Hillbilly Sledding

Amazingly, it snowed more than 8 inches on Christmas Eve. I can only think of one other White Christmas in Oklahoma (though I'm sure there have been more). For months, when Aidan would talk about Christmas, he would start with, "When is snows and it's Christmas, I'm going to..." Of course like any mother, I didn't want him to get his hopes up for something that probably wasn't going to happen. I'd reply, "Aidan, it doesn't usually snow on Christmas." Well, it looks like God has set him up for a real dissapointment next year!!

So here we are with all this beautiful snow. It's a little too fluffy to be able to build a snowman or have a snowball fight. What else is there to do? O' yes! Go sledding. That would have been perfect if just one out of the four homes involved in our Christmas celebration had thought ahead and bought a sled or a tobaggan.

In spite of our poor preparation, we were still able to have some fun! Uncle Aaron saved the day and found a dollar store float from the garage. Aidan, Luke and Emma stayed outside for an impressive 30 minutes with only a few tears involved.

Hooray for Aaron and the green floaty. The icing to our hillbilly Christmas!

Santa Visits

We have honestly spent little time emphasizing the role of Santa in Christmas. However, it's been interesting to watch Aidan's fascination with Christmas and the traditions of the season grow as he gets older each year. As I'm certain you've noticed from my earlier posts, our little man is quite the little actor. Pretend play consumes most of his hours at home. The newest game this month has been Santa's visit on Christmas Eve. My mom bought Aidan a Santa hat during a Wal-Mart trip several weeks ago. Tonight, he decided that I must be asleep while he (Santa) delivered the presents to my stocking. This game went on for about an hour, with little variation in gifts (apparently, he thinks I want cars for Christmas). He later decided I should be Santa. While he was "sleeping" I put the Little People nativity characters into the stocking. As he walked up, he said, "This is awesome." He proceeded to take each character out and then said, "These toys are not good!" This pretend play has brought on even greater anticipation for this Christmas. I can't wait to see Christmas as a child again through his eyes. I remember the feeling... not being able to sleep on Christmas Eve... talking to myself, "Just go to sleep Amy, the sooner you fall asleep, the sooner Christmas morning will be here." Christmas is for children. I've decided it's also for mothers and fathers of young children. I can't wait! "Just go to sleep Amy. Only 12 more nights!"

Halloween 2009

As I posted earlier, Aidan's Grandpa Mike sent him money to buy a costume. We had already bought a Storm Trooper costume, but figured this would be a good opportunity to add to his "dress-ups" collection.

We waited until October 30th to venture back to Target for round 2 of costume shopping. Despite the costume section being quite picked over, Jesse was able to find a "deluxe" Boba Fett costume from Star Wars at 30 % off. See, sometimes it pays to procrastinate.

Jesse remembers loving this Bounty Hunter from the Star Wars Triology. I had never heard of the character. On the way back to the car, new costume in hand, I asked Aidan what his new costume was called. His response, "Bubblegum." Priceless!

Seems many of the neighors were confused by the costume as well, but he looked adorable and that's all that matters.

Lego Play

It delights me to watch Aidan play. He's enthusiastic, imaginative and in charge!

In this video clip he's wearing a white turtleneck. He's a Storm Trooper from Star Wars and he had to have long sleeves just like his Star Wars Legos.

I pray these memories never leave me.

I Want an Alligator Costume

Grandpa Mike in Hawaii sent Aidan some money to get a new costume for Halloween. Aidan already has a Star Wars Storm Trooper costume. Aidan loves "dress-ups" so much that Halloween is the perfect opportunity to stock up. He decided to spend his money on an alligator costume.

Smile Woody

I love watching Aidan play. So imaginative! Notice the lack of pants... they seem to be the first thing to go when we get home. :)

First OU Game

Jesse's friend Steve called and offered us free tickets to the OU vs. Baylor game. Aidan had fun for about 30 minutes. He then started to ask about what movie he could watch on the way home. You'll notice he has earplugs in. He's not a fan of fireworks, screaming fans, or cannons. Hmmmm, may wait awhile before our second Sooner game.

Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Patch

We took Aidan to Carmichael's Pumpkin Patch with our Sunday School group. It happened to be the first cold day of the season and the day after several flash floods. Needless to say, it was cold and muddy. Aidan powered through and let us get a few pictures. He's gotten pretty good at the "I'm going to grin so I can get this over with" look. :)

Trying out this blogging thing...

Seems that everyone I know has a blog up and running. I've been resisting for the longest time for two main reasons. I wasn't sure that I had anything interesting or important enough to "blog" about and I was certain I didn't have time.

I've been so worried that many of Aidan's most precious moments will float away and be forgotten. I bought a diary and have been adding funny things he's said or done. After reading both Cheyenne's and Tiffany's blog, I noticed they almost use their blog as a diary. I think I'll do the same. In the end, it may save me time. I can type much more quickly than I can write!