Snow....Again!

We are finally digging ourselves out of what they are calling the "100 year snow storm" for our area.  I will admit because it has been so long since we've had an actual snow it's kind of been nice to see it fall, to have 4 consecutive snow days and to actually go out and play/take pictures of our winter wonderland.  However we've seen it, played in it and enjoyed it so now it can go.

I took this picture just down the road from us after the first snowfall.  Things had just started to melt and we were starting to see the ground again.

Then it snowed again and we were all covered in white.  Marty was itching to go to work so I drove down our driveway and down the roads to see if the motor grader had been down our road or if he could get thru.  The second snow fall wasn't quite as much as the first but it was a wetter/heavier snow and had a little wind with it which resulted in some drifting.  The road had not been cleared so Marty ended up hanging at home till early afternoon.  On my drive to check the roads included some really cool pics.

With the snow being heavier/wetter it stuck to the trees making for some pretty scenery and me to play with the settings on my camera.

This is one of my favorites and will probably have to be made into a print.  I'm looking for the perfect quote, verse, or saying to go with.  All suggestions welcomed!!

This picture doesn't do this justice...it was so pretty to see all the white and just a little bit the trees showing.

So after my drive I went back home and fed the boys so we could dress and go outside.  I learned that my boys have really never seen this much snow and had never built a snowman!!  So we had a building of snowmen lesson.    Here are some of our snowmen roasting "snow-mallows".

This little snowman was making a polar plunge into the pool!

After building snowmen it was time to go sledding behind the mower again.  The boys found that playing "king of the sled" was a pretty fun game. They continued knocking each other off their sleds time and time again.  

They boys enjoyed their snow days.  I enjoyed it when we all got back on our schedules and the snow has slowly but surely started to melt.  I'm ready for spring.  

Stephanie

Snow...We have Snow.

Wichita along with most of Kansas has snow....real actual hang around for several days snow.  Not like previous seasons where it snows and is usually all melted away by the next day.  This is real snow.....came with school closing and everything.  Anyone that knows me, knows I do not enjoy the snow....yes it's pretty and I like to look at it but that's about it.  However we need the moisture so bad I'm willing to put up with it.  The boys and I ventured out Thursday mid morning to see how much snow we actually had and to see if we could even get out of the driveway if need be.

I even got to sport my purple carhartt bibs that I've had for a year and never have gotten to wear.

As soon as we got outside, it was decided we had A LOT of snow.  I'm guessing somewhere between 12-15 inches.  Some areas we walked it was above my knee, it was a pretty good workout tromping around.

Sassy the snow dog loved following us too.  She too got a work out but she was smart and stayed right behind me so she could walk in my tracks.

And of course I have to include this cardinal picture.  His bright red against the white snow was so pretty.  Plus he reminds me of my Grandma Saathoff as she loved cardinals and all the other pretty colored birds.

Brett and I started to dig us out on the driveway and I soon discovered that it was not a task we were going to conquer.  The snow was heavy and deep in some areas.  I told Marty he just may have to take another snow day.  Luckily a co-worker of his who lives east of us has a little John Deere tractor that he loves to play on in his spare time and he graciously came over and cleaned off our driveway.  Thank you Thank you John!!

If you look closely the mound in the center of pic has KSU on it.  My snow art.  It's much easier to see from the road.

Our white trash sledding with the lawn mower.  It was good enough for the boys as they had a good time and some pretty good wipe outs.

Blake "snow discing" instead of snow boarding.

At the end of the day I made one more venture down the drive to get the mail and watched the sun set.  Very pretty sunset, hopefully the sun will be out again tomorrow and the next day and the next.

So far the weather is reporting more snow over the weekend.  Again I know we need the moisture and if it needs to snow...let it be....however I do need to get my car tag renewed before the end of February so I need to be able to get to the tag office.

Hopefully everyone is enjoying the snow and staying safe and warm.  Stephanie

Catching Up

Last week the boys didn't have school on Friday or Monday so we headed to Manhattan with Marty as he was scholarship interviewing on campus.  When we got to the hotel they were setting up for KSU's 150th birthday bash and they brought in 5 of 30 wildcat sculptures that were to be auctioned off.  (Starting bid I was told was $7500 and you only display it for 9 months and then they get auctioned off again!!!)  The other 25 are on display at the Alumni center which I didn't make it over to to look at them.

The Ag Cat.

Formal Cat

Bling Bling Cat (this is the one I want)

We Salute our Military Cat

Really cool....Flame Cat

We attended the KSU basketball game Saturday and two more Wildcats were on display.  This one has football images on it.

