Polar Vortex.

So.  You guys.  Did you see the sky today?  Talk about cold.

Obligatory photos of the weather channel app, iphone weather, and car dash thermometer.

It's crazy cold.  Insane cold.  Lake Erie doing weird things cold.  Luckily I have a dad who is committed to this lake photography thing and he took these amazing pictures of what's going on:

That would be Lake Erie steaming.  STEAMING.  Because the air temp (-3 in these photos taken yesterday) is less than the temperature of the water.  I've never seen the lake do that before.  INSANITY:

And even more crazy to compare with these pictures taken today.  The lake is now cold enough that it's not steaming anymore.  Here's a video by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showing how quickly the lake froze over.  Insane.

Insanity is a good way to put it.  I'm SO not cut out for this trapped at  home all the time with the kids thing.  Luckily temps are supposed to soar into the teens tomorrow and school/regular life should resume.  Another couple of days of this and I'd be staging the Hunger Games with my children:

Pictured:  The female and male tributes from the first floor bedroom.

Unfortunately for this district the tributes are old friends. 

The kids aren't cut out for this stuck at home thing either.  It's been Christmas break, followed by being down with the flu, followed by me leaving for a couple days, followed by being trapped indoors due to the vortex.  They have gone FERAL. 

New Years Day.  The last time they really played outside.

We've done every puzzle.  More than once.  Painted. Played games (or tried to anyways).  And even busted out my nemesis, playdough:

THE COLORS ARE MIXING AND GETTING EVERYWHERE AND AAAAAAAH OCD.

I'm OVER IT.  I've given up on trying to tame them for today.  Instead I built them a kick-ass blanket fort, aimed the space heater into it, and turned on a movie.

Pictured:  something that will keep them entertained for all of 30 minutes.

Fingers crossed the Longest Christmas Break in the History of the World ends tomorrow.  Or be ready to start the betting on your favorite tribute.

Happy Hunger Games.  And may the Odds be Ever in Your Favor.

Don't discount the littlest one, or the furry one.  In the time it took me to write this post they realized the warmth of the shelter and claimed both the blanket fort and the snacks from the career tributes. 

STEALTHY.

Seriously I need to get these kids out of the house tomorrow.