Big Snow Day 2009

The past few years the snow has been mild to us in PA.  There have only been a few snows with only a couple of inches here and there.  There hasn't been one of those big snows.  You know, the kind that keeps everyone home bound for a weekend, lol.  This past weekend, Dylan got to experience his first really big snow.  He loves the snow even more this year.  Earlier this month, he enjoyed the few inches that we got & was very sad to see it go.  I woke up on Saturday morning at 7 a.m. to Dylan standing in our bedroom, looking out our windows & excitedly chattering about all the snow.  He was excited to say the least.  He wanted to suit up & go out and play in it by 7:15 a.m.  We did go out and play but a little later in the day after Mom had a chance to wake up with some coffee.

I'm not sure who enjoyed

the big snow storm more...

Dylan or Daddy.

We borrowed a sled from our neighbor & Dylan got to go sledding.  He went down the hill with me a couple times first before trying it on his own.  He was having a blast & giggling the whole time.  Dylan jumped on & rode the sled with Daddy too.  I managed to grab a few cute pictures & even some videos (I will try to put on this post asap).

All three of us had a blast playing in the snow on Sunday.  We all even worked on a little snow fort together.

All of us enjoyed our snow days, even if they were on the weekend, lol.  We got somewhere between 12 - 15 inches, or at least that's what I'm guessing.  Dylan has plenty of snow to play in for a couple of days.  I hear that it's even calling for more snow on Christmas!

Dylan's Songs

The Alphabet Song

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Painting with Dylan

First Snow of '09

The first snowflakes of '09 started falling Saturday morning.  Dylan was quite excited.  Especially when we bundled up & went outside to play!

Daddy was teaching Dylan how to make snowballs.  Of course, that was his favorite part about the snow...snowballs!

Dylan & Daddy playing outside in what little snow that was left on the ground on Sunday.  Take a real good look at this picture....  can you spot any differences in Jeff & Dylan other than size, lol?  Seriously, the arms & all, exactly the same, LOL.

Dylan & Daddy built this snowman on Saturday while I was making us dinner.  At one point, Dylan came running back in the house & was so excited he could barely find the words he wanted to say.  Eventually he told me that he needed a nose for his snowman & I sent him back outside with a carrot, haha.  I had to get a picture of Dylan's first snowman the next day before he melted, lol.

Visit with Grandma & Pappy Faith

First of all, Blake adopted a new dog.  I think he might be the cutest dog that I have ever seen.  He is a Rotty & German Shepard mix.  He is not just adorable but he is super sweet too!  Now Jeff is going to have to listen to me talk about how much I want a dog for a couple of weeks or so, lol.  I can't help it...look how cute he is!

It was the 1st day of hunting season yesterday in PA. Almost everyone at the Faith house was either home or in the mountains hunting.  Pappy Faith, Uncle Dust & Aunt Blake came around lunch time so Dylan got to see & play with them too.

Pappy Faith had to replace some batteries in real old trucks, which probably belonged to Uncle Cam. Dylan, of course, had to help.  He helped himself to a screwdriver or two and "fixed the trucks."

Grandma & Pa Pa Gray's House

The Gray family hanging out around a fire.

I think he was watching the bikes.

Dylan riding his 4 wheeler.

Thanksgiving '09

Uncle Cam & Dylan passed out after eating on Thanksgiving Day.

This year, Jeff & I, fail at taking pictures.  But out of the very few we took...there was this adorable picture.  Every holiday is a busy one for us.  We often travel to several houses in one day and attempt to stuff ourselves with food.  This year, we celebrated one Thanksgiving a few days early at Great-Grandma & Grandpa Guyer's house.  Then on Thanksgiving Day, we went to Great-Grandma & Grandpa Sheets' house & Grandma & Grandpa Gray's house.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I can't believe we are already in the month of December!!!

Visiting Kiersten

Last Friday, Dylan & I headed back to my home town to visit some family.  We went to Aunt Joan's house to visit with her, Nicole & Kiersten.  Dylan enjoyed playing outside on their swing set.  He was very excited to climb the ladder to go down the slide.  He is quite coordinated now because he went right up that ladder like he was an expert, lol.

Dylan had a blast playing both outside on the swing set & inside with the abundance of toys.  Dylan really likes Kiersten.  He is always very sweet to her.  When it was time to go, he gave her hugs & kisses. My camera wasn't quite fast enough to catch the actual hug & kiss but I got Kiersten's expression immediately after, ha ha.

We had a very fun day visiting the girls!  I love my little princess!  She is such a doll and growing up faster than I could had ever imagined. I thought they grew up fast when they are your own but I recently changed my mind.  They grow up much faster when you don't see them everyday.  Kiersten is a little over 5 months old already!  Wow...that went SO fast!  Next thing I know, she'll be walking!

Reading on the Couch

Geo Tracks

So the Geo Tracks world started at Dylan's 2nd birthday.  Great-Grandpa Gallagher bought Dylan the airport tower & plane Geotracks set.  Dylan loved it immediately...as did the 29 year old boy who helped assemble it.  We bought him the bridge add-on for the plane & the world grew a little more. And a special thanks to "Uncle" Brad & Austin because Dylan just inherited an enormous Geo Track train set from these generous boys.  It is huge!!  So here are a few pics...

First of all, Dylan has not been feeling well the past few days. This did not stop him from playing with all the new train stuff that Daddy & him spent the weekend putting together.

The first thing (mostly the only thing) on Dylan's agenda the past couple days involved trains.  I couldn't begin to guess how many hours both of these boys spent playing with the plane & trains this weekend.

