Wisconsin: Winter Wonderland

Yippeee!!! We got playtime again today, for the first time since last Wednesday. We had a huge storm blow in here on Thursday and it dumped 13 inches of snow on us. Then it was windy and subzero all through the weekend, and we were under a wind chill advisory.


As you can see, Bryn and I were both pretty wound up, and even after a one-mile walk we still had lots of energy to burn. We were running around so much that my mom could hardly get a photo of us that was in focus!


Of course all this snow came while my dad was out of town, but mom didn't have to worry about shoveling like our neighbors Joe and Diane in the photo below. We have Maurie on one side and Steve on the other side, and they both have snowblowers. We haven't really had much snow this year so the boys haven't been able to play with their toys, so they were almost fighting over who got to clear our driveway and sidewalk. Poor dad, he missed out on all the fun this time!

Now we're cooking with gas!

Dad got a little sidetracked on the basement renovation project when he discovered there was a gas line already installed to the kitchen, so as you can see we now have a new gas stove! Our old electric stove was about to die any day, and both mom and dad have always preferred cooking with gas anyway so it was really a no brainer.

Of course we couldn't just hook up the new stove and get back to work in the basement. Oh no, these projects never work like that. One thing always leads to another. First, the new stove didn't come with a built-in light, so we had to install a new light under the cabinet above. Then the bottom drawer wasn't as big as the one in the old stove, which meant we needed to find a new place to store all the pots and pans. So mom went surfing at target.com and found the perfect pot rack, and Doug came over last night to help dad hang it on the wall.


Pretty cool, hey? Unfortunately, the same studs they needed to line the rack up with included one that had a curtain rod screwed into it, so the poofy valances had to go. Dad always hated those things so he's really happy about that turn of events! They were left here by the previous owner, who really had a thing for poofy valances. Mom got rid of every other one in the house right away except the kitchen, mainly because she could never make up her mind what she wanted in there instead. Now she has to start shopping for new window treatments, and dad is talking about shopping for some new gourmet cookware to complement the new pot rack. Does it ever end?!?!?