Winter Storm II

The snow has started again and we are stuck at home. Our car is covered in snow and ice and the roads are showerd with it as well. Bill is going to attempt to put chains on the car tomorrow so we can actually get out of the house. We have been couped in the house all weekend and I think it's starting to affect me. LOL.

They are requiring chains in the Portland Metro area, so we need to put them on if we want to venture out. I just want to get to a store or something!

I talked to my parents in WA and they are feeling the brunt of this weather as well. They've closed the store early so they could get home before the roads really froze and tomorrow they may not open at all, depending on how the conditions are.

Such a crazy time. I think I knew that we would get a nasty winter just because this whole year the weather has been a bit off. Hope it won't be too long before it all melts away.

Thank goodness we got most of our Christmas shopping done. I do need to go out and get a couple of more items.

Hope everyone is staying safe this holiday season!

Christmas is coming

Well, the kids are getting excited (I should say Jae) that Christmas is fast approaching!

We went and got our holiday photo taken and Jae wore his festive construction truck sweater! Thank goodness we did because we got our cards in the mail before this winter snow storm took a turn for the worse.

Here are some pictures of the kids just having some fun.

Winter Storm 2008

Hopefully you don't mind all the text and reading..for days! LOL

Well, it seems that snow has fallen in the Portland Metro area. There have been rumblings for several days that snow would be coming, along with ice, wind, etc..but I didn't really believe it because well, our weather guys are usually wrong! So you can imagine my surprise when Bill phones me on Sunday to tell me that Portland is covered in snow and that in order to drive on I-5, snow chains are required. I was in disbelief. Let me start from the beginning...

I went to visit my parents over the weekend (with the kids - Bill stayed home) to go shopping with my mom and dad and help them get gifts for the family. It was a long weekend to say the least. We went to the mall three separate times, with two kids. I'm going to go on a tangent about the kids...

Jae...moody! This just goes to show that boys do not like shopping or anthing that is associated with it (I'm sure there were other factors in play here too)! The entire time we were out, he sat in Hannah's stroller, he kept saying how tired he was, how he couldn't walk (he was laying and crawling on the floor while at the mall), how hungry and then how full he was. While at dinner, he started stabbing his rice with a spoon and then a fork and then a last final stab of his fork before falling onto the floor and curling into a ball undearneath the table. Then he insists that he wants to sit in the highchair that Hannah is sitting in and when told no, proceeds to wail and curl into a ball underneath the highchair. He did eventually come out from under the chair and sat on my lap as he finished his rice. This guy should be an actor for how dramatic he can get and then with a snap of a finger be back to normal.

Hannah...addicted..to me. The entire weekend was "wah wah wah..mama mama...wah wah wah". Can't a girl go to the bathroom without a baby on her lap? She just was not happy with either of my parents holding her. The moment I was out of site, made for a very unhappy baby. Jae was not like this at all when he was a baby, so I'm just not used to it. Since Jae was hogging Hannah's stroller, I had to carry her around the mall, until she fell asleep, then my mom held her. And mind you, this was three separate trips.

Anyway, so on Sunday I get a phone call from Bill saying that I will need chains if I want to come home. I'm in the middle of shopping so I tell him that I would call him later to discuss. I call him back and he proceeds to tell me that the Portland Metro area is a mess and snow chains are required. I tell him that there is no way I'm staying another day at my parents (no offense to them, but I was getting a bit tired with the kids and needed a little help with Hannah and I knew she wouldn't cry with Bill around). My dad had chains for his minivan (also a honda) and so I took those.

So I tell Bill that I'm driving down and he suggests meeting me to chain up before I get home. It is agreed and we decide to meet at Jantzen Beach and he would come with Jake and Barb (since they had chains). The drive from my parents to Jantzen Beach is a breeze. There is a little snow, but nothing compared to what I am about to see in Portland. I get to Jantzen Beach and you can see the wind blowing the snow and ice on the ground. My windows were freezing on the outside and my temperature gauge says it was 25 degrees outside! We meet and it turns out the chains that my dad had were a tad too small for the wheels on our van (after Bill and Jake tried for about 30 min in the freezing cold). So Bill and Jake go and buy new chains and although they were a bit pricey, it was worth it because it only took 10 min to get both on.

By this time, there were other couples in the parking lot doing the same thing and since Bill and Jake were done with the minivan, they decided to ask one of the guys if they needed help. After about 10+ minutes and getting nowhere, the guy tells Bill and Jake they can leave and he'd take care of it. At least they offered to help. The guy had the actual chains rather than the wire ones and those seem to be a lot harder to get on.

