Snow!

Happy New Year!!  It sure feels weird to think that it's 2013.  As our pastor said on Sunday, it's time to close one chapter and open another.  I'm hoping this year will be full of special family time, lots of good health, and our little guy will grow spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally.  Potty training wouldn't hurt, either ;)

I was soooo disappointed to hear that we had indeed missed the snow (a really, really good snow!) in Dallas while we were down in Houston.  We never had any good snow last winter (if you could even call it a winter...no freezes, either, which translated to a horrible West Nile mosquito problem and an even worse allergy/ragweed season this past summer), and I was bummed Reid never got to play in it since he was mobile.  So I was hoping this winter might be different.  But snow while we weren't there?  Not so cool.  I had very low hopes as we drove back north on Thursday morning, but as we got closer, there was indeed a little snow left on the ground.  Past downtown Dallas, however, there seemed to be even more...not just under overpasses and behind trees, but everywhere!  We stopped at Freebird's so Reid could devour half of my burrito (and a good portion of Jason's, too).  There was a sheet of ice all over the parking lot and it was cold!  But I still didn't want to get my hopes up...the sun was out and shining brightly.  My disappointment, however, turned into delight when we pulled into the driveway and still had two to three inches of leftover snow. 

Jason started unpacking the car while Reid and I investigated the "crunchy" snow.  We weren't dressed for this cold, but I figured he could play for a few minutes before nap time.  At first, he went running out of the car, then stopped.  I said, "What is that?"  and Reid answered, "Snooow?"  He went over to inspect it and when I inquired, "Do you like it?" he responded, "No!"  Quickly after, however, he changed his mind.

We weren't dressed to be outside for very long and it was nap time, so we hauled him inside.  He threw an absolute fit, "Noooo!!  More snow!!  MORE snow!" Normally, it would be nap time, but we weren't sure that the snow would make it through nap time with all the sun.  So we bundled him up as quickly as we could and got back outside.  I'm still amazed he kept the hood and gloves on, but that was the deal--no gloves, no snow.  A whole yard of snow, and what does he do first?  Wants to play in the sandbox.  Really?  And the snow that had been in that back corner was all melted.

After showing him ALL the other things he could do, he finally decided to slide.  FAST!

But what was his favorite?  Snowballs...being aimed right at him!  Apparently, that makes them hilarious.  I threw a couple and accidentally got this one right on his neck.  Jason got a great action shot with our new little camera.

I had the big camera, so tried out a few settings I hadn't experimented yet.  The flower setting was good for this close up on the little icicles on the elm tree.

Waiting for more snowballs!

We knew the outdoor toys would have to come out as some point.  He didn't seem to mind the two inches of ice in the seat, but it was awfully hard to maneuver in and out of the door, being the Stay Puft marshmallow boy with all those layers on.  Not a happy camper when he couldn't move it easily, either.

But he managed to get all the toys lined up to his liking...

Then it was time to terrorize the tree.  He loves to squeeze through the trunks, get stuck on purpose, and yell, "HELP!  Help me!!" until one of us comes to help.  The neighbors probably think we beat our kid, or something...

Snowcone, anyone?

Back to the front yard to run around.  Make that our neighbor's front yard...  Reid loves their bushes, for some reason.  Peekaboo!

And then back to the back yard once again.  "Hugging" the snowman...

Then the fun was over.  Someone needed a diaper change.  You know it's bad if he comes to lie down and asks for it himself!  If we were going to wrestle him out of all those layers, it was nap time!

We are hoping we will get more snow to play in this year, but if we don't, then we are thankful.  And we all need to get some kind of snow boots so our toes don't freeze next time!