Our Day Snowed In

Along about 8:00 this morning, I heard doors opening and closing. Meg had gone back to bed after she got the "snow day" ruling for IUPUI. (She's been sick with a cold.) I think the children got up and went in to snuggle with her. Somehow, they missed that it was light out and no one had gotten them up. I was fixing breakfast when Robin appeared and said she "thought there was a possibility" of a snow day. When I announced that she was home for the day, she was so excited that she didn't stop talking for 30 minutes. I thought, "Well, here we go. It's going to be a LONG day."

Here is the litany:
1. Breakfast.
2. Meg and kids went out to shovel snow. They were out for at least an hour...with Robin and Ryan fussing with each other. Ryan came to the door in one boot and one sock. Lost his boot in the snow somewhere out near the mailbox. (Hasn't been found yet.) I put him in MY boots and sent him back out. He came back in awhile later complaining that there were hard rocks in the boots. (Actually packed snow.) I declared that he was in to stay. He dropped big clods of snow all over the house.
3. Shortly, Robin came in. Same story, only she didn't lose a boot. Both got hot chocolate.
4. Meg came in a bit later...face red...sweating from working so hard. She didn't want chocolate...just water. I looked out and discovered that, even after all they'd done, we were still snowed in. Ack!
5. We created and printed out menus for the children to decide what they wanted for lunch, just to make it fun. Fortunately, everyone wanted the same thing, mostly. Robin really got into it.
6. After lunch, Meg went back out to shovel more while the children and I played school. (I was the teacher.) We started with the Pledge of Allegiance, then went on to age-appropriate activities. (We have lots of workbooks, etc.) Ryan surprised me with his ability to sound out words (at the pre-school level), and Robin surprised me with her creativity. I'll bet we were at the table more than an hour with no one getting bored.
7. At one point, I got concerned that Meg hadn't been heard from, so I went out to check on her. Her vehicle was gone. She managed to dig out enough to go for a quick spin. Came back saying that the whole world was out shoveling.
8. We decided to go back out, just for grins, to see the snow. We had a total of 12 1/2 inches here. Mountains of snow everywhere! Roads weren't all that good at 2:30 this afternoon, but at least the sun was shining.
9. Then it was Movie Time! The children made nests in the living room to watch Toy Story 2. I popped popcorn. (Ryan ate three bowls.) Another movie was put in while I started supper...which is now.
10. How did the day go? Not bad! It isn't often that can all eat breakfast together. (On week days, everyone is in a hurry to get to work. The children eat breakfast with the Heffelman grandparents. On the weekends when we are all free, the children are in Muncie.) I somewhat dreaded all those hours with cooped-up kids, but Meg's being here made a huge difference. We basically suspended everything but digging out and being together. It made for a nice day--mostly because I didn't do any of the digging out! Meg may feel some muscles tomorrow...

Aside from cleaning up the kitchen a couple of times, the only other non-regular thing I got done was clean the microwave. Sounds stupid, huh? But the last time it was cleaned was before Meg and the children came to live here...which is almost two years ago! When I put the popcorn in to nuke, I shocked myself by seeing a clean 'wave. Wow...and whoop-de-doo!

I don't have a clue what tomorrow will bring. I'm pretty sure Plainfield will be in session, even though the roads weren't all that great. I'm NOT so sure that our district will be, but I have to plan as if it is. I'm more concerned that when we drove by the Heffelman grandparents' house at 2:30, they still weren't home... Phil has been in the hospital since Sunday for a nose bleed that wouldn't quit. I hope to God, for their sake, that he will get to come home today.

Tomorrow is another day!