K’s brother to the rescue

After shoveling for many hours, we were still smiling:

And still joking around:

After seemingly not making any progress, this was a beautiful sight:

That is K’s brother and his snowblower.  Since our snowblower is still in the shop, we were going to head over to his place to pick up his yesterday.  But since our road hadn’t been plowed, we didn’t think it was going to happen.

Until he arrived at our house.

He had been spending most of the day yesterday clearing all the driveways in his neighborhood.  One of these neighbors has a large, jacked-up, mud-running 4×4.  K’s brother borrowed this truck and slid his way here.

Needless to say, the digging out went a little faster after he arrived.

This is a beautiful sight.  It still makes me cry.

I need to work on my aim.

J and A are thinking about taking up the bobsled.

Thank you Uncle J!  Now, can you be back on Wednesday?  They are calling for another 12-16″ Tuesday night.

Yes.  More snow.  Oh joy.

34

You know, I’ve always been quite fond of the words “thigh high.”

Until they were coupled with the word “snow.”

We had yet another huge snowstorm this weekend (this one dubbed “Snowmageddon” by the media and our Commander In Chief).  It started snowing around 10AM on Friday morning and didn’t stop until around 6PM Saturday night.  Over that time, I went out every three hours or so, measured the depth at one particular location, then shoveled away the snow in that location.  This way, I could get a better idea how much snow actually fell, since if you wait and measure after all the snow has fallen, the first several inches are compacted by the weight of snow above.

Can you tell I’m an engineer?

So, what was the total?

That’s right … 34 inches.

Almost 3 feet.

Thigh-high snow.

Some of the snowlights:

Friday afternoon.  It begins.

A good time to hunker down for movie night

By late Friday, it was already above the landscaping lights

Because it was snowing 2 inches an hour.

Sat. AM.  I don’t think we’ll be using the porch today.

Or getting K’s car out.

My snow depth measurement spot.

Went out for some beauty shots.  Not a bad backyard.

I call this shot “Juxtaposition.”

I don’t think Nana’s car is going anywhere.

Of course, getting out our front door isn’t easy.

And going out the window wouldn’t be much easier.

There’s a fence there somewhere.

I think this is an arbor.

I headed out to dig out the truck left at the end of the driveway.
Now I know why snowshoes were invented.

This is how far down the driveway was.

Looking back at the house…

…and my ultimate destination down the driveway.

Finally made it to my truck.

At least I think it’s my truck.

Let’s hope nobody needs to see our address sign.

Or deliver mail.

An hour later, the truck was free.

Thought this news report was funny.  This shows people sledding down the steps of the National Gallery of Art.  People in DC can loosen up every once in a while:

Sunday AM.  The sun came out.

So did the kids.

She finally gave up trying to walk.

We put Nana to work on the side walk.
A is supervising.

While K dug out the front walk.

The view from the bottom of K’s trench.

I headed back to the truck to try to see if we could get out.

You know it’s deep when the deer make tracks this big.

Deep snow does make a nice seat when you
become exhausted from trudging through it.

The view at the end of my driveway.  My brother met me there to help out.

Unfortunately, since the plow hadn’t been by, we couldn’t get out.

So, I trudged back to the house.

Nana’s car was now dug out.

The house, however was not.

After playing outside, A is ready for some football.

Pants issues

The other day, K and A were roaming Target when K notice that A seemed a little antsy.

“What’s up, A?  Do you have ants in your pants?” K asked.

This might not have been the best thing to say to a girl who hasn’t grasped the idea of the idiom.

“Nope,” A replied.

Then she proceeded to pull her pants down  (including panties) in the middle of the store.

“See!”

Along that vein, the other day Nana noticed J standing with both hands firmly planted inside the back of his pants.

“Honey, is anything wrong?” Nana inquired.

“Nope,” J said. “Just scratching.”

Then he found the nearest La-Z-Boy and grabbed the remote.

