Icemageddon and Bridget

Here in the Dallas area, we are just starting to get out of the ice storm called "Icemageddon!"  It started raining freezing rain/sleet on Thursday, December 5 and we got several inches by Friday morning.  On top of that, the temperatures didn't go above freezing for a couple of days - so we were iced in.

My mom came over on Thursday and stayed with us during the storm.  We enjoyed having her and it was nice to all be stuck in the house together.  We did a bit of cooking over the weekend, but mostly we stayed warm under blankets.  It was heaven.

Here's our house a couple of days after the storm hit.




I thought these ice crystals were pretty.



Our street is looking more like an ice rink.



The bushes in front of our house collected lots of ice too.




And now on to Bridget.  She has grown so much.  Just to remind you of what she used to look like -



Here she is now. Bailey still likes to pick her up, which isn't easy. She's 6 months old and about 45-50 pounds now.



Bailey actually took this picture, but I love it, so I'm using it.



Here's Bridget running in our backyard.
She.  Loves.  To.  Run.


What do you do when you are tired from running? You cuddle up in a blanket made especially for you by Bailey.




And here's a good size comparison to our fireplace for you.



She is resting on her second dog bed.  Someone chewed up her first one already.



I originally told you in my first post about Bridget that she was a Newfoundland puppy.  Well, she wasn't growing as quickly as a Newfoundland should, so we had her DNA tested.  Turns out that she is mostly Lab, with parts Chow and Shetland sheepdog. 

Basically she's a mutt. 

But that's ok, we have gotten quite attached to her.



I didn't think she was really sleeping.



Here's her full body.  She often looks like a wolf to us.  Her fur is curly in areas and straight in others. 



And here's her Bridget smile. 

Tornado

I've never seen a tornado in person. Luckily, this one was not very close.



These pictures were taken tonight from our front door.






We haven't heard of any damage - and this didn't last very long.

I just feel so bad for those people in Joplin. How very scary.

Playing Catch Up

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Things have been kinda busy around here.

I'm not sure if you have heard, but we held a little game here last Sunday. So, just to catch you up on everything, here's what I've been up to.

About a week ago we went to the NFL Experience in Downtown Dallas.


Poor Rominal. He's not going to like this at all. Don't let his big grin fool you.

Actually, Rominal loves football. So he was quite pleased to be at the NFL Experience.

Our friend Steve tried on a Broncos outfit, because he's a big Broncos fan.


This ball had special meaning. It was the ball from the Cowboys versus Steelers Super Bowl game back on January 28, 1996. It was the last time that the Cowboys have been in a Super Bowl. About two weeks later, Bailey was born.

Coincidence?

Rominal thinks not.


Here's me and Bailey - I've got a goofy smile, but oh well.


A big part of the NFL Experience is where kids, and kids at heart, can try running formations or tossing the ball. Rominal had to try this out.

Here he is right before he runs his formation.


And here he is running for the ball.


We'll just assume he catches it, ok? Yeah, go with that.

Where's Rominal?


Here's me again as a Cowboy. This is way more difficult than it looks, because I'm having to stand on this statue's feet in order to be tall enough to get my head over the shoulders. I'm really hanging on as best I can.


They had a mock-up of a locker room and I got these shots of Bailey and Rominal.




And now on for the weather related events.

Last week we had some ice, and some snow. It was pretty crazy.

First on Tuesday, we got a ton of ice. Everything was shut down - I stood in the doorway long enough to take this picture and that was it. You can see that our patio and grass is coated in ice.


The ice stayed with us through the week. Then on Friday, we got snow. And a lot of snow for around here.


Here's Rominal outside in our back yard. Hey, what's he doing with that snowball?


Hey! Hey now! That is uncalled for!


Yeah, well luckily I was standing inside taking pictures and I was not touched by snow. I know you were concerned.

We thought we would let Twister get a taste of the snow.


He's not real sure what to think.


I think he's starting to realize it's nice and warm inside, and not so much outside.


Look at his little snow covered paws. So cute!


All of the school districts closed on Tuesday through Friday, so the kids all enjoyed a nice, long weekend.

One last picture - from my front porch, because I too did not step food outside of the house.


And of course, in typical Texas fashion, all of the snow has melted away and this is now just a memory. However, they are predicting snow again for Wednesday. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Hope you are warm where you are!

First snow of 2011!

We woke up this morning to rain. Lots and lots of rain.

But then around lunchtime, the rain changed to snow and it hasn't stopped snowing yet.



Of course, Bailey couldn't wait to go out in the snow to play with her friends.



The weather people are predicting that all of this wet, heavy snow will turn to ice tonight. Bailey is hoping for a snow day tomorrow.

(shhhhh, don't tell anyone, but I am too)

The bushes in our yard are coated with snow - and so pretty.


Hope you are warm where you are!

And Erin - I think your blog trick for my pictures worked! Thanks!

And now for something completely different. . .

So, I thought I would take a break from posting about our trip to London and tell you what's been going on around here.

A lot has been going on around here. The day after we got home from London, Bailey started school. High school. She is loving it.

She had homework within the first week. She had to build a model of the earth, showing the continents and layers. It was a $40 project.

Here's Bailey with her earth. A styrofoam ball covered with felt. I thought it turned out pretty good, and she ended up getting a 100 on it. I guess that $40 was well spent.



She had to label everything, and show the equator, etc.

Here's the side where she cut into the earth to show the mantle and core of the earth.

Remember a while back when we had a bad storm in our area? It was two days before we were leaving for London.

Well, everyone in our neighborhood has finally received their insurance checks and work is starting to happen. That includes us.

Labor day weekend, the fence contractor came and tore down all of the fence for us and several of our neighbors. We all worked together to get a better price.

Our yard looked huge without the fence.

It was kinda nice to have the big open space.

Here's Rominal checking things out.

Here's the back of our house. Notice that the roof still needs to be replaced.

Well, while everyone's fence was down, we got to know our neighbors behind us. We've lived here for 7 years, but because of the fence we had never really talked to them that much. We found out that we liked them a lot!

While the fence was down, Bailey took advantage of their trampoline. They also have 4 dogs. She loved playing with them too.

While the fence was down, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get rid of Bailey's old play set. She no longer uses it and it was just taking up space in our backyard.

Our neighbors behind us have an 8 year old boy, who would really love a play set.

So, all we had to do was move this thing 10 feet to the left, or right, depending on where you were standing.

Here's Steve working with Rominal to take the swing part off of the tree house part so that it could be moved easier.

And here's Rominal, working on the tree house part.

Well, as of yesterday, our fence is just about complete. It was stained yesterday and they still have to seal it. But doesn't it look great!

And did you notice - the play set is now in our neighbors yard. Yeah!

We actually liked our new neighbors so much that Lisa (my neighbor) and I asked the fence guy to put in a gate between our two yards. He should have that finished in the next day or so also.

And, look what else we got done - we got a whole new roof! It's hard to see in this picture, but it looks really good.

Everyone in our area has been getting new roofs - two went up yesterday. Hopefully this one will last.