Snow – Page 9 – M. Sullivan Photography

December 21, 2012 M. Sullivan Photography Family, Photos, School, Weather

Out Of The Picture

You may have noticed that we have neglected our blog this month. The big factor has been that are dearly beloved Toshiba laptop that allows me to load, edit and upload photos has recently passed away. We originally thought it was a Windows 7 issue. Unfortunately, a local computer guy gave us the news that no one wants to receive, the hard drive had crashed. The good news is that I backed up everything within in a couple of weeks of the demise of the hard drive. Also, for an additional fee, I can have the computer guy try to pull all the data off the laptop – just in case my backup isn’t as good as I though it was. Our household is currently using our 2004 PC (running Windows XP). The kids have complained how slow it is. They should be grateful that they haven’t been trying to run a photo editing program with it. I’m back to Photoshop Elements 6 with no actions. Extremely slow and limited in its abilities! Therefore, the posting to this blog has been on hold. Perhaps there will be some post-holiday sales where we can get a great deal on a fast new laptop. We will have to reload all of our programs and data, so it may be a while before we are “back in the picture”.

I did get a few pictures edited and uploaded though. Here’s a quick peek at some things that have been going on this month.

Buddy, our Elf on the Shelf, returned from the North Pole.

Sophia still doesn’t know how he got up there and stayed there throughout the day and evening. Magic, of course!

We had a snowfall that allowed for some play in the backyard, but it wasn’t sticky enough to make real snowmen. Mike and Sophia improvised by making mini snow people.

Sophia’s school had their winter concert. She sang with both the school choir and with her class. She did a great job and it was fun to see how much she enjoyed being on stage.

Her class also performed “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”. We took some video and pictures, but they have made their way to our makeshift editing room yet.

Mike and I enjoyed a day off from work on our wedding anniversary last week. We celebrated 18 years of marriage by having a quiet morning at home after the kids were off to school. We went to lunch at a new restaurant in Canal Park and then walked around checking out the stores. We finished with coffee and hot chocolate at Caribou Coffee. The evenings are always chaotic during the school week, so it was nice to spend some uninterrupted time together during the day.

In the days or weeks ahead, I hope to get caught up on photo editing and posting. Maybe Santa will bring me a new laptop for Christmas. 🙂

Happy Holidays!

March 14, 2012 M. Sullivan Photography Family, Landscapes, Photos, Skiing, Sports, Weather

Daylight Savings Time & Weekend Recap

Daylight savings time is always a little difficult. You lose an hour of sleep. It’s still dark when you get up in the morning. On the flip side, the extra light in the evening is really nice after a long day at work. We can go for family walks and get our dog, Daphne, outside. And once again we are able to watch the sun come up before we head off to school and work.

Mike and Sebastian went to the Timberwolves game at the Target Center last Friday. Mike’s brother gave them the tickets and they couldn’t refuse – Timberwolves vs. Lakers, how can you say no? They arrived early and Sebastian solicited autographs from some of the players.

They watched a great game with the Timberwolves leading for a good portion of the evening. The Timberwolves did not win, but made it an exciting match until the very end.

While the boys were at the Wolves game, Sophia and I went to see the UMD Bulldogs during the first round of the WCHA playoffs. Sophia decided to put a Bulldog tattoo on her cheek and I made signs for her to hold up during the game.

We also saw a fun game with excitement until the very end. The Bulldogs scored an empty net goal in the final seconds to win 4-2.

We watched more sports on Saturday when Sebastian played his final basketball game of the year. Sebastian scored seven points and had several rebounds and assists. We had a special fan join us to watch the game. Papa Tom came up from the Twin Cities to see him play.

Sunday was spent skiing at Spirit Mountain with Papa Tom. The snow that we had received the week before was melting fast in the near 60 degree temperatures. We enjoyed the sunny, warm weather on the slopes and ate lunch outside on the deck.

We had every intention to take a picture with the five of us, but ended the day without snapping a group photo. We will have to ski together again next season so that we get one with Papa Tom on the slopes at age 70 along with the four of us.

March 1, 2012March 1, 2012 M. Sullivan Photography Family, Photos, Weather

Leap Day Blizzard

We are used to hearing lots of hype surrounding storms that are predicted to hit our area. Last year we had the “blizzard that wasn’t” where predictions of 24″ of snow with high winds turned out to be one big windy day – no snow. We have become accustomed to lots of talk, but little to no snow. Late last week we started hearing about the big storm scheduled to arrive on Tuesday and continue through Wednesday evening. I was thinking, “here we go again”. We even started a wager at our house with what the total snow accumulation would be. The winner receiving a prize package to include control of the TV remote and the dinner selection for the evening. The weather forecasters had been predicting totals reaching up to 18 inches with blizzard conditions, high winds, dangerous travel, etc. I felt generous at guessing 6 inches for the storm total. Sebastian guessed 7 inches, Sophia 7.5 inches and Mike went all out at 13.1 inches.

Tuesday evening came and went with no snow. I woke up 3am and looked out to see how much snow we had received – nada! When I got up for work at 5:30am, there was a small amount of snow blowing across the driveway and yard. The weather forecasters were lowering their predictions at this point, but still insisting a foot or more of snow would fall during the day. Schools and business all over the city and area were closed. Mike felt venturous and took my aging 4wd SUV to work. I stayed with the kids and worked from home.

The winds continued to pick up throughout the morning and the snow began to fall. By lunchtime, more businesses were closing, the city buses were only on emergency routes. Sebastian was getting bored with being inside and decide to venture out. Geared up with snow pants, boots, gloves and ski goggles, he proceeded to start shoveling our driveway. Unfortunately, it was a completely futile effort considering the winds gusts were clocked at over 50 mph during the day with a 65 mph gust along the bridge connecting Duluth and Superior. The light snow combined with the high winds caked icy snow on all of our windows – north-facing, south-facing, east and west – all caked with ice.

After realizing that he wasn’t getting very far with the driveway, he worked on our small back deck to clear the way to the backyard for Daphne to…well, you, know.. she’s a dog. Anyway, he came back in tired, covered with snow and ready for a snack.

We had a couple of very short power outages, a snowmobile or two drive by on our street and the power company truck drive by. We continued to stay inside until later in the afternoon. Sebastian headed out after 3pm and took another stab at the driveway. I felt bad watching him out the window so I decided to gear up and help. Sophia didn’t want to stay inside by herself, so she got her snow pants and boots on to join us. Even though the wind gusts could take your breath away, the temperatures were in the low 30’s. Not too bad by Minnesota standards. We worked on the driveway, built two forts, made snowballs and shoveled out Daphne’s path to the backyard…again. After 30 minutes of shoveling by hand, Mike arrived home from work and got out the snow blower.

Here’s a peek at the fun we had.

And my favorite photo…

The storm totals from the local weather service came in at 9.5 inches. Predictions were off once again, but at least we finally received enough snow to make it look like winter in Minnesota. As far as storms go, it was a pretty good one. Schools are canceled for the second day due to poor road conditions. Sebastian and Sophia were super excited about that. Mike stayed home with them and they are working on the “bobsled” course in the backyard. How cool is that? And last but not least, Sophia won the snow total bet. She is debating between mac & cheese, steak or pizza for her meal of choice. I’m not sure what will happen when she is in control of the TV remote. I’m glad she is beyond the princess/Dora stage. There may be hope for something entertaining.

Check back in the next few days. I’m sure we will have backyard sledding pictures to share. For now, here’s last year’s.