Goodbye Winter, Welcome Spring

Well, I certainly haven't done monthly posts as planned, but I guess I never really do anything as planned. And truthfully, January and February are not my favorite months. They are COLD---especially around here. We had 5 total snow days off from school in January.  I cannot ever remember a school year with more than 2 snow days. While it was nice to have some unexpected time together, it was not so nice that we couldn't go anywhere. We made a huge pot of chicken noodle soup and borrowed the Chuck Seasons 1 & 2 dvds from our neighbors and pretty much sat in pj's all day for almost a whole week.

In February, Grandpaw came to visit. We always enjoy time with him.  Elisabeth's mouth became very full of teeth in January and February, and by the end of the month, she defnitely was looking like a little girl--not a baby.

And now March. Spring is my favorite time of year. The cold has let up (for the most part). We get a break from school, and then when school starts back up it seems to just fly by. We headed to Tyler for the first part of spring break. We went to Caldwell Zoo on Saturday, and the weather was just perfect for a day with the animals. Elisabeth is pretty much obsessed with animals these days. She has loads of books about animals, and she can point out all the particular ones when you name them. She says puppy, kitty, and cow (Chick-Fil-A was a very exciting place for her with all the cow pictures) but for  the other animals she makes their sounds. She does a great monkey sound complete with scratching under her arms, and her elephant trump with outstretched "trunk" is my favorite. She had a wonderful day at the zoo, even if seeing the white tigers up close was a little scary. While in Tyler, we also got to visit my friend Candice and her 2 kids---they have a wonderful backyard full of fun stuff. After returning to Wichita Falls, my friend Wendy and her 3 boys came to visit from Oklahoma City. Having 4 kiddos in the house at once was definitely different, but the kids seemed to have a great time, and we always enjoy getting to catch up with Wendy. I'm looking forward to more R&R over what's left of the break. Hooray for Spring!

The flowers were so beautiful---too bad Elisabeth wouldn't look up!

So glad to spend some time with Grandpaw

The white tigers were beautiful, although a little
too close for comfort!

We love hanging out with the Zeitlers

Getting Started

I've finally decided to start a blog---as much for myself as for anyone else who might be interested to see what's going on with our little family. Hopefully, someday, my kids will be able to look back at this and get a glimpse into our life (if only from Mom's point of view).  I'll start with a brief recap of Christmas. Both Terry's parents and my dad came to our house for Christmas. I like having it here. I can make the menu, and I enjoy cooking/baking all that yummy holiday food. We don't have to make arrangements with Santa to come early or deliver gifts anywhere else. Annie gets to celebrate with us instead of being boarded at the vet's. And, I get to sleep in my own bed and shower in my own shower. As usual, Elisabeth was a big winner in the gifts department. She got loads of toys including some sweet dolls, a Tickle Me Elmo, a rocking horse, and a closet-full of new clothes.  She checked out her stocking and the toys Santa left first. She sort of went into gift overload mode---by the time we got to the end of her boxes, I was opening them for her and she was a bit uninterested. Sunday we went to Irving and celebrated with my family. My grandmother was there, and I'm always thrilled to spend time with her. My Uncle John, Aunt Sandra, cousins Chris and Jessica, and their kiddos were also there. The kids had a great time, and Elisabeth embraced the role of the monster who chased her older cousins around. She definitely tried to keep up with the big kids. Despite having a wonderful and big Christmas lunch, Dad, Terry, and I stopped at Freebird's in Fort Worth for dinner. It was a great ending to a truly wonderful Christmas.

3