldn’t push them any longer, then they just climbed on them. Our kids were having a ball (no pun intended!)
They stayed outside nearly three hours playing in the snow. When they came in they were soaking wet, pink-cheeked, and exhausted. It was so much fun for both of them, and I’m really glad that we had the chance to get out there and play.
And then there were three
Ok, I’m officially ready to go back to school. Three days of the kids and I being cooped up in the house is long enough. I’m a bit stir crazy and my patience is about as thin as it can get. Dave went to work today, and although he really didn’t want to go, I have to admit that there was a little part of me that was jealous of him. It’s very cold out today…currently 5°, so I really wasn’t too excited about the kids going out to play, which makes things worse. We’re still trapped in the house. I’ve tried to entertain the kids in other ways, but it’s getting tougher to do that all the time. And today I think their patience is thin, as well, because the bickering got exponentially worse. Exactly how many times can a mom hear, “Did not…did TOO…did NOT…DID TOO!” before she goes insane? I just may find out.
The good news is that my haircut that was scheduled for last night got rescheduled for tonight, so I actually get to leave the house!! I’m so excited. And I’m pretty sure that we’ll be back in school tomorrow, so I think I can make it through snow day #3. I mean, I can’t complain…working on Monday and then not again until Friday is a pretty good deal. If only we didn’t have to make the days up…
Day 2
Well, the storm lasted much of the night, but by the time we were up and at ‘em this morning it was like a winter wonderland outside. 
The news stations are saying that the final snow total is 13″, but because it was so windy there are areas where the drifts are much higher than that. It was bright and sunny out there, and the kids could not wait to get outside and play.
After breakfast Dave (who also had a snow day from work) headed out to start working on the driveway, so I bundled up the kids and sent them out with him. They were so excited that there was so much snow, but I don’t think they really thought about how deep it actually was. 
Dave had just started on the driveway, so they wanted to play in the backyard. I was watching them from the warm house and I noticed how much they were struggling just to walk. In places it was almost as tall as Emma, so when she would sink down into a drift, it was really hard for her to pull back out of it. But they headed over to the Mathiases next door because Maxon and Dave were out doing their driveway, too. They played over there for a while, but headed home before too long. Poor Emma was actually crawling part of the way because it was so hard for her to walk. And her sweet big brother, who was already in a low spot of snow in our yard, was encouraging her so much as she struggled. When she finally got close enough he held out his hand to help her up and out of the snow. It was super sweet, and it really made me wish I had the video camera.
They came in absolutely covered with snow, but again their pants and sleeves were pretty dry. We’re just so proud of ourselves for getting quality snow clothes. They really do make a difference. Anyway, I got them out of everything and we had some hot chocolate. Ben liked it better this time, but he still only drank about three sips of the stuff. I swear…that kid is so picky! They were tousled, pink cheeked, and full of energy.
It took Dave forever 
to clear the driveway because the snow was so deep. Then after lunch he and Ben headed over to Aunt Theresa’s to do her drive, too. Thank goodness for snow blowers. I don’t know how anyone could survive shoveling two driveways that are so covered with snow. I also can’t imagine how the cities are getting streets clean. According to Facebook, my only real connection to the outside world today, many subdivisions and side streets still haven’t been plowed as I’m writing this. There is no school again tomorrow, so you know it’s bad. I mean three snow days in a row? Unheard of! I’m again looking forward to sleeping in, but I hope the cabin fever doesn’t set in.
Snowtorious B.I.G.
Well, it happened. The storm came just like everyone said it would. Snowtorious B.I.G. is here!!
We found out about 8:30 last night that school would be closed today…all in anticipation of the big weather event that would supposedly happen. My class and Emma’s choir had both already been cancelled, and those were on Wednesday night! Everyone was really preparing for a giant storm. So when I got up this morning and it was doing nothing outside I thought maybe our school officials (and everyone else who was whipped into a near frenzy) were crazy. But about 10:45 this morning it started snowing, and it was immediately snowing hard. By noon it was blowing and was near white-out conditions. Everything was shutting down early and even State Farm closed at 12:30. It didn’t really seem like much was accumulating, because the wind was blowing so hard, but of course it was all landing and drifting somewhere.
We enjoyed our snow day watching TV and movies, playing games, and generally being lazy around the house. The kids are already starting to understand how special a snow day really is. I know all my teacher friends were loving opportunity to go to bed last night without setting the alarm! Meanwhile, the storm got worse into the evening and right now the wind is howling outside so much that it’s actually noisy in here! If it keeps up this badly all night, we’re liable to have over a foot of snow and some seriously plugged up roads. School was cancelled again for tomorrow by 5:00pm tonight. I don’t think anyone would have thought that we’d be able to go tomorrow…it’s going to take some time to get us all out of this!!
