No Snow....

I was praising God at 4:30 a.m. I got up, took a shower and was so happy to see.....yes, you know...NO SNOW!! It was raining, but that's just fine. Now, my kids along with a lot of others were very disappointed. They were counting on a snow day. But Praise the Lord, no snow and by lunch it was beautiful outside. Some of the mountains had snow on them, which is absolutely beautiful to look at. As long as I don't have to be physically in the snow.

The weather people were so sure of the snow and freezing rain coming at us here in Rockingham County. I'm sure God laughed at them and said "No snow for ya'll" (I like to pretend God has a Southern accent, like me). When my 15 year old son was in John Wayland Elementary School, the weather was calling on this bad snow storm and possible blizzard. And if you looked on the radar it showed bad weather was coming. So Rockingham County School's called off school for the next day. Keep in mind when they did this there was no inclement weather happening. It was just cloudy and cold. So they called off school, of course the kids were happy. The next morning everyone wakes up ready to go play out in the blizzard like weather. Guess what? There was absolutely no snow, no rain, no sleet and no freezing rain. In fact that day ended up being the warmest day in about 2 weeks. It was an absolute gorgeous day.

Well people really had a lot to say to and about the school board for that mess up. Up to this day I find it very funny and I've told my kids that story several times, but I can assure you they have not made that mistake since.

Too Cold For Me

Well, Virginia...particularly Rockingham County, Virginia...your prayers were answered. We got rain. Actually, we're getting a lot of rain. Maybe snow tomorrow. I love weather in our area, because it's usually pretty mild. If we get snow, it doesn't amount to anything. If we get rain, well sometimes it floods. But it's been too cold. It's been a hard rain all day. And cold. I hate cold weather.

Our snow works like this; it snows one day and either that evening or the next day, it melts. That's how I like it. And usually this only happens twice per cold season. Once it hits the West Virginia mountains, the strength of the snow dies down. And we get the "leftovers".

Now ice is a whole other story. We get some bad ice storms. My kids always say we get it worse because we live high on a hill and we're closer to God in Heaven. So the ice doesn't have far to go. I know...my kids are too cute. LOL.

Anyway, I'm not complaining about the rain. I've been praying for rain. You don't pray for something, expect it to happen and than say "hey I really didn't mean that". God hears and if it's in His will, it will happen.
Every ounce of my body aches in cold weather. I'm only 28 and holding, LOL, so I'm not so old. But the cold weather makes me feel very very old.

A family at our church is from Montana and they have been praying for alot of snow. But one of their boys wants to move to Hawaii (they're a Military family, God Bless them)). I hope they're not holding their breath for alot of snow. Now if you look through history, you can see Virginia has had their fair share of big snows. But not lately. My daughter saw a snow mobile on t.v. she got excited and of course wanted us to buy one. We laughed and told her, we dont need one here.

Well, enjoy or tollerate the weather. Stay safe and warm. Remember in this area, 1/2" of snow hits the ground, people loose all their senses and forget how to drive.

Baking Home Made Bread

Today, my friend Sally from church taught me how to make home made bread. Mmmmm, it was so delicious and easy to make. But I had a wonderful day of fellowship with her. My daughter had fun playing with her kids and reading to them. Sally's a wonderful and patient teacher. I went to Wal Mart and got more baking supplies so my daughter and I can make more bread tomorrow.

Sally is an extraordinary cook/baker/chef and I just wanted to thank her for taking out time in her busy day to teach me how to make bread. It really means alot to me! Thank you Sally!!

It's All In The Name

So here in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia everyone's related to everyone. When dealing with out of town friends, I often hear the comment "Gosh you're related to everyone." And quite frankly, I am...we are. It doesn't matter how close of a cousin you are, we're all family. Plus everyone in my family believed in big families. So it kind of expanded from there.

Here is some but not limited to some of my family names. And these are ones based in Virginia. I have a lot of family all over the U.S. If you have any of these names, let me know.

Rhodes...Showalter...Burkholder...Smith...Joseph...Huffman...
Shipe...Arey....Reese...Liskey...Piner...Gaines...
Gladwell...Rexrode...McDorman...Dove...Turner...

If you want to know my out of state family, let me know. I'll be glad to share.

Milestone In Our Home

Well, we come close to having a milestone in our home. Our son will be 15 1/2 years old on December 14Th, 2008. That officially means he is able to get his learners license. So God willing on December 15Th, 2008 we will drive out to the DMV in Harrisonburg and take this big step. He's excited, I'm...well, I'm a Mom. LOL, what can I say? He's really been driving around our property, on the farm and other places since he was 10 years old. So he's actually a pretty good driver. And while I'm driving we go through various instructions, tips, etc. I'm confident he'll be a great driver. I'm just a worried Momma and this means my "baby" (who is almost 6 feet tall) is getting older.