The Winter that Just Keeps Giving

It has been a cold and snowy winter.  I think the hardest part of the winter has been the continual frigid temperatures we have been "blessed" with! We have had endless days of single digit temps and even lower than that with the frigid windchill calculation.  Needless to say, we have not spent a lot of time outside.  I saw a cartoon today that said, "The air hurts my face!"  That is such a true statement!  The kids have not had outdoor recess in a couple months and the prognosis for that to change in the near future is not very promising.  It has been long and hard as I have been suffering from major cabin fever. We are all waiting for a little warmth to head our way and stay here!

This is how Sammy gets out his cooped up energy from all day inside at school.  He does his flashcards as he runs and jumps around the house yelling out the answer.

How this child dresses in frigid cold!

 

Today, I was watching for Sammy and Mary to walk home from the busstop.  It was about 8 degrees outside and below zero with the windchill factor. Wind was blowing hard.  I looked down the street (From the warmth of my house!) to see Sammy walking down the sidewalk in only his sweatshirt.  When he got home and I asked him why he wasn't wearing his coat he declared, "Mom!  It's so hot out here!"  He is one crazy kid.  He was wearing gloves because he wanted to make a snowball to throw at Mary!

Mary is my lifesaver in the afternoons.  She takes care of Sara until dinner.  She reads to her, plays with her, and entertains her for me.  It truly is a blessing.

 

True Friends

Thomas has a great friend by the name of Kolbee.  He wants Kolbee to be involved and included in everything they do in the Deacon's Quorum and in Scouting.  He is genuinely so excited when Kolbee comes to activities.  Kolbee is now coming to all the activities and even came to the Court of Honor a couple weeks ago in his brand new Scout uniform.  He was so excited to be like Thomas and Thomas was so excited to have him there.  You see, Kolbee has autism and is not able to speak.  He is an amazing young man, however.  He has a really cool app that allows him to type what he is thinking and then it speaks for him. Kolbee even went on the last 2 temple trips with the youth and Thomas came home from the last trip with so much excitement he could hardly contain it.  He told me, "Mom...Kolbee even made it down 2 steps into the font!  I bet next time he will go all the way!"  I think these two young men have a friendship and a connection that is stronger than any of us are able to comprehend.  I think their spirits understand each other more than we can comprehend.

This past Saturday the stake youth went ice skating.  Thomas was so excited when got to the church and saw that Kolbee was there.  Here is what Kolbee's mom wrote about the day:

Kolbee went ice skating for his first time yesterday.  As always, he had his buddy Thomas there to help him. Kolbee is truly blessed to have such a great friend... like Thomas! He is always excited to see Kolbee. He loves to go help Kolbee try something new. Even if it cuts into his "fun" time. It brings tears to my eyes when I look at these pictures.

 

 

Counting Quarters

Spring participated in the area's 5th grade math competition this past Saturday.  She loved that her friends were on her team which they named the "Counting Quarters."  The competition consisted of various problem solving  events, mental math, and some individual assessments.  There were about 30 teams total. Spring's team won a trophy along with the other 2 top teams. 

Millionth Snow Day

So, we got the early morning call again this morning that school was cancelled due to the 8 inches of snow that fell overnight.  The kids have been off school more days than they have gone to school since Christmas vacation.  So, what do you do on yet another snow day?  Well, we are on our last jar of homemade freezer jam and, in our home, that qualifies for a state of emergency.  You see, our kiddos are kinda "jam snobs" and this is the only jam they will eat. We decided we could bring the smell of summer into our home, even if the weather is far from that!

 

Sledding

Joel took the kids a couple times in the last week to go sledding while I stayed home with Sara.  Gideon wants to go with them and he goes down the hill a couple times with Spring but then decides he would rather just hang out playing in the snow.  He doesn't like getting snow in the face!

Scouts, Scouts, and more Scouts

The last few couple weeks have been full of scouting events for our family.  Sammy earned his Wolf rank, Gold Arrow Point, 3 Silver Arrow Points, and about 5 or 6 Beltloops at the pack meeting in January.  He was so excited and couldn't wait for me to sew his patches on his uniform.  A couple days later (February 1st) was the long awaited day for Thomas' Eagle Court of Honor.  It was a wonderful afternoon and so amazing to reflect back on his trail to Eagle.  How grateful I am for his dedication and love of the Scouting Program.  He has become an Eagle and scouting is engrained in him.  Grandma and Grandpa Biggs were able to come out and be here for each of these events for the boys.  It was great to have them with us for a few days. 

 

Then, the following week Sammy participated in his first ever Pinewood Derby race.  He decided weeks ago that he was going to make a police car. He and Joel worked long and hard together on his car and had it completed weeks early which was difficult for him to wait for the actual race.  Sammy was so excited for the race to begin.  He smiled and was so happy and bubbling with excitement all evening.  Sammy won each race and took 1st place!  He gets to compete at the District level next month.  Sammy told us the best thing about the pinewood derby is making the car because "I get to spend time with just Dad and me!"