And that's all there is, there isn't any more

So now I am caught up. And not much skipping over either. Really not any. Will try to be better about consistency for a while. Speaking of consistency, I made Grams fudge this year. Two batches. Neither one turned out as thick as I would have liked. I needed to keep it in the refrigerator. But one thing I DID make that turned out how I wanted was strawberry gelato. It was great! I got a book from the library with a bunch of super yummy ice cream recipes, and since the little Scott's up the street didn't have the kind of cream I needed, I opted to purchase frozen strawberries instead and make the gelato. I threw a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar in at the end with the vanilla, but once frozen you couldn't really taste it. But it was heavenly. Again, a little more difficult to make than I had anticipated, but I think that's because it was my first time. There were recipes in that book I never imagined- like Key Lime Ice Cream (SUPER easy with sweetened condensed milk), Guiness Ice Cream (really?!) and Oatmeal Ice Cream with a recipe for baked apples (with butter and brown sugar in the middle) on the side. You know I am making that one. All of those, actually, and many more. Thank you Debbie for leaving your ice cream maker here! I promise to have super delicious ice cream in the flavors of your choice waiting next time you visit!!!

More of the snowy evening of December 16, 2007

The Big Snow, the next day

Saturday evening we had our friends who live on the next street over to visit, and it snowed a little before they arrived at 6:30. They were bundled up and she was wearing her snow boots. They left a few hours later, and it had snowed maybe a bit more, but the big surprise was this morning when we woke up to a Winter Wonderland! We immediately turned on the news, who reported that there had been 7 inches of snow overnight, and that there was a Level 3 Driving Conditions Warning in effect, which pretty much means don't drive unless you are an emergency vehicle or in need of emergency help. So we were watching the screen for cancellations. (They post school delays and cancellations during the week, and church service and civic type cancellations on weekends.) There were several churches listed as canceled, but not ours. Which put us in a conundrum. I had agreed to sit the nursery this weekend. So PJ put a call into the church, where the pastor answered the phone (!!! We didn't think anyone wound answer!) and told us the other pastor was doing the early sermon for which there were only a handful of people, and although he understood our commitment, he felt it better and safer if we just stayed home. What a nice guy! So in we were. There were gusts blowing hard and snow was trying to come down, but the wind at times was so great that it was just horizontal. After it died down, PJ got Ava bundled up and got the snow thrower out. He did our driveway (which the guy across the alley blew snow right back into when he did his driveway and it made me grinchy) and the walkway up to the house from the garage, around front, and down the front walk to the steps that lead to the sidewalk. A few people had gotten out their snowblowers, so the sidewalks were already done. It was lovely to have the snow on the weekend when people could clear the sidewalks (which will help immensely as we really need to go to the market tomorrow and last time the snow was on Sunday night and barely any of the walkways were shoveled, blown or salted). I brought James out, who was tentative, and then the dogs who totally were not. Fred was leaping and running and galumphing all around. He really likes the snow. We let him run in the front too, and he wore himself out. We all piled back inside for warmth, more coffee (for PJ and me) and hot cocoa (for Ava). Later, after naptime, we took the kids back out for Snowman Building time. James was not interested in the snowman, but wanted to go for a walk. He went down to the Secret Sidewalk and turned left, just like he always does. I told him we weren't going to Henry's, but to come back and find Daddy and Ava. He would have none of it. I had to bribe him with Snacks (one of his new words!). That barely worked. He loves to be outside regardless of the elements. Dad's child for sure. Here's some evidence of the wintry goodness.

Getting ready for the Big Snow

The Vipr HD Weather Center Radar Thingie went off on the television Saturday to warn us about an impending snowstorm. The city usually comes to collect leaves if you pile them up at the curb (which was amazing to watch- they had small front loader type machines and blocked off the road and it was quite efficient and graceful) but the last time they were scheduled to come we got sidelined by a snowstorm, so even though the previous snow had melted, the street crews hadn't been out to collect. And since the new storm was to be quite big, PJ decided to go out and rake the leaves closer to the curb. (I had been the one to collect the leaves via rake and blower, but due to time constraints with the kids napping only a little bit and it getting dark before 5 p.m. and all it wasn't as far out or together as it should have been.) So Ava donned her new coat and the hat I crocheted and went out with Dad and while he chatted with a neighbor, she put herself right to work. What a big girl!