One Year Later

It was one year ago today that we were traveling back from a wonderful Christmas trip to visit our family when we were involved in a 9 car, 4 truck pile up near Evanston, Wyoming. Initially, we came upon an accident involving 1 SUV & 1 semi that blocked the whole road. We pulled over and Rich went to help the family in the SUV. As you can see from the pictures, their car was pretty creamed. It turned out they had been hit by 2 semis. We had no problem stopping when we came upon the accident because we were going pretty slow - it had been snowing. The cars coming behind us, however, were not being quite so conservative. They could not stop and we ended up being rear-ended twice. The second time we were hit, Rich was outside the car getting blankets for the people trapped in the SUV and he had to dive under another semi to avoid being hit.

After we were hit the second time I was feeling like a sitting duck and so we grabbed the kids and got out of the car. We went to the side of the road where a bunch of hunters and truckers were standing. Those guys were awesome! They scooped up our kids and put all of us into he back of the cab of one of the trucks. A driver named Jim let us huddle there for 5 hours while we waited to the police to do the report and a wrecker to take our car. Luckily we were only about 85 miles from Salt Lake, so Rich's family were able to pick us up the next day when the roads were clear.

I am always humbled when I think about the many people who helped us, whether or not they even knew us. Our family, of course was awesome - Rich's mom & brother came and got us and my sister was able to get us a reservation at a hotel in Evanston even as we sat in the back of that truck waiting for the police to finish. That reservation was key - they ended up closing I-80, so there were a lot of travelers stranded. Our awesome friends in Atlanta gave us additional frequent flier miles so we could fly our family home from Salt Lake. And a trucker named Jim who let us stay warm and dry in the back of his cab for so long. He drives for Jim Palmer so if you see one of those trucks in your travels, let it remind you that there are good guys out there.

Most of all, I am so grateful that we were okay. All we had were a couple of sore necks and the inconvenience of not having our car for a while. One look at that picture of the SUV puts it all into perspective. So today is a day to hug the kids and feel blessed because we were so blessed! Happy New Year everyone!

Gingerbread House

A few years we had an awesome time making gingerbread houses with a couple of of friends in Atlanta. We did the whole nine yards: made the gingerbread, cut the pattern, etc. There was a lot of work before we ever got to decorate it, but it was so fun. We made two houses - Rich made one & I made the other(the kids assisted on both). It got a little competitive (shocking, I know), especially after Rich STOLE all of the remaining icing to make snow around his house when I still needed some for decorating. Anyway, we gave one of the houses away as a gift and we kept the other one. When we got home from delivering the one we gave away, we discovered that the dog ate the remaining one. So much for our hard work, but it was still fun!

This year, we went the easy route: I bought a kit at Target and last night we put it together. It was way faster, but still fun. The whole event was much less competitive (the kids did the decorating) and, almost 24 hours later. the dog has not eaten it yet.

Christmas Vacation

Friday was supposed to be the kids' last day before Christmas Vacation, but we ended up with a foot of snow and a snow day. I had a surprise planned for the kids to kick off vacation: I reserved a night at Key Lime Cove, an indoor water park less than 2 miles from here. The whole indoor water park is a midwestern thing I had never even heard of until we moved here. Anyway, it makes sense since the winters here are so long. Key Lime Cove is less than a year old, and the terrible economy seems to be taking its toll because they had a pretty incredible deal. We paid about a third of what they normally charge for the room plus water park passes. So the kids spend the first half of the day playing in the snow and the second half (plus Saturday) playing at the water park.

I was glad we did it because the weather really went downhill after Saturday. We woke up Sunday to a -8 air temperature with a -34 windchill. It was the coldest day I have ever experienced. I am already planning Spring Break in Sunny Florida!

Wreaths Across America

Last year, we took the kids up to the World War II Memorial in Racine, Wisconsin for a wreath laying ceremony connected with the Wreaths Across America program. If you have not heard of Wreaths Across America, please visit their website at www.wreaths-across-america.org to learn more. In a nutshell, the goal is someday to decorate the grave of every veteran with a wreath (as appropriate). For now, there are many sites where all the graves are decorated (hey Georgians, check out the one in Canton!) and even more where there is a wreath laying ceremony for the whole cemetery. That is what they had in Racine last year - a simple ceremony that was over in about 20 minutes. Other than the ROTC people, we were the only ones who went. This year, there are a couple of ceremonies in our area, so I don't know which one will will attend, but we will go to one.

This year all of the ceremonies are taking pace on December 13 at 12:00 pm Eastern Time. I know December is a busy month, but please consider taking your family to one of these ceremonies. You won't regret it .

Snow!

