Moores Go West: Day 12 (Oregon)

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Day 12 was more low key for us. We slept in, did some school work, did laundry, then took the kids sledding at Annie’s Creek. It was icy and slushy thanks to recent warm afternoons, but the kids still had a good time. We are soaking in our last 24 hours with cousins. 

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First Snow of 2016

Last week Storm Jonas turned into a blizzard and dumped a ton of snow in the northeast after hitting a good portion of the south. It seemed like it was snowing everywhere but east Tennessee, but on Friday night, as Daniel made his way home from work, the rain turned to big fat, wet snowflakes. Jack rushed out the door to greet the snow as it began to pile on our deck.

By bedtime several inches of snow had settled on the ground, creating a blanket of white that muffled the night sounds and reflected the full moon with a brightness of a flood light. 

I love the calm and quiet that the snow brings (though as someone who has lived in the south for the last two decades, I also like when the snow leaves after a few days). 

After a week of school closings and delays for the cold, it was nice to finally have a reward for being cooped up.

We had just enough snow to get the sled out and pull Jack around our neighborhood park, right across the street from our house. The little trail leading from our house to the park actually provided the perfect sledding hill for Jack (next year we will probably go to the golf course to do some real sledding).

This was Isaac's first snow and we were scrambling to find warm enough clothes for him. A size 2 rain jacket worked as a windbreaker over a fleece body suit. I'm sure he was annoyed by all of the layers, but he seemed fascinated by the cold white stuff.

We let him ride with Jack on the sled (until Jack complained that he was too heavy). I think Isaac would have stayed out longer, but by the time he was up from his nap and ready to join big brother, Jack was getting cold.

The weather has been fairly mild this winter and we were caught off guard – Jack's hiking boots were too small, his rain boots had holes in them, and we didn't have any wind resistant pants. We had enough layers to keep him warm for about an hour, and then we stripped him down and sat him by the fire to sip hot chocolate to warm back up (to help keep his feet dry, we put his feet in plastic grocery bags before putting on his holey rain boots).

We awoke on Sunday morning to sub freezing temps and snow had not yet melted. My weather app said the temperature would be in the 40s by noon and Jack was up early and ready for church with 30 minutes to spare, so Daniel took him sledding one last time before we headed off the mountain.

I hope it snows again this winter (previous big snows have been in February), but if it doesn't snow again this year, I'm glad Jack got one last sledding session in.

It's kind of hard to believe this is our third winter on Signal Mountain. We are looking forward to many more snow days (though if I'm being honest, I'm glad it only lasts for a few days).

A Look Back at Our Snow Days:
2013  |  2014  |  2015 

Big Snow, 2015

We finally got a good snow this year – about 8" to be exact. The good thing about living where we live is that the snow is pretty, we can enjoy for a day or two, and then it disappears. I'm pretty sure the weather reports are calling for temps in the mid 50s next week.

The bad part about living where we live is that the roads don't always get treated in time. We live on top of a mountain and there are 3 main roads that access the top. Two of which regularly get shut down. 

Last night, Daniel left work in an effort to get home before dark, but he got caught on the main road at the front of the mountain. There was an accident at the top and what normally is a 6-10 minute drive up ended up taking 30+minutes. 

Thankfully he was in the first group of people trying to get up because we read reports that people were stuck for more than 3 hours and many eventually had to abandon their cars and walk up.

I'm not going to lie, I have been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions this week and the whole idea that all 3 roads on and off the mountain were closed made me a bit nervous. Daniel said that if we had to, he would get us off the mountain. Hopefully this is the end of our winter weather for the year.

After supper, we made our traditional snow cream. Daniel grew up making snow cream and we have done our best to make it when we get a good snow. It's a nice tradition that I am glad we can share with Jack. What kid doesn't like the sugary goodness of a sweet treat that you can only have when it snows? This is Jack's second time to have it.

This morning we woke up and had about 8" of fluffy snow on the ground. I made chocolate chip banana muffins while my guys slept in. After breakfast, we headed out to have some fun in the snow.

On Signal Mountain, where we live, it is a tradition to head out to the golf course for sledding. We did this last year, but this year didn't feel like making the effort. I have no doubt that we have many years ahead to make it over to sled on the golf course.