Another 6 months

J had his bi-annual cardiologist appointment yesterday (if you don’t know the story of his heart, check out this earlier post).  Once again, the results were “Status quo.  Come back in 6 months.” – which is what we want at this point.  Some highlights:

Like the Boy Scouts, I’m always prepared…

… except when it came to having J’s insurance card.  I didn’t have it in my wallet, but …

… I did have some year-old Fast Passes from Disney World.
(K made me include this shot to demonstrate my lack of
organizational skills)

First up, blood pressure…

…then the EKG…

… a little blood oxygen reading…

…and finally the cardio ultrasound.

J celebrates a good checkup

Then it was on to our traditional post-cardiologist celebration meal…
Yes, I get the irony.

And last but not least …

A hug from A when J gets home.

It’s genetic

As I mentioned earlier, J and A have become proficient at playing games on my iPhone.  A is particularly fond of a princess-creation game, when you dress up a princess in your favorite dress, jewelry, shoes, etc.  But the other day, while J had my phone, I heard the familiar song that plays during this game.

He was playing the princess dress-up game.

Now I’m not really big on the whole “boys must play with this, girls must play with that” thing.  But J has never expressed any interest in A’s various princess toys before.  I wondered why he was playing this game now.

Then I looked at his finished creation.

That’s right.  He gave his princess long blond hair, covered her in bling, and put her in high heels.

But did not put a dress on her.

You may write your own joke here along the lines of “Like father, like son.”

Baby sitting co-op

So, we had our monthly baby-sitting co-op the other night.  All the kids were in the basement, enjoying a raucous time.

Then, through the din, I heard A yell:

“Look out guys, I’m bringin’ the thunder!”

I didn’t know whether to be scared or impressed.

It’s a party

You know, when we were planning J and A’s birthday party, we figured that letting each of them invite one friend from school and one friend from church would keep the event manageable. Plus, we’ve been resisting the current trend of spending hundreds of dollars on the birthday party venue by having it at our house.  We refuse to import ponies, bouncy houses or rent out places like the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum for a five-year-old’s birthday party (You think I’m kidding.  People do it all the time.)

So this was going to be easy.

Until the unexpected snowstorm hit.

We’ve been hearing about some winter weather heading our way for about a week.  But every single forecast, including the one on Friday morning, was insisting that we would get a dusting.  1-2 inches at the most.

We got 8 inches.

Now let’s think about how this impacted our weekend.  We were going to have 20 people (in their 7 cars) coming to the house Sunday at 3PM.  We have a 600′ long driveway.  And a broken snowblower.

So, for most of Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, we shoveled snow.  Again.

Finally we did get everything clear.  But this pretty much tapped out any energy reserves we had before the party even started.

Six. Hundred. Feet

That’s a “5″ balloon on our mailbox.  J wondered what “S” stood for.

Playing Car Tetris

Nice Cinderella’s carriage balloon.

Guests arriving

First up, fishing for party favors.

Then birthday cupcakes

And then the presents

The Birthday Princess seemed pleased

She’s a hugger.

Dinosaur. Puzzle.  Book.  The trifecta for J.

My dad gave them some antique metal trains …

…that he had wrapped up in 1998.

The Leapsters may be detrimental to conversation.

So, who’s going to clean up?

5!?!? Are you kidding me!?!?

On Sunday, J and A turn 5.

Good googily moogily.

This is beyond my comprehension. It seems only yesterday that they were two blobs on an ultrasound screen.

Now look at them.

Glamour Girl

Hey, she can’t be on the top of her fashion game 24/7 …

Tug o’ Phone

Having an iPhone had been fantastic for a gadget geek like me.  It can even helped entertain the kids in a pinch.  However, it does have its downside.

Case in point.  When I got home from work yesterday, A greeted me with a “Daddy!   How was your day?”

And how did J greet me?

“Daddy! Where’s your phone?”

J seems to favor the dinosaur games

A likes the create-a-princess game

They even let K touch it every once in a while.
And show her how to use it.