Even when he's feeling crappy, he still has to jump on his bike for a quick ride.  I don't know if he honestly grew a little more or figured out a way to keep his feet on the pedals and now rides it like a big boy too!

So Thank You so much Brad & Austin. Dylan now has a big Geotracks train set to go with his Geotracks airplane. Our living room is a little crowded at the moment but both of the boys love it, ha ha!

Geo Tracks are great! They can simultaneously entertain a 29 & 2 year old for hours on end. The box may say 3 & up...but they never put a limit on "up," ha ha.

Fall Days

Dylan & I have been trying to enjoy as much of this temperate Autumn weather as we can before the much colder weather gets here.  I love taking pictures this time of year.  There is so much color in everything.

Dylan balancing on a ball and checking out the leaves on the ground.  He's a goof.

Dylan spends a large amount of his time outside running.  Consequently, he also spends a good bit of time on the ground.  Yet, he still finds it quite amusing to run up and down hills or back and forth through the yard, ha ha.

Lots of Leaves

For a kid, one of the greatest parts of Fall, is the abundance of leaves on the ground.  We collected quite a pile of leaves and Dylan was running through & jumping in them!  I thought I would share a few fall fun pictures.

Dylan, Grandma Gray & Daddy playing in a big pile of leaves.  As you can see from the background...there was not a shortage of leaves. They all fall at once and suddenly everything is covered in a blanket of brown.

Dylan crawling out of the pile...leaves in the hair & all!

Halloween '09

Dylan dressed up as a skeleton this year for Halloween.  Last year, we just stayed home for Halloween.  Dylan dressed up as Elmo & handed out candy to all the kids that stopped by. This year, he went trick-or-treating!! Kipe was going trick-or-treating in Mercersburg on Sunday so we decided to tag along with the whole gang.

Dylan had fun!  He was great the whole night. Even though he was shy for most of the night, he walked up to a couple houses by himself! He was definitely not scared of anything. This surprised me because I would think that some of the Halloween stuff would be extremely creepy if I were 2! But anyway...he had fun & came home with a pretty decent pile of candy.  He even got to stop at Uncle Barry & Kelly's house to say hello & grab some more candy of course, lol.

Fire Trucks & Buses

Uncle Cameron & Dylan

Last Thursday, I had a dentist appointment to fix a broken tooth. Dylan stayed with Grandma & Pappy Faith so that my trip to the dentist would be much easier.  While staying at Grandma & Pappy's house, Dylan had fun playing with everyone and taking a couple little trips to see stuff.  I thought I would share a couple pictures that I "borrowed" from Chrissy.

Dylan & Uncle Dustin

Dylan got to see and play with Uncle Dustin & Aunt Alisha too. They came over for dinner one night while Dylan was visiting.

Uncle Cam & Dylan

Dylan got to take a trip to a firehouse with Uncle Cameron.  He got an inside tour and got to see all the BIG fire trucks.  I was told that he also had access to the lights as well, lol.  I wish I could have seen it!

Wow!  I am so not ready for this day when it actually happens.  I only have a few more years.
Grandma Chrissy took Dylan to see buses.  Dylan is somewhat obsessed with buses.  He is always pointing them out and letting you know that there is a "big yellow bus" nearby.

Whew, for a second, I thought I missed Fall

After a week like last week, I started to wonder if we were going to skip the whole season of Autumn and go right to winter.  It was in the 40s & 50s and constantly raining.  Some places in PA even got snow!  Luckily, it was just a crappy spell.  This week the weather has been gorgeous.  Dylan & I enjoyed every second of it and soaked up as much fresh air as possible.

Dylan racing through the yard.  I think this picture is adorable!  He was so excited to be able to run & race as fast as his little legs will go. Also, it is a great way to burn energy before a nap, LOL.



Of course, running this fast will eventually come with it's own natural consequences. Don't worry, he wasn't hurt. Falling rarely phases him. He jumps back up and keeps going.

Dylan loves to go for walks. It doesn't really matter where you walk, he'll find something amusing to him. He was leaning over the wall looking at the "BIG rocks."

Dylan drawing outside with side walk chalk.  These are  his moons, or at least that is what he calls them. They do kinda look like moons.  I was simply impressed with his circle drawing skills, ha ha.

Big Boy Race Car Bed

The Big Boy Bed

Dylan has officially moved up to the "Big Boy Bed." This blue race car bed was passed down to us from a friend & Dylan absolutely loves it!  It has been over a week now & so far so good.  I really thought that this transition might be a challenging one.  I figured that once he realized there were no bars keeping him in, Dylan would get out of bed all the time.  But of course, Dylan adapted to the Big Boy Bed like a dream and so far there has been no struggle with the transition at all.  He still goes to bed at bedtime & stays in bed until he falls asleep most of the time.  I still can't believe I haven't found him out of bed & playing with his toys, ha ha.  That's what I was doing when I was a kid.  I am so grateful for such a wonderful little boy.  I don't think that it is supposed to be this easy, LOL!

Dylan's Big Wheel

Dylan on his new big wheel that he got for his birthday. Dylan & Daddy put it together on their birthday. These pictures are the first time that he rode his new bike. It has taken me forever to go through all the new pictures that I wanted to put up here.


Dylan is pretty tall for his age but he has a very long torso. His feet can touch the pedals but not the whole way around. It doesn't stop him from riding it. He just pushes it with his feet on the ground.

With the seat moved up, Dylan has found that the back of the bike is a great place for storage. At one point, he collected a few rocks, sticks, and walnuts.

And of course...Dylan with a rock.