The Herrins from Scratch: February 2014

Today was quite a day. There wasn't one big event that made it horrible or anything, but our household was definitely off kilter. From demands, to tantrums, to overall grumpiness, it was a day that by 6 o'clock I was staring down the clock ready for the girls to go to bed. Brent had a business dinner tonight and didn't get home until well past the girls' bedtime. I guess my mom could sense my need for back-up and (thankfully) she came over to help which I was extremely grateful for. But like I said, it was one of those days that even with two people it was still a challenge. When the girls fell asleep by 7, I was relieved.

I went about my nightly chores and end of the day tasks and when I came upstairs, I found these. Two precious, little handprints on my mirror.

And then I remembered this. My preschool teacher had helped us make handprints to put with this poem when I was just a toddler and my Mom had always kept my piece of artwork it in her room.

And then I cried. Not because my day had been rough, but because these words are so true. Time moves so quickly and these little hand and fingerprints will surely fade fast. God, grant me the patience and love to remember this on the good days and bad days. Thank the good Lord for these girls and for these sweet little handprints. What a blessing it is to be a mommy.

And just like that my day that felt totally crummy turned into an instant reminder of how fortunate I am. God is good like that.

It's been a long, cold December, January, and February here in Georgia. With snowfall typically only occurring once every 3 to 4 years-- it's a well-known fact that snow shuts down the state. Often times people in other places don't get that we Southerners just don't have ANY snow resources. We usually go with the stock-up, stay-put, and shut-down until the ice and snow thaws approach. This usually takes care of most of our snow issues. BUT, the last Tuesday in January GA politicians decided not to heed the advice of the national weather center and so we all went on with our normal daily activities until around 11 o'clock when the ice and snow closed in and Ella, Ava Jane, and I along with 7 million other metro-Atlantans were stranded in the ice gridlock from h#ll.

Ella had school that morning and Ava Jane was invited for a play date and music class with her friend Emery. We had a great morning and Ava J loved music and watching the snow fall from the window. About the time music was over around 11:15, I decided just to go ahead and swing by and grab Ella and head back to our house (the girls go to a preschool in a neighboring town 8 miles from our house). I got Ella promptly at 12 and what is normally a 20 minute drive, turned into a 3 hr 45 minute drive home punctuated by lots of detours, lots of toddler screaming, and me full on panicking that I was going to be stuck in the snow, helpless with two very small children. BUT, we made it home and pretty soon after, I realized we were exceptionally lucky. Like, I shouldn't have even complained lucky. My mom's 20 minute commute turned into nearly 7 hours. Neighbors had to abandon their cars and walk for 5 miles after being in the car for 8 hours or people ended up sleeping in cars. The scary reality that many of metro-Atlantans were stranded and separated from their families for hours on end, quickly made me realize that our experience was a walk in the park.

Once we were home, we had an awesome snow-break-- full of yummy soups, hot chocolate, family dance parties, attempting to play in the snow, and a big neighborhood snow play date! It was lots of fun and we were grateful to be safe and warm together.

Less than two weeks later we got another snow storm. They named it winter storm Pax. This time the people in metro-Atlanta were all prepared, schools and work places shut down, and we all just hunkered down and enjoyed another snow day. We had a really fun last minute spaghetti dinner at our house with a couple of our next door neighbors and spent the remaining days having lots of fun with our neighbors and their children. We really do have an incredibly close neighborhood and it makes snow days or any time together special. We are really, really blessed to be surrounded by such awesome people who love and value their children and time together.

The snow has melted and it's sunny and pretty "warm" today. We've seen enough snow for 2014-- please bring on spring!!!!! We're stir crazy!!!