So we are on our way home when I get a text from Barb saying that they just lost their left chain! Bill and I pull over and wait for them to pass us so we can stay behind them in case anything else happens. We follow them to an auto parts store, but of course they are sold out of chains! We tried Les Schwab and they too were sold out. So Jake and Barb went home and called around, unfortunately by then, most places were closing for the day. So Jake had to go to work this morning with one chain on his car on some icy roads. Luckily, they did find some chains today and he is going to pick them up after work. Whew, I'm glad that worked out.

Today (Monday) is still snowy, icy, and cold. Bill and I made it to work and the kids are at school. The cold weather and snow are supposed to stick around all week and into the weekend, so we'll see how the week progresses..I'm just glad to be back home.

Hope everyone in Portland is staying warm and safe. We may have a white Christmas this year if this keeps up!

Lighting of the Tree!

We got our tree today and it ended up being a 40 minute ordeal of wandering the rows and rows of trees to find that perfect tree! This is the second year that we have gone to this farm (the name is escaping me right now), but they've got quite the variety of nobles and in the greenhouse, a wall of wreaths, a train that kids can climb (great for pictures), and Jae's favorite...complimentary candy canes!

We got the kids covered and started walking toward the field of trees. Jae was picking at all the weeds and his choices for trees were about 4 feet high, not quite the 7+ footer that Bill and I were looking for. He started whining that he was getting tired and was cold and wanted to be picked up, yadda yadda. Hannah fell asleep in my arms, so I couldn't lift Jae up and I was too busy making sure she was warm enough. So Bill had to carry him around for a little bit. It wasn't as cold as last year, but still cold.

We finally found "the one"(actually, we semi setteled) and Bill proceeded to cut it down. We walked toward the road and was hoping to be picked up (they have these guys driving around who will pick you and the tree up and take it to your car), but we didn't get lucky, so Bill hauled it to our car. We walked back to our car and Jae and I went to the greenhouse to get a candy cane and look at the train.

After we had paid, we were walking back to the car when I accidentally bumped Jae and he fell down. This would have been ok had it not been for the candy cane that he was intently holding. Since he had to catch his fall, the candy cane became a victim of mommy 'pushing' him down. Jae was in a tizzy about how I had pushed him down and his candy cane was not edible and that I needed to get him a new one, wah wah wah...after about 5 minutes of this whining and blaming me for what happened, I promised him that we would go buy more. He asked if he could eat the candy cane (which was broken in three pieces) since it was still wrapped in plastic and I said yes.

So as we were driving home, I hear this chomp chomp chomp. He's totally just breaking the candy cane in his mouth and his hands are sticky, his lips are red and he seems to be happy. As promised, we go to the store to get him another candy cane. When we get home, he sits on the counch and proceeds to eat it. He takes one bite and is done. I should have known.

Bill was attempting to get the stand into the tree when his knee joint popped out...gross! So he had to adjust himself and pop it back in. Not so great being tall. But we finally finished and started decorating the tree. Jae did a great job putting the ornaments on the tree and he loves plugging in the lights. We can't wait for next year when Hannah will be able to help!

Happy holidays everyone!

Zoolights!

Zoolights is an event at the Oregon Zoo that occurs every year. It starts after Thanksgiving and continues until the New Year. The zoo gets lit up with decorations in the shape of animals and the trees, etc get covered with christmas lights. I love seeing all the lights! I'm sure there's something similar in your neck of the woods.

This is the first time that the Grunwald clan has gone to zoolights. Mainly because Jae was a little too young to really enjoy it and it's usually wet and cold during the month of December. However, we Oregonian's have been lucky with some dry weather lately, so I made Bill go (that is how he would tell the story).

We bundled up the kids, got to the zoo early and waited in line for a good 20+ minutes for the train. Both of our kids were tired and Jae was a little whiney and impatient for the train. He stole the stroller from Hannah, so I carried her the whole time. Surprisingly Hannah was pretty happy throughout the whole evening and even 'talking' with another little boy.

We finally boarded the train and we were on our way. Jae really enjoyed it. He kept looking out the window and was very focused on everything he saw. There were all kinds of animal lights and you could even see some of the real animals in the dark. I saw antelope and elephants. Hannah sat on my lap and ate puffs the whole ride.

Jae really wasn't in the mood to do anything else, so we took a couple of pictures and then headed to our car...where we proceeded to wait about 15 minutes to get out of the parking lot! You would think that after all these years that there would be someone directing the exiting traffic.

Our little crawler

Watch out..Hannah is on the move!

Over the weekend Hannah started crawling! It's so cute to see her little tongue sticking out while she's trying to get from point a to b. She seems so much happier now that she's on the move, although now Bill and I have to move things around (for safety) since everything seems to interest her! =)

I have to say that she's a pretty good listener when I tell her to leave certain items alone. She'll turn and look at me and give me a smile and start heading back to me.

I love my little Hannah bear.

Jae Quote of the Day

"Hannah likes it when I punch her in the leg."