Snow Days in January

We've had some very cold weather here this week. Monday we worked on the house and the kids played with their friends. We enjoyed a day of nice weather. The window guys were here both Tuesday and Wednesday, putting finishing touches on our new windows and trying to find out why Davis's furnace vent in his room doesn't put out heat. Our windows look great, but the furnace vent remains a mystery. Kids went to school on Tuesday and Wednesday, but the cold front came in on Wednesday with a fierce bite. I drove through pouring snow to choir rehearsal drove home white knuckled. Thursday was a snow day with only six inches of snow, but bitterly cold temps exacerbated by wind chills making it feel like ten to fifteen below. The kids were thrilled not to go to school. Michael and I were thrilled too as we've been fighting a terrible cold and this gave us the opportunity to sleep a bit more.
I did some baking-bread, peanut butter and jelly cupcakes and some reading-tore through the Bone Season. Samuel finally completed the gigantic lego set he got from Mimi for Christmas and Davis spent almost all day reading the Fablehaven series in his bed. That afternoon we had some neighborhood kids over for a movie. They watched Storks and I made cocoa and popcorn for them. It stopped snowing around 2 and I did some shoveling of snow and re-stocking of the firewood pile, but that was my only venture outside. The dogs spent all day by the fireplace. Holly cracked me up, by occasionally jumping up on the hearth to better warm herself.
Michael and I spent the better part of the afternoon painting and hanging curtains and new curtain rods on the windows. Michael patched holes and we painted two walls in the kitchen. It looks so much better! The new windows are my joy for the new year. The windows are AMAZING. They are worth going into debt for five years. They are perfect. We were not cold even though the temperature never got above 7 degrees yesterday. We were cozy. Cozy, I tell you! Michael said he even broke a sweat in the night while sleeping in our new flannel sheets. It makes such a difference in our home.
Today I assumed the kids would go back to school, but because the temps were so cold again (-3 at 7AM with wind chills much colder) the district called a 90 minute delay. When that happens, our STEM charter school does a virtual day. That meant the kids didn't have to go in at all. They did all their work on the computer at home. I helped them through it and now that the weather has warmed up into the 20's, I bundled them up like the kid in the Christmas Story and sent them out to play. The are sledding with the neighborhood kids and having a blast after being cooped up for two days.
Michael and I have a date night tonight with our friends Suzy and Jason. The kids are being babysat and we are going out for sushi and a movie. I can't wait. Woohoo snow days, and woohoo it's the weekend!
So far January is working out okay.