This was a collage of KSU sports pics on it.

Friday night, I along with my parents, hosted a Post Wedding Wine Shower for my brother and sister in law for some friends and family that couldn't make the wedding.  We sampled lots of different wines, had some snacks and played "The Newlywed Game".  It was a fun evening and good to catch up with friends and family.

Instead of wine charms for the glasses I decided to decor them in KSU and MU theme since Scott is a KSU grad and Jenn is a MU grad.

Since moving to the country, the scenery is quite different than in town.  The other day I looked out the window and saw this woodpecker right outside our bedroom.  My husband makes fun of me and thinks all I do all day is bird watch (not the case), but I do enjoy seeing the different birds that like to come and eat out of the feeders.  

Over the weekend I looked out the window and found Blake...being a boy.  I think he was looking for bugs as he has his bug box next to him.  Not sure if he found any in February but something had his attention.  (Notice I said it was February and he's in a sweatshirt only, such warm weather for this time of year.)

On Sunday all 3 boys were enjoying the outside.  Brett had an ax and was working on stumps.  Blake is sawing a limb.  Marty too had a hatchet and was whacking stumps.  (Again it's February and Brett is in shorts and tshirt...crazy weather.)

So the above pics were taken on Sunday....this is what Wednesday looks like.  It started snowing at 8 a.m. and finally quit about mid-afternoon.  I'm sure the kids are hoping for a snow day tomorrow...we shall see what tonight brings.

Well I guess I'm off to shovel the drive.  Finally get to break out my purple carhartt bibs.

Beer-Rocks aka Bierocks anyone?

My girlfriends and I decided we would tackle making homemade bierocks this week with the help of Momma Brack.  It was a fun day, however a long one and I'm not sure any of us are going to be doing it again anytime soon.

This was my kitchen before we started.

Momma Brack made each us make a batch of homemade dough with her supervision of course.  Amie was the first at her attempt.

Melanie and Momma Brack working on Mel's batch of bread dough.

I, however, was informed by Momma Brack that my batch was the best one of the day.

Eventually Momma Brack was comfortable with our abilities and took a break to have some coffee and play on her ipad while we continued to slave away.

This is what 150 some bierocks look like....they're just like snowflakes...no two are the same.

So even though we were exhausted after all the bierocks we figured we had the ovens on and had enough ingredients we'd whip up some cinnamon rolls.  This is only half of the cinnamon rolls we made the others had already left.

My loot that is now resting comfortably in my freezer less the few that I've already consumed over the last couple of days.

And once again my kitchen is back to normal.

All in all it was a fun day.  Lots of laughs which always makes for a good day.

Stephanie

A little of this, a little of that

As I mentioned in the last post...Brett and Blake lost a bet with our friend Paul from church and had to wear KU shirts during church last week.  Paul is such a good sport he sported his KSU shirt for them since KSU played such a hard fought game against the Hawks.  We are very much looking forward to football season, although after this weekend with KSU coming away with a road win and KU losing at home baseketball season could get interesting.  Go Cats!!

On Friday the 4th grade class presented a Famous Kansas Museum.  Each student selected a famous Kansan (from a list provided by the teacher), researched that person, prepared a posterboard with facts and then had a small rehearsed speech.  They also had to "dress" like their famous Kansas and have two props.  Somehow Brett lost out on doing his on Bill Snyder and chose Charles Koch of Koch Industries (aka his dad's boss).  Brett did a very good job on all aspects.

This weekend was Girls Weekend 2013 with my KSU roomies, Kelly and Jill.  Marty has given this to me/us as a Christmas gift the last couple of years and it's one of my/our favorite gifts ever.  This year we went to the big town of Arvonia, KS.  (Don't bother looking it up on the map as it's probably not even on there.)  Jill knew of a lady there that had a little house that she rents out for "creative weekends".  All three of us have at some point scrapbooked at one time or another so we decided to have a scrap weekend.  I finally finished my 2010 vacation and got all kinds of caught up with two of my favorite people.  As you might have guessed it doesn't take much for us to have a good time...all we need is to be together even if it is just for a short time.

We left the weekend with exciting plans of Girls Weekend 2014 as we started planning our trip for our 40th bday celebration.  We all went to Tahoe for our 30th bday celebration so the tradition must continue right?
All in all a good weekend.  My boys had a fun weekend with just dad and the house was in relatively good shape when I returned home.  Back to reality for us all come tomorrow.

Stephanie