So the other night, we headed out to church for Awana which takes place in the evening. They were having a special movie night showing of the movie, "Courageous" for the grown ups, so we knew we would stay a little later than normal. There was a forecast of a "slight" possibility of snow. But we weren't worried. Normally, if there is even the slightest chance that a single flurry will hit North Carolina soil, the weather guys are going crazy. But this time, they didn't seem to think there was a huge chance of it happening, and they didn't seem crazy psycho about the chances... so we figured we'd be okay to head out.
Well, as is often the case--the weather guys were wrong. What was just a "slight" possibility of flurries, turned into a HEAVY snowfall. And by the time we got out of church, the roads were COMPLETELY covered! Gotta say, it was a little scary. Our church is out in the country. We have to take back roads, around curves and heavy woods, in order to get there. We literally sang "Over the river and through the woods" on the way home--lol! Anyway, adding to scary conditions was the fact that we saw THREE cars spin off the road. One was two cars in front of us. The other was just past a bridge/overpass. And the third was one of those huge pick up trucks that spun complete across onto the otherside of the highway (thankfully no oncoming cars)! The entire way home I made Vassil drive VERY slowly! I made him stay right inside the tracks of the cars that came before us. I kept telling him to slow down, to stop accellerating, to be careful. At one point, we literally almost missed our exit because the roads were so covered we didn't see it! It was bad. And my poor kids, I fear, were totally traumatized. Liam kept saying, "Somehow, I don't think I like snow." Poor boy! Thankfully, an HOUR later, we made it home safe and sound. And I knew the next day, the kids would have lots of fun playing in it, and would hopefully forget all about our adventure the night before.
The next morning I couldn't believe how much was already gone! But as predicted, the kids loved getting out in it. This was our first snowfall of the year... and probably our last I would guess. And honestly, I think that's how I like it. Just enough for the kids to have a little fun, and then roads melted the next day! My kind of snow!
A friend of mine posted this on Facebook one day! I had to laugh. It's funny out a few flurries sends Southerners to the store in droves--buying up all the bread, milk, water, and batteries. Seriously... the shelves here are wiped CLEAN at the mere mention of snow! Sometimes schools even CLOSE the day before at the "possibility" of snow. So funny! I thought the pic was funny, too, because I'm totally becoming a southerner... these are my exact expectations of it--not too much, not on the weekend, not on the roads... I want it to melt the next day, and I don't want to get too cold outside--ha!
This year has been a year of wacky weather--its been unseasonably warm, and most of my dafodiles bloomed mid february! Crazy!
Liam MUCH preferred the snow the next day! But wasn't a huge fan of getting cold or wet. He was the first to go inside.
I love seeing the house covered dusted in snow :)
Sissy was the first one out and the last one in. She loved it! She threw snowballs with daddy and made a tiny snowman.
Later that day, I went upstairs only to find Elizabeth sobbing. She was so upset. When I asked her what was wrong, she said she was sad because Frosty had melted. I reminded her that he would come back next year, but she sobbed even harder. I asked her, "Are you sure he's completely melted? Why don't we go check and then we can say goodbye." So we headed downstairs and peeked out onto our deck (where she'd made her little snowman) and we realized his bottom half was still there. But oh, the sobbing continued when she realized he would soon be all gone. I told her, "Why don't you rebuild him with some of the snow that's still left on the deck." She liked that idea. I went inside, and about 5 minutes later, she came up to me... just beaming with happiness, and said, "MOM! Frosty's in the freezer!"
Cracked me up!
Problem solved I guess!
He's still there! We check on him from time to time and talk to him! Funny, funny stuff!
Anyway, that was our Sunday Snow.
... ... ...
Now... flash forward one week.
This past Sunday, after church, we had yet another crazy adventure.
This time, involving fire.
After church, I told Vassil I wouldn't mind going to Walmart. Our church is a little more than halfway to Walmart, so sometimes after church, we will head that direction. We haven't been in a long time, though. I told Vassil I was craving Chinese food, and remembered there was a buffet next to the Walmart. But when we pulled up, it turned out that restaurant had closed! Bummer! We don't come to this town often, but I'd remembered someone telling me about a new buffet down the road that had just opened and was pretty nice. So we headed that way. When we pulled up we noticed it was FULL of cars, including some police cars, so we knew if local people had the place packed, it was probably good. So we decided to check it out.
About two-thirds of the way through our lunch, I noticed a faint smell of smoke. Daddy had just gotten up to take Liam to the bathroom. I looked around, but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. When he came back, I got up to get a few more things from the buffet, and noticed a lady peeking into the kitchen, saying something about a fire, but that they'd put it out. I thought, that was odd, and a little scary. But she said they'd put it out, so I went to sit back down. I noticed when she sat down she was telling everyone at her table that the manager was really laying into someone back there, and gesturing wildly...something about smoking. Hm. Strange.
Well... another 10 or 15 minutes go by. We still smell smoke, but it's not too strong... I figured it was just what was left of a little kitchen/grease fire. We are about to wrap up. They've brought us the check and our fortune cookies, when all of a sudden, we hear, "Everyone out! Everyone out!" I grab Elizabeth, Vassil grabs Liam, and we rush out of there. When we get out, we notice the roof is SMOKING! Like there are HUGE plumes of smoking billowing off the roof. We also notice two firefighters around back, already in full gear, which we thought was odd since we had just came running out of the building! We are assuming they must have called the fire department, and then waited to evacuate us until the last minute when they realized it was getting out of control! Crazy!
Anyway, not two minutes later and the roof was ABLAZE! We got in our car and pulled further back. We couldn't leave because the trucks were blocking the road. So we sat and watched. It was actually pretty fascinating. The smoke changed colors, which was kinda pretty in a way. And it was neat to watch what the fire fighters were doing. At one point a fire fighter climbed up and cut a hole on the roof (my stepdad emailed me later and said this didn't make any sense because the fire had already created a hole/vent and they should have just directed their hose/water right into it.)
Although, I think for Liam, it was pretty scary. We tried to reassure him that it was going to be okay that everyone was safe. We even said a prayer that everyone got out, and for the safety of the fire fighters. At one point, Liam said, "Dos fire fightas are heros!" Love him! We saw a couple of volunteer guys from church pull up. Later Elizabeth saw her Awana organizer, Mr. Mark, and whispered to her teacher, Ms. Jenny "Mr. Mark is a hero!" So cute!
Anyway, as soon as the road was opened up, we went to Walmart, then headed back to church--no time to go home in between. Liam asked us about FIVE BILLION TIMES, "Why did dat lady say we have to go?" We'd tell him, "Because there was a fire, and when there is a fire you have to GET OUT to be safe!" Then he'd ask it again. Over and over. Poor boy. By the time we got home after Awana, we were exhausted. We couldn't believe that had just happened! I mean, the odds of us picking that city... that restaurant! So crazy! Reminded me of the time we saw our beloved Braums (across from grandma and grandpa's house on Marigold) burn down. I remember my brother running in, "Braums is on FIRE!" We couldn't believe it! And even though in this instance we were by no means in any grave physical danger, I honestly still can't believe it happened! So thankful God was looking out for us, and we got out when we did!
Anyway, that pretty much sums up the last two weeks for us.
A little bit of Fire... a little bit of Ice!
What will next week bring, I wonder?
