Nathan's first big snow!

Obviously this was not today - as we just had a record temp of 80 - this was in October. But because of the picture problems I didn't post. So anyway... Nathan

loved the snow. He kept looking for a snowman out the window - like he thought they just came when snow came. :) So of course I had to make one for him. Please note that there was not a ton of snow, and this was the powder that is dry - not condusive to molding a ball. So no judgements on my snowman!

I took him out for a little while to play and he loved it. He didn't want to keep his gloves on however, so I gave up on that.

 

He would take them off, then play in the snow, then scream because it made his hands cold. Then I would warm them in my hands, put them into his pockets, and then he would go play in the big white temptation, starting the cycle all over again!

"Oh Holy Crud!"

http://www.fredmckinnon.com/media/OHolyNight.mp3

Ashlyn asked - mom is this cookie monster?

Be prepared - this is the worst singing you've heard all day! :)

Who's the fairest of them all?

Ashlyn came in this afternoon holding a magazine with this picture on the back cover. She held it out to me and asked, "Mom, is this Aunt Denise?"

:) Hope she reads this - it's nice to know you're beautiful!

So behind...

Man, I am so behind! I don't want to fight with Blogger over uploading pictures - and that's really the main point of why I blog - putting up pics so all of you can see the family! Anyway, Nathan said something so cute, I thought I'd share - and at least put SOMETHING up on the blog. Today when he sneezed I laughed and said, "Nathan! What was that!" He grinned and said, "Ribbit, ribbit." What a cute little froggie!

Timber!

Gone are those nasty cottonwoods. Most of you heard the story - but for those who haven't...

We went to Lowe's to see if they had their plants on sale (I had noticed that Home Depot did, but they didn't have a good selection so I wanted to check out Lowe's). They did, and when we went to ask if the trees were on sale the manager said they were 50% off. But, if we wanted 3 or more, he would give them to us at 75% off. Well, some of you may remember our meeting with a landscape designer just after Nathan was born - he designed a layout for our backyard including the removal of our evil male cottonwoods (brittle, shallow and prolific roots, branches and twigs down with every gust of wind, nasty and messy stuff in the spring) and the planting of 3 Autumn Blaze Maples. So, since we wanted 3 trees, we were super excited about his 75% offer. And when we went back to the tree selection (keep in mind this is the dregs - they've sold almost everything and just want to clearance out the rest) we found 3 Autumn Blaze Maples! So, we bought them, and were cautioned that these had to get in the ground THAT WEEK! Well, it was already Saturday, so that meant that if we wanted to get the trees in ground, that the cottonwoods had to come down - like now! We knew we wouldn't have time that week, and it would be dark by the time Rick would start working so it was a now or never thing. So we bought those trees (for under $20!) and went to work with the chainsaw. Rick did everything himself - my role was pulling a rope tied around various branches that might need some coaxing to fall the right way and not hit things like our house, the fence, etc. and hauling debris into piles. I'm so glad Rick was able to pick up that chainsaw (all it cost us was the cost of the bar) - it sure was helpful!