Another Day, Another Snowstorm

This morning we woke up to more snow!!  I didn't get out and shovel (THANKS to my neighbors who thought the last post about snow was a plea for help!) but we went out for a little bit to play!  Brayden just couldn't wait to get out there once he saw the snow!  He ended up creating his own little slide/sledding hill out of the mounds of snow from our driveway!  He'll be REALLY excited when Dad's home next week and can take him sledding but today, he improvised on his own! 

Still in his pjs, he just HAD to check out the snow!

You can see what's left of our Frosty from Tuesday!

His way of sledding today!

He used the bigger mound a few times and it worked better than the smaller one!  This kid has no fear and didn't care one bit if it was cold!

Brian, we can't wait for you to come home and join us in all the snow fun!!  Yippee for more snow in the forecast next week!

Santa Claus and Mrs Claus

Today Brayden and I went to the elementary school that Grandma Leavitt works at and joined in on a Polar Express Party in the kindergarten class taught by a good friend of our family's.  We mostly went because we had heard that Santa and Mrs Claus would be making an appearance once the class made it to the North Pole!  Brayden was a little nervous when they first walked in but after a few Christmas songs, a story read by Santa, and seeing some other kids get their chance to sit on his lap, he finally decided he would give it a try!

Grandma Leavitt was not far, just off to the side of Santa, and Santa was asking how old Brayden was....he was too shy to say very much to him!

He finally told him he wanted a dinosaur puzzle but he wasn't even going to look at him when he told him!

The best shot of the day!  He's been telling everyone we've seen since this afternoon about his visit with Santa and Mrs Claus and that Mrs Claus gave him a candy cane!  Nothing like a bribe I guess!  Aren't they the cutest Santa and Mrs Claus?!? 

SNOW

We woke up to about 3-4 inches of snow this morning!  Brayden was so excited!  It's the first time this winter we've had enough to build a snowman and have to shovel!  With Brian out of town, me and my belly got to shovel while Brayden attempted to help but also make it more work!  Nothing's better than enjoying the snow with a little boy who's just enamored by it!  We had a great time together!

All bundled up and ready to go out!

He couldn't wait to make a snow angel!

After snow angels in the driveway (that Mom was trying to shovel) and on the grass, he moved to the street!  Good thing we live in a VERY QUIET culdesac!

Our first "Frosty" of the season!!

Brayden and his "Frosty"!  He's been watching Frosty on tv almost everyday and when I told him to stand by Frosty, he wouldn't do anything but hug him!  I kept hearing, "Frosty I know" (from when the little girl in the movie tells him she knows he came to life), "Frosty, you are my friend" and "Frosty had a carrot nose and button eyes" while we made him!  And when we went in, he had to say goodbye to Frosty!  I love my little guy!

Aunt Stephanie's Graduation

Congrats to Aunt Stephanie who graduated this past weekend from BYU-Idaho!!  Brayden and I made the trek up to Rexburg with Grandma & Grandpa Petersen and Aunt Carrie while Dad was busy off working in PALM SPRINGS!  (Talk about temperature difference!)  Brayden was a great little traveler!  We survived the cold weather and the 5+ hours in the same auditorium (thanks to Sony for making portable DVD players!) while watching the university ceremony and waiting for her college one to start!  (Brayden REALLY surprised his Mom who had visions of tantrums and walking the hallways!!)  We had lots of fun with our family for the weekend and are still trying to catch up!!  Playing catch up is hard but even harder with a Daddy who's off working for the week in Kansas City!  (Hurray for the 17 days off he'll have starting Saturday night!!)

Stephanie on her big day!

All the family that was there!  (Notice Bruce's attire...he forgot to pack any clothes and only had what he was wearing!  Love ya Bruce!)

Brayden and Mommy...his black pants blend in nicely with the black shirt covering Mom's growing tummy!

Proud parents with their graduate!

Siblings...just missing Brian! :(

Brayden and Aunt Stephanie

Grandpa and Brayden

Brayden loved Steph's hat!

The Rexburg Temple at night and WITH snow!  Brayden calls it "Stephanie's Temple."

