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Birthdays. As I get older, I have mixed feelings about my birthday. Fortunately, Lily and Emmy’s attitude about birthdays is contagious. How can I not love my birthday when my six year old and three year old get so excited about Mommy’s birthday? And little did I know how exciting this birthday, my 42nd, was going to be.

Yesterday was the start of THE Chicago Blizzard. Its official start was around 3:00 p.m., and we still had to pick up Lily from school.

Emmy after we walked home from school yesterday.
We were covered in snow!

Ed came home early from work, and shoveled the driveway.

 Ed has two little helpers — at first.
This is the first year that Lily was going to be in school all day for my birthday. I told Ed last week that I wished she could stay home from with me on my birthday. Little did I know that my wish would come true — today is a snow day.
This birthday is a doozy, and it’s barely begun.

 Emmy came inside about two minutes after I took this picture.
Lily was close behind! It was just the beginning of the storm.

Last night, the wind howled around us, gusting up to 60 miles an hour. At one scary point, our electricity went out. Just as Ed and I found flashlights, it came back on again. As we looked out our bay window, we saw a huge lightening flash and heard a roll of thunder. Thundersnow! All night long, we heard the wind howling, and I would wake up, glancing at my clock to make sure we still had electricity. I am counting my blessings this morning. We are all safe and sound at home; there are many people who spent last night in their cars on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. They have all been safely evacuated, but what a way to spend the night!
 
Ed and I went outside this morning, and as you can see, it’s still snowing! That’s me, in front of our house. Here’s what our neighbor’s house looks like:
 
More pictures to come!