WOW! I can't believe it has been almost a month since I have written! Time sure does fly by. We were out of town for a bit for Thanksgiving and now I am getting back into the swing of things. So much to catch up on! I guess we will start with Thanksgiving.

We first went to NY to visit most of my family and they had snow while we were there! Abi got to wear her snowsuit for the first time and go sledding with her cousins! Every time she went down the hill and we pulled her out at the bottom, she pointed to the sled and grunted to signal it was time to go again! As hard as it was for her to move in the suit, she wouldn't have been anywhere else. She is an outdoor girl for sure!

From there we went to CT to visit some of Mark's family and we had a wonderful time there as well. Abi had some live music by Uncle Bob and experienced her first high school football game. The fields are right behind their house and on Thanksgiving, they had a game so we walked over to see all the excitement. And the drive? We made both long drives in one day! Abi is a star traveler. What a trooper! She rode 12 1/2 hours to NY, 4 1/2 to CT and then 15 back to home! The meltdowns were minimal (really just one on each long drive) and can we get a Praise the Lord for Little Einsteins? Yes, she watched the same movie the whole way home... 15 hours of helping the caterpillar get to the tree so he could get a new outfit and then helping the butterfly find his invitation. However, it kept her happy and she loves the music! We are now taking a break :)

So, now we are home and have had some snow here as well. The first snow of the season came on Saturday. Did I tell you about the story of the neighborhood boys? One thing we LOVE about our location is that the neighborhood kids (mostly boys) play in our backyard. They are middle school and high school age, so their games are a little more intense (but still fun to hear them laughing at each other). So one day they were playing in the back (Abi wanted to play too) and Abi and I had fun watching them run around trying to hit each other with whatever they were shooting. I saw that Mark had pulled out some of our storm windows back there, so I let him know the boys were back there. He sometimes likes to go and say hello. A couple of hours later, we were back outside and all of a sudden Mark looks back and says, "No way! There is no way they did that." I wasn't sure what happened, but the next thing I know the boys are following Mark into the back, all looking a bit somber. Turns out they were using the windows as shields.... ummm yes, glass for shields. Too funny!! We weren't upset that it happened, just that no one said anything. Mark handled it very well and just explained that when something like that happens, they need to tell the homeowner. They agreed to come and help Mark with the leaves in the yard one Saturday. The day they picked was the day of the first snow storm. Yes, they came to rake just as the snow began to fall. So five boys had a blast raking leaves in the snow, at least what they could find. The snow was falling so fast that they began to have a really hard time seeing where they were! AND it was freezing outside!! I think it turned into sleet before they were finished. I made hot chocolate for them when they had done all they could do, but they did have a good time jumping in the leaves and throwing each other in the piles as well. It wasn't really about getting the leaves up, but rather following through with what they had agreed to do. They are great kids! We hope they will still come utilize our backyard. I am sure they will.

During this time, the neighbor's dog was also playing with the boys and Abi was watching from the front door. She was so excited to see the dog and watch him zip back and forth that she was screaming at the top of her lungs! I asked her if she wanted to go outside and she squealed with even more excitement. I explained that she had to put on all the gear, including the snow pants, and she actually helped me put them on. I couldn't move fast enough for her! We got outside and the dog came and zipped past her a few times, knocking her down a couple of times, and she just started laughing. Didn't matter that she ended up face-first in the snow - she was playing with doggie! I guess this answers our question of "how will Abi like the cold and wearing the suit she can't move in?". Mommy is going to need to get some warmer clothes for her legs!

Well, I will try to be back again later today or tomorrow. We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!