Snow Days!

Back in November I made an impulse buy at Target (you don't say!). A sled. Because last year when we had snow days I was dragging Grant around the yard in the lid of his old sandbox...and that was only fun for one of us. That poor sled has sat in the garage looking very lonely ever since. I really didn't think it would see any use this year.

But yes! Finally some winter weather. And snow days. The first - two weeks ago - was really more of an "ice day", no real snow to speak of. But the yard was slippery enough that we got some good use of the sled. The only real disappointment for either of us was that no real snow means no snow slushies. Grant remembered the snow slushies from last year, he was a bit sad about missing out on those (and so was I).

We managed to find a couple good spots in our yard where we could make the sled really go and, of course, I pulled him in laps around the house.

Not much on the ground, but it was slippery!

He kept throwing his hands up like he was on a roller coaster.

After simply riding down our little slope, he decided
to "crash" his sled like a race car...every time.

We ventured back in the woods like last year to get a look at the little stream we had found (it gets quite nasty back there in summer so this is strictly a winter adventure). It looked much the same as it did last year but still so pretty!

We found out not long after this that a coyote lives
back there...so this was our last adventure in the woods!

When we went back to riding in the sled, I told Grant it was my turn.

That didn't work out too well for me.

We had so much fun playing outside that day! And we ended up with the next day off too although the yard was no longer sled-worthy.

We got just a little bit of real snow that evening, but it didn't last long.

Round two of the snow was last week. Tuesday I was actually on my way to Greensboro for a trade show but got called back by the office. On my way back to the office I found out daycare was closing early, so headed there instead. When we got home, we did one of Grant's very favorite things: made koolaid. Because enough snow had fallen that we could make slushies (not being fans of that snow cream business)! So we did that while my big pot of chicken & pastry cooked on the stove (YUM!). 

After a nap, though, it was time to play outside! Last year my sister sent Grant a pair of snow pants and he hates them. He actually cried when I made him wear them the first time (the "ice day" above). Quite ridiculous, yes? Kids. Anyway, no snow pants = no playing outside so he didn't give me a hard time anymore. 

They're a little big so I think he felt silly but they work!

He brought a couple monster trucks outside to play with when we weren't sledding. We made little jumps for them out of the snow and he thought that was just the greatest.

And more sledding...and snow balls...

So happy :)

And, of course, he had to eat the snow too.

I love snow! And I love spending our snow days like this. It doesn't happen often so I try to enjoy it. Grant looks at me with disbelief when I tell him I used to get to play like this all the time in the winter where I grew up. He wants to go up to NY one winter to see Aunt Shauna and to see all that snow. I hope we get to make that happen sometime!

High Five for Friday

Hi there! Today I'm linking up Jennie to share some of my favorite stuff from the past week.

1) Friday was Grant's Valentine's Day party at school. He's been so excited about this! I was out of town for work Thurs-Sat but I couldn't wait to get him on the phone as soon as I could so I could hear all about his party. It sounds like he had a really good time!

Most of Grant's Valentine's (all but the ones for his teachers) had his name
on them already but he wrote all his classmates names on the envelopes.
And *braggy mom moment* he could read most of them off the
list. I was pretty impressed by this!

He really loved the Valentines he gave out!

These are the crayon hearts Grant gave to his classmates
(Also Tiny Prints - where the Valentines came from - put my craft on Twitter!) 

And these are the cupcakes I made for his party. I made kind of
a lot but I hear people got to bring some home so that's good!

2) Every year my co-worker, Janis, and I are out of town for Valentine's Day at the Cattlemen's Conference. We joke about spending that day together every year. This year was our last one together since Janis is retiring!

Me & Janis

As a side note: this was LUNCH :)

3) We actually only spent half of Valentine's Day together since the conference was over that day. I came home to some gorgeous flowers...and then we took Grant to Monster Jam! How's that for romance? Grant had a blast, it really was a great way to spend the evening!

My pretty roses

So excited for the show to start!

Imitating the El Diablo truck. We cracked up over this! He'd never seen
this one before and I think it was his favorite that night
(maybe more so than Grave Digger).

