Christmas Stocking!

Our little one woke on Christmas morning just as cheerful as always. After a diaper and clothing change (one day maybe he'll be able to stay in his pajamas) he came running out to see the world.

He ran around the corner like he knew there was something exciting going on. I wonder how much he picks up from Andrew and I?



He was pretty impressed with his glasses... too bad they only survived about ten hours till someone stepped on them. :(


He did, however insist on wearing his glasses on his head for the next few presents. What a "cool dude."

A lovely photo taken with amazing skill by the boy's dad.


He so loved the "buddles!" Of course, they started out as being "bunnles" and moved on from there!



I love this picture of him reaching into his stocking! He's such a sweetie.


Daddy helping with some of the trickier wrapped items.


"Is there anything else in here?"

Lukey was pretty excited about the orange and potato in the toe of his stocking. Daddy then explained to him why we put those items there. I tried to video the explanation, but it didn't turn out so hot. But it still made me tear up. We are so blessed!

Holiday Baking!

So we had a baking evening. Luke enjoyed running back and forth between us and eventually setting up shop by standing on a chair next to where I was working. It had been far to long since I made chocolate chip cookies from scratch. They are delicious. Yum. Plus, it's lotsa fun with a stand mixer. Andrew worked on fudge while I made the cookies and both turned out rather yummy.


Here is the man himself stirring like crazy!


And here his little helper thinks he needs a bit more vanilla.

Luke, making sure he has the right fit with his apron, just like Mumma.


"Hey guys, check it out! This thing has a pocket!"

Here's Luke, giving me advice on what I'm doing wrong.

He kept busy measuring things for a while and let me finish putting the dough together.



Then he helped to stir in the chocolate chips! How very precious he was, if a little too helpful at times!

Quick taste to check for salmonella before mom or dad could stop him. Yum.

Overall, I'd say it was a success! And I just enjoyed a few cookies and they're still good! I love freshly baked cookies. Although I did just set off the smoke detector while making them. Apparently the wife saver I made earlier bubbled over. Oops!

Sleds and Snowmen

Here are just a few more pictures of our winter antics. Enjoy. I'm hoping to have a good video of Luke crawling on top of the snow maybe tomorrow or something. We'll see how it turned out.



We were working on a snow man...



Luke and I going down. These are from yesterday (or the day before? I'm so confused) so it wasn't icy yet.




My two silly boys. I can't seem to make both of them look at the camera at the same time to save my life! Gotta love 'em!

Sledding Fun!

These pictures are in no particular order. We took Luke out this morning for his first sled ride. The snow was too deep to really do much of anything except pull Luke on the top of the snow. When I tried to get on with him, we sank too deep to move or be pulled! It is crazy out there. Luke had an absolute blast playing in the "tow."

Daddy pulls Luke down our hill. He learned quickly to do balance checks and it was too fun to watch him.



Luke and I, not long before we called it quits. It was cold out there and Luke doesn't have boots or proper snow pants or gloves (we used a couple of pairs of socks). He was utterly unimpressed when told it was almost time to go in.


My two boys at the end of the line... Yes, that is his baby swing that we used to pull the sled because we didn't have any rope.

You may not be able to tell, but I'm kneeling on one knee here. The snow was right at my knees! It felt so deep! Almost too deep to do anything in.


This picture makes me laugh cause you can't even see all the snow around him. I think we used the flash. He just loved pulling handfuls of snow into the sled. :)

Overall, we had a delightful morning in the snow. It was fun to see Luke be old enough to actually notice what was going on. It'll only get better from here!

I'll leave you with Luke's thoughts on coming in to get warm...


Oh, and I wouldn't maximize this pic. There may or may not be streaks of a disgusting substance across his cheeks... So sad. Poor baby!

What We're Up To?

What a weekend. It is still snowing outside on top of the 19-ish inches we have now. Luke loves it. He calls it "tow." However, it's not all fun and games. You can read about our afternoon adventure yesterday "before it got bad out" over here. It was some scary stuff and I am quite thankful that we are safe, along with the rest of my extended family (including a brother who rode home from town, a 25 minute car ride, on an ATV).



He was quite enthralled with all the white stuff. And quite upset that we wouldn't let him stand there with the door open all night. Silly kid.


Concentrating on his drawing. He is just so much fun.



This is one of my favourites. Luke has started getting on his tummy to draw just this week and I think it is too cute. Here, he and Daddy are illustrating our adventures in the car yesterday.

Still to come... sometime, hopefully, maybe, possibly, some pics of our outdoor fun in all this white mess.

Fall was in the Air!

Here are some fall photos for your enjoyment... I've heard through the grapevine that my public (rather, Luke's public) is waiting. I'll go unpack some more while you enjoy our boy in our old (sniff, tear) back yard.

Some of the Girls (Can Fam Part Five)

I just thought these pictures were funny. We were all staring over at who-knows-what with serious looks on our faces and then laughing at the kid.

Serious.

Not so serious.

That's all.

At Alpine

Last month our small group met outside near a pond. It is totally ridiculous trying to keep up with a toddler near water. But, he had a good time running around. It got super cold in the evening, though. Here are a few pictures of us with our kiddo.


I was trying to make him laugh even though he couldn't play where he wanted to play. It's tough being a toddler!


My two boys. I love the zoned look on Lukey's face. Notice, this was the same day as our Walmart trip... :)

Such a funny expression! He makes me laugh. A lot.

Mommy and Lukey

Here is a quick picture of Luke and I. He was quite giddy on this particular day, if I recall correctly. :)

Taking a Break From Driving

Here is our little guy getting a much needed break from the car seat. He was so ready to be done. This particular stop was in Flatwoods, WV. We got out, walked through a book store, played in the grass, and even sent Andrew into the Amish bulk food store to buy chocolate covered pretzels. Yum. I will not admit to how many of them I consumed by stealth next to Luke in the back seat. He's getting too old to sneak much of anything around him. I somehow convinced him that he should eat Crispix while I had pretzels. Yummy.


I think he looks a little disoriented here. Kinda like he'd been in a car for 10 hours. Oh wait...



We had some fun with bubbles. What a great thing to bring along on a trip! I had planned to use them in the car for when we needed a distraction, but that was before I remembered that we don't have AC. Wind whipping through the windows did not support active bubble blowing. :)


Lukey and Mommy getting ready to get back in the car for the final stretch. What a long day! We left Andrew's parents house around 4:30 in the morning and got home around 6:30 that evening. All things considered, a pretty good days travel.

Train Ride!

So the Peterborough Zoo has an adorable little train that takes you for a ride through a forest where you're supposed to find the lost animals that the zoo keeper lost... I hate that I didn't get any pictures of the actual engine. This is the same train ride (for a dollar more, now) that Andrew and I went on the day after we got engaged.



I think the train was just pulling into the station. I love the look on Luke's face!



Mommy and Luke on the train. It was a little cramped (hey, I think it was made for smaller passengers!) but so fun.



Family picture! Taken by Uncle Luke who was behind us with Aunt Helena.

This was the last thing we did at the zoo. It was a grand finale, in my opinion. We were gonna stop at the splash park, but we were running behind. So much to do and see at the zoo! It was so nice to get to spend the morning with family and friends.