Phew! Now That Was Some Crazy Driving!!!

Saturday afternoon Hannah and I headed to visit friends who live about and hour from us.  There were flurries in the air at home and nothing was really forecasted but whoooeee….what blew in was freaky and BEAUTIFUL!! I think this may have been the worst storm I’ve ever driven in although I will say due to the slow speed we were driving and it being daytime I never felt in danger or frightened.  We just took our time and enjoyed the beauty of the snow and laughed a lot!  For about 30 mins of our drive we were moving between 8 and 12 kms/hour (6-10 mph) according to the GPS!

This is what we were seeing as we drove along.  Beyond beautiful!  Along this stretch of highway there are tall buildings lining each side of the highway but we couldn’t see them even though there were only about 200’ away!  Only the GPS gave me any idea of where we were.

I called the friend we were going to visit to tell her we’d be delayed (normally about a 15 min drive from where we were at the time) and can you believe it wasn’t snowing a flake there?!!  This was a weird snow band being brought in over a lake so one moment you’re in the sun and the next moment you’re in the midst of a blizzard!

It was one of those storms when I had to do the ‘Wiper Snap.’  I’m guessing most Canadians have experienced that little dance at least once or twice during their driving years.  The Wiper Snap is when you reach out while the wipers are going and try to grab hold of one when you can reach it and quickly lift it away from the window, allowing it to snap back onto the window to break off the accumulated snow and ice.  It was a must as this was what our window looked like and there was no way I was stopping! 

Our car was quickly becoming covered in snow so Hannah and I played with the snow in the car. 

We drove out of the storm as quickly as we drove into it and it was clear sailing after that.  Our normal 60 min drive took about 2 3/4 hours but we arrived having had a fun time together and with stories to share!  Our car in turn arrived with a coat of ice and snow, telling it’s own tale of our blizzard adventure!

Thank you Lord for keeping us safe during this crazy drive!

Snow Much Fun!

Often the weather forecasters call for snow storms that don’t materialize into much.  Today that was NOT the case!  Wheee…we had so much fun!  24 hours of beautiful weather – as long as we didn’t need to drive in it!  Driving was not fun!

We woke up to about 4” so I headed outside and shovelled the driveway.  We left less than an hour later and as the garage door went up I realized I’d need to shovel again before we could leave.  Hannah was sitting in the car and I suddenly heard her call out, ‘Way to go Mommy!’  I tell you!  That’s the BEST feeling!  When I was all done she hopped out of the car and ran to me.  She said, ‘Mommy, you did great!’ and gave me a high 5!  She melts me!  I love her amazing personality!

It was touch and go for about an hour about whether I would go to work or not but I decided to give it a try and play it by ear depending on how the roads were.  The main roads were slippery although not too bad but as we neared Ange’s place there was a smallish hill to go up.  Because it’s a side street it had not yet been ploughed.  I began to skid, slide and the car almost ground to a halt.  It took about 5 mins of going back and forth to go the remaining 100’ to Ange’s place.  I dropped Hannah off and headed to work.  All the way there I went back and forth about continuing on or going back to get my girl to spend a day snuggled in at home.  Knowing I could leave at any time and clock the remainder as a vacation day I went on to work.  About 25% of the staff made it in and many chose to telework which is something I am not a participant in.  After today I might need to reconsider that!

Lunchtime arrived and my friend Pat and I decided to go for a walk in the gorgeous snow and pick up some lunch.  Isn’t this amazing?

Two crazy gals out for a snowy little stroll.

We had such fun walking in the snow!

I went back to work and then just before 2:00 was told I could leave.  Yay!  As I neared my car I was really glad I was being sent home early.  It was easy to see that just getting my car onto the road was going to be a challenge!

What’s difficult to see in this picture is that the snow bank created by the snow ploughs was about 3’ wide!  Yikes! 

Thankfully the owner of our lot was there and used his pick-up truck to plough through.  I still ended up getting stuck but he and another guy helped me out.  So thankful!  About 10 mins of rocking the car back and forth, shovelling and them pushing finally had me on my way to my baby girl!

Ange’s street was now impassable so I parked at the end of it and walked up to pick up Hannah and took the opportunity on my way to stop and help push someone else who was stuck.  Once I got to her we had fun walking back to our car and then heading home to shovel our driveway one final time.  We were originally going to have a Chinese New Year’s party at Ange’s tonight but postponed that due to the storm.

When I arrived home it was easy to see that I had quite the job in front of me.  Hannah helped for a bit but then decided a snack and Mickey Mouse were calling her inside.  I appreciate what she did though before she went in…I think!  Just like last year she had more fun shovelling snow onto the driveway than off of it.  (I’d forgotten about the video posted in the link above and oh how it made me giggle!  I love how this blog offers me to opportunity to record things I’d otherwise forget!)  One of these years I’ll teach her the proper way to shovel but for now she provides wonderful moments of entertainment!  Thankfully the young guy next door came out to help and we had it cleared in about 20 mins.  I love how a snow storm brings out the good in so many people! 

One final pic.  24 hours earlier there was no snow on my front lawn.  Check it out now!

I’ll end this post as I did last year’s. 

