Snow!

Last week the kids had Monday and Tuesday off of school (Teacher Inservice and Veteran's Day).  On Thursday, it started snowing as the kids were leaving for school.

It continued to snow throughout the day, and by the end of the day we had quite a bit of snow.  The kids all went to bed that night, convinced they would be getting a snow day off of school the next day.  Sure enough, the next morning, we woke to discover that the snow had continued to fall throughout the night, and school was canceled.  That meant the kids had only gone to school two days that week.  I could get used to that.

 

We all got bundled up to go outside and play in the snow. 

 

I got bundled up to go out and shovel the driveway before Scott had to leave for work.  I had shoveled it once the day before, and Savannah had shoveled it again that evening, but with all the new snowfall through the night, the driveway was buried.  I wanted to clear a path for Scott's truck to pull out, so I was shoveling faster than I should have and trying to lift more snow in my shovel than I should have.  All of a sudden, I heard a "pop" in my lower back, and I instantly couldn't move.  I sent  a kid in to get Scott.  He came out and helped me into the house, and that was the end of my snow fun for that day.  I hurt my back worse than I ever have.  I was in so much pain I couldn't move at all without crying.  Scott had to go to a meeting downtown, so he had to leave.  I had Sara bring Kate in, so I wouldn't have to worry about her outside.  Within about 10 minutes, Owen opened the door to yell, "I have to go pee".  I literally crawled to meet him at the bathroom, and winced in pain as I helped him get out of his snow clothes.  

Because I was hurt, my sweet boy Josh decided that he would shovel the driveway for me.  He worked for hours to clear it.  The rest of the kids got cold and came in after not too long, but Josh stayed outside and kept working.

Taking a lunch break, and eating a hot cup of noodles.

Savannah stayed outside to play with a neighbor.  They both were happy when I sent hot chocolate out to them.

 

That afternoon, my neighbor Anne invited Josh and Savannah to go sledding with her and her kids.  It looks like they had a blast!

I really appreciated Anne taking my kids out for me, since I wasn't able to move.  Sweet Sara spent the afternoon helping out with Kate, so I could rest on the couch.  She didn't complain once about it being unfair that she had to stay home and work, while the older two got to go have fun.  She knew I needed help, and she did it happily.  I really appreciated Sara.

That evening when Scott came home from work, I was in pretty bad shape.  He convinced me I needed to go to a chiropractor.  We looked up a place that was open till 7 and accepted walk ins.  He loaded me carefully in his truck, and we braved the storm to go try and get me some help.  When we pulled into the parking lot of the chiropractor, the office was dark.  It had a sign on the door saying they had closed early for the storm.  So we drove back home.  I went to bed early that night and when I woke the next morning, I was doing a lot better, but still couldn't move much without sharp shooting pain.  So Scott and I loaded back up and went back to the chiropractor.  This time they were open, and getting an adjustment helped so so much.  The rest of the day I was able to move with minimal pain.  I'm still not 100% better, but compared to that first day, I'm good.  My biggest worry was about being better enough to lift Kate once Scott left again for Alaska yesterday morning, and thankfully I am.