It was a Spring STORM

These are images that I took the beginning of the week- so excited for Spring and the colors starting to show in our yard. Now, they are buried in snow.
Yesterday morning, we woke up to a cold house without power. We knew a storm was on its way and thought we were prepared. We checked out a handful of movies on Friday night, since our satellite usually goes out with weather. We didn't expect to totally lose the power. It was a bit chilly! We're just fine- and only went a total of maybe 15+ hours without power. It gave us a little time to think and we definitely learned a few things:*you can click on these photo collages to enlarge them- the ice on the trees was quite pretty!
1. We're definitely grateful that we have a generator on order- should be arriving any day now. I give all of the credit to Jim for this decision. He's done the research and after some work convincing me- it's on the way. It's one of those major purchases that is so expensive and doesn't seem too necessary, until you really need it. I now know- it will be nice to have one in the garage- even if we never have to use it.

2. You only get one flush. We knew we needed bottled water, but forgot that being on a well- we need power to work the pump. Being able to flush the toilet is enough reason to justify a generator. Jim should have told me that- I would have given in a year ago.

3. My honey really needs his coffee. We all had little things that were heavy on our minds. I washed my hair Friday night, so I was left with an afro that I couldn't dry completely or iron. I couldn't really even justify using our bottled water to wet it down and gel it. A mess! The minute we had our little hour of power- I had the dryer out and the flat iron hot! Ty was upset the computer wouldn't work. Justin just thought about food and where his next meal would come from. Coleman and Caden missed out on their morning cartoons, but pretty much didn't care after that. As long as they have their cars- they're usually ok. Jim's big thing was his coffee. He couldn't make it and didn't have any instant coffee to even throw together. We ended up taking a trip (in the blizzard weather and icy roads) to get it. I think we'll make sure to have it on hand from now on.

4. Kansas weather is absolutely CRAZY! I think I said this a zillion times yesterday- sorry! It's bizarre. It went from freezing, blizzard conditions with ice and snow to clear, sunny and melting in just a few hours. After the storm passed, we were still without power but it didn't seem like it. The kids (and their cool dads) had a killer snowball fight- Justin even wore shorts. I guess I thought it would be a powder puff fight... it was war. They had HUGE snowballs and they were out to hurt. Michelle and I steered clear, just stepped out long enough to check it out and take a few pictures. It was definitely still chilly, but as fast as the ice covered the trees, it was melting. I think it's supposed to be back in the 60's this week. Absolutely blows my mind. Tyler made a great snowman- the little kids finished up the details. Lady found her spot in the sun in front of the sliding glass door.

5. It's easy to forget how much we rely on power. Lady wears a shock collar that gives her a simple "reminder" beep when she gets too far out. If she keeps going (which she learned pretty quick not to) she gets a little shock. (it's set on super timid... she's not getting hurt) Yesterday, when we saw her wandering a little farther than her 1/2 acre perimeter, we completely forgot her signal wasn't being sent out- duh... it's plugged it! She was free to roam, and took advantage of it! I think we told kids several times to wash their hands, or other silly things as well.

6. We're so blessed with wonderful neighbors. Two of our neighbors (with generators set up) called to check on us and offered us any help we needed- so gracious. Our other neighbors (who have 4 girls), who we've grown close friends with, ventured over and spent the afternoon with us. The little kids probably didn't even notice anything different- they were too busy playing. We had an hour in the morning with the power back on (false alarm) in which Jim started the pilot light on our fireplace. So, even without power, we could run our fireplace (on propane). Things were actually quite cozy. Jim and Mickey grilled some hamburgers and chili that Jim quickly put together the first time the power came back on. Eating a hot meal while surrounded with our family and friends made it easy to forget we were even in the midst of a power outage.
7. We're grateful that it only lasted a day- no one was cold, the ice cream even stayed frozen in the freezer. Spring can now return- enough excitement!