We’re ready for spring!!!

Finally…SNOW!

We’ve had an unusually mild winter this year and while I’m not complaining, it sure was fun to wake up to a fresh cover of snow this morning and it continued throughout most of the day.  Yay!!  Hannah offered to help me shovel and what fun we had!!  I love spending time with my sweetie and it’s such a treat when activities that used to be a chore are now filled with laughter, giggles and fun!  We attempted to make a snowman but he somehow he was demolished.  Hmmm….wonder how that happened?  

Precious moments

‘Helping’ Mommy Shovel?!

We haven’t had much snow this winter (yay!) but when we received some beautiful, light, fluffy snow last Saturday Hannah was excited to help me shovel!

Many hands make light work, right?  Well….not sure that was the case this time but we sure had some laughs and giggles during the process!

My angel’s snow angel

Hannah only lasted about 5 minutes before she opted to go inside and watch Mickey Mouse but considering all of her shovelling ‘help’ ended up in snow piled inside the garage I think her decision was a win-win situation for both of us!

I think maybe she remembers this episode from last winter and her shovelling into the garage was retaliation for Mommy’s bad aim!

OK, we’ve had snow, made an angel, gone sledding and shovelled the driveway.  Yup….we’re ready for spring!

Fun Times with Ava

Over the past couple of weeks Hannah has had fun doing some special things with her friend Ava!

On Jan 12th we took the girls to see the Disney Princess’ show and they had a blast!  Even though neither girl had seen any of the stories portrayed, just being there, seeing the Princesses plus their pals Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy was all these girls needed!

A wonderful Disney fix before our next trip.

Next was a quick snowy play date last Saturday.  I’m glad we took advantage of this time as the rain Monday washed all the snow away. 

Monday night we celebrated CNY with Liz and Ava in their home.  What fun we had and it was decorated wonderfully!

Chop stick fun!

Eating long noodles is a CNY tradition.  This year Hannah enjoyed plain noodles with butter until we can see an allergist and rule out a peanut allergy.  She was just as happy with those noodles so that worked out just fine for her!

Our cute, giggly girls checking out the dragons.

Kung Hay Fat Choy!  Happy Year of the Dragon!

Hannah Skating ~ To Say I Was Shocked is a Huge Understatement!

If you had ever asked me if a 22 month old could ‘skate’ I probably would have laughed at you.  22 months?  Are you kidding?

Well, my thoughts about that all changed on Saturday.  Our friends Liz and Ava have a skating rink in their back yard and they invited Hannah and I over to skate.  The weather was amazing as it wasn’t too cold and it was snowing the huge, fluffy snowflakes that accumulated faster than Liz could clear the ice.  In the brief 15 mins we were on the rink, Liz shovelled no less than 3 times!!  BEAUTIFUL!!!

I wasn’t sure if Hannah would like skating so I took a pic inside just to ensure I ended up with at least 1 pic of her with her little skates on.  Someday when she’s in the Olympics we’ll want this pic. 

When we went out and I placed her on the ice she surprised me by thoroughly enjoying herself.  (I’m not a fan of skating so am thankful we had an opportunity to go out.)

Even when she fell she had a smile on her sweet little face!

One of Hannah’s first attempts to skate on her own.

Skate assist? Who needs one? Not me!

Check out the beautiful snow falling!! I love, love, love this kind of light, fluffy snow!

Hannah’s own style of getting around the ice and then voila – up she goes all on her own!

Those mitts were cramping my style!

It was a fun afternoon with our friends.  Next week we’re going out for a CNY dinner together which promises to be another great time.

I love how Hannah is broadening my experiences and also teaching me that I was waaaay off in what I believed toddlers could do.  I’ve never given them the credit they’re due.  She’s a smart cookie and will keep Mommy on her toes for years to come!!

Making it Snow!!

It was another c-o-l-d day here.  Early this morning I watched an interesting video on the news about a gal who ‘made it snow.’  On the way home from church I suddenly wondered if it might be cold enough here today to do the same thing so decided to give it a try.

Here are the results!  COOL!!

The temp was –18oC/-0.4oF today and with the wind chill it was –26oC/-14.8oF.

Not sure what the technical term is for what was happening….I’ll just call it SNOW!

Helping Mama ‘Shuble’

Last night when Hannah and I were out doing a little shopping we found a child sized ‘shuble’ for her.  What fun it was to wake this morning to see the ground covered with freshly fallen snow!  Before getting dressed or eating breakfast Hannah hopped into her snowsuit and out we went!  It was the first time she and I had played in the snow together and oh what fun we had!

Hannah and I haven’t mastered the art of keeping her thumbs in the thumbs of the mitts so holding her shuble was a bit of a challenge.

She tried to push it for a little while and then decided that the method of cleaning the snow off the driveway that worked best for her was to scoop it up by the handful and put it in the shuble.  So cute!

I thought it would be cute to shovel snow and then toss it onto her boots.  It was all great in theory until I attempted to hold the camera in my right hand while unsuccessfully tossing snow with my left.  A ‘Mother of the Year’ moment this is not.  It’s a good thing my adorable little sweetie is patient with her Mama!

Let it snow!  Let it snow!  Let it snow!