The Snowtorious B.I.G.

NBC came up with that one! Let's just say this was one H E double hockey sticks (as Jeff and I have to say in front of the kids) of a storm! The weatherman said the December storm (right before Christmas we got a little under 2 feet) was a storm that only happened once every decade or so. So, I told Cecelia in December that the next time we'd have this much snow she'd be in high school. Last Thursday when we were gearing up for this monster she said "Mom, do I have to go to high school now?"

Having Caroline with a bad cold/cough and Colin just getting the cold we were really afraid of losing power. Jeff shoveled three times during the storm (I shoveled maybe 1/8th of the snow and Jeff did the rest) and made sure we had a way "out." My parents house was the place to go if we lost power. We had a flashlight by the bed, firewood ready to put in the fireplace, and figured out a way to get all the kids in the Jeep (our other car wouldn't stand a chance) which usually doesn't have three carseats in it. LUCKILY that didn't happen. We had no desire to venture out yesterday, but I did make it to the mall on Friday (twice! once for pictures w/the kids and then shopping) and made it home just when the roads started to get slick (I slid into the driveway). Also, both Jeff and I went out separately today in the Jeep to see what the roads were like and to make a trip to our local grocery store. I think we can both say that the four wheel drive Jeep was our best purchase -- it's now weathered three MAJOR storms (Feb 2003, Dec 2009 and Feb 2010) not to mention a bunch of other storms.

So, the only casualty we had was a very large Leland Cyprus (honestly it was due to be topped anyways -- but now it's just down). The picture with the Cyprus standing up was taken at 6pm. We saw that it was down an hour later. Jeff then went out with a piece of wood and rope to prevent it from hitting the house. He then topped it this afternoon and will cut up the rest with a chainsaw in the coming weeks (when the snow melts).

Before

After

Well -- that's it from the Meunier house! Oh, wait! Another exciting thing happened here! My mom stopped by on Thursday to help out (Jeff had to stay late for a class he's taking) and we went out to dinner. When we got back I said "OK -- time to take a bath" and Caroline makes a b-line for our guest bathroom where we have a little potty for her (that she NEVER uses). She says potty and sits down. She then USES the potty!! In the words of my Grandma Stepniak, "I was shocked!". OK -- she hasn't done it since, but it was a huge moment! And she's only 2!