We don't get a whole lot of snow here in Arkansas so when they forecast lots of ice and snow (even if they forecast a flurry), everyone in town runs to the store to stock up on the standard milk, bread, and of course toilet paper. I shake my head every time. People stock up like they are heading into the end times. I knew school would be out the next day so I planned ahead bringing scissors and lots of wool home to do some cutting. The snow and ice came and it was the perfect day to stay at home as a family and enjoy being lazy. That was until shortly before 5pm Friday night. The power went off and I knew it wasn't a good sign. I had flash backs to earlier in the year when we were without power for a couple of days due to ice. I first went and took a bunch of heavy quilts and covered Caleb's nameless angel fish couple to hold the heat in the water as long as possible. Then we prepared for the worst and James headed out to gather plenty of wood. No chain saw. He had forgotten he let his brother borrow it and it had not been returned. So, he gathered whatever lumber he could (and whatever he could break to fit into the fireplace). We had just enough to last through that night. We all slept around the fire. The kids loved it.... thought it was the biggest adventure ever. James was up probably 10 times taking care of the fire (since we didn't have anything big to burn, it was constant to keep the fire up) I didn't sleep at all thanks to snoring people and afraid I would fall asleep and the fire would go out. By 7am the temperature in the house was down to 57 which was pretty good considering it was below 20 out there. We were totally out of wood so we loaded up in the car and hit the roads despite the ice. Since snow and ice are kind of a rarity here, most of the roads had not been cleared at all. We ended up at the shop and just kind of sat there since we were cold and tired. I was able to check the progress of our power online which was kind of cool. I could see the power would come on, then go off, come on, then go off. I could see how many other houses around us were out. Very frustrating yet entertaining. Power was restored after lunch and we were all SO thankful for having electricity and heat. We all settled in and finished watching "Inn of the Sixth Happiness" which we were in the middle of when we lost power. Sunday we all went out and played in the snow. It was great to laugh and have so much fun. I took my pet rooster George and set him in the snow. Needless to say he was NOT a happy bird with his first snow experience. We had about 6 inches on the ground and he had been staying under our shed away from all of it. He walked a few steps with exaggerated high stepping and stopped at my feet, looked up at me, and refused to move another step until I picked him up and put him back :)
