Fresh snow!

We woke up to 3 inches of fresh snow this morning. Thank goodness we have Miles to help clear the driveway. He did a great job!

Miles and daddy talk strategy...shoveling must be done in a certain way.

After all of the hard work, we had some fun in the sled.

Until it tipped over. Then mama was the only one having fun :)

Nice Lady

Mrs. Claus visited Owatonna today, and we were not about to pass up an opportunity to meet her! A recent visit with Mr. Santa Claus didn't go so well (I'll post pictures later), so we gave Miles a pep talk and explained that Mrs. Claus is a very nice lady. It must have worked because when we arrived, he pointed to her and said "NICE LLLLLLADY!" If an adult male had said that very same thing in the very same way, he would've been kicked out right quick. But Miles got away with it, charming Mrs. Claus so much that she offered him a seat right next to her.

I think Miles realized that beneath the beautiful gray hair was a young and hip gal. Perhaps he caught on to it when they posed for some pictures...Mrs. Claus let out a valley girl "CHEEEAZ!".

Miles' good friend Ava sat on Mrs. Claus' other side. She took her time warming up to the jolly lady, but that's okay. It's best to use caution when in the presence of strangers - especially those who give you cookies.

Miles was thrilled when his other good friend Carsen showed up for the fun, too.

CHEEAZ!

Mrs. Claus is a very kind woman, full of patience and big smiles. She also makes darn good sugar cookies. Santa and the elves are lucky!

We went to Green Bay

We went to Green Bay for the Thanksgiving holiday. Tanner said that at the [slow] rate I'm blogging, my Christmas blogging will happen some time in mid-January. Isn't he funny?

Anyway, we went to Green Bay to visit Great Grandma Lucille. Other relatives were there too, but I admit that she was the highlight. I think Miles was just as tickled over seeing her as she was over seeing him...they made for a good pair that weekend. After we got home, though, I realized I didn't get ONE SINGLE PHOTO of Miles with his great grandma. How on earth did that happen (or not happen)? I'm hoping Grandpa Dave captured some of the action - he's usually more on top of things than I am when it comes to snapping pictures.

Here are some of the moments we did capture...

Miles and Rosie enjoyed many quality moments together. Great Grandpa Bert would have laughed over being booted out of his chair by these youngsters!

I ran in the 2nd annual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. It was a crisp 20ish degrees, but I had fun and got a pie out of the deal.

Cousin Paige kept Miles entertained for a good portion of Thanksgiving day. She spun him around and around and around...what a very patient girl.

Miles overlooked the bay while at Great Uncle Mike's and Great Aunt Donna's house.

And Tanner decided Miles is now old enough to play with fire. Great.

We returned to Lameau Field on Friday to check out the pro-shop bargains and to play in the atrium. Who would've known that place has the best floors for racing cars? If you're ever there for a game, be sure to bring your favorite toy on wheels.

Friday proved to be a beautiful day - the bright sunshine made up for the chilly air - so we ventured out to The New Zoo. Miles and I "played" near the buffalo pond and hungry lion.

Then Grandpa Dave rescued Miles from his not-so-protective mother.

That was probably good because Uncle Will was ready to recruit him for a feeding.

Speaking of feeding (or drinking), this moose was awesome -

And finally, Miles had fun turning into a penguin...

...and a turkey rider.

It was a great trip and one that we hope to repeat soon. Miles began writing about his weekend adventures during the car ride home but (sigh) he was too exhausted to finish. That's okay, the blog is now updated.

SNOW

Thanks to the recent snow storm, Miles suddenly loves all things SNOW.

Snow blowers.

Snow balls.

Snow trains.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Party time!

We celebrated Miles' birthday a couple of days early with a great grandpa (C. Reps), all four grandparents (Jill/Larry, Dave/Doreen), an auntie (Angie), two uncles (Charlie and Will) and two cousins (baby Dethan and baby Dowen, as they are affectionately called by Miles).

