Snow Days!

We are on our third day of being snowed/iced in, and if you know me, I am loving it!  I was quite surprised to get out on Thursday; I figured we would have go in for a few hours, and then they would close as the weather got bad.  Imagine my surprise when I woke up to a text from my boss that we were closed!

So I went back to sleep for an hour.  I have a hard time sleeping in when I know we are having winter weather because I want to watch it and measure it and touch it and walk it.  Oh, I so LOVE it.  Once I got up, I started editing photos, cleaning, and catching up on TV shows. The sleet started early but didn't really start accumulating until mid-morning. Once Zach got up, he played video games while I continued my cleaning. We drank lots of hot cocoa and tea, watched the snow begin to fall, and played & snuggled with the kitties. In the evening, Zach built a fire, which was lovely.  Here's how we spent our "snow days:"

sleet starting to collect on everything

Yes, we still have pumpkins out.  We didn't carve any this year, so they are still in tact.  I don't have the heart to throw out anything that is still good.

The cats enjoyed having us home!

This is probably the coldest it's been in Arkansas since I don't know when!

It's a tradition for me to drink out of my snowflake mug on snow days.  :)

night fall, snow fall

When I got up on Friday, we had EIGHT inches!  It's now over nine.  :)  I wasn't sure if my guess was correct (eight inches), but I was right on the money when this photos as taken!

On Friday, I watched Christmas movies and prepared for our late Fall Feast.  And, of course, watched the snow continue to fall!

Since we moved up here, I've used these birds to measure the snow.

They have been quite snuggly with the cold weather.

Yes, I know, we make beautiful children raise beautiful cats.

dangers of winter weather in AR

I love our home in this kind of weather.  it reminds me a cabin!  Also, those bows used to hang in our stairwell during Christmas, but Dinah tore them up pretty good last year, so I shortened the tails and decided to use them one last year--outside.

my (rain)boot prints

Selfies in the snow are hard, especially when it is well below freezing.

why we named our home The Owlery

Our landlord's little lady statue looks like a gnome in the snow!

It's hard to see here, but there are some animal tracks in the snow.  Deer, maybe?

Last night, we had our Fall Feast, and I invited Amy over since she made it safely back home from her friends' house.  But I'll tell you more about this on Monday!

Today, I'm going to knit and address Christmas cards.  :)))
Oh, and next weekend, I'll be sharing our Christmas decor courtesy of Kelly's Korner SUYL!
Did you get any winter weather courtesy of Winter Storm Cleon?  How do you spend your snow days?

Be Grateful #16 and Baking--LOTS of Baking!

Well, I failed at keeping up with this again.  *hehe*  Yet I think it works out (like the week of Thanksgiving) because I plan on doing a post on Friday, but you'll find out why in a minute.

I was afraid I was going to drop these.  They were each filled to the rim with goodies!

You see, this week is FINALS WEEK--May the odds be ever in our favor!--which means last week, I was winding down the semester, doing final grading of final assignments, etc. etc. etc.  This week, I have been writing my finals, entering grades, etc. etc. etc.  AND ON FRIDAY I WILL BE DONE!  And then we will be off to Silver Dollar City for a little Christmas celebration with some friends.  This is why I will have another grateful post--because this week marks the end of the semester!  I began this journal to keep me going through the semester, and it really has helped.  I look forward to continuing though I may take a break until January 14.

Before I forget, I have to mention what I did this weekend:  BAKING!

So. much. baking.  I baked two batches of sugar cookies Friday morning (from about nine to noon), then I headed into work for a few hours, went to the holiday reception, and won a basket of soup!

Friday night, I whipped up two batches of homemade marshmallows (French vanilla and mint) and left them to harden...solidify...be less sticky?  Whatever they did, they did it overnight.

Saturday morning, I got up and was back in the kitchen about 10.  I decorated my sugar cookies with royal icing, nonpareils, and colored sugar.  I mixed up two batches of my brown sugar cookie dough, adding Christmas Cadbury balls to half a batch, peanut butter chips and Heath bits o' brickle in the other half, and white chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in the second batch.  In between baking these, I melted almond bark and dipped pretzel sticks.  Once all of the cookies were done, I cut up the marshmallows.  I was in the kitchen about 13 hours Saturday.  I LOVED it and didn't have a breakdown for the first time ever.  ;)

Sunday, we cleaned a bit and visited Zach's aunt and uncle.  I put together a package of cookies for them, and when we got back, I put together my other tins.  I double Saran-Wrapped two to four cookies at a time, and I tied up marshmallows and pretzel rods in little treat bags.  Zach dug out boxes for me, and I signed Christmas cards and printed out my little menus to stick inside:

I assembled each box together, which took some time since I couldn't just wrap the goodies up and distribute them then because certain sugar cookies were going to certain people, namely those with kids got stocking cookies with their kids' initials on them.  (Some of our close friends adopted a brother and sister this year, and this is the first time they have had a real family and gotten into Christmas.  Then I have several young best nieces and nephews I had to treat not to mention my real niece and nephew.  :)

Lastly, I taped and addressed each box after nestling it in crumpled newspaper or those inflated pillows.  Even after all of that, I was perfectly calm though EXHAUSTED.  I did have a bit of a panic attack when I realized how much it was going to cost to mail nine packages of cookies across the state.  Whew.

Anyway, with all of that, I am only now getting around to writing my gratitude entry for last week.  Better late than never!

1)  I am thankful for this sweet time of year.

2)  I am thankful for friends afar and near.

3)  I am thankful for finals week and my precious, precious students and how much they have learned, even if it didn't get reflected in some of their final essays at times because, well, it's the end of the semester and EVERYBODY (including this lady) is a bit lazy when it comes to school.

4)  I am thankful we have lived in our lovely home, The Owlery, for two years and a week as of today. :)

5)  I am thankful for my husband who keeps me smiling and laughing most of the time.

6)  I am thankful for playing hide-and-seek/peekaboo with our kitties.

7)  I am really thankful for those white chocolate chip and butterscotch chip cookies.  Those are my new FAVORITES.  I'm making some more later this week.  ;)

8)  I am thankful for always having my family and getting to come home.

9)  I am thankful I am growing wiser and more mature each year.

Hope you are enjoying this season!  What are you grateful for this time of year?