Winter playtime

We make an effort to get Daniel outside to play for at least 15-20 minutes each day, regardless of the weather.  If you live in Colorado, you may have seen the bumper sticker for the town of Alma. It says "Nice Weather is for Wimps". My biggest fear is that Daniel will grow up fearing the cold or snow. It drives me carzy when people say they cannot drive in the snow or go outside because it's snowing, yet choose to live in Colorado. (OK, off my soapbox for now)

When Daniel is at school, they take the kids outside two times a day regardless of the snow and cold. The only time they don't go outdoors for playtime is when it is below zero degrees and unsafe for the kids. Most days, Dave will take Daniel outside after he is finished with work to move snow around or to shovel. I'll take him out to walk up and down the road and regardless of the snow on the ground, Daniel still loves to play on his trycicle.

It's important to me that Daniel learns to ski at a very early age. We bought him an old school pair of trainer skis, toddler sized. They don't require ski boots as most kids at this age don't have the muscle strength of lift thier legs with normal skis and boots. They have a year stamped on them-1971! They are older than me!

We put them in Daniel this past weekend for the first time. We pushed him up and down our road and driveway, which have a slight incline. He did great! We only had him in the skis for about 15 minutes or so, but he seemed to have a gereat time. We'll try it again a few times this week. I'd like to bring him up to the mountain and put him on the magic carpet by the middle of December. You know me, I'm an overachiever. :)

We took a few short videos of him skiing this weekend. Dave accidently had the Flip camera turned on its side and I have no way to rotate it. Sorry!

Horrible

Alright, I officially suck. My thankfulness posts completely fell to the wayside and I'm beyond behind. I had good intentions, I promise! Unfortunately, life got the best of me and my blog paid the price for it.

I'll try to do better.

Thankful-Day 6 & 7-My husband working from home

It's days like yesterday and today that make me feel so blessed that Dave works from home. We really try hard to keep Dave's working environment separate from Daniel and try to teach him that when Daddy's working, Daddy is busy and cannot play. Daniel struggles with it often-after all, he's a daddy's boy for sure-but he understands the difference between work time and play time for Daddy.

But, since Dave's office is out of the house, he does occasionally get to pop out and give Daniel a quick hug. He will occasionally be able to spare a few extra minutes midday during his lunch break to play. And, since we get to see each other all throughout the day, he knows me well enough to know when I need a quick minute or two to myself.

I'm so thankful I have a great husband who has a wonderful working situation!

Thankful-Day 5-Snow Tires

Many of you must think this is an incredibly ridiculous thing to be thankful for. But, it's my blog and my post so I get to tell you what I'm thankful for. Snow tires up here in the high country would seem like a no brainer. However, Dave never put them on his cars for the first 6 winters he lived in Breckenridge. He also never had four wheel drive. I've always purchased very rugged all year tires with very manly looking tread and almost always had an SUV. It wasn't until I was given a company car a few years back that wasn't four wheel drive and had really low clearance that we purchased our first set of snow tires. They were AMAZING! My little sedan would zip right past people and plow through snow banks like nobodies business! While the company car was short lived in our family, my firm belief in snow tires became an institutional belief.

Last year we picked up a pair for Dave's car and we now feel so secure and safe while driving in the snow. No more squirelly-ness, no more getting stuck in the snow and no more being unable to stop.

Tonight, while we were driving home from the next town over and had 15 more miles until we were home (and driving behind someone who obviously didn't have snow tires), I didn't have the slightest fear of the snow. I'm thankful we wised up and saw the light and became believers in seasonal tires.

Thankful-Day 4-Talented Photographers

 

Thanks Josh Dayton Photography for such wonderful images of my little boy!

Thankful-Day 3-Snow

While I will most likely be regretting this post in 6 months when I'm dying to wear flip flops, I love this time of the year here in Breckenridge. The white pristine snow covers all the dead and dying brush, making the world look so fresh and clean. I love the crisp air and the blue skys that we see almost daily. The fresh snow covered trees bring a smile to my face and are a reminder of why I moved to Breckenridge 12 years ago.

Thankful Catchup-Day 2-Contentment

Being idea of living in contentment has been a topic of discussion in our house for the last few weeks. Honestly, it's something my husband and I talk a lot about in our marriage. When we first dated, Dave would often quote the scripture, "I've learned to be content in all situations, whether well fed or hungry..." as something he is constantly striving towards.

What I have recently realized is that I am incredibly content and happy right now. I love where we live, I love our day to day activities, I love seeing Dave in a new role as a father, I love my working situation and I love each day with Daniel. Things all seem to be in place right now. Right where they are supposed to be. It's a weird feeling to sit back and think, "No, I wouldn't change a thing".

Thankful Catchup-Day 1-Firsts

In popular theme of worldwide bloggers, I will be taking each day in the month of November to remind myself of something I am thankful for.

(However, I didn't start until this morning, so I'm playing catchup, Sorry!)

I am thankful for all the "Firsts" we have with Daniel. Some adoptive families get pretty disheartened by missing a large portion of the first and second year of life. That sadness never really got me down. Now that Daniel is home, we celebrate each first we get to share together.

First Halloween

I love seeing his face light up as we do something new and he figures it out. I cherish each activity we do together and each moment of every day.