Blizzard!

Wow it is officially labeled a blizzard outside.  We had returned to school last Thursday and then had Friday off due to -20 wind-chill.  Although Friday was Sunny and beautiful it was very cold.  Today we returned to school again but everyone knew we would have a snow day called for tomorrow.  The forecast is predicting -20--30 wind chills again.  Tonight the winds whipped up and it is officially a blizzard.  Even thought we live in Buffalo, we haven't had an actual blizzard in over 20 years.  The past few years have been very mild.

     This year Marc did not want to pay $400 for our plow guy.  I argued and won.  Our Driveway is not unmanageable and we have a very good snow blower.  Marc leaves for work at 5:45am, when he is home, and I leave at 7:25.  Getting up and snow blowing with two kids sleeping in the house would be a disaster or coming home and not getting up our steep driveway would never work.  Thank goodness for the plow!  I grew up with 3 older brothers and never mowed a lawn or snow blowed until I was married.  Now my female neighbors give me grief when I do it.  At our old house I did it often but now with kids it doesn't occur frequently. 

   Tomorrow there is driving bans and everything is closed.  I'm wondering if we will be back to school on Wednesday.  We have now used 3 of our 4 allotted snow days.  It looks like it will be an interesting winter. 

    We had a play date with Evans friend Brady on Saturday.  He has a younger sister who is 3.  The kids play wonderfully together. 

  Thursday is a big day, we find out which Catholic schools will close and consolidate.  I think and pray that our school is safe, but if not we will be scrambling to decide what to do next year.  Currently my kids have a 5 minute bus ride, I can't imagine anything over 30 minutes.  Growing up I had an hour bus ride and it was unbearable.  I cringe at thinking of changing schools, Evan is very hesitant to change and would be lost in the enormous elementary school in our district. 

     We started speech therapy for Sara last week.  After calling all the agencies around and adding her name to the waiting list I decided to pursue private therapy.  We found a woman that teaches for a college and has a small private practice.  She is coming to our home once a week.  The killer is the rate it is $80 per hour.  Our health insurance will pick up 80% of the customary rate for our area after we reach a $100 deductible.  I am hoping it will work out to around $20 after we are reimbursed.  We started with three sounds the K, G, and D sound.  Sara tested very high with an IQ in the 130's but has terrible articulation.  Her vocabulary is outstanding but tough to understand.  So hopefully tomorrow it will clear enough for a visit. 

As I sit in our family room right now I can feel a draft coming through our fireplace.  I can't see across the street and all I hear is the wind outside.  I can't imagine living in an area with tornado's or hurricanes.  Our only fear is losing power and we do have a generator and a gas fireplace. Marc is somewhere in PA tonight and I would be begging a neighbor for help!  I have flashlights ready just in case.  We have never lost power during a snowstorm and hopefully never will! 

   The kids and I filled balloons with water and food dye yesterday  and only one actually froze solid, Evan dropped one and broke it, and one is still outside to freeze.  I saw it on pinterest.  The frozen colored balls look really neat in the landscape if they aren't covered by snow!  Tomorrow we will attempt to do some valentine crafts a few weeks early.  Tomorrow I will add some pictures.