Fire and Ice

With the weather so cold, school has either been delayed or cancelled, thus cancelling our activities. 
We woke up on Wednesday with no MOPS.  It was quite cold in the house, realizing that the power was out (again, happened for a few hours on Monday afternoon).  This is not a good thing when it is this cold out.  So I had the brilliant idea to get a fire going in the fireplace.  I have never performed this task and should have known it would not end well.  The chute didn't open all the way and so smoke started filling the house.  Luckily the log I had put on didn't catch so I just waited for the firestarter block to burn down.  We went upstairs to get out of the smoke and get warm in my bed.  We cuddled there for awhile but quickly realized the kids are too squirmy to do this all day so we left the house to go play at the Commons.  The power was back on by the time we got home in the afternoon.

That afternoon I decided I better get some laundry going (the mountain of clothes piling up is a good sign).  So I started the washer and then we went upstairs to play.  We came down a bit later to find the kitchen flooded. The washer has done this before when it's really cold, the water in the pipes freeze and the water comes back up the outlet tube...and onto the floor. 

Feeling really overwhelmed with all the events of the day, and on day 10 of Michael gone to a school in Iowa, I start to cry.  Then my sweet, sweet little man says to me, "Mommy, don't be upset.  It's okay, God loves you".  Yes He does.  That's all I needed to hear. So I can take the power outage, and the smoke filled house, and the washer dumping water all over the floor.  I am so grateful God has given me these beautiful children that help me keep things in perspective when it gets a little rough.