First Snowman of Snowmageddon

Even though we've had a couple feet of snow dumped on us this winter (hence my reference to this winter as Snowmageddon), this was the first time we got out to build a snowman. Most of the snow we received was too powdery and wouldn't stick together, but we finally got over 32 degrees for the first time in a few weeks making it possible for us to finally build a snowman. Sadly, Felicity was napping during our fun, so hopefully she'll still have the opportunity to help us build another one before winter is over.

We even built another small snowman next to this one because Bridget thought he needed a friend, but he never got a face or anything because it was getting cold and we needed to quit for the day.

Raking, Raking, & More Raking

Now that fall has officially arrived, it's time to bust out the rake and start raking up the billion leaves that will fill our yard over the next 2 months. With 4 large trees in our yard plus our neighbors 3 along the fenceline that also drop into our yard, there's plenty of leaves for the girls to play in. Because our trees drop at different rates, it really does take clear until the beginning of December for them to all fall. I just hope the next home we live in doesn't come with so much fall cleanup. At least this chore is fun for somebody.

Random Summer Fun

Our kids LOVE to be outside, so we spend a lot of time out there every day. And Bridget's got quite the farmer tan to prove it. Here's a little of the fun we've been having this summer.
Our neighbors gave us this playhouse a couple of summers ago, and it's gotten plenty of use since then. In the spring Felicity would mostly just go in and out of the door, but now she loves climbing the steps and going down the slide all by herself.

Lots of hot days means lots of fun in the pool. They both love the water, and even Felicity loves taking turns going down the slide and into the pool.

We've gotten the slip and slide out a couple of times too, but they seem to prefer the pool.

Most of our time outside is actually spent in the front yard so that Bridget can ride her bike around and around the cul-de-sac. She never seems to tire of it, and it makes me realize how nice it is to live in a very quiet cul-de-sac so she can ride around to her heart's content.

Oh, how we love summer!

First Snowman of the Winter

Here it is January, and we finally got our first really decent snowfall of the season (as in 4-5 inches overnight). I'm by no means complaining about this because Nate and I are not snow people, but Bridget always looks forward to a chance to bundle up in her snow gear and play. She and Nate built this snowman together, but sadly it warmed up enough during the day that it toppled over by the end of it.

The Best and Worst Part of Autumn

With 4 large trees in our yard, every fall we do A LOT of raking. I know some people prefer to wait until all of their leaves have fallen to rake them up, but not me. I don't mind raking too much (at least the first few weeks of fall), and I hate the mess they make in the yard as well as having them get tracked into my house creating an even larger mess so we (mainly me) do a lot of raking. It's my goal every week to make sure our garbage dumpsters are packed completely full. The other day I was outside mowing up as many as I could and Bridget wanted to help so I let her use the rake. When I went to empty the mower bag, this is what I discovered:

She'd raked up a nice pile of leaves for herself to play in.

I love this girl and the good helper she is! Too bad we still have 3 of the 4 trees left to clean up after.

A Little Girl Who Loves Snow

Although Nate and I both hate the snow and cold, our little girl loves every opportunity she gets to go out and play in it. This picture was actually taken the day after Christmas when I bundled her up to play while Nate shoveled the driveway and sidewalks. She was running everywhere making snow angels as fast as she could. If you click on the picture to make it larger, you can see the huge smile on her face while she's doing it. It makes me laugh because I remember trying to teach her to do it last year, and she hated laying in the snow. What a difference a year makes!
She really wanted to help shovel too so the other day we purchased a kid-sized snow shovel, and she's been begging to use it ever since. I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities over the next 2-3 months, and I'm in no hurry for another snowstorm to come.

Winter Wonderland

This morning Bridget finally had her first chance to put on all of her snow garb and go play in the snow while Nate shoveled the driveway. Not that this is our first snowfall of the season by any means; it's just the first time she's been able to play in it since I finally finished purchasing all of the necessary items just yesterday. She loved it, but she only lasted about 15-20 minutes before she was ready to come inside. It's just too bad this snow was a little too dry for making a snowman, but I'm sure we'll still have plenty of opportunities for that this winter.

Feeling Like Fall

I really can't believe how fast the leaves changed this year and that one of our four ginormous trees is almost done losing its leaves already. For the next several weeks I'll get to spend a good chunk of my time cleaning them up, but at least Bridget doesn't mind because she thinks running through my piles and throwing them in the air is loads of fun. In fact, she was having so much fun that I couldn't get her to look at the camera long enough to snap a good picture, so here's the best I could do. What a difference a year makes! Last year she spent most of her time crawling through the leaves because she was just starting to learn to walk, and now she's running through them and all over the yard.

I should also mention that Nate got me a blower/mulcher thing for my birthday to help make my job easier, but after trying to use it the other day I've decided I might just stick with a good old-fashioned rake. The thing is so heavy and awkward to use plus I burned a hole in the bag when I got it too close to the motor (nothing a little duct tape can't fix).

First Snow Fall of 2008

We all awoke this morning to the great white stuff falling from the sky. Bridget loved to just sit by the window and watch it fall.

By the time we got done with church (4:00 PM) the snow had stopped and it was looking much nicer. Now Nate just has to clean up the mess from the two branches that broke off our tree in the front yard.