Gotta love the crashes!

4) We had a couple "snow days" this week. More like ice days. Daycare closed Tuesday & Wednesday so Grant & I had some fun. Back in November I bought a sled just to be prepared and I thought I had jinxed us! But even though there was no real snow, the yard was still slick enough that we could use the sled. Grant had so much fun! Day 2 wasn't as sled friendly so we did stuff around the house like some workbook stuff and learning games.

Snow day smiles!

My little half-Yankee loves the cold weather like his Mama :)

Wednesday evening we had some exciting snow flurries but they didn't last long.

5) I like to meal plan for the week and I'm always so excited when I stick to it. This week I was glad I did it early because I really don't enjoy the craziness of the grocery store when winter weather is coming. And tonight I shall be rewarded by not cooking! 

This very cheesy baked ziti was a hit the other night!

Happy Friday everyone!

Have a great weekend!

2014 Pullen Park Holiday Express

I'm a big fan of large Christmas light displays. I get that from my Dad. Grant does too, he can't get enough Christmas lights! So he always has fun at the Pullen Park holiday thing. I almost skipped the tickets this year because no Saturday times were available when I decided to reserve tickets but it's such a fun family thing that I decided a Sunday was just fine :)

Usually you just reserve your stuff and show up. This year you had to pick a specific "boarding time" for your train ride. Fantastic idea because it was SO much better organized this year (and less crowded). I didn't pick up our stuff ahead of time this year, I had so much going on that I just decided to get it when we got there. Except we almost didn't make it. Husband's family had a get-together that day and it ran long. Our train time was 5:45, I looked at the time as the lady was handing me my envelope it was 5:30 - whew! So we headed there immediately. But after the ride we just wandered around the park enjoying everything before heading home.

So happy and excited!

Waving to the passengers on the later train ride!

They had a sledding station set up that I was so excited about! I knew Grant would love it and I figured we'd ride together. Nope. He told me at the top that he wanted to ride alone and since I was stuck up there without a sled...no sledding for Mama. But he had a blast. We met him at the bottom and he said "That. Was. AWESOME!" I think the sledding was his favorite, even more than the train.

They had a little station set up where you make "Reindeer Food" to sprinkle in your yard on Christmas Eve. I thought that was so cute!

Making his reindeer food.

We walked around a bit checking out the lights before hitting the carousel (which is the fastest carousel I've ever been on - I can't believe no one was thrown off!)

Going so fast!

Since it was Sunday night (and Grant had missed almost the whole previous week being sick), we didn't stay a long time. But it's kind of become a tradition for us so I'm glad we got to go. On the way out we stopped so Grant could play in the snow machine they had going at the entrance/exit.

It definitely got me feeling a little more festive and it was a great way to end our weekend!

High Five for Friday

Today I'm linking up with Lauren to share some of my favorite stuff from the past week. It not exactly just this past week because I'm including last week too.

1) It snowed again! Just in case I was clear HERE, HERE and HERE...I love snow and winter and cold weather! Love it! And so does Grant. So he was jazzed about another day to play in the snow (and had his first, second, and third snow slushies).

He begged to play with the Hulk fists outside.

2) The day after "Snowmaggedon" hit Raleigh - also Valentine's Day - my co-worker and I headed to Hickory for a conference. So she and I were once again each other's Valentine date. Later on, Husband texted me a picture of the Valentine that Grant made us at school. So stinkin cute!

3) I got home from my trip Saturday evening to flowers on the kitchen table and a happy little boy.

4) I took Grant to the park on Sunday. The weather was great and we needed some exercise. So I took a nice long walk and then let Grant have some playground time afterwards. I even managed to meal-plan while I walked and we hit the grocery store on the way home!

5) Wednesday was Taco Night. I never mind that night of the week because I don't have to cook much besides the meat. But Grant looks at like a buffet table of "I can do it myself" and he eats better than any other meal I make. He had four tacos and was excited about every single one.

Happy Friday!

Have a great weekend!