I can hardly believe we're in the midst of another ice storm; however, this year we have electricity--a huge improvement! I've been in denial that we could really have a replay of the 2007 ice storm. I figured there were not enough trees left to do the same type of damage. After five days of no electricity and using up our last battery-operated light in 2007 the boys and I packed up and headed to my Mom's in Granite City, Illinois. The power was out this morning for about an hour and a half, and as soon as it went out the boys said, "Let's go to Granite City!" The coolest thing is that we heard the boom of the power lines going off and on, so we looked out the window and all the electric power lines glowed green just before the power went off. Awesome!

I love trees, so I hate the horrible sound of ice-laden limbs finally breaking under their weight; cracking and shattering to the ground. I cringe everytime I hear one falling. We lost all of our large front yard trees in a tornado in 2003, so don't have big limbs to cause damage to our home, but we do have two large, sad looking trees in the back that have survived the tornado and 2007 ice storm. I hate to see them being damaged any further.

Here's a picture of a small limb my husband brought in this evening.

Unfortunately for homeschooled kids, a "snow day" doesn't really mean anything other than plenty of time to do your work! We had to miss piano lessons, Scouts, and drama today, plus a dress rehearsal for the Youthfest Talent Show my oldest is in tomorrow. You'd think we would have had lots of extra time to sit around sipping hot chocolate and reading a classic book--the quintessential homeschool day. Why that never seems to happen, I don' t know. We did manage to make a few Valentine's Cards for grandparents; something we wouldn't have had time to do otherwise. And we did finish all our school work for the day. I was also able to begin preparations for my oldest's next 12 week term.

The lights are flickering, so I better get this posted!