My Future Ski Bunny

On Saturday, I spent about 20 minutes getting Ally all bundled up, so I could take her out in the snow for approximately 5 minutes (nice). She had been asking to go outside for DAYS and even though we had just been to the doctor with her the day before, she was in a great mood and I figured 5 minutes of cold when she was bundled up like the kid from A Christmas Story, was not going to do her in any harm. We would spend a couple minutes walking around and looking at the snow and then we would collect some of the fresh snow and make snow ice cream (will post on that later). Ally LOVED being outside in the snow. She wasn't crazy about getting it on her face (she fell forward once and since the snow was almost up to her waist, she took a face full), but once I wiped her off, she was fine and spent most of her 5 minutes walking up and down the driveway, repeating "Snow White, Snow White" over and over again. Before we went inside, we scooped up a bowlful of snow and I shoveled our walkway (AGAIN! What is up with all this snow?) so David wouldn't have to when he got home from work. Ally cried when I said it was time to go in, but she was fine once I served up lunch. :-) We had a quick, but fun time in the snow.

**On a side note (and to explain the title), I think Ally looks like she should have skis and poles in her hand in these pictures I took...so cute! It makes me so excited about the possibility of teaching her to ski next year! We love to ski and have always said we will teach our kids to ski at a very early age (they learn better and faster when they are small). Fun Truitt Family ski outings in our future!!

Hope you are all staying warm!

Hi No!

As we were finishing gift opening tonight with my parents, it started to snow. Ally and Dylan were having the best time standing in the glass doorway watching the snow fall (and getting their grubby little hands all of over memaw and papaw's front door) together. Ally would yell, "Hi No!" and Dylan would just grin and clap his hands. So cute!!

Trick-or-Treat

We had our first (now to be annual) Trick-or-Treat party last night and it was so much fun. We had quite the crew of Ally, Dylan, Ryan, Alyssa and Jillian all out on the streets collecting candy! All the kids were wonderful (no complaining, fussing, fighting, etc.) and even the littles made it to at least 20 houses. We weren't even planning on taking them, except to a few neighbors, but they were in to it and ready to go so we forged on.
Ally would not let go of her candy bucket, to the point that I thought we might have to let her take it to bed with her (and then steal it away after she fell asleep). She had a great time and ate too much candy!
David got his fill of scaring all the kids in the neighborhood (he is really quite good and funny when he does it) and we had lots of laughs and ate yummy pizza and snacks.
What a fun night!
Trick-or-Treat!!

As Seasons Change, So Does Our Book Basket!

I have decided to "steal" an idea from my Aunt Carey (thanks, Carey!) and start a seasonal/holiday book basket for Ally (and future little Truitts, wherever they may be).

Ally LOVES books, can't get enough of them and we have a giant pile of them that we keep in a large basket on the floor, so she can get to them (pretty much all board books at this stage in life, though). We read everyday day, multiple times a day. She really does love books.

Over the years (long before I had Allyson), I gathered a very nice collection of books, some signed by the authors (thanks, Mom!), some hardbacks, some older books from relatives...my children will always have plenty of books, which I am thrilled about. Ally also received many very nice books at one of my baby showers.

We don't let Ally "play" with some of the nice books yet, because they have more delicate pages and I don't want them to get all ripped up, but we do read them to her and she loves them.

My aunt keeps a basket on the bakers rack in her kitchen and in it she displays books for her kids to read about the current season or holiday. I love this idea, because not only will Ally get to learn something about the different times of the year, but this is a good way to display a lot of the really nice books we have that we usually keep tucked away on a shelf away from toddler fingers. I put the basket on the table next to our couch, so the books are handy when we want to read one to Allyson, but still out of her constant reach, so they stay nice and neat. As she gets older, the idea will be for Ally to be able to read the books in the basket as she pleases and put them back when she is done. I will change the books out as the seasons/holidays change. It also makes a nice decoration (especially once I get some festive ribbon to add to the handle of the basket).

Here is our Autumn/Halloween selection currently being displayed and a picture of Ally checking out the books:

Welcome Fall!

Pigeon Roost Farm

Today we went to a WONDERFUL place called Pigeon Roost Farm. It was a lot of fun for the kids and adults and a great day to spend with family. I have never seen so many pumpkins! We had excellent weather. The skies were beautiful and the air was crisp. Perfect fall day. I highly recommend this place, if you have never been. It is a bout 30 minutes east of Columbus and a nice little roadtrip. It is the perfect fall fun!

Caution: Crazy mom (aka: Me) yielding camera took a TON of pictures, so don't be alarmed by the length of this post! I love fall pictures...the colors are amazing. Enjoy!