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!

Christmas 2012 - French Style

Don't have a heart attack.  Yes, I am posting two days in a row!!  Amazing what you can do when you have that little thing called t.i.m.e.  We have been eating a lot, resting a ton, and feeling human again. I am thankful for the time off that all three of us have together this week.

We spent Christmas night with Papa, Mamere, and Aunt Kristen.  Reid had been sooo good...and then he just crashed and was a crazy little man once we arrived.  Third house in three days, plus tons of time in the car, plus no nap at Aunt Lala's = wild boy.  Thankfully, he woke up in a much better mood on Wednesday, especially when Daddy happened upon Super Why, Reid's favorite tv show.  I don't mind it because it promotes thinking, alphabet recognition, and reading :)

Aunt Kristen joined us and we dressed Reid up in some of Papa's goodies from the study.  Reid just kept finding things he liked and yelling, "Want dat!  Want dat!" when he discovered footballs, baseballs, golf balls....

Mamere had set up the high chair, but Reid was NOT a fan.  He remembered the little yellow table from last time and it was a hit.  He was a horrible eater until we threatened a spanking every other bite for lunch that day (wouldn't do that, but he hadn't eaten well in a day in a half!).  Thankfully, dinner was much better on his own...so he got star cookies!

Playing with Mamere before bath time.  Reid loves to play "I'm going to get you!"  but his version comes out more like "I get you!!!"  and usually has a belly hanging out at some point. 

We had fun hanging out, catching up, and chowing down.  Reid enjoyed all the attention, even though he played shy for the first day.  We even got our yearly dose of Christmas Vacation one night, and the weather was actually cold, so it finally felt like the holidays. 

Christmas 2012 - Shepherd Style

I SO wish I had a picture of myself posing exactly like this about 33 years ago!!  Really, the only difference would be the purse I had dangling from that arm that's up. I laughed so hard when Jason showed me what Reid stole off of the shelf in our closet to wear downstairs.  Grammy, you'll sure recognize this...

Thanks to Thanksgiving being so early this year, it was a fast and furious week before Christmas vacation.  I went out three nights in a row--Bible study social Monday evening, team dinner Tuesday evening, and MNO (Mom's Night Out) Wednesday evening.  In between events, I had to finish Christmas shopping, finish my classes' Christmas craft for their families, pack, bake (I finally just gave up on that one), and wrap presents.  I was totally and completely exhausted by the time we headed to Conroe on Saturday, but it was so worth it.  Grumpy got a surprise greeting first thing.

"Hmm...what was I doing?"

"Oh, yeah...tackling my cousin Alex!"

 Reid enjoyed a tractor ride with Ben, then drove it all by himself.  I took video, but it ended up being really long so it would take forever to post.  He did seem awfully proud of himself, though!  Then he enjoyed some drawing time with Grumpy and the sidewalk chalk.

 We went to hear Grumpy teach Sunday school on Sunday morning.  It's rare to get everyone together, so Grammy attempted to take a picture of the kids and grandkids.  Of course, everyone did very well except our little wiggle worm.  This was the best he did...

All the cousins that evening, having fun away from the adults.  It quickly turned into a game of "jump from cushion to cushion," a childhood favorite.

We took Aunt Lala's car to look at Christmas lights, a holiday tradition.  We found some beautiful houses, including a favorite in Grammy and Grumpy's neighborhood that plays the light show to Christmas music.  I looked over and Reid had helped himself to one of his cousin's water bottles that looks similar to ours.

Sadly, the paper reported that this is the last year this River Plantation family will be putting up their lights.  I'm sure it's because it has cost them an arm and a leg to pay the electric bills and put up/take down this veritable "Disneyland," as we'd lovingly dubbed it.

The next day we enjoyed lots of food, fun, and festivities.  Ben had been dying to open presents (Reid still didn't have a clue this year) so we decided to let the kids open all of theirs.  Reid needed help to open his presents again this year.  Once he got going, he enjoyed it, but he'd still rather have us unwrap so he could see what's inside even faster!

Part of the paparazzi...

Alex, showing off his Aggie nutcracker

Reid loved the first present he unwrapped so much (Ramone and Mater from Cars) that we had to convince him to stop playing and see what else he'd gotten.

He seemed more delighted with each one...diggers, Matchbox cars, cute books, and lots of other goodies...