Before all of the fun started though, Miles warmed up his hands by opening a nice gift from cousin Linda. She gave him a great nursery rhyme book and a nice card. We asked Miles what his card said, and he told us "MILES." He was right! The kid can read.

Great Grandpa Charlie came a little early to get in some extra play time. He and Miles had fun playing cars together.

Miles also promptly put away the stash of quarters Great Grandpa Charlie brought for him. Good thing he has a new car bank!

Fastforward through another wardrobe change for Miles and some lunch... PRESENTS! Miles got a lot of cars, a fleet of trucks, a pile of clothes, and a tent. Not all in this bag, of course.

After all of the bags were emptied, we took a break to eat some cake. Miles and Auntie Angie were born about 26 years and 5 days apart, so it's appropriate that they should share a cake!

Miles loved it so much that he needed two pieces.

After loading up on sugar (and some more sugar), we were all ready to play. Miles loaded all of his new trucks, cars, and other gadgets into his fancy safari tent. He suggested we move the entire party inside the tent, but only a few of us took him up on the offer.... Silly mama and daddy took the long way in.

Uncle Will was smart and climbed in through the side door. The grandmas and grandpas were even smarter and just watched from the outside.

It's hard to believe this little guy is almost two years old. I'm afraid to think about how quickly the next two years will go by...and the two after that...and the two after that... So instead I'll think about all the joy that he's brought to our lives for the last 730 days. Thanks for being born, Miles! We love you so much.

Getting ready!

Happy Birthdays!

Last weekend we helped Grandpa Charlie celebrate his 86th birthday. This weekend we are celebrating the births of Auntie Angie and Miles Jay Grimmius! A great big thanks to each of you for being born!

Somehow the birthday boy managed to avoid my camera during his party. Fortunately I stumbled across these pictures on another blog (or two):

Ethan and Owen are very good at celebrating birthdays. They were the life of the party last Sunday!

We snuck outside for a while to play in Grandpa's garden.

Miles was excited about the pile of leaves he found but didn't care much for jumping in them. Too dry and scratchy for his sensitive skin...

The stairs on Grandpa's deck were super cool. I think we went up and down them 187 times, but I might have missed a few while snapping the pictures.

In anticipation of Miles turning the big -02-, we have spent time this week introducing him to the idea of getting a new bed and some new toys in his room. He thinks his new pillow is especially great. I can see why.

Several more birthday adventures are coming up in the next few days. Stay tuned for some pictures!

Super Cleaner

Don't worry, I gave him a cookie for all of his hard work.

Supper please

The main conversation during the car ride home from work/daycare started out like this:

Miles: Mama, I want supper ready.
Mama: Miles, I want supper ready too. Probably more than you know. What would you like to have for supper tonight?
Miles: Cookies. Animal cookies.
Mama: Okay.

Halloween was here

My sincere apologies for not getting the halloween pictures posted more quickly. It's a good thing the mom-o-meter isn't based on the speediness of my blogging, or Miles would disown me. Sad!

Before the many youngsters in our neighborhood started prowling the streets for candy, we made the front door look extra spooky.

Miles took care of preparations indoors. This included taking each piece of candy out of the bowl, investigating it closely, and then returning it to the bowl for future use. A difficult job, but he did it perfectly.

Before the evening really fired up, we ran to the neighbors house for a quick picture with the girls. Miles is crazy about these beautiful girls!

Soon the other kids in Owatonna were let loose and they came a-knockin'. We didn't expect so many ghosts and gobblins (or spidermen and princesses) to stop by, but they came in herds.

After a while, Claire came over to help. We were so glad!

When Thomas and Ezra came to the door -

Miles put on his hat and ran away with them. He had a blast filling up his medical bag with goodies until we got to one house in particular....

After this scary stop a few houses away, we called it a night. We came home to eat candy and look at pictures from last Halloween -

Dr. Miles and his friends sure have grown!