Snow All Winter

Sure, there are other places around the country that have more snow than Leavenworth County, Kansas ... but we actually HAVE snow on the ground and have had snow for much of the winter, something that doesn't normally happen round these parts. In fact, there's something about it that makes it feel more like the winters that Paige & Cody grew up in out West. Tyson (Ty) took the above picture. He's developing into a great little winter photographer. This upcoming weekend though he gets to go camping in it.

New addition to Cody's collection of Top-10 lists

Since Cody has a fascination with "lists" of most any kind, Saturday was a perfect opportunity for Paige to provide him with a Top-10 "late night" style list. I don't know that he was thrilled to be adding it to his collection of lists, but it's still great for a laugh.

Top ten things learned by having a flooded
laundry room/kitchen/basement:

(sorry, no pictures, unless Cody took some that I don't know about)

10-) I assume the washer/dryer must be "grounded" somewhere because no one got buzzed... (or worse...)

9-) Half of my kitchen floor no longer needs to be mopped!

8-) 40 gallons of water is MUCH more than it looks like when it's inside the washing machine.

7-) The "Cold" cycle has more benefits than those listed on the laundry soap bottle/box.

6-) A hamster can roll an exercise ball at least 5 - 8 feet through 1 inch of water (cold, not hot) with out drowning. (Neither did the dog who was closely following the hamster in the ball through the water...)

5-) Cats can't (or won't) walk on water, and though a wet towel offered a bridge to dry land, Tommy still sent plenty of water flying, flipping his paws with every little step. (I probably shouldn't have laughed.

4-) Wet/dry vacuums only suck up water when the hose isn't clogged.

3-) Clearly, the law of gravity is still fully functioning, evidenced by all the water that moved from the upstairs to the basement.

2-) I realize now that turning the basement into a swimming poor really isn't as good of an idea as it might sound, not that the idea was being entertained mind you. That said, the basement floor is the cleanest it has ever been since the house was built.

1-) Always change the water filter on the fridge before cleaning up the flood water from the floor. I'm still not sure exactly what happened, but after I replaced the filter for the fridge I tested the water, only it wouldn't turn back off... so, more water on the floor...

Maybe I should have left the water on the floor, bought some goldfish, and told everyone that the latest trends in interior design are "flooded-floor" ponds...

Do you think anyone would believe me?

Coming up next week: Top-10 reasons why sucking lint from the clogged "past due for a cleaning-my clothes are taking two hours to dry" dryer vent with the same wet/dry vac used to clean up the flood water is a bad idea...

Stuck on His Birthday

Any and all youth in the Edwards house have reached teenage status. Ty's birthday (yes, we're officially going by "Ty" now) was last week. What's the most exciting thing about being 13, according to Tyson ... er Ty ...? Being able to have a Facebook account! Hooray! He invited a few friends over to play some video games. The evening would have been uneventful had the Mitchell's made it out of our driveway on the first try. Instead, we spent almost two (2) hours in sub zero temperatures working to "unstuck" them and keep them from driving into the ditch. Ah ... memories! Ty loved all the excitement and activity surrounding his birthday. We've escaped the frigid -15° temperatures that kept us huddled around the fire, but now we can't see the end of the driveway due to dense fog. It is pretty though - as seen in this picture taken by Ty himself.

Cold Enough for a Snuggie

Now this feels like winter! Kansas City had the 3rd snowiest month of December including a doozy of a storm that dropped 12" over Christmas. Since then we've had snow on the ground every day! Why? Because it's been ridiculously cold with temperatures struggling to make it out of the single digits. And more cold air is on the way. Church has been canceled each of the past couple of Sundays and there are days we struggle to make it out of our driveway. The fireplace in the living room acts as an animal magnet drawing the cats, the dog and the two-legged creatures to its warm flames. Other rooms in the house aren't as warm, thus the need to pile on the blankets to watch a Kansas City Chiefs football game. With no arms in the blanket to use the remote control, a Snuggie seems to be in order.

This Christmas Blows

This Christmas blows ... I mean blew. For starters, Kansas City got it's first Christmas snowstorm in 50 years and not only did it drop about a foot of snow, but the wind blew and blew some more. Blizzard warnings were posted and there was no traveling on Christmas Eve. No traditional looking at Christmas lights and our friends had to cancel dinner with us. But what a cozy night at home instead. On another note, we made a shift in Christmas gift giving this year - all gifts had to be homemade. Fortunately for Tyson, he has a birthday in a couple of weeks that he was able to rely on for the good gifts ... or at least that was his mind set to begin with. Then the other day he was quoted as saying, "I thought that this homemade gift giving thing was going to be really lame ... you know, cutting out paper stuff and then wrapping it. Then I learned you could buy the stuff you needed to make things and I'm excited to give my gifts!" That's the Christmas spirit! When all was said and done, one of his favorite presents was his marshmallow guns made from PVC pipe. A day later and a bag of miniature marshmallows have been blown from one end of the house to the other. Kallie (the dog) has cleaned most of them up. Yes, Christmas blew this year, but in a great way. It was the best Christmas that any of us could recall.

No Mouse in the House

His tenure in our home was short, but Mousey died this morning from toxic fumes. It's presumed that those fumes were from his cedar chips and not Tyson's room where Mousey spent his two weeks with us. Mousey was delivered to Tyson by the neighbors cat, an early Christmas present if you will. He was quickly welcomed into the home, especially by his new siblings (the cats and the dog). Kallie took a special liking to Mousey and would follow him around wherever the pink ball would go. Should Mousey stop rolling, Kallie would provide an encouraging nudge to propel him on his way. Kallie would scratch at our door at night and we would get up to let her out - but it wasn't to go outside and do business - no, it was a bee-line for Tyson's door. Mousey did escape once ... but was found a day later behind the printer. But this time there's no coming back. But perhaps the neighbor's cat will bring forth another present in the days to come.

Swimming in Leavenworth

Thank goodness for indoor pools! Our temperatures may have plummeted like the rest of the country, but Tyson is still taking to the pool every week up in Leavenworth (and no, not at the prison). At his mother's insistence, he will continue to do so until he's able to pass off his Boy Scout swimming requirements as well. Take for instance the time that Tyson was convinced that he would drown in the deep end when asked to swim a full lap. He argued with Nate, his instructor, but to no avail. That's when Paige threatened, "Tyson! I will come in there if I have to!" Do you think he believed her? After all, she didn't have her swimming suit with her. Didn't matter. She jumped in, fully clothed and Tyson DID swim the lap he was asked to. We're now "that much closer" to him passing off his swimming requirements. As a precautionary note, Paige brings her swimming suit with her each week.