Finally some SNOW

Growing up on the West side of the mountains was great for many reasons, however we never got much snow. Consequently, whenever that white, wet, fluffy stuff started coming down from the sky, my sisters and I would be playing in it in a matter of minutes fully dressed in our mis-matched gloves and snow suits. The snow was always very wet and sticky being that it was probably barely freezing outside and IF the snow actually started accumulating we would be making snow men and snow forts as quickly as the snow would add up (much to our mother's dismay her beautiful yard never stood a chance of looking like a winter-wonderland). So on Wednesday when the snow finally came to Royal, I was beyond excited to take Bronson out into it. That is... until I took him outside. It was probably 22 degrees outside with a wind chill that made it feel more like 5 degrees and the snow was coming down, although in very small particles, with an angry agenda to fly right into our eyes. Hmmm... not exactly what I had in mind for my little 2 year old.

Bronson was not quite sure about the extremely cold conditions. We lasted about 5 minutes outside.

After our failed attempt to enjoy the snow, we decided to come back inside. Then another idea popped into my head! My dad used to bring home those flavored syrups for Italian Soda's whenever it would snow so we could make our own snow cones. I called Jeremy and asked him to pick up a flavor of his choice on his way home from work so we could make a special treat with Bronson when he woke up from his nap. In the mean time, we settled for just eating plain snow. Bronson really loved it and told me over and over again "this is very good snow mommy, this is very yummy". Ahhhhhh, simple pleasures :)

I was a bit skeptic at first because the snow was pure powder, but once we  brought it inside it started to melt to the perfect consistency.

Love the little smirk on his face while he eats his snow.   Its like he thinks he's getting away with something.  :)

It continued to snow all day Thursday with the same biting cold, windy conditions. On Friday, we were hoping for warmer "snow-playing" weather but it just didn't happen that way. In fact, we ended up getting some of the freezing rain that took the power from some 300,000+ people in Western Washington!! Not fun. Still, we were determined to play in the snow on Saturday morning! No substantial wind, a sky full of sun, plus daddy being around created the perfect scenario for a fun snow walk extravaganza. The snow, mind you, had a layer of crusty, crunchy, icy snow on top of it now, but we still managed to have a good time :)

Broson and Jeremy in the old shed behind our house

Bronson thought it was the coolest thing to take these chunks of snow , throw them and watch them shatter into  a million pieces. This world is full of so many wonders!!! :)

Jeremy's attempt at making a snow angel in the crunchy stuff... and there is our little house in the background, blending into its white surroundings.

Then Jeremy had the brilliant idea of doing a double man snow angel. They both thought it was pretty funny

It ended up looking like a 7 ft alien made a snow angel.

Although we didn't end up sledding OR making a snow man OR making a snow fort, we still had a good time and those activities remain in the agenda, hopefully to be done this weekend :) On a completely unrelated note, I am 34 weeks pregnant and quickly approaching week 35.  I spent the better half of my sleepless night feeling her shift positions and wedge herself somewhere on top of my bladder and my sciatic nerve, lol. Needless to say, the effect of her movements were not the most pleasant. Oh the joys of the 3rd trimester. I showed Bronson the marks that the elastic on my pants made on my belly and he said "oh thats a owie on Averi"... So I'm pretty sure he thinks "Averi" is just another name for mommy's belly... Oh you have another thing coming  little man!

2011 in a rather large nutshell

I was a big time slacker this year and did not send out a Christmas card. Perhaps that helped in motivating me to start this blog. Regardless, I thought I might find a few pictures that capture what the year 2011 looked like for the Scroggins'. At the beginning of the year Bronson was 16 months old and actively involved in "helping" mommy with house chores like laundry, sweeping and unloading dishes. For all you moms of young tots, you probably have an accurate image of what this help actually looks like ;).  Jeremy was getting excited about making a huge career change while spending his newly acquired "football is over" free time in the weight room,  and I was busy having tons of fun with my amazing Grandview MOTS group (Moms of Tots).  Bronson got to play in the snow for the first time that winter and although the spring was a very windy one, we enjoyed watching uncle Matt & daddy coach baseball on many Saturdays throughout the season.