This year we enjoyed pulling Jack around our neighborhood on a sled, then we had a snowball fight, made snow angels and built a snowman at the park across the street from our house.

Not a bad way to spend a morning together.

Jack demonstrates walking up climbing up our front steps.

Jack and Daniel have a snowball fight.

Building his first snowman. Jack was very concerned that we didn't have a carrot.

Making snow angels.

Snow/Ice Days

We, along with a good portion of the south, got a dose of frigid weather last week and snow again today. As a reminder not to complain too much, I only have to look as far as Facebook and my relatives in Canada who have had -40º Celsius temps! 

 2/18/15

It's hard to complain about temps in the teens when I know people who are dealing with much, much colder temps. And while Niagara Falls has not completely frozen over, I have seen photo evidence from extended family of the partially frozen falls.

In our little corner of the south, schools were closed all of last week, but thankfully the Y was still open and we were able to go to town several times to expend some energy. 

   2/21/15

While it was chilly, we didn't get much snow. Friday night we finally got a couple of inches, but by morning it was covered in a layer of ice. That didn't stop Daniel from taking Jack out on the sled. 

Then this morning we woke up to about an inch on the ground with more expected tomorrow. Compared to other places, it isn't much but in the south it keeps us inside. We have baked and made forts and watched countless movies.

On Saturday, the road in front of our house was a sheet of ice, but actually quite good for pulling a Jack around on the sled (last February we had a snow of 8 inches and it was fun to out on the golf course to sled). 

Daniel and Jack stayed outside until the snow turned to sleet/rain. After taking some photos of them, I took my pregnant self inside and enjoyed our warm fireplace.

2/24/15

I am so grateful that we have a wood stove. It has made a huge difference in keeping our house warm during these cold weeks. It looks like this will be another cold week, but hopefully winter is wrapping up and we will see warmer temperatures soon.

Snow Days with a side of Hives

On Tuesday evening Jack started to develop hives. He his now on the mend (thanks to a prescription for oral steroids and Zyrtec). It turns out that he didn't have an allergic reaction to amoxicillin like we originally thought, not in the normal sense anyway. Today we discovered that his reaction was actually what is called a serum sickness like reaction that presents similar to an allergic reaction. His version of this reaction was very mild (just hives, itching and swelling in his wrists).

Thank you for the thoughts, prayers and suggestions on how to help with the itching. He had several miserable days but is as happy as a camper right now.

Coinciding with his hives was a winter storm. Wednesday it started snowing in the morning. I called our pediatrician and was initially told to use Benadryl to help with the hives. They also told me they were closing at noon that day due to the weather.

Thank goodness there was snow on the ground. It was a great distraction to go outside and play in the cold white stuff. I'm pretty sure the cold helped keep the itching at bay.

Wednesday night I stayed up late and held Jack until he passed out. In the middle of the night Daniel got texts from a co-worker working the night shift saying the roads were bad. 

The next morning we decided Daniel should stay home to help me with Jack. It didn't hurt that there was tons of snow on the ground (8 inches!) and we could have some fun together as a family!

After breakfast, we all bundled up and headed down to the golf course to go sledding. On Signal Mountain, the golf course is the place to be for fun, safe sledding with an abundance of hills! 

We love that this is a community-like event and even dogs can go!

It was even better that the cottage we are staying at backs up to the golf course.

We took a little jaunt through the woods and were at the golf course in no time.

 

We had so much fun spending this time together.

After sledding we went back to the house and made snow cream.  

Daniel and I made this a few years ago when we had a good snow in Alabama,

but it tasted even better when we got to share it with our toddler.

Jack loved it.

After snow cream we had lunch and tried to keep Jack occupied with games on our cell phones so he wouldn't scratch.

I was getting concerned that the hives were increasing so I called our Pediatrician again. After texting some photos to Jack's doctor, she called in the steroid prescription and since Jack started that medicine he has been 100 times better.

We went into today so our doctor could see him in person. That is when we learned about the serum sickness like reaction. Anyways, I'm just glad that Jack is on the mend. It's unlikely that he will have this reaction to anything else and Amoxicillin is officially on the NO list for Jack.

I hope you had fun enjoying the snow (if you got it in your neck of the woods)! Otherwise, have a Happy Valentines Day and a wonderful weekend.