Yet another 6 inches of fresh, white fluffy stuff has landed on the ground here inIowa. When the first snowfall comes in November or December, I have that rush of excitement...winter is here! It looks pretty, turning the bare brown fields into a winter wonderland. And, we've had a fun winter ice fishing on our pond. Although I don't personally go out (I prefer the summer fishing), Jeff and Henry do. And, when Henry is playing in the house, he's often pretending to fish. Infact on Sunday, he was using fabric that I was cutting off as I did some rotary cutting and tieing tractors to the ends of the strands. Then tieing the other end of the strand to the dining room chair. He informed me that he was using "tractor bait" to catch walleyes. And, guess who got the play the part of being a walleye? Yes, his sisters. They were busy crawling around below the table, and grabbing on to his bait. Can you image how fun it was to catch a 21 pound walleye! I love his imagination.

But, today, I look out and yes, it is pretty in a way, but I'm ready for spring. And, it seems like every week this winter we've had one snowfall if not more....even the forecast this morning is for more snow on Thursday and over the weekend. I want to plant flowers. I want to walk outside without my coat and boots. I want to wash off the garage floor. I want to open the windows. I want to sit out on the porch and drink my diet pepsi overlooking our pond. I want to take the kids to the pool. I want to see Henry drive his tractor around in the drive way. I want the girls to crawl outside for the first time. Spring, come soon, come quickly. I need you!

In the meantime, I've tried to finish my fireplace mantel--gotta enjoy it for a few more weeks of winter. I took this picture. I don't know why but I like it much better in person than in the picture. I want one more twig to cut infront of the picture on the right hand side, but otherwise I'm calling it good.