Lights out!

In my last post I mentioned that photo was going to give you a clue about this post. Here is a bit of a refresher...

 JT and Lindsay sledding down the hill- notice the partial tree that has fallen down on the right?

Closer shot of when Courtney and Sophia headed down. Here you can see some lines that were down. Neighbors said they were downed cable and telephone wires. 

Well, something must have happened with that tree area or brought down some additional wire, because just as I was preparing dinner for our hungry crew, the power went out! We could see red flashing lights near the area where the tree was down. A quick look on our subdivision facebook page- love my iphone and not needing wifi- discovered there were 1 or 2 blown transformers and downed power line where that tree had fallen. We all prepared for a nice long wait- major ice storm  is going to result in many customers with power loss.

Thankfully, our stove top is gas powered, so after slightly modifying dinner plans, I was able to serve a wonderfully warm meal.

While I have several Yankee Candles, we wanted some brighter light. Our tapered candles were lacking holders, so John improvised. An empty almond canister and Diet Coke can made for the perfect pairing. In fact, when I posted this photo to Facebook and Instagram, that's what several people commented about- ha ha .

After dinner, we moved on to playing 20 questions. JT did a great job playing for his first time and he even had us guessing his clue item one round.

Courtney and Sophia thinking of their questions.

Then we moved on to one of our latest games- Apples to Apples, Disney version. 

Thanks to Mom and Aunt Cathy, we get to enjoy a new version of one of our family favorites!

One of my hands. I love seeing how JT interprets his cards. He relies on the photos, but he has his own reasoning for choosing it that is different than the description usually.

When it was apparent that we needed to camp out, I pulled down just about every blanket and comforter in the house. Courtney and Sophia hunkered down on the couch together.

The living room because our communal bedroom for the night. The soft glow of several candles and our gas fireplace looked beautiful. We were more than thankful for the warmth the fireplace gave the area. I read many of our neighbors weren't quite as lucky and their room temps they shared were easily 10 degrees colder than what we had.

I spent much of the night like a Mom to a newborn- checking the kids, covering them back up, adding layers when the temperature felt to be dropping, and checking our electric service outage update page. Our home is located in the red box. Thankfully, come early morning, our power was restored. It's currently Wednesday night and ever since the storm started, we have had outages every single day this week. Our first was the longest, but we are praying that today will mark the last of the outages. 

Ice Sledding

While we were home bound (actually we still are) from the ice/snow storm that hit us yesterday, we managed to have some fun- sledding! We bundled everyone up, gathered our sleds and tubes, and headed out!

 Lindsay, JT, Courtney and her 2 friends from club ball, Emma and Sophia.

 We all waked up to the top of the hill where there were several groups from the neighborhood sledding already.

 The 3 amigos did the first run.

 Hilarious how all 3 turned the same direction! Most of what you see on the street is about a 2-3 inch layer of ice covered by a thin layer of snow.

 Lindsay and JT using the double tube.

 Heading toward the curb. 

Thank you kind neighbor for the extra push!

 *Note that fallen tree on the right side of the photo- that was a large piece of what I will be blogging about tomorrow.

 People would line up at the top of the hill and wait their turn to go next. Spotters would be mid way (where I took the pic) and toward the bottom to warn for any crazy people driving or to warn for any of the sledders coming down.

 Courtney and Sophia heading down.

 Lindsay and JT loving this fun afternoon.

 My two #1 men!

 These little sleds proved very successful on the driveways and slopped yards. 

 Helping JT to aim him sled.

 Go JT!!!

Wipe out!

When we were ready for some dinner and warm hands, we headed back up to our beautiful Oak that stands proud in our front yard.

JT getting his 1st sled action.

The moisture in the air made for a bit of blur,but check out Lindsay and JT on the double tube!

Ice Storm 2015

We had been expecting the largest snow storm Middle Tennessee had seen in probably 10 years. It's been almost 5 since we've had any measurable snowfall over an inch. Everyone in our area awaited in eager anticipation to wake up to a winter wonderland this morning. The forecast had said anywhere between 3-10 inches. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. Instead, our day was greeted with nasty sleet and freezing rain-lots of it.

John's usual Monday morning flight out for work was cancelled and the kids were already off school for Presidents Day. Courtney had some friends from volleyball spend the night, so they were ready to hit the slopes to sled.

 Bundled up and ready to look for the perfect spot for icy sledding.

They found a nearby neighbors yard with with the perfect sloped hill.

Emma and Sophia ready to go!

A video of Courtney and Sophia catching some speed.

 Everything encapsulated in ice looks beautiful. These were taken around mid-day. It's continued to rain/sleet/ and lightly snow most of the day.

 Our plant life is taking a beating with the weight of the ice.

 A burst of warm color among the frigid landscape.

 Our backyard. The beech trees have lost several small branches from the weight of the ice.

 Our evergreens are looking to be the most at risk so far. Praying they survive the storm.

Despite the threat of breaking branches and storm,we have managed to have our power on the entire day. It's going to be a very long week of record breaking cold temps, even colder than today. I'll post an update to let you see how everything held up.

Valentine's Day Cards

Love is in the air today at the Apedaile6 house. We have been spending some time together and getting ready to play some family games. I wanted to squeeze this post in before the day ended though.

JT had his first Valentine's Day celebration at his school on Friday. He did some heart activities and passed out his cards. For some reason, his school only allows 2 parties per year and those are used for Halloween and Christmas. No clue why, but that's how it's done at his school. 

Last weekend we went to the store to pick out what cards JT wanted to hand out to his classmates.

There were probably at least 50 different options and it took quite a while for JT to narrow it down to a smaller group. 

JT trying to make his final choice. He had so many on the floor that an employee asked if we needed help- ha ha.

JT ended up choosing one card for the boys and one for the girls. The girls choice for JT was easy- "Frozen! All the girls sing the songs from the movie every day, Mommy."

 JT was read with his list and ready to address his cards.

 Love these puffed up cheeks as he's focusing.

 Obligatory smile for Mom.

The boys cards came with Angry Birds pencils. Getting a new pencil has been a new treat for JT recently. He gets very excited to get a new pencil.

 This is the look a 5 year old give when asking for a simple photo of your Valentine's Day bag from school. It was the end of a long day and JT was playing hard at his after school program. Posing for photos wasn't what he had in mind.

 Or the 5 year old can give you the most insincere smile. It looks pretty painful to me.

 All of the cards!

 There were some cute items in his bag.

 I mustache you a question....

 Will you be my Valentine?

JT brought home this cute worksheet he completed in class.