Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

This Thanksgiving we were especially thankful for a warm house with a nice hot furnace as it snowed and snowed and snowed and snowed until everything was covered in white. I think God created snow so people like me don't hate winter so much. Who can not like snow? Well, Clayton.


Wednesday morning when we awoke and all was white I could hardly wait to take Clayton out. After what seemed like an hour of finding gear, organizing gear, putting on my gear, fighting Clayton to put on his gear (Has anyone read Thomas' Snowsuit?) we finally got outside. I promptly put him in his sled and pulled him around the yard. He enjoyed this part very much. But then...he decided he didn't really like his mittens so he took them off. And snow is so very interesting, he just had to touch it. But snow is wet and it was cold and it didn't come off of his hands. So he started frantically shaking his hand to get the cold, wet snow off and it wasn't cooperating. What else can one do in a situation like this but kick off one's boots and throw one's self on the ground flailing and kicking and crying? At this point, I decided the snow wasn't really that much fun and that maybe we should enjoy the snow from inside our house - where no gear is required. It's going to be a very long Canadian winter if Clayton doesn't like the snow.


Our Thanksgiving day was nice. We visited friends. We ate turkey and all the trimmings until we were stuffed. And we got to spend some nice quiet time together as a family. Oh, and Cyle made deer sausage, too. It's actually quite yummy.

We've bought another deep freezer so I spent the weekend baking trying to fill it up. Now we've got a freezer for cakes and a freezer for deer/turkey/goose/fish meat. I'm getting ahead on holiday baking...and I'm keeping a list and checking it twice (so I don't forget what I've stuffed way in the back). While I baked, Clayton got to "help" Cyle work in the garage. He loves nothing more than tools and dune buggy parts and being with Daddy.
Have a great week!

Travels and Baking with Clayton

Often, I bake with Clayton. More often, I bake when he's asleep. But this past week Cyle has been out of town deer hunting, so I've had to do lots of things with Clayton that I usually don't.
This evening, Clayton helped me develop a new recipe. Not only did he eat the butter straight out of the paper, but he emptied the entire salt shaker...
On his behalf, he did play in the salt mountain for at least 20 minutes and when he was done he did go get the vacuum cleaner. As much as he loves the vacuum, sometimes I wonder if he creates the the mess just to be sure I'll actually turn it on. And while he didn't vacuum up any of his salt mess, he did vacuum the rest of the dining room.

Winter is officially completely here. We've had consistent freezing temperatures and the sky's been spitting snow. I am never ready for winter and this year is no exception. So I decided to take Clayton and fly south for a week. ("Since Cyle isn't going to be suffering through the onset of winter here, but sitting in a deer stand somewhere in rural Missouri," I thought, "why should I?") We met up with three of my dearest friends in Washington D.C. for a week of shopping, eating out, birthday parties and fun. (I also got to help Austin decorate his pirate treasure chest birthday cake - Funfetti covered in chocolate buttercream filled with candy treasure!) It was such a great time and a good "vacation" for me. I had forgotten how much fun we all had while we were together and now I miss them all even more.

Cyle did have a successful hunt while in Missouri. He got a little 8 pointer and is bringing home some meat. More importantly, he got to spend some quality time with his family. For more information on his hunt, visit www.zellweingartendeerclub.com.

As we approach Thanksgiving, I am overwhelmed with the amount I have to be thankful for: a wonderful, happy, healthy son and a truly caring husband, lots of family and close friends, the start of a successful business, being a citizen of the greatest country on earth and being able to serve her, and all the many blessings God has given me!

Happy Thanksgiving!