More photos of the snow...(are u tired yet?!) :P

This is my hubby's car, parked outside. You can see the initial snow accumulated on the 20th, then the layer of ice on 21st, then the new snow accumulated on the 22nd --- kinda like a hamburger! :P

The kids are sitting on the snow, about 1 ft off the ground!!!

The Juniper planted along our neighbor's sidewalk creates a shield from the snow to form a cave!
I can just imagine a bunny hopping in there. :)

Close up of the Juniper

Lucas shoveled the snow and said this is a waterfall! :)

Trying to build a fort with the recycling bin...I tell ya, it's A LOT of work!

Icicles forming on the gutters

This is a shot from the room window out onto the roof...that is how much snow has accumulated from a top view

Finally...

Nope, the snow didn't melt...but FINALLY the snow reach 12" or more! Just wanted to proof MY prediction right! :P Anyway, when we stepped out today, it almost reach my knees. I'm not a tall person, just 5'2 - hence almost to my knees. Here are some pictures for comparison between yesterday's post and today's...

Sunday's snow accumulation

Monday's snow accumulation

Sunday's snow accumulation

Monday's snow accumulation

Thankful

Despite the cabin fever (and the whining) I am experiencing, I want to say that I am very thankful...
I am thankful for...

• The heater that is running to keep us warm after a fun time playing out in the snow.
• The electricity that lights up when it gets dark, and when I need to cook and bake.
• The food that we have to keep our tummy filled.
• The water that is running instead of freezing up for us to clean and drink.
• Haggens (grocery store) to be a short walking distance from our house.
• The people who WORK in Haggens to get to work, so WE could get what we need.
• The $1 movie rental in Haggens to keep us entertained when needed.
  
• And for my husband to be safely home everyday of the week that he has driven to work in this condition.

I will pray for those:

• whose house have lost power, some, has no power for 48 hours now... that the electricity would be restore SOON.
• Those who HAVE no choice but still HAVE to go to work, to get home safely.
• The firefighters, paramedics, and police officers who rush out to help those in need of their service, stay safe themselves.

Still SNOWING....!!!

Ok, we woke up and there wasn't a foot of snow...maybe some where between 7-10 inches...depending on where u measure. This time, we didn't waste time..had breakfast, blow up the snow tube, and went outside. On top of all those snow is about 1/2 inch of ICE. As u step, the ice cracked and your foot will be buried in the snow. How fun is that?! The kids enjoyed stepping on them, and trying to pick up the BIGGEST piece of ICE and smash it! But if you get hit with one of the ice, it WOULD be PAINFUL! By the way, as I am typing this at 3:40pm, it's snowing AGAIN heavily outside! It is forecast to have another 1-2 inches of snow....and later, turn into ice as the temperature drops. Sigh....Can't wait for our regular winter weather! :P

Birdy's foot prints

Frozen spider's web dangling from the play structure

Frozen Japanese Maple

The ice crushed upon stepping on.


Lucas holding "his ice"

Yesmin found a piece of ice shaped like a heart! :)

Sledding down in the snow tube...not a good idea to use a inflatable one when there's ice...

Few rounds later, I think we punctured it. I didn't have a choice...the store ran out of the plastic ones :(

Daddy doing all the hard work

About 1/2 inch of ice

The street along our house

A neighbor's dog LOVED biting the ice pieces from the kids

Frozen berry

Another Round of ARTIC BLAST!!

It's been a crazy week. We rarely have accumulations through out the winter season...even if we do, they are usually gone in one to two days. Since last Sunday's snow, we were fortunate to get 2-3 days of break, at least in Beaverton. I got to go out and get more groceries, and on another day, our elderly neighbor came over to babysit the kids while I went out to get their Christmas gifts.

So, with the 2-3 days of break, we were crossing our fingers (and toes) that maybe we'll be lucky enough that the snow showers they had forecast, would blow some where else....so that we could go out. Nd (Lee) wanted to get a Wii game that Yesmin will enjoy more, as a Christmas present, get snow chains for both of our cars, and maybe head out to one of our favorite restaurant Sweet Tomatoes for their yummy soups.

