Sno-cones

We just experienced a typical Oklahoma weather event—"winter mix." This starts out as freezing rain, which usually lays down a good layer of ice on all the roads, and then turns into sleet, which in this case, put a heavy layer of ball-bearing ice pellets on top of the ice. We're on day 2 of school closings, the day when school really could've been open because the sun is shining and the roads are mostly fine, but the kids can finally play outside so everyone's happy.

Since Little Omi hasn't had a good snow experience yet, I really wanted to make snow ice cream with her. But this white stuff on the ground wasn't technically snow, and therefore would make horrible snow ice cream. As it turns out, though, the tiny pellets of ice made perfect snow cones. We poured some simple syrup and food coloring over the ice, and presto! We each had two. After all, snow cone ice doesn't fall from the sky every day.

At and coke

I finally came across the perfect fabric and ribbon to match Little Omi's coat and sewed this sweet Amy Karol bonnet, which I bought way back when. The pattern is just right—not too fancy, but with just enough little details, like the slightest of gathers on the back and the lovely ribbon, to make this a real stand-out project. I was afraid spring would come before I would get a chance to make this, but as luck would have it, the weather's been very cold the past few days so Little Omi has already had a chance to wear it out of the house.

"At" and "coke" are what Little Omi calls her hat and coat. When we are getting bundled up to leave the house, she chants "at and coke, at and coke, at and coke" until we are ready to go.

The littlest snowman

We received the tiniest of snowfalls yesterday, but it was just enough to make a very short snowman. Little Omi did not like to put her feet on the snow, so we had to clear away what little snow there was so she could stand on the grass to admire Aunt Sassy's handiwork.

Tonight we got together with our good friends B & L for some home-smoked pork ribs. Mmm! B smoked the ribs, and Aunt Sassy made mashed potatoes and cole slaw. And to top it all off, she and Little Omi baked ginger snaps, which we enjoyed with some delicious home-canned peaches from B's mom.

After dinner, B entertained us with some great guitar playing and taught me the chords to Wilco's "California Stars," one of my all-time favorite songs. Little Omi accompanied us by playing the harmonica and scratching the walls.

Ice storm update

Well, we made it through Ice Storm '07 mostly intact. We sat mesmerized at our window all day Monday watching branches fall all over our street. We were very lucky to have our electricity on throughout the whole ordeal. Over 600,000 Oklahoma households were not so lucky, and many are still without power.

The pansies and violets I bought to plant way back before I injured my knee held up remarkably well, even though they are still not in the ground:

Unfortunately, the fun ended for us on Monday evening, when we heard a crack and a bang that seemed to shake the house:

The top of a pine tree had snapped off and landed on the hood of our car. Wah! Oh, well. After some initial panic, we discovered that we do have insurance coverage for such accidents, so soon the whole thing will hopefully be a memory. We feel pretty lucky that this was the only damage we had.