Happy New Year!

Normal life resumed in the Bal Household this morning.  Jason went back to work, Brennan went back to school, I went to the gym, and obviously I am working on the ole' blog again.  Let's just say so far it's felt like a long day.  It's only 12:30, but it feels like it should be 5:30.  The day started off at o'dark 'clock when Brennan burst out of his room and slammed the door ( his normal mode of exiting his room in the morning) and declared that he had "schooooool tooooo-day!!!!"  Yes, yes, baby, you do, but not for another 3 hours or so.  Definitely a rude awakening for the mommy. : )

I don't know what the rest of the afternoon will hold, but I'm thinking that it will be minimal.  We had such a nice Christmas break spent mostly in "hibernate at home" mode, and it's hard to just go back to normal.  (We only left the house twice.  Once to go to Target, and once to go to Barnes & Noble.  Loved it!)  So since I can, I've decided to get normal back in increments.  Today, we had a full busy morning, tomorrow we will work on being busy a little longer.  While I am still feeling the need to hibernate, I also have a strong urge to organize.  I think Savers will be getting a truckload from us really soon.  After we took all the Christmas decorations down, and rearranged the living room furniture, the room looked so fresh and spacious that I want to get that feeling in the whole house.  I'm thinking that no nook and cranny of the house or garage (sorry, honey) is safe.  I also have a list of back-burnered projects that I think need some attention this month.  Since the temperature has decided to hover around 20 degrees the past week or so, and doesn't look like it's going to go up much anytime soon, I think it's the perfect time to tackle some of the inside stuff. 

Yeah, I'll stick with the inside stuff.  A little bit off topic, but I can tell I haven't lived in Utah long enough yet.  I see people out and about all the time when the temperature is in the teens, wearing shorts and t-shirts.  The first couple of times, I just thought I was seeing random crazy people, but I've since learned it's a pretty common thing.  I'll wear my shorts and hang out outside when there's no chance of any of my appendages freezing off, thank you.

And now, since this post has gotten to the point of talking about frozen body parts, I think I will bring it to a close. : )

Happy New Year, Everyone!  Have a great week!

p.s.  Thank you all for sticking around for another year to check us out and to read all my mommy ramblings.  It's good to know that you're out there and I'm not just talking to myself.  I foresee good things for us this year, and I'm glad you're all along for the ride.   

Just a Drowned Worms Kind of Weekend

I would love to say we did something really exciting this weekend...

but we didn't. 

It rained and was cold and was gearing up to snow all weekend.  Snow?  Yes, really.  The forecast says it will be snowing early this week.  I was hoping it would wait until at least after Halloween.  We were going to go up the canyon on Sunday to take a family picture, but the weather kept us at home.

Sooo, we had a good old, long overdue, plain old, weekend at home. 

We watched a few movies, read Brennan his whole library of books, and just vegged out on the couch.  Jason caught up on some sleep, watched football, baseball, and cleaned out the garage and laundry room.  Brennan constantly reminded us he didn't much like this staying at home stuff, and kept requesting that we "ride in Daddy's truck," and to go "back outside."  I did get the umbrella out and take him for a walk in the drizzly rain Saturday afternoon.  After our walk around the neighborhood, he has a new found fascination in umbrellas, and also in the worms that drown themselves in rain puddles.  Ewww.

I did some fun stuff like laundry, cleaning the bathrooms, and scrubbing down the kitchen, but since that didn't take very long, I ending up browsing for recipes on the internet, and then, of course, I had to cook up my finds.  I ended up making beer bread and beef stew on Saturday.  On Sunday, I made whole wheat blueberry pancakes for breakfast.  I made a double batch, so I would have some to freeze.  I was so glad I did because they were really good.  For supper we had liver and onions.  That was mom's recipe though, I don't think I could find one as good as her's on the internet.

Boring post, huh? 

I try. 

On a funnier, cuter topic, Brennan's newest thing is "honking" the door bell every time he comes through the front door.  Honk, honk!

Well, I'm off to see what we can get into today.  Have a great day!

Snow Baby

Last week the temperature outside finally raised into the 30s, so we were able to go outside and play.


I say play, but it was more like snow standing. It was too deep for Brennan to walk so we just picked him up and moved him from place to place, ha!



The tiny snowman Jason built for us.



Snow standing in the side yard.



Snow standing in the front yard.



We finally convinced him to touch the snow. Now we're on the right track!



Brennan's footprints from snow standing in the front yard.



The king of the mountain! (I'm thinking that if the snow keeps up like this, by February we won't even be able to see the street anymore!)



Oh no, I've fallen and I can't get up!



Yay, back on the sidewalk! I'm free!


I'm sure we'll have many more days to play in the snow. Apparently, once a good coat of snow gets on the ground around here, it pretty much stays until April. I don't know if I'm looking forward to that, but at least we'll have a White Christmas!

Where Does the Wind Go?

Where does the wind go when it doesn't blow?

This is a question from my Dad that got us all to ponder from a young age.

Where does the wind go when it doesn't blow?

Hmm, of course, we always had an answer. It goes someplace else. But where? It goes in the trees? Can you see it? The list goes on. Even as an adult, usually in a circle with other adults who are drinking adult beverages, the question comes up from time to time, and we all sit and ponder the deepness of the question, and crack up at all the crazy answers. Somehow everyone knows you can't answer the question with scientific reasoning, and talk of fronts and the jet stream.

Until now.

Now I know where the wind goes when it doesn't blow.

It comes to Utah, specifically to the Wasatch Front, for a fabulous ski vacation. It comes and sets up camp and brings it's buddy snow with it. For the last three days it has been here on vacation and it's giving no sign of when it's leaving. And since it's on vacation, it's got to show off a little for the locals. No small breezes here, no way. These are near hurricane strength winds we're talking about. Constant. Wind sure nows how to party.

You'd think I'd be used to it, living in Florida for 5+ years. Completely different. In Florida, the wind picked up, got stronger, and blew on through. It rarely stayed for very long at a time.

So here we go, another day surrounded by snow drifts and listening to the wind blow. I've found it's got quite a personality, too. In our bedroom, the wind whistling through some unseeable opening around the window sounds like a harmonica. I had to camp out on the couch last night for awhile, because it was so nerve-racking. Oh, and if your in one of the bathrooms, it sounds like one of those long lumber carts from Lowe's being pushed down the aisle. Twice, before I figured it out, I looked outside to see what kind of truck was out there.

Funny, that wind, quite a character. I'm just glad I finally mastered the question. Not as glad as I am that the heat works, and that Brennan and I don't have to go outside for any reason today, but a small victory all the same.

Hugs From Windy Utah,
Heather