However, when we woke up, all the side walks and drive way that I had shoveled yesterday are covered with SNOW! What a waste of my energy! :( This means...we ARE STUCK at home once again! ;P Unlike Sunday's snow which was big and fluffy, today's snow are small and packed. By late afternoon, it didn't look like the snow was going anywhere but here to stay. Strong winds blew + the snow....it's just amazing. I can't help but kept looking out our window, especially when the wind blew the snow off the roof...they reminds me of sprinklings of powdered sugar when I bake, and sprinklings of glitter when I scrapbook! :) I believe we could easily have one foot of snow by tomorrow, if it continues on snowing like that. I'll try to take a measurement tomorrow morning, and will add the photo on to here :)

As of 4 something p.m., it was close to 6 inches

Lucas trying to "sweep" the snow!

Yesmin trying to make a "snow sculpture"

Yesmin's snow Angle

The strong wind blowing the snow...don't they look like some shooting stars here??

Stucked with 58 pieces of Profiteroles!

Yesterday was supposed to be Yesmin's Chinese class. They were supposed to have finals and a pot luck after that. I volunteer to bring dessert, isn't that surprising?! :P Anyway, due to the severe weather, not only was the class canceled, the finals is postpone till after New Year! Gosh, that means whatever I have reviewed with her, we have continue to do so until NEXT YEAR!! Yiikkeess....

Anyway, as I have mentioned, I volunteered to bring dessert, and had decided to make Profiteroles (cream puffs). (recipe from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook) I have made the pastry cream on Saturday night, one and a half batch of it! If I don't use it soon, it will all go to waste. So, I HAD to make the choux pastry. When I finish making 'em, I had 58 of them! I can't wait till Tuesday to pass some to Smartie Pants as I have told her to stop by on Monday for some dessert (school is closed today, and as of now, the residential roads are still kinda slippery). So, I divided among our neighbors, and handed out 38 of them to 6 of the neighbors I'm closest to and save the rest for ourselves. Sorry Smartie Pants, I promise to make it up next time :P The kids, young and the OLDER one, loved 'em...especially the CHOCOLATE SAUCE! ;)

p/s if you're interested in the recipe, send me a message...I dunno if it'd be against the law to publish HER recipe here! :P

Is it really that sinful??!!

Oops, someone took a bite! Not me...couldn't be, then who?

Hey, I can use the chocolate sauce to do some drawing too!

Licking till the last drop

SNOW!!!

The forecast came through!!! I can't believe it! If you live in Oregon, you'll know that the job of a weather guy/gal is not as easy. I remember in the past, there were a few occasions where they forecast snow fall on the lower elevation, but did not happened, and on some days that there weren't supposed to snow, it snowed! :P

Pacific Northwest is not like the mid-west or the East coast, where every winter, there SURE to be snow. So, when we have snow, and especially like the one we have today which is the "Arctic Blast", it's A BIG DEAL! ;) All day long, that's all they/we talk about in the news.

Driving is another problem here. When there's accumulations, all schools, government offices, and some businesses have to shut down due to the road condition. Since we only get snow a couple of days each year, we have very few deicer trucks out there, we depend more on sand and gravel for the roads...which doesn't help as much (I think, I might be wrong). I remember when I was living in Chicago, we had snow measured in feet, and yet, everything was still up and running, cos' it was expected! :) So, there's a difference...and we can't blame Oregonians for shutting down with just inches of snow!

Anyway, it is all fun for all of us...especially since Yesmin's Chinese class was canceled! :P Plus, there's NO SCHOOL OR WORK tomorrow as the temperature is gonna drop even more tonight! Wooohooo! :)

This is just the beginning

Spidy's web got snowed too!

This is MY snowball!

After an hour of rolling...

Lucas giving his snowball a ride in his tractor!

Front of our house

Our first outdoor decoration with Mr. Snowman