Power's back

We had just turned off the generator and got in bed last night when we heard the furnace come on. Hooray for electricity!!!!!

Now we can share some scenes from our 73 hours without power.

The snow started Saturday afternoon and our lights winked out around 7:30 p.m. Here's what it looked like Sunday morning.

That's Jim making a snowman and Molly ignoring him, way over by the fence trying to make a play date with her friends who were sledding in their backyard.

At moments it was fun, like camping. Once Jim got the generator going and we took stock of our emergency food supplies, we were pretty relaxed. At other moments it was just cold and frustrating not to have information.

By Monday night a lot of our neighbors had taken their kids to stay with relatives because their houses were so cold at night. I have to say, for all my complaints about neighborhood kids, it was really nice to be surrounded by friends during this. I took Molly sledding at the neighbors' on two afternoons and got to chat and share news and check on one another, while she had some crazy fun. I'm sure the neighbors had a lot to do with why this wasn't a more difficult experience. Well, that and the generator. :)

Here we are heading into what we thought was going to be our fourth night without power last night, having some unplugged fun.

Molly tied a big scarf around her body like a baby wrap and had me help her get Baby Doll in.

The power came on after the kids were in bed. I don't think Molly realized her night light was back until around 4:30 a.m., when I went in because I heard her scolding something (maybe her stuffy nose?) and she asked me why I was checking on her.

This morning I saw this paper on her bed and asked her about it. She said she drew it right before the sunshine came on this morning. She was looking through some books and they inspired this. From left to right (and very faint in pencil) are Kate, Molly, Mommy and Daddy (with curly hair for some reason), all looking out the window at a tree that fell over. It's a picture of our storm!

Oh, and that colorful part in the middle? She says that's a clown named Betty. Obviously.