Wednesday, March 7, 2012

If You Don't Like the Weather....

...just wait 5 minutes.

Or so the saying goes in Kentucky.

In this weekend's case, Friday had a high of close to 70 degrees, and Monday we got almost 5 inches of snow.

Yeap, the warmest day of the calendar year (or in months, for that matter) followed by the biggest snowfall (by far) of the winter season.

We may be shaping up for some really crazy weather in the next few months if this weekend is any indication.

We thoroughly enjoyed our solitary snow day!  We were expecting "trace amounts" or up to 2" at the very most.  Generally, a snowfall of this caliber would have warranted days of Winter Weather Warnings, advising the urgent need to stock up on bread, milk, and eggs and gather loved ones close and oh-my-goodness-it's-going-to-SNOW-folks!

Perhaps the tornado devestation overshadowed the snow.

Or they just plain got it wrong.

In any case, Libby woke me up at 3:30am for a potty trip and a glance outside showed a thick layer of the white stuff covering the road and lawns.

By the time we woke up we had almost 5 inches of fluffy snow!

I spent quite some time gathering hats, gloves, scarves, coats, layers and layers of clothing, and suitable footwear....and then more time cramming children into the said layers before setting them loose in the backyard.

This was one of those very pretty snows that sticks on branches....

...unfortunately, in the morning it was also quite a dry snow, and we couldn't get it to pack into snowmen, or even sled easily.


What a change from less than 60 hours before!


After we shed frosty clothes we snuggled under warm blankets on the couch and watched cartoons.

We considered the traditional mugs of hot cocoa, but decided to go with chocolate covered strawberry smoothies instead. 

Libby like!!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

About Being Thankful the Only Little People in the House Don't Live on the Yellow Brick Road

The news Thursday was full of dire warnings predicting strong storms to come through Kentucky on Friday.  We didn't pay too close attention to it except to consider the possibility of a power outage Friday evening.

However, Friday morning dawned stormy, and Bill Meck was very vocal about the tornadic storms that would be hitting our area later that day.

Around midmorning the first round of storms had come and gone, leaving it muggy with a hint of sunshine peeking through the gray clouds, and not much on the radar for central Kentucky.

It was around this time that schools began to announce early dismissals.  I guess so that the students would be home with their families by the time the storms were scheduled to rip through around the time of regular dismissals.  PCA made the decision to release early about 11am, so by 2pm the girls and I were home enjoying a beautiful warm, sunny, very unseasonable early March day.  Earl got home by 3pm when the city and county government sent their workers home early to brace for the storm.

Now, we have in the past had early dismissals for the threat of snow or ice, but never have I seen a complete and total shutdown of public and private business for the chance of a thunderstorm. It was rather odd and somewhat foreboding to be sitting home just waiting....

We did take all the necessary precautions and loaded up emergency supplies, important papers, and hard drive info, along with blankets, warm clothes, toys, and lots of snacks and water into our "walkspace".  While paking up (and keeping Anna from having a total meltdown) we kept an eye on the radar and tuned into the news, watching in real time as the storm spawned tornadoes that wiped out whole towns along the Indiana - Kentucky border.

Fortunately, as the storm sped closer to cental Kentucky it started to break apart, and we only received rain, a bit of marble-sized hail, and some moderate wind gusts. 

Within minutes after the storm hit us is was over, leaving a rainbow in its wake... 




...along with some rain puddles that the girls took advantage of!




Soon, the sun came out...

...and quicky ushered in brilliant blue skies.

As the sun settled into the west it lit up the clouds lingering on the back edge of the storm front.

We've never seen such spectacular cloud formations!





And.....do you see the creepy cloud in this picture?  EEEK!

Today we're watching the puffy white clouds float past while hitting some home projects, like replacing tile in our shower, giving the hot tub a spring cleaning, and dusting and mopping to get ready for my baby's FOURTH birthday next weekend.

Where did the time go?!?!