Playing in the snow

Its been a few weeks now, that we have been watching snow fall.  However, it has been way to cold and/or windy to let the kids go out and play in it.  And then, FINALLY!!  Last week we had a perfectly mild, warmer winter day.  So we got all suited up in our snow gear and headed out!  ( at this point we had quite a bit of snow on the ground ) I was very anxious to see how the kids were going to react to being IN the snow verses just looking at it.  Like anything new or different to them, they werent too sure about it at first. (especially Mason)  After a few minutes, Maddie decided "the heck with these gloves" and flung them off so she could dig into the snow with ther bare hands.   She seemed to really enjoy the snow!  Mason on the other hand, was still not so sure.  He mostly stood there motionless with his arms out to his sides. After a bit, he began to warm up to the idea of snow and started to dig around in it.  Id say overall it was a successful, fun first snow experience for them.

Its begining to look a lot like Christmas!!

....FINALLY!!  After an unseasonably warm November, we had our first snow fall this past weekend.  I cannot remember a single winter in my childhood where we didnt have snow before December 1st.  I was starting to wonder if we were going to get snow at all this year.  But winter is now in full effect!! Overnight temps of 7 and todays high of 12...yeah, Its freezing!!! 

Although we hadnt gotten any snow yet, our house has been in the Christmas spirit for weeks...out came the decorations, the stockings, the tree, the lights, holiday sented candles, James Taylor Christmas CD, presents under the tree, and LOTS of baking. But with all of that, it still didnt feel like Christmas without the presence of snow!

Our tree with a HUGE child gate all around it..

Ryan and I actually braved the madness and the "crazy people", and did a little black friday shopping this year.  Although it was a bit crazy, the deals were AWESOME!  And we have been done with all of our Christmas shopping since.  So now, we can just relax and enjoy the season.  The kids have been a tad under the weather this past week, and we didnt want to let them go play in the snow until they are feeling better. So this weekend we all stayed in and watched Christmas movies. 

Picture Time

As November continues to fly by, I figured that its not too early to get our family Christmas card ready.  In search of a somewhat current "good family picture" I began to dig through about a million pictures of the past few months only to realize that such a picture does not exsist.  That only meant one thing...  "Picture Time"!  And with the surprise warmer weather that showed up, it was a perfect weekend for it!  However, no matter how much YOU prepare for taking pictures, your children and their mood/ attitude actually decide how well it goes.   So with some great photo ideas in mind, off to the park we went..Now, seeing how I have an obsession/hobby of photography, Mason and Maddie are extremely used to having a camera in their face at any and all times of the day. But wouldnt you know it, on this particular afternoon, they wanted nothing to do with taking pictures! Sitting or standing still was not an option.  And in Masons case, would not stop screaming. So with a few good pictures..we headed home. (So much for that idea!)    After we got home, I had a new idea!  I started to play with the tri pod and timer on my camera... I thought it would be fun to turn our hallway (has the best natural light) into a mock photo studio and try to get some pictures that way.  With Ryan, Mason, and Maddie as the guinnie pigs for this idea..some of the pictures actually turned out really nice and some of the out-takes are pretty funny.    After a picture filled weekend  and several attempts at a "good family photo" our Christmas cards are done!