From My Nest

Was Punxasutawney Phil Right?

 

Download Worksheet

There has been a bit a scepticism around here about Punxsutawney Phil's prediction and there being six more weeks of winter. With the high being in the 50's around here and no rain in days, you can easily understand why. So to help answer the dilemma of whether or not we will indeed have six more weeks of winter, I made up this worksheet to see if he was correct or not (we are hoping for the not).

I made it so you could print out your own copies and do this along with us (if you're joining late, it's okay just enter in the previous weather data). Let's all cross our fingers that he was wrong and we'll get an early spring!

snow week/slow week

Thirteen inches....

Ice storm....

Branches and trees crumbling....

Power out for almost five days.....

Trapped in the house (our drive way and road)...

.... and in between all that was going on, this little guy turned one. With the help of four wheel drive, we managed to make it to Target to buy gifts and headed Grandma's house who had the electricity to bake a cake.

snow day/slow day

I love it when it snows in Washington. Everything stops. People stay home. School and activities are canceled. We all drop everything and savor in the miracle that it actually snowed this year. Because it will all be gone tomorrow (or in most cases that afternoon).

Of course some would say that it's all because we don't know how to drive in the snow. I say, "Phooey" to that. You see, a big part of knowing how to drive in the snow is knowing when to not drive in the snow. That means pretty much everytime it snows here since we do not have snow plows or salt or snow tires or (ahem) much experience.

But back to our snow/slow day. Amazingly it has turned into days. Two, to be exact and it is expected that it will last another two more days. That gives us four days to savor in the delight of the stillness of winter. The wonder of how things seem magically different when covered in white. Four days of home, of slow, and hot chocolate three times a day.

We also get to watch the delight of someone truly experiencing it for the first time. He sat by that window watching with glee as the snow came falling down. He just knew that something exciting was happening and he stared at it in wonder. (I know his face is shadowed, but just look at that dimple on his cheek. Isn't one of the most adorable things you have ever seen? The shadow made it stand out more. That's why I chose this one to show.)

So here's to two more days of snow/slow, of getting up early and rushing outside, and hot chocolate three times a day. Soon it will be gone and the hustle and bustle of our days before will return. Then we'll wait in hope that it will come once again before the season ends.

savoring winter

I know. Me? Savoring winter?  Yes, it may surprise you a bit, but the end of this winter seems to be a little bitter sweet.  It marks not only the end of another winter in Iowa, but it's most likely our last winter where we will experience below zero temperatures, ice storms, and inches of snow that just seem to stick around all season long.  (Yeah, I really made it sound real great there, didn't I?) Okay, so I won't really miss those things, but I will miss the moments in between.  

So as March introduces itself to us and the snow begun to fade away.  We decided to make the most of it last week; savor those last few moments and take in all the wondrous things that winter has to offer (in above freezing weather).  And best of all, relish in the fact that our future does not have a snow shovel in sight.

improving the view

We're adding a bit of color* (and with these*, too) to our view because around this time of year the view out our window becomes rather, well, blah.  I will admit that at one point it was quite beautiful.  But after months of looking at white, it is now a reminder of cold, ice, shoveling, and cabin fever (here's the Jack Sparrow version, also).

*I have to add my two cents about these.  The marker ones are a lot better than the crayons.  The crayon ones rub onto hands, clothes, carpet and they are more like a pastel than a crayon.  Just a warning since we seem to buy crayons for little kids rather than markers.

winter weather

A few glimpses of our week.  Of course more went on than what is shown here, but above has greatly influenced what did go on.  Much of our life greatly depends on good forecasts - grocery shopping, outings, play dates, cabin fever, and well, pretty much everything.  Before I moved to Iowa, I wasn't much of a forecast checker (Oh I know, I know, I grew up in Seattle.  Rain in every forecast and life just goes on as planned with or without the rain.),  but I have learned that you have to plan around the weather here.  In every season.   

So, what did go on behind the scenes? Much of the same everyday things that don't depend on being housebound to have happen.  Laundry, organizing, sewing, inventive dinners (since I didn't plan ahead and had to use what was on hand) and all those things that get put on my to do lists.  Then, there are those little things that happen when something magical like this appears outside.  Like venturing out into knee deep snow to go sledding, watching the icicles grow as the day goes on, seeing the world sparkle in the daylight and conversations over mugs of hot chocolate with two very silly little girls. 

outside,inside

outside:

 

Inside:

 

 

The week before Christmas is a bit busy in our household.  Not with the usual craziness that most are going through, but with a little bit more - two birthdays and an Anniversary.  So in the final moments of preparation, I found myself running about trying to catch up and complete my never ending holiday-to-do list and loosing the pace of the everyday. 

Until, winter decided to show up earlier than what we all wanted.  Between many inches of snow, ice, and cold weather, we found ourselves a bit housebound.   Our rhythm changed to the simpler pace of inside and the stillness of the snow falling outside.  Instead of rushing around trying to get all those last minute things done, we found ourselves with noses pressed to the windows watching the snow fall or trying to figure out just how many bunnies made those tracks in the snow and trying to catch a glimpse of them.  We made gingerbread, homemade soup and tested out the best way to fold a paper to create the perfect paper snowflake.    

These are the few things that I will miss about living in Iowa.  Although winter is not my favorite season, I do enjoy that a cold, snowy winter gives us time for simple, home bound things together. 

escape

I had great plans for today.  Unfortunately...the sun coming through our windows and two anxious little girls vetoed them.  It was hard enough to contain them long enough to get their schoolwork done.  As soon as I declared school to be over, I barely had enough time to blink before shoes were put on and away they went. I'm not sure if any of you out there can really relate to the feeling of being "winter bound."  With inches of snow and negative highs, going outside - even if it's grocery shopping - is torture.  Your teeth chatter, your hands hurt, and you are not quite sure if you can even make it a couple feet without slipping on the ice.  By the time winter is over, you feel like a can of pop that has been shaken for three whole months waiting to explode.  So our early break from winter this year is very welcome indeed. And now our plans today include running in circles, climbing trees, swinging at the park, and wearing short-sleeved shirts.  Of course I will mostly be a spectator in today's events, but I will still enjoy the welcome release of the bounds of winter.

our winter hike

It was 29 degrees, snowing, I was 33 weeks pregnant, and Becca cried the whole way back.  So was it worth it to go on a small half-mile hike in the middle of February in Iowa?  I'm not quite sure, but we did see a few fun things that made the journey worthwhile. For those of you who have ever wondered, yes there are "forests" in Iowa.  Being from the Northwest, I can't call them real forests, but there are large bunches of trees that you can hike through. Oh, and there was fungus.  Which is a must for a forest (if you've ever hiked through the Northwest, you know exactly what I'm talking about). Look, you can see a little bit of moss, too.  I was pretty excited. We saw a large group of deer, about 7 all together. At the end of the hike, we came to the Raptor center where they keep injured birds that are unable to survive in the wild.  The Bald Eagle was Hannah's favorite. This little Owl (who was about 6 inches tall) was Becca's favortite. Well, that was pretty much the highlights of our hike.  Everything from then on went down hill once Becca had her fill....and just wanted to go home.  I don't think that she'll turn out to be much of an "outdoorsey" kind of girl.  Too much mud.  Too cold.  Too much walking.   Too easy to find stuff to complain about.

the return of winter