A New Look

I think the long winter is starting to bore me. I find myself planning dreaming about home projects we could do, thinking about fun places I can take the boys this spring and summer, plotting how to get us to Disney World in the next couple of years, scheming how to get a dog, etc. There were two things on my dreaming/plotting/scheming list that I did actually follow through on though!

Last week I dyed my hair a lighter shade (I think I want to go a bit lighter though) and I got the ball rolling on some changes here on the blog! I love both!

Take a gander around the blog and you'll notice (I hope) that it's a little cleaner and easier to navigate. I have a handy navigation bar now, which I think is so fun! I hope you find it as useful and nice looking as I do. Last week I also loaded a bunch of old posts (from the website I used for the first year of the boys' life) onto this blog, which you can find by using the Archive Links on the far right sidebar.

And now, a sign that spring is getting seriously close here (FINALLY!)....

Look closely and you can see the very first flower about to bloom in my yard!

Winter, I Cry "Uncle"!

I've had enough winter. It can stop now. I'd like to take the boys to the park, to the zoo and into the backyard. I'd like to open the windows and air the stale air out of the house. I'd like to not have to debate which type of coat the boys need when we go out, and do they need hats and mittens too.

I know, I know. I should be used to this. I grew up in Maine, blah, blah, blah. I've heard it all. Let me tell you something; living in Kansas City for the last 5 years has completely spoiled me. I've told people KC is the best place to live because you still get to enjoy 4 distinct seasons but winter is much shorter. Not only is winter shorter, it's milder than what I grew up with. When it snows, it only sticks around for a day or two before melting away, and we get random days where it's in the 50's and 60's. Not this year, and boy is it depressing!

Look at this picture. Study it. See the sun shining? The t-shirts being worn by myself and some children behind me? The fact that my own children are just wearing light-weight long sleeve shirts?

 

That picture was taken at the Zoo on February 10th of last year!

Where is my warm weather?! Huh? Huh? I want it and I want it now! The warmest it has been was when I was in MD for a wedding last month. It got up to 57 on the day I was gone. Other than that the highest it's been is the low 40's and that's only happened a handful of times since November. November, people!

My children are going crazy, which means I am going crazy. It doesn't help matters that we've been battling a lot of illness since Christmas. The other day I got desperate and pulled out a Christmas gift that Nick and I hadn't given them yet (due to the overwhelming number of things they were getting from others). Thank goodness for this Little People Castle! It's entertained them a lot the last few days...

Humans are not the only ones going absolutely insane this winter. Apparently the plant life is determined to come out now, whether it's warm enough or not! I've been seeing buds on my trees and lilac bush for a couple of weeks now and this week, despite temps being an average of 8 degrees colder than the normal high, my bulbs started pushing through. Crazy plants!

 

Please, oh please, oh please give us spring! We're ready and waiting! I don't want the snow that's forecast for tomorrow and when I continue to compulsively check the 10 day forecast, I want to see a warm day in my future!