Moods Best Described In Song

I feel at this moment, the best way to describe the mood of this house is best expressed by the lines of a famous childhood musical of mine. Feel free to sing along.

The sun will come out , TOMORROW, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow. They'll be sun!

Or if you feel inclined, you might find breaking into this catchy tune fits you best

I'm walking on Sunshine- Woah Oh!

We awoke this morning to this view. Breathtaking. Incredible. Simply Beautiful.

It is unfortunate we are just today seeing these beautiful sights on the day we begin our descent down the mountain.

What might I be referring to?

After Michael's SUPER BRAVE uncle and son hiked the mountain proving that other forms of life exsisted in Maggie Valley yesterday, we formulated a plan for our safe return!

Today, Bubba, Michael, Beth and I will begin a 1 mile walk down the mountain. Dressed in trashbags bound with duct tape and inadequate winter gear, we will be trudging through the 9 inches of slowly but surely melting snow to meet Michael's SUPER BRAVE uncle who has a 4 wheel drive vehicle.

At this point, Michael, Beth and I will say our goodbyes to the love of my life and watch as he begins his ascent BACK up the mountain. Yes, since Bubba has been bonding with Bear Grylls and investing his hours of afternoon boredom with learning survival techniques in extreme conditions, he was the obvious chioce! Bubba will return to our lovely abode with a shovel in hand to begin ... you guessed it... shoveling a path from the top of this mountain down so we can get the cars down.

While we could wait for the beaming sun to melt this enormous amount of snow, we have been advised it is likely it will be Wednesday before attempting to drive a car down this mountain would be safe. And with Bubba's entertainment gone, he has deemed himself "The Shoveling Fool." We were also thrilled to hear that the fact that human life exsisted up on the top of this mountain was a "low prioritiy" to the NC DOT or city officials who clear the roads. Leaving no choice but for Bubs to spend his next few days doing manual labor!

However, I would not be one bit shocked to see this sight if you happen to be able to make it up here over the next few days!

Despite the crew splitting up and leaving, one friend we have all come to love and enjoy talking to will remain. Dwight and Bubba have already had some rather enlightening conversations this morning. I think they are truly bonding! I seriously would love to be one of the million ladybugs on the wall up here to hear for myself a few comments between these two that I am sure will happen before Wednesday!

So friends, we begin our descent soon! If we have not contacted you by tomorrow, please send rescue teams and search crews. The descent has been estimated as a 30 minute descent but seeing as how nothing else has gone as planned this weekend, why do we expect this part to? I might be blogging from an ice cave before it is all said and done!

Talk to you at the bottom!

Currently...

Currently... this is us. A little stir crazy, pj's on, bellies full, wine corked... yes, this is us currently!

But... earlier today, there were many sights to be seen!

Sight #1- Who knew NC snow/ice could resemble an iceberg from the scences of Titanic?! Thank you to the "king of the world" for showcasing to us his iceberg slaying abilities!

Sight #2 - Very Expensive Patio Furniture: Plenty of seats up here for any brave souls that dare to meet us!

Sight #3- Craziest Sight of the Day- by far! Yes- Michael's SUPER BRAVE uncle and his son hiked over 1 mile in the snow up hill (literally) to come and visit us! Yes, we have friends in low places !

Sight #4- The first view of the mountains we have had in just about 24 hours! Don't get to excitied, this view only last 9 seconds before once again we were surrounded by a thick cloud of white.

Sight #5 - Propane Pals! Thanks to our wonderful hubbies and loves of our lives, we enjoyed pork tenderloin and grilled chicken! What love!

Sight #6 - Nothing Good Happening Here!!!

And so my friends, as the evening comes to a close, 657 leaves you to entertain ourselves with a rematch of the board game Battle of the Sexes! Any bets on a winner?

On Top of ol' Smoky...All Covered With Snow

Where to begin? Mountain Weekend 2010 was expected to be a fun filled three day mini vacation full good laughs with good friends. Luckily we have so far been able to accomplish the good laughs with good friends part, however, we clearly underestimated Winter Storm Triple Threat 2010!!!

How naive am I. From a distance, this only appeared to be "fog". (Yes- that is what my very intelligent meterologist husband told me upon seeing the white fluff over the surrounding mountains!) Oh No friends- in reality, this was the massive snow bomb about to attack our cabin creating a humorous adventure for us all!

(View from the deck - Friday, Jan. 29th 2:00 pm)

So in an effort to document the snowfall, I found a 12" skewer in the kitchen drawer and placed it outside for measuring purposes!

(January 29th, 2010 2:30 pm)

But oh how happy we were. The Baileys and The Yorks! All 4 of us were ready to see some snowflakes!


