What I'm Loving Wednesday!

You can join in too! Just click on the picture to link up with your blog! 

Picture courtesy of Pottery Barn Kids Online

I'm loving Thomas' little baseball lamp! My Grandmother mailed it to him and it's absolutely adorable! I think I've mentioned it before, but I want to transition his room from elephants to baseball when he grows out of his crib. I've been eyeing this lamp since I was pregnant with him! Thank you Grandma! I will post a picture of it in his room really soon!  

Picture courtesy of Pottery Barn Kids Online

I'm loving the little tea set my Grandmother sent to Anna-Kate's too! I can't wait to share so many tea parties with her! She loves the dishes and the cute case they came in too! Grandma's are so awesome!

I'm loving the hot chocolate party we had this afternoon with her new tea set. Anna-Kate kept saying "this is the best chocolate party ever!" 

I'm loving the wonderful blessings God has put in our lives. Between our growing friendships that we've had for a while now and the new ones we are growing, I definitely feel an answered prayer. I lived in the same place for most of my life and I managed to have a few really close friendships. I still have those but it's been hard to be so far away from them. I have mentioned before that I'm a little shy and so it's hard for me to branch out and get some strong friendships here in town. I've prayed for so long to have people that "know" me. It's taken longer than I wanted and I have had to work at it and branch out but I feel so richly blessed right now! Thank you to all of the friends of mine that don't think I'm too goofy and put up with me! :) 

I'm loving my awesome husband. I'm always embarrassed to let on how much he really does around the house, but that's not fair to him. Let me just get real and say I don't believe we have a 50/50 marriage... most days I feel like I'm putting in 30 or 40 percent and Derek is pulling my slack. He's a catch for sure! I am so, so grateful for him! 

I'm loving the beautiful snow day we have today that was accompanied by snow cream and hot chocolate! 

What are you loving this beautiful Wednesday? 

Snow Day

Last week we had the first snow day of 2011! We all got to be home and enjoy it too! 

It started on Sunday night while we were in church. We were nervous about the "long commute" home, but we made it across the street just fine! ha! 

Anna-Kate taking it all in! 

We woke up to about 3" on Monday morning. I love the snow. Everything is just so beautiful! 

We played around here and then Anna-Kate was dying to play with Kristen so we ran a few errands and headed over to their house. I was so excited because Anna-Kate was really into the snow! 

Anna-Kate had to wear her sunglasses, she's such a mess! 

This is behind Derek's parents house. So beautiful! 

Kristen made a snow angel

This is Bella, Derek's parent's dog. She had snow on her nose! So cute! 

Derek's mom watched Thomas while we took the girls out and helped them build a snow man. They were so funny about  all of it!  When he was built, they danced around and sang "Frosty the snowman!" haha! Such a difference from the crying last year! :) 

At one point I told Kristen that our snowman needed mittens on his hands. She said "um... they're just sticks." Too funny! 

Global Warming??? Not Here!!

I grew up in Searcy. I have a fairly good grasp on the climate trends of this region and I must say I am stumped. A little background: Growing up, we had a good snow every couple years. Most years we had flurries but no accumulation. We had a couple good events where school would get cancelled or delayed but for the most part, snow was an every other year or so thing.

The last year has been without a doubt the most active in terms of winter weather that I have seen in my life. We had a major ice storm in the winter of 08-09. I was present for the 9-inch dumping in Lepanto last year. And in 2010, Searcy has had 3 major snow events.

I love snow. I love to watch it fall. I love big flakes. I love hard driving snow. I love soft light floating snow. I love dry powder. I love wet packed snow. I love snow.

Now that you understand my love for snow you can put yourself in my shoes. We had a nice lingering snow just after New Year's that lasted a couple of days and delayed work for me. It was dry with big flakes and some hard winds...fun.

Last week we had a 4 inch snow that was also dry and covered the roads. Missed work again!!

Late last week, weathermen were saying another round was coming, but I wasn't buying. They said wintry mix and that's code for cold rain. But nonetheless, this morning the ground was white. as the day progressed, I kept waiting for the temperature (which was hovering around freezing) to go back up and melt it all away. Yet the temp kept dropping. Still the snow fell and by lunch the roads, which were covered in slush, were beginning to turn white. Looking outside now I am greeted by the biggest snow flakes I have ever laid eyes on. They are falling fast and hard. They are wet too which makes them stick to everything.

We closed early at work so I am preparing to venture out and brave the roads to get home to my loving family who has spent the day taking pictures of this glorious and unexpected event. Be sure to check back for those later.

Snowmen and Sinus Infections

Well it has been a rough winter to say the least. I'll wait while the northern readers attempt to contain their laughter at us hicks in the south. Ok, I know that cities south of the Mason-Dixon typically shut down for flurries but we have had a fairly active winter this year.

Early January gave us a good hard snow with several inches of accumulation. I love watching snow fall. I especially love the really big flakes and the wind blowing. Snow never lasts long here so we like to enjoy it while we can.

Over the next couple of weeks we dealt with what we hope is the culmination of the illness we have all suffered these last few months. Anna-Kate had been developing an increasingly bad cough and then we noticed what looked like pink-eye. Off to the doctor she went. She was a big girl for Dr. Eddie and he said she had bronchitis, pink-eye, and a double ear infection. I was shocked that it was that bad. She was sick, no doubt about it, but she was pretty calm about it all and did little complaining. She stayed mostly on the sofa the next week while she recovered.

We have all been cruddy the last few months with one thing or another. I think it's the same virus that keeps coming back stronger in each of us and then gets passed on to the next one. Seems like we may be over the worst now though.

Anna-Kate was better just in-time for the second half of our January book-end snow storms. We got an overnight ice followed by 24 hours of snowfall. Gorgeous. We had our first experience sledding and it became fairly obvious that Anna-Kate is not as big a fan of snow as I would have thought. She was ready for it to melt!!! Maybe she'll learn when she starts going to school full-time (twice a week now) and understands the rarity of Arkansas snow days.

Not sure if we have many pictures of our adventures but if we do Nicki will post them.

I Thought the Groundhog was Lying...

Almost a month ago, when Punxsutawney Phil came out of his little hole and saw his shadow, I was sorely dissapointed at the prognosis. Given that most of the state of Arkansas had been devistated by severe ice storms, the prospect of more winter weather was not a kind prediction.

However, as temperatures began to rise over the past week, I became hopeful that the grounhog was mistaken. Just two short days ago temperatures were in the near 70's in Searcy...then everything changed.

I had heard rumblings about possible cold temps this weekend but I paid it no mind. However, as I prepared to leave for Lepanto, northeast Arkansas was being hammered with winter storms. My grandmother called to tell us she had some snow, but it wasn't till I got two-thirds of the way there that I realized how bad it was. The conditions on the road began to deteriorate and the last few miles were without a doubt the worst weather I have ever been in.

Once I was able to get in and relax I realized just how much snow had actually fallen. Let me just say that there are not many things in this world I love more than to watch snow fall. It was absolutely beautiful. Myself, Nicki, Anna-Kate, and Reagan (our dog) immediatly bundled up and went out. Reagan loved the snow...Anna-Kate was less enthusastic.

What a wonderful snowfall. It was the perfect consistency too!! Not too wet, not too dry, and without a doubt the deepest snow I have been in. About 10 inches had fallen as of 9 pm with more on the way. For an Arkansas boy, that is amazing. Snow in March, however, not unusual...it's Arkansas after all.

Expect pics soon!!!