We've been hearing and seeing all the snow storms across the country, and I guess it was now our turn to experience it! We had one other snow fall before this that took us out of school for a couple of days, but nothing like this!
This was our driveway after a few hours of our "blizzard". Randy decided to make it a two-round session because he was afraid of how bad it would get if he didn't start shoveling right away. Official snow fall for Bartlesville was 16 inches!
But the real story was the snow drifts!! It was so crazy... you could see our grass in some areas and then other spots had 4 feet of snow! Here is a picture of Randy and Addie in our front walkway, which was pretty deep. But right next to them by the front window...
It was even worse! Look how high that is!!
Here is Austin again in our front walkway. I would guess that wall is about 3 ft. Poor Randy had to get all that snow out of the walkway so people can come look at the house! (Yes, our house it still up for sale!)
This is our poor Japanese Maple just on the other side of the wall. That's all you could see of it!
Randy worked so hard two days straight! It was time to take a rest! He's icing his back! :) Notice how high the snow is!
But the kids were still smiling! This was a different kind of snow than what we were used to here in Oklahoma. Usually because of the humidity, the snow is wet and easy to pack, but this snow was dry, that's probably why it blew into such huge drifts. Speaking of drifts, it's time to go to our backyard... just outside one of our doors.
No, the door will not be opening... because the snow is right up next to it!
Here is a better view! I had to stop the kids a couple of times from opening this door... there is just something so tempting about all that snow falling into our house!
The snow started Monday night, so the kids have been out of school all week. And it was just announced that they will still be out of school tomorrow (Friday).
But my kids don't seem to mind! It's going to be hard getting back in the routine of school after this much fun!
Valentines Day started with some strawberry covered donuts! I have two kids that are morning people and two that are not... can you guess which is which? The other two were eating on the way out the door!
I was so excited because the school spread the parties out so that some were on Friday and some Monday. But since we didn't have school Friday due to the snow, they were all on the same day. Luckily they all fell at different times. Austin's was first.
They got to make a Valentine card for anyone they wanted and Austin chose his dad. It was so cute! They also let Ashton make a card of her own which she just loved. She carried that card with her all day!
The next party was with Addison's class. They did lots of fun things. They split the kids into groups and had different stations with activities to do. This one was seeing how many candy hearts you could stack. Addie chose to do a pattern.
The next game was kisses and hugs. They had to cross their arms when someone yelled "hugs" and hold their arms out if someone yelled "kisses". They were trying to trick each other and whoever messed up was out. Addie was really concentrating.
They also had a station with puzzles and another where you held your hand straight out and tried to drop hearts into a cup. Then they played a boys vs. girls relay opening up a Hershey hug with one hand and popping it into their mouth. I don't even know if I could do that!
Addie was being so sweet to Ashton, it melted my heart! After all the games they had snacks and Addie shared all of hers with Ashton.
After Addison's party we went over to Avery's party. 
Avery's class also made Valentine's Day cards and had lots of sweets to eat!
Randy sent flowers/balloons to school for the girls and Avery's arrived while Ashton and I were there. It was fun to get to see the look on her face. She was so surprised and excited as everyone asked who they were from and she proudly said her dad.
Since Valentine's Day fell on a Monday, Randy and I went out that weekend and spent Monday with the kids. We set the table all fancy with candles and the girls' flowers, had steak and potatoes and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. 
Addie wanted a picture with her flowers too! She was also very excited to get flowers at school! Happy Valentines Day to all my sweethearts!!
So last week we had our big snowstorm Monday night and were out of school the whole week. The kids went back to school Monday and Tuesday... and then it was Deja Vu all over again! This is what met us when we opened our garage door.
No one was too excited about another snowstorm so close to the first... especially Randy. It was almost up to his knee!
I did try to buy another snow shovel but everyone was sold out. Poor guy! I told him I would switch out but he's a trooper... he did the whole thing all over again.
Our official count this time was 15 inches, but it felt like so much more. 
Austin was the only one who wanted to get out and play the first day. Randy did take the kids another day sledding. They were once again out of school for the remainder of the week. Believe it or not, but they did pretty good! We never really got cabin fever. 
This is usually what parking lots look like, not driveways! 
The Thursday of this week, we had record breaking lows of -28 degrees! We were colder than Alaska, Germany, all over the place. I believe we were mentioned on the national news stations because it was so cold. But one week later...
We had record-breaking highs! I believe we hit 74 degrees! That's right... if you don't like the weather in Oklahoma just wait a minute. It will change! This time Randy finished the sidewalks in shorts!
Oh yes... that snow is coming right at me! My husband is such the jokester! Got to always watch out for him! :)
This past summer and again this winter, Avery has played on a Bartlesville soccer team formed during the off seasons to stay in shape and continue developing their soccer skills. Winter was, of course, played indoors!
This was Avery's first time to play indoor soccer and she picked it up really well! It is a lot different than regular soccer! I personally have enjoyed Avery meeting some great girls and getting to play with them as normally they are all on different teams. The Blast finished a great season, and this weekend participated in a soccer tournament. 
Their schedule was pretty crazy. This particular morning they had a 7:30am game in Tulsa, so we had to wake up at 5:30am. After their game (which they won), we headed over to IHOP.
Our family decided to make a weekend out of the tournament, so we stayed in Tulsa for the weekend. This is Ashton and I in our hotel lobby. In between games, we shopped, went to the movies, ate, and took naps at the hotel!
But when we were at the games, we were Avery's biggest fans!!
Avery's team did so great! They won all 3 round-robin games, with two shut-outs!
This year Austin's grade (2nd grade) was in charge of the Martin Luther King assembly. They did a great job and sang lots of songs. We had been out of school two days that week but all the kids remembered their songs and to wear their Ranch Heights Wrangler t-shirts! Here is Austin with one of his close friends, Michael.
Ashton and I sat on the bleachers to watch, and Avery's class came and sat right by us! Avery was line leader so she was right on the side. Ashton went and sat with her to watch Austin perform. The kids don't start performing or coming to these assemblies until they are in 1st grade, so Addie wasn't here.