Daniel tries out his sled and builds a snowman

So after all the snow from the "blizzard" stopped Daniel and Daddy went out to explore again!  The snow was up past Daniel's knees and he wasn't even touching the ground!

As an early Christmas present Grandma and Grandpa gave Daniel a childrens sled.  Really perfect for a little guy because it sits flat on the ground and has a high back and also a strap to hold him in.  So we pulled out the sled and put our bundled up boy in it.  Daddy started to pull him out ove the snow, but unfortunatly tried to pull him over a hump of previously shoveled snow.  That promptly dumped him in the snow and Daniel decided that he wanted nothing what-so-ever to do with that sled ever again.  So sad!  I was particularly bummed because I love sledding so much!  We will certainly try again when we get another reasonable snow.

Sledding, about to go over the hump :(

Trying to convince Daniel to get back in the sled after face-planting in the snow...

Happy face again!

So after the failed sledding adventure Daddy went on to have snowball fights with Daniel and build a snowman which was much more acceptable to our boy.  The snow wasn't very good packing snow so they had to get creative and use the wetter snow near the gutter drain pipe.  But they managed to get a really nice snowman built!

Working hard to get that snow to pack!

The finished snowman!  Not bad at all for a guy from Miami!  :D

Snow! Snow! And... More Snow!!

The weekend before Christmas we had the "Blizzard of 2009" where we received around 18+ inches of snow!  I didn't believe the forecasts when we heard them.  We haven't had that much snow in years!  It snowed all day Saturday and through the night and by Sunday morning we had a huge, beautiful blanket of white over everything!  What a treat for a little boy!  (And poor Daddy who had to shovel the driveway all by himself!)

Daniel was a little uncertain of what to do with the snow, but Daddy made sure he got a full lesson in snowball fights, building snowmen, sledding, and snow angels!

Daniel exploring our first snow of the season (not the blizzard obviously!).

Daniel and Daddy checking out the snow fall Saturday morning before things got too deep.  Even at this point it was hard for our little man to walk.

Trudging through the snow, this takes some balance and practice!

Speaking of balance!  Daniel had to get used to the cold the hard way :)

Daddy demonstrating for Daniel how to make a snow angel!

One of my favorite pictures of all the snow pictures, of course!  Such a sweetie my boy is!

Warming up inside after a fun time playing outside!

Daddy tackling the driveway after the snow finally stopped.  Check out how deep it is!!

Daniel was very happy to go outside and encourage his Daddy in his hard work. 

What a delightful way to start the winter season, and just before Christmas too!

Christmas cookies!

What better season than Christmas to bake a TON of cookies and enjoy them to the fullest?!  Daniel has never been given many sweets, but we have allowed him some this Christmas season.  And boy does he ever love them!

He is also my official and best "helper" in the kitchen and he loves to stand up next to me on a chair and assist me.  He always declares that he must "dump in" all of the ingredients.  Which he does except for any of the wet or messy ingredients.  :)  He also particularly enjoys decorating the cookies with colored sugar.

While helping my Mom bake cookies he also enjoyed the rare pleasure of licking the beaters which is a huge treat.  I ususally allow him to lick the beaters from mashed potatoes etc., but I had never allowed him to lick a cookie beater!

Here are some pictures from throughout the season.  Enjoy!

Daniel licking the beater while helping Grammie make Christmas cookies!

Helping Grammie sprinkle on the colored sugar!

And, of course, verifying that the cookies meet his high, high standards for sugary treats!

Getting ready to help Mommy make out gingerbread cookies!  (What a sticky mess!  That's the last time I'll be making gingerbread unless I find a better recipe!)

Very, very pleased with the results!

And again, making sure that cookie with yummy icing and sprinkles passes the taste test!

Putting up the Christmas tree!

Daniel had a lot of fun "helping" us put up the Christmas tree this year. Much of it was done while he was sleeping, but he enjoyed putting on a few ornaments and he loved the lights. This year we had to do things a little differently because Daniel is older and gets into things a lot more. I have a large collection of glass ornaments that we were not able to use so I had to get some new ornaments for the tree. Red and gold is the "theme" speckled with a few children's ornaments that I'm sure will grow in number as the years go by. :)

Here are some pics of the progression from start to completion:

Putting together the tree.

Done, now with lights!

Daniel puts on the first ornaments!

Putting one on by himself, it's harder than it looks!

The tree all decorated with lights, ribbon and ornaments. The angel and tree skirt are to come later. :)

Daniel putting on his "Baby's First Christmas" ornament!

He love's this little ducky!

Admiring the tree (with tree skirt finished now!) one evening.  I enjoy relaxing like this on winter evenings :)

UPDATE:

And finally on Christmas eve with all the presents right before we went to bed.  Such a lovely sight!

Kiss-mas Lights!!

Daniel has been totally enthralled with Christmas lights this season.  He love, love, LOVES the Christmas tree and candles at our house.  The first thing we have to do every morning when he wakes up is plug in the Christmas lights.  He's always asking when the neighbors will turn on their outdoor lights.  And every time he gets in the car to go somewhere he wants to see the Christmas lights! 

It's really so delightful to see how much he is enjoying the wonderful things about this season.  To encourage his delight we took some time to go up to Herr's potato factory and see the lights display there.  Despite the very cold temperatures at the time, Daniel had a blast.  He was particularly enthralled by the "Mr. Potatohead" and "Mrs. Potatohead" that were designed on the bushes as you can see below!

Enjoying walking through the forest of decorated trees etc.

Daniel had fun touching the balls of lights that decorated the ground.

Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead - very appropriate for Herr's seeing as they are a potato chip and snack factory. :)

Checking out the catapillar bush!

It was really and incredible display.  This picture totally does not do it justice.

Thanks to Herr's for such an awesome display and delightful evening for a little boy.

Thanksgiving and a Wedding

Since I have been so absent from the blog as of late I'll be playing some catch up here.  :)  Get ready for lots of pictures!  Of course, that's mostly what you want to see anyways - cute pictures of Daniel!  :)

We recently returned from a 18 day trip to visit Josue's family in Miami, FL.  Here are a few pictures to capture our trip.

Daniel's second plane ride, definitly an exciting ride for him, and tiring for Daddy and Mommy!

Playing with the cousins!  Daniel LOVED their cars!!

This trip was definitely about relaxing!

Also about going to the pool!  Which we had all to ourselves because everyone down there thinks that it's cold when it's 78 degrees!

Lots of playing with Legos going on thanks to Tio JJ!

At the rehersal dinner for Tio JJ and Tia Gaby's wedding :)

The whole family at the wedding, it was lovely!!

With the beautiful bride and handsome groom!

Daniel and Kristy Belle dancing at the reception!  He just can't help but dance when there is music playing!

Super fun trip to the beach!  FL beaches are so great for children, shallow, warm water and super gentle waves.  Daniel had a wonderful time and played in the water and sand all day long!

Did I mention that he played in the sand?  This boy didn't care about getting sand on himself clearly.  He had it everywhere and happily so!

The Thanksgiving spread!  Yummy!

Josue and I on a short trip that we took to celebrate 5 years of marriage!

Josue underwater while snorkeling on our trip.  What an amazing experience!

Daniel giving Super Abuela some hugs and love before we had to leave.

We had a wonderful trip!