We finally got our first real snow today (about 4 inches or so). The kids were so excited. I was too- I love snow in December. Of course, my attitude changes by the time it is March. But for now I will just enjoy it. We got our Christmas lights up on Saturday, so we are set.

After so many years of living in Atlanta, every time it snows up here I get the same shocked feeling when I see that we are expected to go on with our lives as if nothing is going on. Shouldn't we be huddled up in our homes with all the bread and milk we could clear from the store shelves, waiting for the snow to melt? No, people go to work, kids go to school and things are not cancelled. It still feels very odd to me. I am not planning on going anywhere today. I am just going to enjoy looking out the window.

By the way, the best purchase we have made since moving here was the snow thrower. Love it! Love it even more when Rich is the one operating it.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving, although the girls were disappointed that we did not have any snow like we did last year (it looks like we are to get that snow today, though). Our friend Kristen came up to visit from Atlanta. It was so good to see her! Kristen clerked with Rich at PoGo when they were second year law students, so we have known her for a long time. We miss our friends in Atlanta so much!

I made the Martha Stewart Turkey 101 again this year and it came our AWESOME. It was great day with yummy food and friends! Hope yours was just as great.

Super-Couponing!

About a month and a half ago, I was reading the little local paper we get here and there was an article about this pair of Chicagoland moms who were saving a ton of money by "super couponing". We have all heard of these types ofwomen - $200 worth of groceries for $5, right? According to the article, they were teaching classes about their technique. Curious, I went to their web site and discovered that there was a class scheduled for our local library, so I signed up & went. It was very interesting.

To make a long story short, my shopping has totally changed. This is NOT your mother's couponing. It involves using different web sites to monitor the 12 week sales cycles and then using coupons to save money while stocking up on products at their rock-bottom lowest prices. I have been doing it now for 4 weeks and the above receipts shows my greatest success so far. The store was having a promotion that gave you $15 dollars to use the next time you shop if you bought $30 worth of certain items. The items you had to buy were on sale and were things like laundry detergent, cake mixes, cereals, etc. (things I could stock up on). Well, the finally tally was that I bought $77 worth of groceries and after my coupons and vouchers from a previous trip, the amount I had to pay was $39 PLUS I got $30 back to use on my next trip. That means I got $77 worth of groceries for $9! Woo-hoo! And yes, it was all stuff that we use. I have a new hobby!

Violin Recital

ME played in her third violin recital on Saturday. She played beautifully and we were very proud of her. She has even inspired MC to go and start lessons. We are becoming pretty musical for a family with a tone-deaf mom! :)

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween. Most importantly, it was about 68 degrees outside. It felt like an Atlanta Halloween- no coats! H was a 1950s girl, complete with poodle skirt made by me (with quite a bit of long distance consulting - thanks, Jan!) ME was corpse bride, MC was a witch & S was a firefighter. It was so cute because his little buddy next door was a Dalmatian so they made a great team. We love our neighbors and our neighborhood and Halloween is one of the funnest times to live here.

What a Difference a Month (or so ) Makes

Okay, so it has been a little while.. I clearly need to get into the swing of this blogging stuff. So here is a summary of the last month:

The girls started school (6th, 3rd & 1st grades). Yes, you read that right: 6th grade! How did that happen? I am beginning the Middle School nightmare and so far it is just as promised.

S. turned 4. Yes, 4. I am not sure how that happend either because I just had him.

S. sarted the 4 yeard old class at preschool.

We went camping twice. The second time was not so fun. I am sure that I have fulfilled my camping quota for the next 12 months.

Rich had a birthday & was FINALLY (after much paper work and running around) sworn into the Illinois Bar. He did not have to retake the exam, but boy he had to earn his admission!

I will try my best to be a little more timely with our comings and goings, but here are some pictures from the past month:

Happy Harvest?

I had this great idea about how the kiddos would so enjoy planting a garden this summer and watching it grow and produce for us. So I went ahead and made a raised bed and planted a small garden with tomatoes, peppers and strawberries. Apparently our garden was not especially exciting, even as it grew and I reported its progress through the summer. In fact, this is the first interest I have seen in it. M & M were excited to go pick some ripe tomatoes and even a ("a", as in the number one - the one the bunnies missed) strawberry. Of course none of the kids will eat the tomatoes, but that just means more for me, right?

Our Trip to Yellowstone

To celebrate Grandpa's 80th birthday, we attended the Green Family Reunion near Yellowstone Park. We had a blast spending time with family and seeing the beautiful country out there. The kids got to have some great cousin time. On the way home we stopped at Devil's Tower (no aliens were there) and Mt. Rushmore. We got home yesterday and now I am digging out from Mt. Laundry!

Night at the Thomsons

We finally made it to Utah and of course had to spend as much time as possible with the Thomsons because they miss us so badly that they are losing their minds. Everyone had a great time.