Let it snow!

Wednesday morning I woke up to a very sweet, very excited boy whispering in my ear, "Mommy, it's SNOWING!"

I almost didn't believe him because that doesn't happen very often around here, but sure enough- it was snowing and there was already a bit of accumulation. We bundled up and were outside throwing snowballs and making a snow angels by 7:40 in the morning. Good thing I bought Tyler his new coat only a few days prior to this. In fact, in some of the pictures you can still see the tags.

Tyler had a great time and came in completely freezing, but so very happy. John and I joke that sometimes Tyler is the real life version of Buddy the Elf from the movie, The Elf. He gets so excited about things and he is so sweet and innocent. Some of my favorite "Buddy the Elf" phrases he said on this particular day were:

"Oh boy, we're going to need a lot of hot chocolate today!"

"Mom, can I get in your bed and cuddle while we watch the snow?"

"Let's make snow angels, and snow balls, and snow men!"

"Now we're lucky like Utah and Colorado because we have snow too!"

(Picture him saying each of these thing with the biggest grin and with such sincere and pure excitement...it's one of my favorite things about Tyler)

It was a fun snow day. We enjoyed it immensely, but I have to admit that as I looked at the pile of wet boots, coats, gloves and hats that sat on the floor by my door for the rest of the day, I was glad that it isn't an everyday occurrence.

Celebrating the holidays...Texas style

The day after Thanksgiving, we headed down to Stockyards Station in downtown Fort Worth for the daily cattle drive. It's one of those touristy things that we typically do with family when they come to town, so we thought we might as well stick with tradition (minus the long, boring tour).

Twice a day, every day, they close down traffic and do a cattle drive right down the street in the middle of the city. It's pretty cool to see those longhorns up close and they typically have a few activities for the kids as well.

You can even get your picture taken with "Old Jake."

And can you tell how thrilled Robby was about this whole idea?

Not to worry...big brother took good care of him and he cheered up just fine.

Tyler liked watching the "real cowboys," and did a great job impersonating them.

Beautiful weather and good fun...what could be better?

I loved watching both Tyler and Robby's reaction to the cattle drive. Robby loved the horses (although, I'm still thinking that he thought the cattle were horses as well). You can see his little mouth making the trotting noise as he watched the whole thing.

Giving Thanks

We had a lovely Thanksgiving this year. It was the first time since moving to Texas that we didn't have family come celebrate with us. I was afraid we would be a little lonely, but it ended up being just right. Last year Robby was just a few weeks old at Thanksgiving and I felt like the whole thing was just a big blur. I was too busy and too tired to stop and enjoy simple moments with my family so this was a nice way for us to soak it all in- together- just us.

After a slow morning of cuddling and watching the parade on TV, we set to work preparing dinner. Tyler was a great help and loved peeling potatoes and rolling out dough.

Then while the turkey was in the oven, we decorated the tree. Tyler thought it was fun to either put all the ornaments on one branch or hide them in tricky places. I should mention here that Robby still has not touched the tree or a single ornament on it...I'm wondering what is wrong with him.

After all the work, it was time for a toast. Tyler lifted his glass and said "To the open road!" We laughed and then tried to figure out where he had heard that...it was on Goofy Movie.

The best part: After dinner was over, we cleaned up a bit and then EVERYONE went down for a nap. Heavenly. After we were all rested we went for a nice stroll through the neighborhood.

The worst part: The day we went to the grocery store to pick up the turkey, Tyler decided to name the frozen bird "Fred." I didn't think naming our main dish was a good idea, but he seemed to think it was hilarious, so I didn't think too much of it. On turkey day as we prepared the turkey, Tyler joked several times about cooking Fred. Ew, but oh well. When it was time to eat, Tyler walked into the room and saw the carved turkey carcass and started crying and said, "I miss Fred." John and I gave each other the look that says, "Oh bother. What are we supposed to do with this???" Luckily he got over it pretty quickly- whew!

One last picture of Tyler wearing the Indian vest he made for his preschool Thanksgiving feast. I know you can't see the vest very well, but you sure can see that grin.

And finally, what Thanksgiving would be complete without left-overs? The boys hit the pumpkin pie and redi-whip "Carson style." Whenever Robby now sees the redi-whip can, he squeals and then starts making gurgling throat noises, imitating the sound it makes when you spray it.

We had a great day.