We finally had some dry and warm weather here this week. It only lasted a couple of days, but it was wonderful to get outside. We played at the park for a couple of hours and then came home and planted some shrubs. The temperature was 60 degrees, and it was hard to remember that it actually snowed last week! 
Abby dearly loves the snow. We have been really enjoying our weekly snowfall this year. Since Christmas, including Christmas Day, we have had many days where we have watched the snow fall outside. It hasn't accumulated much, but watching it fall while the fire is burning warm inside is just glorious! Today we woke up to about 1 1/2 inches of snow on the ground, and both kids had fun in it despite the sparcity of it. Mostly Abby just walks around eating handfuls of it, but she did make a few snow angels and throw a few snowballs as well.
We got a bit more snow yesterday. It snowed teeny flakes all day long, but the accumulation wasn't much. Finally when it looked like it was beginning to turn to rain, we bundled the kids up in their new scarves and sent them out to play a bit. 
It was pretty cold with some really wet snow, so they didn't last very long. I stayed inside and made some white hot chocolate which they drank by the fire when they came inside. 
When had some Christmas fun at a local museum this weekend. Here Abby is decorating her own gingerbread man.
Abby had a blast with just the tiny bit of snow we got today, so when we took her up the mountain a bit and there was an inch or so on the ground, she was thrilled! We thought it would be fun to cut our Christmas tree in the snow, and it was!
The kids had a snowball fight, and Abby sampled snow off of a dozen trees. We chose a smaller tree than last year and one close to the van (Daddy's neck and back are still hurting!), but it was neat to see our Christmas tree covered in snow.
After choosing and cutting our tree, we went inside for hot cider and cookies. Each child also got to pick a toy, and Abby chose a seashell necklace. It was pretty cold, so we didn't play anymore after warming up inside. We just took our tree home and stayed inside with the fire going!
It wasn't much and it didn't stick, but the snow sure was pretty while it lasted! Abigail was so excited to see it snowing off and on all day yesterday. She was disappointed that it wasn't enough to taste, but she had fun running around in it for a little bit yesterday. "We've waited a whole year for this!" she said as she was getting her coat and boots on.
We stopped to collect some of these brilliantly colored leaves when we were out running errands yesterday. Abby just oohhed and aahhed over the gorgeous trees...and so did Mommy!
Just when you thought we'd had enough of picking berries, we headed out again last Monday to pick blueberries for some pies. A generous friend of mine offered to teach me the secret of her wonderful pie crust, and she brought her son along to help out with the picking and to be a huge help with the kids! This family has watched the kids quite a bit in the past we lived closer, and they watched them again recently. The kids adore the whole family, so it was great to have her son along for the fun.
We met at the farm before 10:00 and picked 15 pounds of blueberries. Cathy and I did most of the picking, though Jonathan and Ryan helped quite a bit too. Abby mostly wanted to play with Jonathan, and he obliged her by giving them both rides in the wagon, chasing them and making up games and stories (not to mention the blueberry throwing idea that wasn't my favorite game of the day!).
We came home, had a quick lunch and got to work making pies. Jonathan played with the kids inside and outside, and I know they wore him out! Cathy and I made six (yes, six!) pies and had a wonderful time of fellowship. What a blessing it was to have the kids entertained while we worked in the kitchen! We were all tired by the time it was done, but Ryan, Abby and I had a great day.
Since we don't have any more snow, we decided to make some of our own. Abby struggled a little with cutting out the flakes, but she did a good job on this one!
We still have snow on the ground today. In fact, it snowed a bit more this morning and afternoon, though it wasn't enough that you could really tell. It did one good thing though: it was a wet snow, and along with the warmer temps today, it turned our existing powdery snow into perfect snow for building a snowman! It packed beautifully today, and it made it easy to build our little man. Abby insisted on having a carrot for his nose! His eyes are cranberries and his mouth is sunflower seeds. The birds ought to enjoy him after he's melted!
I can't believe I'm posting two separate snow events back to back, but for the second week in a row, we had snow! It's fairly unusual for this part of Oregon to get snow, let alone four inches, which is what we had today (well, almost four). The kids were overjoyed and begged to go outside all morning. It was pretty cold, so I delayed for a while, doing morning chores and school first. Then Daddy called and said they were going to make it mandatory to have traction devices (chains or snow tires) while driving in Portland, so he had better come home before he had to spend the night. He got home about 1:00, and we headed outside to brave the cold and throw some snowballs.
Abigail was hilarious to watch. No matter what activity we were doing--throwing snowballs, sledding, trying to make a snowman--all she kept doing was putting her mouth on the ground and eating the snow! One time she was on her tummy scooting up the driveway scooping up snow in her mouth as she went (I wasn't fast enough to get it on video, unfortunately). After an hour and a half she was soaking wet from having thrown herself face down in the snow over and over again, so we went inside for hot chocolate and warm clothes.
We had a small amount of snow this morning. It was beautiful to watch it falling in big cotton balls, and Abby was thrilled beyond words. We even had to give Daddy a call to let him know because she wanted to tell the world! We bundled up and went outside, and the first thing she did was start dancing around. She loves to dance when she's excited! They both enjoyed the snow while it lasted, which was only about 45 minutes because they had pretty much stomped it all into mud and slush by then.
