Baby its cold outside

I again wasn't tired last night and there is nothing good on Sunday nights. The cold woke me up around 3:30AM and I went up to bed. It was bitter cold today - for those not around here we were under 0 with the windchill. Ellie was up first and then Nick and I decided we should get out of bed. Layers, layers and more layers - that was the theme of today. I made pancakes and sausages for the kids - it was too cold to think about cold cereal for breakfast. We got Ellie really bundled for her wait at the bus stop - snow pants, parka, boots, scarf, gloves, hat and I sent her out late so she wouldn't be out there too long.
The unfortunate thing about being a procrastinator is that today was property tax deadline day and I don't believe in pre-paying the county any money so I needed to go out today. I warmed the car up for a good 15 minutes and made Nick into Randy from Christmas Story and we braved the cold. The nice thing was the sunshine was fully out today but it really made little difference in the whipping wind. We took the ultimate lazy route and went to the drive up bank lane so we didn't have to get out of the car - taxes paid. I didn't think ahead in all my online ordering for teacher gifts for Ellie and Nick - I took care of Rob's co-workers but forgot teachers. For Nick I wanted to get the high school girls a little something too - so we headed to Bath & Body Works to pick up a bunch of the $1.00 lotions and hey they have all the wrapping stuff there so it was one stop shopping. We got there about 30 minutes before they opened so we went to Walmart - it was just a couple stores down and that is when we noticed it was really cold out.
We took our time walking through Walmart - I was able to pick up all the makings for Snowman Soup - hot cocoa, marshmallows and peppermint sticks. I was also able to get most of the makings for the snowmen sundaes we are making for Ellie's class on Friday. We finished shopping just in time for Bath & Body to be open but the we were walking against the wind to the car - poor Nick's nose was a faucet and his cheeks were bright red. We did our Bath & Body run and luckily they had everything we needed. We did a quick Jewel run - not my favorite place grocery shop but we were there. We dropped by the post office to mail our cards out and then we came home.
I made lunch for us and got the packing line ready to start assembling the snowman soup for Nick's classmates and teachers. I got Nick set up decorating cards for his teachers - he is really good at getting the sticker foams off of the paper. I was able to wrap up the lotions for the high school girls and emailed for the girls names to make it a bit more personal. It was time to brave the cold and get Ellie from the bus - layered on the clothing - again. Nick has been dying to play out in the snow and he took advantage of our walk to get Ellie to do so - the crazy boy was trying to make snow angels. Ellie was a great help and took off Nick's cold and wet boots when we got home - trust me my hands have been abused today. It begins with a gush of tinglies but turns to a painful burning sensation very quickly.
I made hot cocoa and Ellie did her homework. Rob let me know he was going to get a haircut before heading home. We got to catch up with our friend, Steve, he called us and filled us in on their family happenings. Ellie and I went on the computer and tried to decide what holiday cookies we are making this year - I figure I have this weekend to get them done. We put a list of ingredients together and checked through the cabinets before making a grocery list. Rob distracted Nick with a bath while Ellie and I went to Aldi and Target. I was able to get a bunch of what I needed at Aldi but they didn't have everything. I was able to find baking kisses at Target and Ellie got to pick out her breakfast favorites. We got some stuff for dinner and came home.
It was left over night plus the veggies and fruit we had picked up. Rob and the kids vacuumed the basement while I got dinner going and then took a quick shower. We had dinner and got ready for bed. Rob took Nick up and Ellie I started watching Sing-Off. Ellie went up to bed and here I sit blogging. I need to get a nice warm cup of something because my fingers are freezing between typing and the cold of the back room. Slight lower back pain today but otherwise I am doing great. Visualising my healthy and continually recovering body and the new normal me - whomever that shall be, Tree