Wine tasting, weekly "family dinners" with our close friends, the occasional BUNKO night, team dinners, walks to the park & the school filled up the warmer half of the spring and before we knew it it was time to start packing up our first owned home :'(.  It was unnaturally difficult for me to part with it, I have to admit. Crying in public settings is not my favorite past time, however it sure became a normal occurrence whenever the topic was brought up. UGH! Moving on... :)

*side note~ our tailgate broke & the truck overheated the day we  were loading up the lawn mower

This is just funny to me, however it was not funny at the time ;)

 After the move to Royal City, Jeremy's hometown, we made a quick trip to Seattle to visit my family and got to take Bronson to the Woodland Park Zoo for the first time. Great experience and I can't wait to take him again.

The summer flew past pretty quickly and in late July all 3 of us had the honor of being in our good friends Holly & Kyle Snell's wedding. Bronson did a  great job as a ring bearer and at 22 months old held his pillow and walked down the aisle without a glitch... The fact that Holly's adorable nephew Carter, just a year older than Bronson, was holding his hand the whole way may have had something to do with his success.

Bronson and Carter soaking up their moment in the spot light :)

Next on the agenda was Bronson's 2 year Birthday... WOW. That was a tough pill for me to swallow... and honestly at the time, it was hard for me to swallow anything being that I was around 13 weeks pregnant and still very, very sick. The birthday boy was spoiled and once again got to enjoy two birthday parties, one in Seattle and one in Royal. He better not get used to this, one day he will have to settle for just ONE party!

Bronson blowing out his candles at Grandma & Grandpa Scroggins house

I tried to put up a picture from his party at Auntie Nikki's house in Seattle, but the computer is not liking that idea for some reason. Needless to say, both were enjoyed by the birthday man. He got to play in the sprinklers, slide the slip n' slide, and participate in his first water balloon fight and Auntie Nikki made him a pixar "Car's" themed birthday cake. This cars fixation of his does not appear to have any intentions of going away...this may be the theme of choice for many birthdays to come.

Summer turned to fall and we spent many friday nights at the football field watching daddy help coach the Royal Knights and of course having a significant role in directing them into the play-offs.... *wifey brownie points, right??? *wink *wink. :) Bronson was a dinosaur for halloween and thoroughly enjoyed trick or treating. When you live in a small town, trick or treating is done a little differently... You drive from house to house, generally to good friends who give you full sized candy bars... this pregnant lady did not complain. It was funny to hear the little man in the back excitedly say "go to another house??!!" every time we'd pack him up.

pretty cute dino in this mommy's opinion

We spent Thanksgiving with Jeremy's family this year. It was a relaxed day with LOTS of food and watching football. Then that saturday we headed to Seattle for my sister Bonnie's bday. I haven't been able to celebrate with her for like 4 straight years or something ridiculous and I start to feel really out of the loop when I can't participate in any of my 4 sister's birthday celebrations (I understand it is a bit unrealistic to try to participate in every family event when you have 4 sisters and 8 nieces & nephews, however missing 4 years in a row for one sister is pushing it a bit). 

Thanksgiving day at Jeremy's grandparent's house....I look like a giant next to him, what  the heck?

December was a very full month and passed in a hurry. We started it off with Jeremy's work party at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum. What a beautiful place!

Saddle Mountain company Christmas party

 It served as a much needed getaway for Jeremy and I and Bronson enjoyed an overnight at Auntie Tisha's house. Being doted on by his three female older cousins is something he never tires of. Typical male ;) Jeremy spent the rest of the weekend watching the high school football championship games at the Tacoma dome, while Bronson and I spent time with Nana Kay, Bobop, aunties, uncles and cousins. He even got to participate in the downtown Kent Christmas parade. Later on in the month Jeremy, Bronson and I headed to Leavenworth and spent a little mini-vacay enjoying the little town's shops and pretty lights. 

