Thursday, December 11, 2008

S.N.O.W spells "Random Surprise"


Houston RARELY sees snow. I have lived here for eight years and not seen it once - except for yesterday. Sleet was predicted in the forecast, but not SNOW!! What a delightful surprise to stumble upon yesterday afternoon. Well, I didn't exactly "stumble" upon it. It was sort of thrown at me as Grant came dashing in yelling that is was snowing. I thought, "Not unless pigs are flying, Dude." But, Grant was right. Keep in mind that it was a blustering chilly, wet day. NO ONE was outside. The boys and I had spent the day in the comfort of sweats, warm house shoes and fat free hot chocolate as we sat by the fire and enjoyed cartoons. The absolute "perfect" day in my book. We loved it and had no idea that the day was going to end on an extra high note... So when Grant came running in with the alleged news of snow, I had to check it out for myself as I was pretty sure it had to be sleet like the weathermen had predicted. Sure enough, the flakes were falling. That was special enough. But what was even more heartwarming was the sound of laughter and thrilled screeches from the neighborhood kids who were ALL outside at this point. Kids were out in their coats, gloves, hats, and everyone was playing gleefully in the snow; even adults. I felt like a kid again. It was the talk of the town. Our phone rang off the hook, and we were certainly making our own phone calls to spread the exciting news. It was so fun for kids to come knocking on our door yelling, "It's snowing!", or, "Can Grant come out and play in the snow?" It was so magical, and certainly not every day lingo around here. The rules of outdoor play totally went out the window as well. The kids usually all head back home when the street lights come on. Not yesterday. It was well after dark when they all stumbled back in to their homes. When I finally did put Grant to bed, we read Frosty the Snowman with the blinds open so we could see the snow fluttering down. (good idea, Da-tee) I'm sure those of you up in the Panhandle/New Mexico reading this (Marijon, Jordan, Carrie) are thinking that perhaps we Houstonians took this a bit overboard since snow is commonplace in your neck of the woods. But to us Houstonians, it was the perfect Christmas treat and quite the unexpected "Random Surprise".

I'm singin' and dancin' in the snow...

Snow accumulating on our roof. That white fleck in the center of the picture is a snowflake.

You could see the snow really well on Madalyn.

Below are pictures of our visit to see Dude-Dad one morning. The boys sure love playing in the HUGE empty basketball court (Wheeler Field House)... and getting candy from his secretary.


Dude-Dad and Grant doing some work.

Dude-Dad and Rhett NOT doing some work.

I think we need to start talking to Rhett now about not being too relaxed on the job.

And on a totally different note: Grant doing his "homework". No, he does not actually have homework. He wants to have homework though, so he finds something to do at the bar that includes pencil and paper, and this becomes his homework. Sometimes I'm not sure this kid is mine or Kerry's. I don't think either of us were ever pumped about homework.