Wow, it has been so many days since I last posted! I missed this past Monday - which is my typical day to update the blog with the weekly info - due to the snow/ice storm that started to make it's way through. Asher has been out of school EVERY DAY this week. Oh, and this blog layout is driving me nuts - I don't know what Blogger has changed but no matter which layout I pick it is underlining my post title and then not showing the date, instead the time - like I care about the time! Grr!
The snow actually started a little bit on Sunday, and the forecast was serious. I'm sure most of you are aware of the terrible ice/snow storms that have hit Arkansas and Kentucky so severely. Kentucky alone has over 500,000 people without power, and yes, we are one of them! Then how am I typing this, you ask? Generator power, baby! Can I just say how incredibly thankful I am that John and I did go through with the generator purchase and installation this past Nov/Dec??? We lost power Tuesday evening at 8:30 pm and are still off grid. They say maybe this weekend for our area, but it could easily be next week.
Our generator runs off propane, and we figured out that it is using @ 10% of propane per day. Southern States should be coming today or tomorrow to top off the tank for us. We are at about 45% left right now (the day before the power went out, John had checked the valve and noted it was at 70%). The entire house is functional, we just have to be careful to not use too much at once (this is like reverting to our RV days of having to figure out how to stretch 30 amps between a microwave, a/c, washer, and dryer!). For instance, if I run the dryer, I do not run the microwave. And I'm not running the dishwasher and the washer at the same time, etc, etc. Also, we switched our heat pump to Emergency Backup heat, which also pulls propane, so that it wouldn't overload the electric. Apparently using the backup heat doesn't pull near the amount of electricity that the heat pump would.
We flipped the hot tub breaker completely off, and checked it Thursday morning (after being off from Tuesday night) and it had cooled about 35 degrees, to about 65. So we kicked it on and heated it back up to about 85 and let it circulate, then flipped the breaker again. Thankfully it has a cover and is really well insulated!
The generator is NOISY! It is like a car engine running continuously. It is installed right off the back laundry room area, on the sidewalk. Here is a pic of it - note how it's exhaust has completely melted the surrounding area!
Here are a few other pics, these are from Wednesday:
The pond in our "backyard". Pretty cool pic I thought!
Ash and me all bundled up! I was actually HOT in this pic as I had been hauling water for the chickens/quail and shoveling some snow. Ash meanwhile had been rolling in the snow. LOL.
One of the birdhouses:
Snow, ice, snow! Craziness!
Tractor came in handy to help plow the drive (the scraper thingie is on the back end actually). Oh, and don't feel sorry for my pups! They have been inside 24/7 for weeks. They were only in their outdoor kennel for a little bit while I took some pictures and hauled Asher around on this sled behind the 4-wheeler. They have definitely had their turns running around playing in the snow!
John had to park the truck at the bottom of our drive on Tuesday night (Monday and Wednesday nights he stayed at the hospital since he was on call). Well, Tues night was the majority of the freezing rain. He walked down Wed morning at 6:30 am to get in the truck to go to work, and there is a huge tree limb on the truck! John said he could barely lift it to get it off the truck - it was big, awkward angle, and icy! It dented the hood, the roof, and cracked the windshield! It is still drivable thank goodness but we have already filed a claim on it and will be taking it in next week hopefully for an estimate. Things could have been a lot worse so I am not complaining!
And, Allie turned TWO yesterday! I am amazed at how quickly the time flies. It was very low key, we aren't using the big oven/range due to how much electric it pulls, so instead of cake the kids had oreo ice cream. John brought home balloons, which is the tradition for the children. Asher was so cute, he said, "Daddy, I
knew you'd bring home balloons, because that's what you always do!" I love the tradition he has created with them. It's a small thing, but it will stick with them forever. I couldn't get a clear pic of her with the balloons, she was soooo excited and just running around all over the place.
The other big thing around here is we have a new member of our family, little Ari! We adopted her on Sunday, and she is about 1 year old and very playful. After a few frustrating days she was going potty mostly in my ficus plant - she finally got the idea that the litter box is where we go (I think she didn't want to share it with our other indoor kitty!) and now is hopefully staying around! John nor I were willing to put up with a cat that wouldn't go in a litter box, that's worse than housetraining the puppies! She is such a perfect fit otherwise with the family, and I was really praying we could work through it.
She didn't want to hold still for pictures!
She is so tolerant of the children, it is really amazing. Allie absolutely adores her.
The kids have been climbing the walls all week -- Mama too! It has been hard to be cooped up - Allie hasn't been outside at all but I have taken Ash out each day except yesterday to do chores and play a bit. With about 8 inches of snow and ice I didn't want Allie to try to fight that - it's hard for grown ups to walk in! We have no electricity at the barn with the outage, so we have had to haul fresh water down every day as the birds waterers are freezing since the bases aren't heating. The chickens are boycotting laying practically - we have gone from almost 40 eggs a day to barely 20!
The Maves are coming over for a fish fry dinner here in a little while. We haven't seen them since Christmas Eve (well of course John has seen Jeff at work but otherwise...) It will be nice to see them and visit for awhile!
Ash and I have been in Lego mode all week. We sorted through all the Legos that had gotten all mixed up and separated them back into baggies for each thing to build. He does have some that are just miscellanous ones but the cool things he likes to build were about impossible as everything was jumbled together. It was frustrating at times but we made a big project out of it, sorting on the dining room table - we had paper plates and had the Legos sorted by color, and then we would get each booklet and a bowl and check off the pieces from the back of the booklet legend thing into the bowl, then ziploc them up with the booklet. Ash I think enjoyed himself, hunting for specific pieces, counting, checking, etc. Once we were completely down organizing, only then did we start building! We have played Legos every day this week and he is under strict orders to keep them in their separate baggies when he is ready to take each thing apart. I do NOT want to do all that sorting again anytime soon! LOL
It is almost the end of January, and I feel like I have honored my January word (be) pretty well. I have spent a ton of time playing with the kids. Asher and I have spent every naptime doing stuff together, whether it was building Legos, playing the Wii, or being outside in the snow. It has been a good week although it will be nice to get back into our regular routine!!
