Merry Christmas

I'm not sure when I'll be on the blog during the 'holiday break,' so just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New year! I am off the last two weeks of the year and am looking forward to spending time with family and friends!

Shoveling Out

The total is in, we had 20 inches of snow! I don't remember in my adult life ever being in snow up to my knees. While I am normally not much of a cold weather person, I enjoyed jumping into the snow. It was complete powder - you couldn't make a snow ball if you tried.

It took me and Brian over an hour to dig our driveway and walk-way out. One of our neighbor's brought his snow blower over to clean up the end of the driveway and into the street.

Brennan preferred playing with the shoveled snow, where we could keep his feet on solid ground.

Our road still hasn't been plowed, which leads me to believe it might not be done at all. The entrance to the neighborhood was plowed, but they didn't come all the way through, so who knows how long we'll be dealing with this mess. I am glad that I am done with Christmas shopping! The main roads are clear, but I'd imagine many neighborhoods look like ours. Loudoun County closed school for the next two days, so kids have off early for the holidays. And, the government is closed today, so Brian gets another day home with us!

Snow Daze

This weather merits two posts in one day! The snow is still coming down very steadily. I have never seen snow like this in the DC area. We definitely have over a foot.

At 11:30, it was already up to Brennan's thighs.

Brennan was a little hesitant at first, but then dove in. Brian also took a break from shoveling and had a little fun.

Check out my neighbor's Prius, it's completely covered! You can see the side mirror just peaking out from the snow.

December Fun

Happy Snowy Morning! This is the view from our front door this morning. It wasn't really coming down anymore when we first got up, but now, it's falling pretty heavily again. I think we have about 10 inches on the ground right now.

I have been slacking on posting because I've been having major issues with my laptop. It won't take a charge and often won't recognize that the power cord is plugged in. I got lucky a few times and it charged up, but it's back to being dead. Brian pulled the hard drive out last night so that I could retrieve my files, but I think that that is the end of my laptop. I finally got my photo-editing software installed on Brian's PC, so I can get back to the blog. I'll have the November slide show up very soon.

My parents were down for a visit the first weekend in December, when it snowed. In addition to playing in the snow, Brennan has a great time riding "the horse."

The following weekend, we met up with my friend, Joanie, and her son Evan, who is Brennan's age. The boys played in the mall play area and rode on the carousel together. Joanie got some good pictures and included a nice little write-up on her blog about the day... check it out:

http://evan-ville.blogspot.com/2009/12/fun-saturday.html

Brennan has been a real trooper for me as I have been dragging him out shopping as I prepare for Christmas! Thankfully all of our malls have kid play areas, so my strategy has been to let him tire himself out playing and then let him rest in the stroller while I shop. Sometimes, he is even kind enough to nap for me. Occasionally, we'll do the train ride. Here is a photo from our latest train ride.

Sad Santa

Poor Brennan did not want to cooperate for his photo with Santa this year. His unhappiness started the moment I put him in his Christmas outfit. When I put him on Santa's lap, he started crying, but instead of trying to run away, he snuggled into Santa's jacket for comfort. This sad photo will not be going out with our holiday cards this year, so I thought I'd share it with you here.

Snow Baby

In a rare event for the DC area, we got about 4 inches of snow on Saturday! It started around 9 in the morning and went all day. We went out in the mid-morning to play. Brennan was having mixed feelings about the snow and hopped in the wagon for a little reprieve. By the end of the day, the ground was fully covered in snow. It was nice to see a little winter wonderland come our way so early in the season.