The Snow that Never Ends and Some Random February Moments--2014

Did I mention it snowed a lot this winter?

In all my years in Knoxville, I don’t think we’ve ever gotten this much snow at one time!

But it sure was fun!  And not just because we got to miss more school!

Cheers!  Mugs of hot chocolate to end the fun!  Well, not for Jonathan.  He still doesn’t like chocolate.  He just had a mug of milk with some marshmallows thrown in.

Other February moments:

Sweethearts Dinner with our “small” group from church

Valentine’s Day gifts for the kids

And my new favorite thing!  Jim added this mudroom area to our laundry room!  Isn’t it beautiful!  We love it!  Each child has a place to put his or her shoes, jackets, backpack, etc!  It’s wonderful!

Snow Days—January 2014

We had an unusually large amount of snow this past winter, more than we’ve had any of the years we’ve lived in Knoxville.  That is good for two reasons: first for cancelling school and second for snow pictures!
Disclaimer:  For any of you reading this post who live in a part of the world that regularly gets lots of snow, our Knoxville snow may seem insignificant.  Snow is relative.  We missed at least one day of school this winter because they THOUGHT it might snow.  We’re a little wimpy when it comes to snow.

Winter Wonderland

Look!  Zachary is in the snow!  And he’s having fun!

Kids’ First Ski Trip—January 2014

To celebrate the New Year we went with the cub scouts on a ski trip to Sugar Mountain, NC.  This was our kids’ first introduction to skiing, and our goal was really no more than for them to get on skis and have fun.  Zachary was our biggest worry because he doesn’t much like the snow.
Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find the pictures that I am certain we took.  That is disconcerting since I can’t imagine what has happened to them.  All I have are the ones I took with my phone.

JonZReaTom with their cub scout friend Jacob

Although there is no snow in this picture, there was plenty of snow on the slopes!

Thomas and Reagan

The weather was decently nice while we were their, cold enough for snow but not so cold that you counted the minutes until you could get to some heat!

When we arrived the first day, we were too late to make ski rentals and lift tickets worth the money, so we went tubing instead.  It was pricey too, but we had SO MUCH FUN that it was worth it!

The next day we skied.  The kids did a ski school lesson and (sort of) learned some basics.  Then Jim and I took them to the bunny hill and found an area off to the side where Jim could take them out one at a time and let them practice skiing down the hill.  It was a little too crowded that day (New Year’s weekend is apparently a pretty popular time to go skiing!) and that made it challenging to teach small people to ski without being in the way of the 5 billion other skiers, but we did the best we could, and the kids had a blast. 

Overall, I’d say it was a successful, although tiring trip, and although I don’t have much photographic evidence of the success, I do have evidence of the exhaustion!

More Snow, More Scouts—February 2013

Well, it snowed some more in February, a little better than the January snow, and I was able to take some pretty cute shots of the kids.

Thomas, Jonathan, and Reagan

 

 

We even managed to finally lure Zachary back out into the snow!  This may be the first time he’s played in the snow since he was about three!

 

At the Cub Scout banquet that month, the boys acquired their new rank badges, Tiger cub.  Jim attached each boy’s new badge.

Zachary

 

Thomas

 

Jonathan

News, Love, Snow, and a Friend—January 2013

The cub scouts went on an outing to a TV news station.  It was a trip that Jim worked hard to set up, only to be set out-of-town for training, so he didn’t even get to go!  It was pretty cool to tour the studio and watch the filming of an actual news broadcast.  All the kids had to sit very still and very quiet for the whole taping.  They did a FANTASTIC job.  I was impressed (and surprised! The boys’ troop is pretty big and rarely quiet!)



We even got to wave at the camera as the show closed.  Pretty cool!

While Dad was gone, we tried to send him a picture or video each night before going to bed.  Here’s one of them.



It snowed a little that month too.  Everyone EXCEPT ZACHARY went out to play in it.



We also had the pleasure of having our friend (and pediatrician) Miss Molly and her daughter Bella over one night for dinner.



All in all, it was a pretty good way to start the new year!

Snow Days

It’s currently 92 degrees outside, so maybe these snow-filled pictures will cool us all off!
It snowed here the day after Christmas, and three out of four Harris children had a blast playing in it!  Zachary said, “No, thank you!” to the cold wet weather and stayed inside.

The bushes probably didn’t enjoy the day nearly as much as the kids did!

Belated Christmas Posts Begin!

This is the scene from my front window today, just one of several days of snow we’ve had so far this winter! You can barely tell where the road is. So maybe I can get a post or two done, maybe! And if school is closed tomorrow too, then I’ll try to get a couple more!

Crazy Snow Days

I’m a Southern girl. I live in the South and always have, so I know that anything I have to say about snow is likely to be snickered at by those of you who don’t live in the South. But FOR HERE this has been a crazy, snowy winter! Most winters we get ONE snowfall with accumulation that MIGHT be around past lunchtime if we’re lucky! And this usually happens in MARCH!

But THIS year, we've already had THREE significant snowfalls! And it’s been so cold that the snow sticks around for DAYS! We’ve probably had more snow this winter than in the last ten years combined!

At least it gives us an opportunity for some great pictures!

This year the kids are all about snow angels! So cute!

One day I took the kids out to play in the snow by myself. It was so cold, we didn’t stay out very long. In fact, I’m sure it took twice as long for me to get them all ready as we were actually outside! I took very few pictures that day, so I made them pose for this one after we came in.

Jonathan

Reagan-she was having fun! Really!

Thomas

Zachary

There are SOME things that don’t work well in the snow!

Easily the most snow our house has ever seen! (I know, snicker away!)

Thomas-Yes, he’s sitting on top off a bush!

The kids also enjoyed throwing snowballs into the creek, but it made us nervous, so Jim drew a line in the snow for them to stand behind!

We hope you guys enjoyed all your snow days too! Personally, now I’m ready for SPRING!!