Our Gingerbread House

Tonight for FHE we decorated a gingerbread house together!  (Thanks to Costco for having such great kits!)  It went better than last year when Brayden ONLY wanted to eat the candy and he was actually quite helpful in decorating!  We had a lot of fun and Brian took it upon himself to be in charge of the gingerbread Christmas tree.  Now only time will tell if it makes it through the holiday season without a major accident, most likely to be caused by a certain 2 1/2 year old!  (We took way too many pictures so feel free to skip over them!)

Someone got caught eating frosting!

I wanted to take their picture and he just snuggled up to Dad!

Both boys concentrating on the task at hand!

Cheesing it with Mom!

Our work is done!

The creators of the masterpiece!

Visiting Santa

Today, on our second attempt at the mall, Brayden was finally able to see Santa!  (The first time we learned we had shown up during his dinner break!)  This was the first year Brayden was interested and not freaked out by seeing Santa!  (Maybe because we'd been prepping him about it for awhile now!)  He knew exactly what he wanted to ask Santa to bring him (a dinosaur puzzle...boy that's easy!) and was ready to go!  (We didn't take our camera but hopefully these pictures off Brian's iPhone don't look too bad!)

Deep in converstation about the dinosaur puzzle!

Smiling for Dad's camera/phone!

Ok I'm DONE!

Maybe we'll try again one more time this year?!?  If not, I'm already looking forward to next year and hopefully having a great picture of my TWO little boys with Santa!

Counting Down the Days!!

We're getting excited for Christmas here in our house!  Everyday we read LOTS of Christmas books with Brayden and he also goes around to all our advent calendars in the house!

We glue a cotton ball on Santa's beard...(which can be found here)

...hang a star on the tree...
...and we open one of these tins, eat the treat that we found in it, and then take the tin off...
...of this cute advent calendar I made this year!
My sister-in-law, Beth, and I started these calendars not too long after Christmas LAST year and I'm happy to say I had mine done and ready by December 3rd!  We worked on them off and on throughout the year and then I finally put it all together last week!  You can find the directions here...Split Coast Stampers Advent Calendar.

Even though we're counting down the days, Brayden really hasn't grasped the concept of it being "Christmas time" but it not being "Christmas Day" yet!  He's really trying to figure it out so hopefully he'll understand in a couple of weeks!  

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Leavitt family, Great Grandma Price, and Great Uncle David and his family!  Brayden was very excited about "Papa Kelly cooking a big turkey!"  Brayden and I slept in while Brian went to the ward Turkey bowl.  Then we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on tv during breakfast and some last minute baking!  Brayden fell asleep in the car on the way over to my parents house but woke up and wasn't even that cranky for not having a nap!  Maybe because he was so excited that Thanksgiving was here?!?  (We'd been prepping him on the holiday by doing lots of Thanksgiving crafts and reading Thanksgiving books!)  Brayden LOVED playing with my cousins, Erin, Andrew, Lauren, and Katelyn.  He thought Andrew was there just for him! 

After dinner, Brayden was VERY excited about the Turkey cupcakes we were making.  Aunt Torey and Daddy helped him make a few while I helped Lauren and Katelyn.  We have lots of things to be thankful for this year and enjoyed being together as a family that day and for the 10 days Brian had off from work!  Now back to real life for us...at least for a few more weeks until Christmas!!

Snuggling with Grandma Leavitt right as we got there, still trying to wake up from his short nap in the car!

Our family!

Brayden and Andrew playing dinosaurs!  (Brayden's current obsession!)

Brayden and Andrew...crazy that the weather was nice enough for Andrew to wear shorts on Thanksgiving!?!

Aunt Torey let him get away with licking the knife at the very beginning of decorating the cupcakes!!

Concentrating on putting those candy corn feathers in!

Yes, she sets SUCH a good example for him!

Again, those candy corn feathers are hard work!

Smiling at getting caught eating even MORE frosting!

One of the finished turkey cupcakes!

The attempt at a family picture for the Leavitt Family Christmas card?!?