One last thing. Please say a prayer for Mrs Pauletta's family. She was one of Asher's preschool teachers and we still keep up with her as she comes out to the farm every other week to buy several dozen eggs. Her daughter just passed away from cirrhosis of the liver, leaving behind a husband and 15 year old son. They knew it was coming, she has been sick for several weeks, but I can not imagine the grief and pain of burying your child. My heart is heavy for her and I ask that you please just pray for comfort during this time. Mrs Pauletta's husband is a preacher, and I know they have a strong faith, and they'll need that faith to get them through. Thank you.
Here are a few other pics, these are from Wednesday:
The pond in our "backyard". Pretty cool pic I thought!
Ash and me all bundled up! I was actually HOT in this pic as I had been hauling water for the chickens/quail and shoveling some snow. Ash meanwhile had been rolling in the snow. LOL.
One of the birdhouses:
Snow, ice, snow! Craziness!
Tractor came in handy to help plow the drive (the scraper thingie is on the back end actually). Oh, and don't feel sorry for my pups! They have been inside 24/7 for weeks. They were only in their outdoor kennel for a little bit while I took some pictures and hauled Asher around on this sled behind the 4-wheeler. They have definitely had their turns running around playing in the snow!
John had to park the truck at the bottom of our drive on Tuesday night (Monday and Wednesday nights he stayed at the hospital since he was on call). Well, Tues night was the majority of the freezing rain. He walked down Wed morning at 6:30 am to get in the truck to go to work, and there is a huge tree limb on the truck! John said he could barely lift it to get it off the truck - it was big, awkward angle, and icy! It dented the hood, the roof, and cracked the windshield! It is still drivable thank goodness but we have already filed a claim on it and will be taking it in next week hopefully for an estimate. Things could have been a lot worse so I am not complaining!
And, Allie turned TWO yesterday! I am amazed at how quickly the time flies. It was very low key, we aren't using the big oven/range due to how much electric it pulls, so instead of cake the kids had oreo ice cream. John brought home balloons, which is the tradition for the children. Asher was so cute, he said, "Daddy, I knew you'd bring home balloons, because that's what you always do!" I love the tradition he has created with them. It's a small thing, but it will stick with them forever. I couldn't get a clear pic of her with the balloons, she was soooo excited and just running around all over the place.
The other big thing around here is we have a new member of our family, little Ari! We adopted her on Sunday, and she is about 1 year old and very playful. After a few frustrating days she was going potty mostly in my ficus plant - she finally got the idea that the litter box is where we go (I think she didn't want to share it with our other indoor kitty!) and now is hopefully staying around! John nor I were willing to put up with a cat that wouldn't go in a litter box, that's worse than housetraining the puppies! She is such a perfect fit otherwise with the family, and I was really praying we could work through it.
She didn't want to hold still for pictures!
She is so tolerant of the children, it is really amazing. Allie absolutely adores her.
The kids have been climbing the walls all week -- Mama too! It has been hard to be cooped up - Allie hasn't been outside at all but I have taken Ash out each day except yesterday to do chores and play a bit. With about 8 inches of snow and ice I didn't want Allie to try to fight that - it's hard for grown ups to walk in! We have no electricity at the barn with the outage, so we have had to haul fresh water down every day as the birds waterers are freezing since the bases aren't heating. The chickens are boycotting laying practically - we have gone from almost 40 eggs a day to barely 20!
The Maves are coming over for a fish fry dinner here in a little while. We haven't seen them since Christmas Eve (well of course John has seen Jeff at work but otherwise...) It will be nice to see them and visit for awhile!
Ash and I have been in Lego mode all week. We sorted through all the Legos that had gotten all mixed up and separated them back into baggies for each thing to build. He does have some that are just miscellanous ones but the cool things he likes to build were about impossible as everything was jumbled together. It was frustrating at times but we made a big project out of it, sorting on the dining room table - we had paper plates and had the Legos sorted by color, and then we would get each booklet and a bowl and check off the pieces from the back of the booklet legend thing into the bowl, then ziploc them up with the booklet. Ash I think enjoyed himself, hunting for specific pieces, counting, checking, etc. Once we were completely down organizing, only then did we start building! We have played Legos every day this week and he is under strict orders to keep them in their separate baggies when he is ready to take each thing apart. I do NOT want to do all that sorting again anytime soon! LOL
It is almost the end of January, and I feel like I have honored my January word (be) pretty well. I have spent a ton of time playing with the kids. Asher and I have spent every naptime doing stuff together, whether it was building Legos, playing the Wii, or being outside in the snow. It has been a good week although it will be nice to get back into our regular routine!!
One last thing. Please say a prayer for Mrs Pauletta's family. She was one of Asher's preschool teachers and we still keep up with her as she comes out to the farm every other week to buy several dozen eggs. Her daughter just passed away from cirrhosis of the liver, leaving behind a husband and 15 year old son. They knew it was coming, she has been sick for several weeks, but I can not imagine the grief and pain of burying your child. My heart is heavy for her and I ask that you please just pray for comfort during this time. Mrs Pauletta's husband is a preacher, and I know they have a strong faith, and they'll need that faith to get them through. Thank you.