In front of the pretty lights with my little man

Daddy and Bronson in the gazeebo

To get Bronson to smile for the picture Jeremy did this forced creepy laugh, which ended up making us all laugh pretty hard. I guess this is our go to method from now on.

Although traveling with a 2 year old is not necessarily my favorite thing to do, the trip was fun and we were really grateful to have that time with Bronson before baby sister gets here and steals the show. After our trip, Christmas smacked us in the face. We spent Christmas Eve with Jeremy's family and got to see ALL of his cousins on his mom's side for the first time in years. Bronson and his second cousin Darcy (just 5 weeks his senior) had a blast running around the house together. "Darcy!!!! Come ONNNNNNN!!!" was heard quite frequently, followed by a sweet "I'm coooooommmingggg". Wish I had pictures from that night, but I completely spaced. I think I'll be able to steal some from my mother in law. Earlier on Christmas Eve day we opened presents and Bronson was showered with "Cars" themed presents right and left. He now has several pairs of Lightening McQueen  jammies, slippers, stuffed animals, a talking chair, a hat,  a Mater bouncy ball, a remote control McQueen car and several small McQueen cars. I'm sure I'm forgetting other "Cars" items, but you get the picture. 

Bronson in his wagon from Grandma and Grandpa. The flash from another camera created a weird line, sorry!

Christmas Day we packed up and made the trip over the mountains to spend a few days with my family.  

Bronson and his cousin Teenie loving on each other

Bronson had a blast playing with all of his cousins. Trinity "Teenie" (I don't remember the last time someone actually called her Trinity) and Bronson are only 7 weeks apart and have a brother/sister type of relationship. They are pretty funny to watch, especially when they don't particularly agree on something.

My mom served goose! Never had goose before, so that was a fun first for me.

Christmas dinner at my parent's

We ended our trip by taking taking Bronson to a bouncy house in Auburn. He was a little nervous around the big kids but went down a couple huge slides all by his little self. Its weird watching your "baby" climb up a huge incline all alone and then come flying down at least 20 ft of inflated "steepness". One of those bitter-sweet moments that help you realize how big your baby really is.

Tense road trips, lots of family time, skipped naps, tantrums, football & food. That is what our holidays look like these days. I hope yours were enjoyable, even for those of you with little ones ;)

Starting a blog??!! YEP!

Well we finally caved and decided to hop on the blogging band wagon :) It almost becomes too hard to resist when you start having kids, and being that we are just weeks away from bringing our second child into the world, the urge to blog our simple little lives has finally won. Wish me luck because I don't know how consistent I will be with this thing. I have this strange tendency to resist things once I start feeling pressured or obligated to do them (even when they are my own personal endeavors) so hopefully this whole blog will become something I look forward to on a regular basis. You would think, as a stay at home mom I would have loads of free time, especially a stay at home mom who is generally camped out in her house out in the country where the closest mall is over an hour away... not so. I have yet to mention that our son, Bronson, is 2 years and 4 months old. The "two's" have brought about a different side of our sweet little boy ;) I have been constantly reminded over the last 6 months that I may have missed the boat on the necessary "child training" that could have helped eliminate the amounts of "discipline" we seem to be relying on these days. Needless to say, training your kid to be a "good boy", making sure he is well fed, well rested, working on his mental, social and physical development, visiting family & friends hours away, keeping the house (and i use this term very loosely) "clean", grocery shopping & menu planning, meal making, endless amounts of laundry (with a currently broken washing machine) doctor's appointments, family time & personal time can become very time-consuming and exhausting on an 8+ month pregnant lady. Luckily, I married the world's most involved dad and although his job as a field man for a local chemical & fertilizer company can become very time consuming in the spring, summer and fall, it does allow him to be home very often during the winter months. Well I feel like this has been enough of an intro and maybe with my next posting I will give more of a weekly update, those are much more interesting. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!