SNOW DAY!!!

After it finally started really snowing last night, well, there was at least some freezing water falling from the sky, we woke up today to a legitimate winter wonderland! Of course we got bundled up first thing this morning so that we could go out exploring and play in it!

We actually saw cars get stuck trying to get up this hill by our house last night, and heard folks laughing and creaming and sledding till about 1am. And based on the tracks, it looks like a few of the sledders veered into our front yard to keep from going alllll the way down and through the little intersection/corner we live on.

 

Before we went outside, I had put a big tray of biscuits into the oven to bake, so when we came back in, the house was so warm and smelled incredible and cozy and inviting. While Jeff and the girls got to cuddle up and be cozy for a morning movie, I had to get my laptop set up and work from home. But at least I got to warm up with a cup of hot coffee and hot buttered biscuits with honey.

After working for a couple of hours, the girls were begging to go back outside and play in the ice and snow more. Emerson pointed out it was starting to get sunny and would therefore start melting, and this would probably be the only time this would happen in Florida. And it was hard to argue with that very sound logic, so we bundled up again and went back outside!

This time though, Daddy stuck a flattened cardboard box into a plastic trash bag, and the girls went “sledding” down the hill in our backyard! And if you didn’t notice in that first video above, you’ll definitely notice now, but Pennie has been absolutely loving the snow too! She begged and whined to go outside all night last night, and has been obsessed with going out in it all day today.

 

 

I went back to work for another hour after sledding, until the girls started getting hungry and ready for lunch. Emmie wanted to go sledding some more, so we let her go out on her own, and it was so WILD to look out my kitchen window and see white, and see her sledding, while I was just making grilled cheese sammies!

Loaded potato soup for Jeff and the girls (store-bought), and the last of my homemade tomato soup for myself, from a couple months ago. We got this nice multi-grain bread on BOGO at Publix yesterday, and I was worried the girls wouldn’t like it, but Emmie not only noticed it was not our “normal” (aka cheap) bread, but said how much she loved it, and even ate all of her crusts, which is really saying something.

I got Addison down for her nap after lunch, and then spent some time washing up a ton of dishes. My boss texted me then saying we had an urgent case I needed to work on, so I hopped back online to work for the last couple of hours for the day. But first, I made myself a gigantic iced teddy graham latte to get me through the rest of the afternoon.

Once 5pm hit, I carefully closed my laptop, stored it away for the night, and went back to the kitchen. I had an idea a few days ago to try my hand and jam or jelly or something with more of the oranges we still had. So I looked up some recipes and found a super easy one for orange marmalade. I used this recipe, and decided to spice it with brown sugar, cinnamon & nutmeg. My sweet little helper even took a break from “playing fancy ladies” with her sister, to spend some time in the kitchen with me.

The marmalade was only supposed to need about 30-40 minutes on the stove, but at that point, it was still pretty thin. So I just left it there simmering away while I cooked dinner, and then while we ate I turned it down super low and left it there even longer…

Before I could sit down to eat, I had to do a quick scavenger hunt that Emerson had made for me. She created her own little clues, and placed them around the house for me to find. And my final prize was this stuffed bear, with the light-up wand taped to his hand!

And then by the time I got the counter top cleaned up again after dinner, and was ready to pour the marmalade into the jars, it was perfect! I did a quick taste test, and was very pleasant with how good it actually tasted. Honestly, I was so impressed with myself, and how perfectly it turned out!

This was my first time making this, but now that I know how, and know how incredibly easy it is, with so few ingredients, I’m sure I’ll be making more of this in the future! I’m wondering actually if I can make a larger batch, and maybe simmer it in the crock-pot? Might look into that…

 

Schools are still closed again tomorrow, since it will be 18 degrees overnight, and the roads will all still be iced over. All the State offices are closed too, but I’ll have to put in some hours working from home again. Right now though, all I can think about is how delicious that marmalade will be on some warm, buttered multi-grain toast for breakfast tomorrow!