Surviving Snowmageddon and Polar Vortex 2014

Hey it’s me again. Dusting off the laptop after a much needed little reprieve from the internet, and letting you know that we are ALIVE. In the past few days we have survived both Snowmageddon (with around 12″ of snowfall) and now the Polar Vortex, that has us experiencing temperatures colder than the North Pole or Alaska.

polar vortex snowmageddon 2014

Somebody, put me on a cruise ship, STAT!

Today we’re trying to get back to a routine with homeschool after a glorious break – but we’re all needing the structure of a schedule and routine. We can’t go anywhere (because it’s so dangerous it’s actually illegal), so we’ll all be hunkering down another day.

Sunday was the easiest day of our lock down, because temperatures were actually pleasant – around 32 degrees (Laugh it up, Floridians!) – which made for a great day of snow fun while it was POURING down snow an inch an hour.

playing in snowmageddon

The neighbors came over for a snowball fight, and then together we constructed an epic snowman.

building a ten foot snowman

Official measurement = 10 foot exactly!

building a giant ten foot snowman

What a fun time with some of our favorite people!  

ten foot snowman built by kids

 

A few hours after our hot chocolate and marshmallows were inhaled, it looked like this outside.  The wind picked up to 30-40 miles per hour and the temperatures started plummeting to below zero temps and wind chills of 40 below.

 

how to make a blizzard by shaking a tree

Which means, we’ve been snowed in for the last couple of days, surviving on comfort foods like French Toast and Pot Roast.  Of course I’m craving things I cannot have like a Chickfila Sandwich with Sweet Tea, and ice cream sandwiches.  Note to self:  Next time skip the bread and milk aisle when snowstorm grocery shopping and head straight for the ice cream aisle. 

snowstorm food french toast

Perhaps the most difficult survival skill for this storm has been keeping four rowdy six year old boys entertained while stuck inside. We’ve done some movies, iPad games, set up our aquarium for fish round #2, played games, read some books, played Legos, and thrown boiling water outside and watched it turn instantly into snow.  Of course the full tackle football games have continued, which make a mama a nervous wreck that we won’t be able to make it to the ER if they get hurt.

getting an aquarium ready for fish with kids

Last night when we were starting to loose our sanity completely, we played a game of Charades as a family.  So many laughs and great memories!  Today I think we’ll pull out the Play-Doh, bake some cupcakes, and make some crafts after our school work is done, and hopefully by tomorrow we’ll be interacting with other humans again!

Things I’m thankful for like never before:

  • Healthy kids that don’t require medical assistance in this emergency weather
  • Electricity and a Heater that is still kicking
  • Hot Water (no frozen pipes yet)
  • Shelter
  • A stocked pantry and fridge
  • Good Neighbors
  • That I’m Not an Eskimo

So how about YOU?  Have you been snowed in?  What’s been keeping your family entertained?  What have you been munching on?  Or if you are in Florida and it’s down to the 60’s you can cry about that too…