deep deep deep deep snow.

The Mitten was hit by the "Arctic Vortex", which sounds made up but was totally a real thing. We got 18 inches of snow in about 36 hours, and after that temps fell to the negatives. Our daytime high temps were "feels like" negative teens, and the lowest I saw was wind chill of -30. It was crazy. The deadbolt on our door was stuck, our car was frozen dead, and we had 4 foot icicles hanging off the roof. What a fun and wild thing to witness and experience.

Before the cold came, we went out to enjoy the falling snow. It started on a Saturday night, so church was canceled the following morning. It was actually a very sweet morning. We had a little lesson and watched The Restoration, and the spirit was very strong. Then we bundled up and headed out to appreciate God's creations.

(Here you see the shoveled snow up to Q's waist.)

Quinn was done after a while, so I sacrificed and went inside the warm house with her, where she chugged hot chocolate like I've never seen. #sugaraddict. But Chris, John, and Carly were hard core. They stayed out for a long time, and made a little plump snowman. I was in charge of his face, and my pickings were scarce, so he ended up completely terrifying. But Carly, that non-judgmental sweet girl, loved him just the way he was.

The temps dropped and a frost-bite warning was issued (like, if you went to get gas, you had the chance of getting frost bite . . .) so we hunkered down inside (and even then there was only so much our heater could do; I was so cold even inside!). We pulled out all the stops.

We watched movies in a tent. Because it is more fun in a tent, obviously.

We performed Frozen over and over and over. All three of the little chicks are big fans (we've now seen it three times in the theater), and love to listen to the songs. Carly is a passionate Elsa, to say the least, and I'm always impressed by her photographic memory as she acts out "Let it Go" (I know about 97% of young moms these days are listening to the soundtrack as much as I am!) The "ice song" at the beginning is also a fan favorite. John giggles every time "Sven" sings in Reindeers are Better than People, and Q sings sweet little birdie sounds along with the music. Though, she has mastered that Arendelle is covered in "deep deep deep deep snow." (Either Quinn or I plays the role of Anna, naturally.) They are so funny to watch. And that blessed soundtrack got us through many frozen days.

(And many requests for "Elsa hair" have me honing my self-taught French braiding.)

Facebook was alive with sub-zero science experiments, and I was wishing my kids were just a bit older. We did pull off one. We soaked daddy's shirt and it took less than 4 minutes to freeze solid hanging up outside in the middle of the afternoon. Impressive.

And of course, we held a grand ball (though in interest of full disclosure, temps had warmed up to the teens by then). Quinn is such a crack up. She has long loved accessories, and when I pulled out Carly's old princess dress she jumped up and down excitedly. We also found a Super Why cape a friend made for Carly a while ago, and since Q is currently obsessed with "Why!", it completed her ensemble perfectly. Introducing Princess Super Why.

John, King of the Bubs, was also at the ball, looking dashing in his tie, sash, and sparkly gold Pocahontas sandals. Last but not least was Carly the Rainbow Queen, who would intermittently become the Ocean Queen without warning.

It was quite the occasion, to be sure, though the entertainment mostly included the Rainbow/Ocean Queen dancing ballet solos, Princess Super Why hoarding necklaces, and the King of the Bubs throwing trucks down the heater vent.

It was a sweet few days. I love my family, and being trapped in our warm home with them was so fun. For the first two days. Day three we started losing it. We tried to go to the movies, but our car was frozen. We ended up having a few time-outs (which obviously impact John greatly), and lots of longingly staring out the window. Chris had to get back to working, but couldn't get to campus, so we worked at home (so effective!) and at our little local library.

Finally, the vortex passed. School reopened, and Carly was back after a Christmas break that, thanks to weather, had been over 3 weeks. We went outside on Thursday and I thought it felt so nice. I looked at my phone: 11 degrees, people. Q and J didn't mind at all. They pulled out their chairs and enjoyed the fresh air.

And the last few days have been downright balmy. Temps in the upper 30s, low 40s even, mean a lot of melting snow. Add the heavy rainfall and we've got a LOT of water. So much so that it made its way into our basement. Luckily it wasn't too much, and has since stopped.

But today the sun was shining and the melting snow was pouring off the rooftops like rainfall, so we headed out to find some puddles. The only thing Michigan does bigger than lakes is potholes, so we found lots of deep deep deep deep puddles. 

I have to say, we've been loving this wild and wacky weather.

The Arctic Vortex of 2014 is one to remember.

So now it is time for spring, right?

~

PS. Another perspective on how much snowfall we got: poor creepy snowman was covered up to his head. It cracked me up that the snow piled itself right on top of him in a nice little cone.