Snow Much Fun

Here is James all ready to play in the snow! He wouldn't be smiling if he knew how cold it gets here.

Tori, James and Dad on the mound of snow Tori and Dad made.

It was really cold out that day, so I was pretty impressed with how happy James still was.
Cute snow bunnies.

We took the picture of James above in the snow and it felt like just yesterday we were taking the same picture of Tori in the snow, so I went back and found it because I wanted to see how much they really do look alike (everyone's comment lately when they see James is that he looks so much like Tori).

Tori trying to teach James the joys of being pulled around in the sled by Mom and Dad (we really need to find a hill around here).

Still smiling after his adventure in the snow.

Valentine's Day

Three is a great age for holidays! Tori had so much fun with Valentine's Day this year. She loved coloring all her valentines, and decorating her box at Anne, Megan & Rigg's Valentine's day party. She got so into handing them out and receiving them and talked about it for days. She loves anything involving crayons, glue, paint, scissors, etc. - so Tori really enjoyed Valentine's Day. Below is a picture of us putting valentines in Tori's friend's boxes.

Below is just a picture of Tori 'sledding' (being pulled around the yard in the sled by mom) with friends that one of my friends took and I thought was cute. They sure look like they are having fun, but I can't wait for winter to be over. Tori has been asking a lot lately when Spring is going to come and when will she get to see flowers.

Luke, Cooper, Tori & Andrew

Snow!

So it's been a very snowy and VERY COLD December and January here. We have still managed to have some fun playing in the snow. Above: Amy is pulling Cooper and Luke on the sled and Tori is in the purple. Tori loves going out to play in the snow and getting pulled on her sleds (I really need to try and find a hill around here for her to sled on - easier said than done.)

Here are some pictures of Tori and Dad making a snowman (Tori loved doing this, since mommy usually doesn't have the patience to try and build one). Making a snowman here is a lot more difficult than it was back east for me. Around here it is so cold and the snow doesn't have much moisture to it so it is very hard to pack.

After we made the snowman we had a hard time thinking of what to use for a face, so we got creative. We did have a carrot for the nose, his eyes and buttons are lollipops, and his mouth is a pickle.

The temperatures around here only got above freezing a very few times during the month of January, so the one day it was around 34 degrees it felt so nice and warm to us that we spent some of the afternoon with Tori riding her tricycle outside around the neighborhood.

Lots of Snow

This winter we had more snow than we ever want to have again in Iowa. It was very beautiful at times, just exhausting to shovel! Winter also lasted very long this year. Tori was probably the one person not complaining about all the snow. She loved to play in it while mom and dad shoveled the driveway. Though, it did get too cold for even her to play in it for awhile there. These are just a few of the pictures of Tori in the snow.

Above is Tori on top of the mountain of snow on the side of our driveway (there wasn't too much snow yet in this picture, but in the next couple weeks that mountain was taller than me).

Tori's two favorite things to do in the snow are to get pulled around the yard on the sled and to make snow angels.

Below is a video of Tori doing a snow angel (more fun than just seeing a picture).

Sledding

We had about a half a foot of snow over a few days about a week ago. So on one of the mornings when I went out to shovel some more snow from our sidewalks I decided to take Tori out with me and pull her around on the sled in the snow in our yard. She had a blast (even though it was only 20 degrees outside). Anytime I would stop she would sign and say "more, more". She even toppled off the sled once and that didn't even take the smile off her face. The snow is now mostly melted, but the sled is still in the garage and everytime we go to get in the car she shouts, "sled, sled" when she sees it.