Winter drags on...even here in the South!

Just a quick note, given that it has been almost two months since our last blog post.  Now, I know I'm not going to get any sympathy from our northern friends and family, but winter has been more prominent this year in Arkansas than most, including temperatures here in southern Arkansas dropping to below 10 degrees (above, not below zero).  We are gradually moving towards spring here--I took the picture of the jonquils above just minutes ago.  Right now, the weather is rather balmy...temps in the 60s, somewhat muggy...but we're expecting a cold front to slide through later today, with freezing rain/sleet predicted for later today, and below freezing weather tomorrow.

On a warmer day this past January, we took advantage of a nice afternoon to drive down to a small zoo in Monroe, Louisiana.  We all enjoyed the antics of the various animals on display, many of which also appeared to be embracing the warmer weather that afternoon:

I haven't been doing a lot of blogging this spring in part because of not taking a lot of pictures due to either poor weather, illness (several of us have been sick with various bugs), and a busy work and remodeling schedule on the house.  One event we took in was Kenny's first band concert:

Kenny plays the clarinet, and I'm pleased to say he has a far greater number of musical bones in his body than I do!  In fact, he's just about to start practicing as I type...  Another event that we participated in this year was a daddy-daughter dance, held at Beth's intermediate school:

Sorry if the picture above isn't great--it is a picture of a picture (I haven't had a chance to scan it in yet).  Beth was just so eager to attend that I had to go...and get dressed up in the process!  The girls had fun--Beth and her friends were just running around and periodically dancing, while most of us dads just stood around and looked awkward (I did do some "dancing", if I dare call it that).  They also seemed most interested in the snow that started falling out of the sky just about at the start of the dance.  By the time we drove home, the roads were snow covered, and by the next morning, we had a couple inches on the ground:

The kids were happy to see this snow--it was the most we've gotten so far this winter.  But the snowman they and the neighbors built that morning was pretty much gone by evening, and given that the snow fell Friday night, they didn't have school canceled a bit for that snow!  We've been pretty lucky as far as school cancellations go--they've only missed about a day and a half this winter; other parts of the state have missed over 2 weeks (and counting).  There are school districts canceling holidays, having class on Saturdays, canceling spring break, and planning to run well into June this year to make up missed classes.  Of course, our kids don't really want to hear about that--they just want school closed!  Maybe tomorrow they'll get their wish!