Snow Day

We haven't had any significant amount of snow in two years. That's unusual for where we live. Well, it used to be. Before we started getting hurricanes, ice storms, and floods along with the tornadoes. I miss snow.

Then, finally, we got about 4 inches of snow one morning between Christmas and New Year's. It coincided with the day that Andy had to drive back to South Carolina, which wasn't as good, but he made it safely.

So first some fun pictures of Andy and Evan playing around. Wait. Andy, are you trying to hit my kid with a snowball?



Nice save.





Thankfully Evan is a good sport (and fierce snowball thrower).



Just ask Dan.



I *could* make a reference to Dan's phone addiction, but admittedly I have spent a lot of time lugging a camera around rather than being 'in the moment.' Let me just officially claim Presidency of Hypocrites 'R Us and leave today's phone nagging to everyone else.

Also, later, Dan took one square in the kisser.



Evan and I started building a snowman, then Dan joined in.



I think it's a pretty good first snowman, or snowcowboy.







There was singing, 'cause, why not?



Evan insisted we build a whole snow family. We had to get a little creative with the snow people accoutrements. Since I failed to get in to any pictures, I'll just point out the love for Mama "Hot Lips" SnowLady!

Hometown Tourists

Our friend, Andy, came to visit between Christmas and New Year's from sunny South Carolina. We usually try to do something entertaining besides letting Evan run amuck, so we visited the Derby museum. As a bonus the day we went, they had a bourbon tasting!









It was cold outside. I think a better plan would be for us to drive to SC in January!



Dan had a little too much fun with the jockey wear.


(iPhone shot)


(iPhone)

And Evan followed suit.

Christmas Day

Normally we don't travel on Christmas day. A few years ago we tried to visit three families three plus hours apart all in the same day, then spent an extra hour on the interstate after an accident shut it down. Not a fun way to spend the holiday. But this year we decided to break our own rule. There was a bit of a struggle to get Evan to leave half his newly opened toys from Christmas morning (I say half because the rest went with us as a compromise). Even though we ended up not staying the night with family as planned and drove back after midnight because of an expected blizzard the next morning, it was worth it to see everyone and spend a few hours together.

Guess which one of these gifts Evan was more excited about? Ha!



Waiting patiently...











The coolest gift of the day went to our nephew, Justin. He asked for a sword-shaped umbrella. I'm convinced Poppy can find anything online!



Hey, look, I'm in a picture (or two)! Thanks to Poppy/Mark for knowing how to operate my camera!





And what's Christmas without a blooper reel?

LED Headlamps!



What parenting really looks like



And finding out the secret recipe!



Merry Christmas!

Christmas Morning

A few people have asked me if Evan woke us up at the crack of dawn to see what Santa had brought him. Thankfully the answer is no. He loves his sleep. I don't know if he'll ever be the type to run down the hall at 6 am, and this is ok with me.

It was pretty much the same scenario as last year. He insisted I carry him to the loot. He really is not a morning person at all.

He wrote a letter to Santa on Christmas Eve just to make sure 1) Santa knew what he wanted and 2) Santa wasn't relying on mom and dad (or the elf) to report on his behavior. Smart kid.


iPhone photo. That last line = I love Santa. Sometimes Evan isn't so picky about the order of the letters.

Santa delivered.



I still get the smirky smile though.









We finished opening gifts at home, then headed out to visit family. More on that to come.