So we headed inside, hoping our dear friends who were in their cars attempting to make it to the house would be able to. It was nonstop texting and phone calls from our mountaintop house to The Lowerys on 1-26!


(Skewer Check- Jan. 29th, 2010 5:30 pm)





Eventaully, we decided multiple skewers were needed for documenting purposes. So we placed a skewer on the deck railing before heading to bed. We are without an official ruler but this snow was about 7 inches by this point (according to our official skewer calculations)!



(Skewer check- 11:00 pm)



While skewers are enthralling and exciting, this next picture might create a better mental picture for you folks back in the Thrill!

(Jan. 29th, 2010 - 11:30 pm)

And so we headed to bed, hoping and praying to awake to a the rays of a beautiful sunshine that would work all day long to melt this winter wonderland away!

Again, oh, no friends, this was what we saw.

ICE!!!

Just super!

Bubba, Michael and I bundled up and felt it was a requirement to "play" in the snow. We made it to the top of the driveway. Which isn't very far.

The boys really didn't have much to say. Everything is white. About 8 inches of powder snow covered with a layer of ice.

The happy snowbound couple!

Bubs has been proactive and has been cranking our car. Because what would be worse than figuring out a way to get out of here only to discover our battery is frozen or not working! That would definatly not be good!

So what have we found in this truly wonderful cabin to entertain ourselves? Board Games. I really can't remember the last time I played a board game from start to finish. This killed a good 2 hours of our day, provided LOTS of laughs and proved 1 very important thing...

The GIRLS in this cabin are smarter than the BOYS in this cabin!!!!!

So here we sit. We are experiencing short periods of more snow. The sun came out for about 2.2 seconds and went away. We are unable to talk to anyone in the city seeing as it is Saturday and they are all frozen in their homes too! We have made contact with a nice receptionist at the Ramada Inn who painted us a bleak picture of our departure from this mountain!

I miss my babies so badly! At the same time, we know they are being loved and taken care of wonderfully. (Thank you YaYa, Pops, RaRa and DooDad)

But, we are safe, warm, have plenty of food and with dear friends.

Until next time...

She gets an A+ for effort!

This has been the image of sweet Baby Bess lately. Stationary and in one location. So content with a couple of toys nearby. Oh but how quickly I see that this stage is coming to an end!

Now, all my sweet little one wants to do is show off her muscles!

She waits until all eyes are on her...

She gets a good firm grip...



Hold up! Sweet girl had to adjust that good firm grip!

Sadly, that is where the story ends! Those dog-gone knees just seem to be in the way!

That is fine by Baby Bess.

Fooey with pulling up. Who needs to do that anyway?!

So, in her quest to be stationary no longer, Baby Bess preps her pose for take off! Just look at that face of focus and determination!

One minute- internal pep talk!

Okay, I got my smile. I got my mo-jo on. I am going to do this!

Just kidding! Who says the crawling business rocks anyways? Bess thinks she is just plain adorable enough sitting.

And so she remains stationary but determined!

I find it so hard to believe my afternoons and evenings are now being filled with cheers for Baby Bess and her endeavors to scurry around the house. Is it really time for this milestone? My sweet baby is getting so big right before my eyes!

What am I going to do with 3 mobile ones? I secretly believe that is why Baby Bess is taking her time. She's no dummy. She has seen her brother and sister and I think she has quickly learned she just might be safer staying in one spot!

Regardless, her heart is in the right place!

Good Luck Baby Bess!

Farewell Cribs, Hello Toddler Beds!

Why was it that making the transition from crib to toddler bed was harder on me than them? My sweet babies are ready for big boy and big girl beds?! Can this be?!

We had wrestled with the decision of when exactly would we officially end the days of crib confinement and introduce the toddler bed. Although, this decision was totally irrelevant to Charlie seeing as how, he comes and goes from his crib as he pleases these days.

So what do you do on a Friday night when there is nothing else going on?

Why not convert a crib!

And so we did. (sniff, sniff)

Bubba and I were very curious as just to how the night would play out. I mean, have you met Charlie and Wylie? They aren't exactly inactive children! Most nights, despite the lights out in their room and the bedtime routines being completed, we hear for a minimum of an hour some sort of noise- be it Charlie and his acrobats or Wylie and her one line version of "Twinkle Twinkle".

Would the little loves find amusement in opening and closing the door in each others face?

Would we end up with a roll of duct tape over the light switch to prevent our "Lightaholic" from illuminating the room?


Would we walk in to discover a mini version of WWF going on in the floor?

Or just possibly, could we expect to find only 1 child in a room where they should be 2?

Much to our surprise we experienced none of the above!

There were only sweet dreams going on behind the nursery door!

As for Baby Bess, she isn't so sure we can expect Night #2 to go the same! She says sooner or later, the Charlie and Wylie she knows will be back up to their ol' tricks!