Still storming

This spring storm has really shut our city down. There have been power outages lasting for days, property damage, schools have been closed, trees have fallen over (onto houses, sidewalks and streets), tree branches have frozen and snapped off, tons of black ice is on the roads and sidewalks, police sirens have been the background noise most nights. It is storm chaos. This spring storm reminds me more of a winter storm. The city asked the residents to not clean up after the storm - worried about people becoming injured by falling branches.

The storm has taught me again how to be a South Dakotan.  Not because I had to use a hammer to chip the ice casing off which was encapsulating my car.  Not because I had to push my front door open against six inches of snow - in the month of April!  Not because of the ice covering my driveway and walkway my poor man has slipped on multiple times, or that the tree branches that have fallen or frozen to the ground!  But because of the sense of community and hospitality.  Friends, neighbors and strangers welcome those without power into their homes.  One set of neighbors came to our house to let us know our ducks got away, due to a tree branch breaking down the duck fence.  They actually sat with them to make sure they would not get far.

And of course everyone has a positive view on things.  One friend said well at least those spots in the yard with too much shade this year will have better grass coverage, another is relieved that although a tree branch fell on my home no one got hurt.  I could tell both friends felt the pain of watching their trees go as deeply as my man and I feel watching ours go.  A lot of us lost sleep listening for another snapping branch.  My man and I have been keeping positive as possible, though we admit that losing the tree that would have held the tree house this year was very sad to see.  My favorite tree is holding up as proudly as possible.  We still have the tire swing branch!  Yeah!

Needless to say this storm has made life interesting in my household. All the kids have been home since Wednesday this week.  We got a five day mini 'vacation'.  This means impromptu crafts, baking, movies and projects to keep the peace.  For the most part I have been shocked how well the week has gone... since I did not have time to prepare.

Ramona made special clothes pin clips to make butterfly snack bags for her class next week. This is something I have seen on Facebook and she apparently wants to try it out.  Beezus wants to get her autobiography project done for school, which gives her an excuse to harass me to let her on the computer. I had the girls clean their room and they actually did! Plus we finished Voyager up. Beezus was in tears, because she was sad for the series to end.  We hit an open house play date hosted by a good friend of ours.  What a great idea and way to get out of the house and see other friends for a while.  My favorite part was when all the kids had broken off into tiny groups to play different board games.  We brought over the movie Madagascar 3 and the kids huddled in the movie room to watch.  back at home the girls got to play in the snow (finally there is enough to make something out of - and it is soft and fluffy).  We had them stay away from the house and the trees and they made gigantic snow balls.

Baking during the storm:

We made a new muffin recipe peanut butter and jelly muffins.  Make sure to have the jelly in them; otherwise, they come out a bit dry.  We made our old favorite red velvet cupcakes.  I tried out a new recipe from the cupcake cookbook my sister got me a year ago Artisanal Gluten-Free Cupcakes.   We made the Boston Creme Cupcakes (pg 163). This is the first time we attempted a cupcake with filling.  There were three components to the cupcake - the cupcake itself, the custard filling and the chocolate ganache icing.  Patting myself on the back for trying something complicated with three kids home!  ;-)  I brought a few to the open house play date for my friends to try - and they liked them (important sometimes to get adult approval - though kids are more painfully honest).  Beezus was quite found of the custard (she kept sneaking into the kitchen to get some when I was not looking), and my man liked the cupcakes themselves (he also kept sneaking into the kitchen and grabbing unfilled and iced cupcakes), and Ramona could have cared less for these in general (she has different tastes).  Ramona likes the Pamela Mix Chocolate Cupcakes with milk instead of water and chocolate chips.  Ah well, to each their own.  Speaking of Pamela's Products we also made Chocolate Chunk Cookies with our Pamela Mix that we get sent as subscription order from amazon.com every three months.  Bulk ordering keeps down the costs and scheduled delivery means less shopping time.  I LOVE subscription ordering!

Two days left till my girls are back in school... feeling the kids at home burn.  Here are some photos from the last couple days.


Ramona helping baking.

Beezus said that the one cupcake with sprinkles that are round instead of stars could be a 'spirit bead' or as she said 'a spirit cupcake'.  The she explained the concept of a spirit bead to me, which I have in turn looked up for you: "As they created intricate geometric patterns out of thousands of tiny beads, Native American women would intentionally string a wrong-colored bead into an otherwise perfect pattern. This was called the spirit bead. The spirit bead was placed in an otherwise flawless piece of art as an act of humility, a way of recognizing the inherent imperfection of humans. Presuming that a human could create something perfect would be an affront to the true perfection of the gods."

Red Velvet Cupcake with a ton of cream cheese frosting,
and gold stars for decoration.

Happy Weekend!
We will be cleaning up branches in the backyard!