Well, it all started Saturday night, with an ice storm that we expected. But for some reason, we didn't expect the power to go out. DJ woke me up at 5am with "Moooooooom!" She was scared because she had gotten up to turn on a hall light which serves as a night light, and none of the lights were working. So, I traipsed down the hall with my pillow, and "slept" between the girls in their big bed for another hour or so. A few hours later baby Jonathan began vomiting, and the washing began to pile up (I am soooo thankful for Oxyclean :-)). After a cold breakfast of cereal and milk, the kids went outside to play in an icy wonderland. At Nathan's insistence, I passed off my sweet sick baby to him, and went outside to check it out.
It was simply magical. It was warmer than we expected, so the sounds of dripping and running water abounded. Yet there was plenty of ice still around (enough to keep us home from church anyway). There was a thick sheet of ice on the front walk, but in the yard each individual blade of grass was covered in ice. It was beautiful. And crunchy :-) The swing-set in front of our house sported dripping icicles as well.
The children played for an hour and came inside cold, dripping and happy. We sat on the couch and read our Bibles. I played some hymns on the piano for awhile. It was a wonderful, peaceful time. Then the baby threw up in his playpen, and I was sucked back into the wonderful world of Mommy :-).
Nathan cooked us a wonderful hot meal of hotdogs on the grill. He also heated water for hot cocoa, and I honestly did not feel like the power outage was a trial. After naptime Nathan and David went to the airport to pick up Benjamin, Nathan's brother who currently lives with us. He had traveled back to Washington state to visit friends. His flight was canceled due to the ice storms and he was returning a day later than planned, without his luggage, which had been lost (stay with me, that's important). They arrived back home around 8pm Sunday night, an hour after the power came back on. Luckily for the kiddos, their camping out in Mom & Dad's room was not spoiled, as they were already ensconced in their sleeping bags when the power came back on. Believe me, they were quite pleased with themselves :-).
All during this power outage, we stayed dressed and were relatively warm in the house. However, this morning (2 days later), I awoke to the baby crying at 5:30am or so. I stumbled sleepily in there to nurse him and as I sat there I realized that it was dreadfully cold. I literally felt like I was sitting outside. I wrapped the baby up in some warm blankets and put him back to sleep, then covered all the boys well and checked the windows. Sometimes my son David will get hot and crack a window. I checked the girls room also and covered them well.
Imagine my dismay as I wandered into the foyer and found the front door standing WIDE OPEN! I was very confused, as I remembered locking both locks before scooting off to bed. Had one of the children woken up and sleep walked? Was there an intruder? I was a bit concerned, but nothing seemed amiss, so I went back to my husband-warmed bed, mumbling my concerns to him before dropping off.
Well, it turns out (and I just learned this tonight) that we received a phone call at 3am that night, for which I was apparently asleep (yes - really!). Benjamin answered the phone. The airport wanted to deliver his luggage! At 3am?! Anyway, Benjamin came upstairs to meet the fellow and get his luggage, shut the door without locking it, and went back to bed downstairs in his area. I think he must have forgotten that our door doesn't easily latch, and gives way to the slightest breeze. The slightest COLD breeze! The temperature was in the teens. Hmmm. Benjamin is in his teens. I wonder if they were in cahoots? He-he.
So there you have it. Mystery solved. It was Benjamin, in the foyer, with his luggage. And he didn't even know it :-).
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