Sunday, February 24, 2013

Good news.

Matt has accepted a position at Arkansas Children's Hospital and we are moving HOME! We are so excited about moving back into our house, seeing all of our friends, being close to our families, and eating fried catfish! Ha!

There are things in Wisconsin that we will miss. The friends we've made, the friends that Zane has made, Ms. Jeri, the seasons (even the snow), the free zoo, and fried cheese curds. But nothing compares to home.

The 'Southern' Bells are returning to the south!

 

Friday, February 15, 2013

Valentine's Day

My little 'Balentine'

 

My Valentiny-tine

Treats from my sweets

Aunt Gigi made these adorable shirts and Hollin's headband for Valentine's Day. Z liked that his had a sailboat like Uncle Bob's. It was a 'love boat'. Zane helped me make the rice crispy hearts for their friends at Ms. Jeri's. his favorite part was obviously the sprinkles!

Coloring hearts at the babysitter's

Loving these pigtails on Ha Bear.

And the peek-a-boo

I made Zane heart-shaped waffles. He loved them. So much that he wouldn't eat them. "They're too beautiful to eat! I will be so sad!" So I gave him Hollin's regular waffles. She had no problem eating the heart-shaped ones!

Matt and I beat the crowd by going to dinner a week before V Day. We met after work last Thursday at The Wonderbar Steakhouse, an excellent restaurant here in Madison that opened in 1929. We had this table right by the fireplace, which was perfect because it was snowing hard outside!

We also had some news to celebrate....NOT baby news! More on that later.

 

It's SNOW much fun.

Or not.

I felt bad that we got so much snow here in Wisconsin while Zane was in Arkansas. I knew he would want to play in it. The first couple of days after we got back from our Christmas visit were just too cold. One day he said, "Mommy, pleeeease can we play in the snow?" I think it was in the 20s, but that was a relatively warm day.

Let me just tell you. If you've never had to bundle two kids and yourself in layers upon layers of clothes, snow suits/pants, coats, gloves, hats, boots, etc then you haven't lived. Not for the faint of heart. Defeating dragons would be easier.

Zane loved it. With snow up to his waist, he couldn't exactly run through it. But he had fun throwing it, eating it, sledding down the hill in our backyard, and smashing it on his head.

This baby said, "Uh uh. I like it just fine inside where it's warm."

Zane thought it would be a good idea to go down the slide on top of a foot of snow. He's so funny. What wasn't funny was when he lost his glove on the way down and his hand "froze".

Then I got to do the bundle thing in reverse. With two screaming, crying kids. And snow all over us. Hollin was crying because she was cold. Zane was crying because his "hand was froze". I was dripping in sweat and really wanted to cry from pure exhaustion.

Z decided that a "cup of warm cocoa" would make him feel better. Doesn't chocolate make everything better?!

The ground has remained white since December 20th. While I hate the bitter temperatures, I really will miss the snow. It's so pretty. I find myself wishing for snow most days, just because it's so cold and I want an excuse to stay in pjs not leave the house. And I love how Zane asks if the snow has MILL-ted (melted) yet.