...and even his first harmonica!  It was hilarious to watch him try it and he kept handing it to me to hear more music.  Once he got the hang of it, he'd blow in and out to make his own tunes.  The funniest part came once we got home, though.  Last night, we were unpacking everything and he sweetly took his harmonica over to Dixie, gently set it down, and smiled.  "Here, Dixie!"  I was laughing as I told Jason and said, "He thinks Dixie can play it."  Reid looked at me with a "hello!" look and said, "Dixie can play it!"  Then he kept going back for the next half hour to see if she'd tried it out yet.  At least he's learning empathy...not really the way we expected it, but it was so cute!

AND then came the one present he was not excited about.  I have been trying to get him a Buccee's shirt for years, but they apparently don't make onesies or very small shirts.  But Grammy and Grumpy got him his first one...an XS that matched his cousins.  Reid was not a happy camper when we put it on, and it became funnier and funnier to us adults as we attempted to pose him with the other boys.  Ben and Alex were sweet and patient as we took picture after picture...and Reid slid lower and lower...and cried louder and louder.

Time for a Christmas tale, one of my new, nontraditional favorites called Moostletoe.   I hope Ben and Alex like it as much as the kindergarten teacher in me does :)  Reid bounced around the whole time.

Reid wasn't much of an eater, as we had anticipated, but he did pretty good on a meal one night, so he got his favorite treat, M&Ms.  It shocked us that he was willing to share them with Grumpy.

On Christmas Day, we headed down to Katy for a feast with Laura, Matt, and the Kirkhams.  It was fun to catch up with everyone and to see their beautiful new dining room furniture.

All the boys had fun, too.  This picture cracked me up because everyone was doing their own little thing.  Reid is always in heaven at their house with all the toys.  He did shock me...went right over to the LeapPad, turned it on, said, "Diego!" and acted like he knew what to do.  I don't know anyone else who has one, so I'm not sure how he knew to do that or if it was just a fluke...

It was a fun day in Katy, but we still had more family to see!  Northward and onward to Papa and Mamere's house on Lake Conroe...entry coming soon...  We hated the drive, (and weren't sure it would all fit in the car!) but the family time makes it all worthwhile :)  We are thankful for God's gift of our wonderful families.

Getting Ready For Christmas

It has been soooo hectic and busy around here that I never realized it'd been nearly a month since I updated the blog!  School is nuts this time of the year (and I'm not just talking about the kids, who are crawling the walls with excitement right now)...parties, report cards, planning for the 3rd nine weeks, etc.  And just this week, I've had three evening events in a row.  I'm not sure that's happened, but it's allowed me to finish Christmas shopping before/after them and Jason's been very sweet about taking care of the rugrat. 

In the spare moments, which are few and far between, we did decorate the house.  Reid was very enthused about the tree and insisted on redecorating the bottom branches all by himself.  I did everything else while he was napping, in hopes to not draw too much attention to the things he could possible destroy or maim.  I did not put out some of my favorite breakable ornaments, just in case...

Jason and I squeezed in a date night a few weeks ago before things were totally nuts.  We had a fabulous meal at Sushi Sake in Richardson, a place Jason has been hearing about for nearly a year.  The place fills up by 6pm, so unless you want a two hour wait, you'd best get there early.  We arrived right at six and enjoyed the most delicious salmon sashimi I've ever had, plus many other yummy delicacies.  Then it was on to the first movie we've seen since Reid was two months old...to keep in tradition, it was the final Twilight movie.  Jason is a good sport!

My playgroup (teachers and their kids) had our annual Christmas brunch.  Reid was pretty good for the first hour, but after gingerbread decorating, he became a complete toot and kept taking other kids' toys.  He went to time out three times and later got a spanking in the bathroom after he slapped me across the face and laughed.

Getting ready to decorate his first gingerbread house...

"Candies!! Candies!!"

The best Mommy & Reid shot we could get...

The next weekend, we attended one of the playgroup girl's birthday parties.  Again, totally embarrassing two year old toot.  Reid was the ONLY one who didn't listen to the instructor at The Little Gym and proceeded to run around like a wild child.  This has happened at all three birthday parties we've been to there.  But then he turned into a little charmer again at home and cracked us up with these pictures.  And no, none of them are posed.  It's all Reid.  Can you tell that he takes after Daddy? ;)

More help decorating for Christmas...

I am so thankful for this season.  It amazes me how just when you get pretty sick of a season, God has a new one waiting with different things you love about it.  Only He could invent such a thing!  Most importantly, we are thankful for his Son, whose birth is what Christmas is all about.  Too bad most folks just don't get it.