Brr! This weekend has been so cold compared with the mild temps we've had for the past week or so. I think we've been a little spoiled for February and have been having trouble getting back into wintery weather. We haven't had a lot going on - just the regular things of hanging out at home, Cory delivering pizzas, etc. Quite exciting.

Today the kids and I took a drive around the lakes and river to see what birds we could spot. We haven't had much luck lately with seeing the bald eagles in trees, but today we saw one soaring overhead as we drove along the Missouri. We also saw large flocks of geese and ducks on Lake Yankton. That's always neat to see and hear when the large flocks take off from the water. We'll probably go down closer to the water and actually get out of the van to observe when it's a little warmer. Cole was hoping we could see mountain lion tracks along the river since I had just shown him a picture in the paper of mountain lion tracks along the river near Yankton, but I explained we'd actually have to be walking right along the shore to see anything like that.

The kids and I are definitely getting excited about the approaching spring. One of the things we want to do this year is plant milkweed so we can attract more monarch butterflies - Cole's favorite. I found an organization - the Live Monarch Foundation - that will send free milkweed seeds (donations are appreciated, though) with a SASE, and I think we'll be doing that.

We have a couple extra things going on this week. Accalia and Ella are getting haircuts on Thursday, and this will be Ella's first haircut. I'm having it chopped off - definitely above the shoulders and possibly just below the chin - because her curly hair gets so easily tangled and Ella is not a fan of even having her hair brushed. As long as she has no attachment to her hair length, I'm going to do this and avoid any unnecessary hair battles. On Wednesday, I'm going to the doctor to have my foot looked at because it's been bothering me since I tripped over that step stool while holding Tylan a couple months ago. It hit me last week that it's possible I could have broken a small bone or done something serious if it's still bothering me, so I thought I should just take care of it.

Now I should go ahead and try to get a few other things done while Tylan is sleeping.