Stay warm and safe, everyone, and enjoy your time home together!
Anticipation
Wow. There is a giant winter storm coming, and you would think that it’s the end of the world or something! All anyone could talk about today was snow and weather and snow days and stocking up on groceries. Geez. The way everyone’s talking it sounds like we may be stranded for weeks!
I do love getting everyone all worked up, though. I posted something about being in school all five days this week and there were 11 comments on that post within nine minutes! Everyone is sure that we’ll have at least two snow days this week if not three. The most recent forecast I’ve heard is that we can expect somewhere between 16-22″ of snow between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. That is a lot of snow, but it’s not like we’ve never seen it before. Shoot, I was driving around Carterville, GA in 15″ in 1993! Of course we were stranded there for three days, so maybe I should be worried…
No matter how much we get, the energy surrounding this impending storm is something else.
Crazy weather
We had a beautiful white Christmas thanks to about 5-6″ of fresh snow that fell on Christmas Eve. Today, however, it’s like 45° and sunny outside. The snow is disappearing quickly. And tomorrow it’s supposed to be 55°!! We’ll be lucky if we have any snow left at all by the new year.
Although I hate to see the snow disappear this early, it was getting kind of gray and ugly because of all the salt on the roads. So if we have to start all over, I’m kind of ok with that. As long as we get more snow. Of course the forecast says that we’ll be back down in the low 20s by New Year’s Day, so we should be in good shape to get blanketed again.
Only in Illinois.
Christmas!
What a wonderful Christmas day we had.
We started about 7am when Ben came into our room with a huge smile on his face. Unfortunately Emma wasn’t up yet, so we tried to stall him a little bit. But the excitement was just a little too much, so we agreed to wake her up. That was not the smartest thing we’ve done, as she was a bit grumpy. 
It’s pretty sad to see a three-year old grumpy on Christmas morning. But they both rushed downstairs to see if Santa had visited us, and we were all thrilled to find out that he had! We had a great time opening our gifts from Santa. Ben was thrilled that he got just what he wanted; a bucket of How to Train Your Dragon figurines and some dinosaurs. 
Emma got her wishes, too; a mermaid tail and a Lalaloopsy doll. Santa also gave them some fun stocking stuffers and they each got a book…of course.
The kids were able to open their gifts and play with everything for a while before we headed out to Aunt Mary and Uncle Steve’s house for Kerber Christmas. It wasn’t long before the entire family was there and it was time to open presents! As always, this was a long ordeal, but everyone was given some wonderful things and we felt appreciative and blessed. A couple highlights for the kids 
were the Chipettes (or the “Single Wadies” as she puts it) for Emma and a stuffed Pteranodon and dragon for Ben. Our kids do love their stuffed animals.
After the opening, it was almost 12:30. Emma was still a bit crabby, and that was not being helped by the fact that she was hungry and tired. So I packed up her stuff and brought her home for some lunch and a good nap. There was just no good place at Steve and Mary’s house for her to get the sleep she needed, so this was the best alternative.
When we got back out there, Ben was excited to tell me all of the things he had been doing. He and Dave had played with all of his new things, and Aunt Theresa had read him almost all of his new books. They had a great afternoon.
We had a delicious turkey dinner and enjoyed our time together. When it was time to come home, the kids weren’t really even upset by that because we had a such a nice day. The best thing is that we get to do it all over again tomorrow at Atherton Christmas in Sycamore!
Winter wonderland
It has been snowing most of the day today, so the kids were itching to get outside to play. It’s another one of those perfect days for playing in the snow…the snow is falling hard, there is very little or no wind, and it’s about 31° out there. The kids are having a ball. They’ve been tromping all around the house, and had a ton of fun in the backyard this time. They especially loved going down the slide into the snow. Emma cleared it off the first time:
But they both went down time after time with huge smiles on their faces.
Dave took them for a sled ride around the block, and apparently they had a huge snowball fight. I didn’t get to see that from the warmth of the house. Then Emma wanted to taste the snow, so Dave convinced them that they could taste it by catching it in their mouths.
I absolutely love that picture.
The kids (and Dave) have so much fun playing out in the snow. As I type this, I’m anticipating them coming in with soaking wet coats and pants and flushed pink cheeks. They’ll be exhausted, which could mean trouble during church tonight, but it will all be worth it for the fun they’re having right now.
