This has been a very snowy October! We just had another huge storm- I'm not sure how much snow we actually got- I've heard some say 23 inches, some say 19 inches, and some say 14. So, I think it was between 16 and 18 inches at our house. Here is our grill in the back! The snow on the railing that is starting to bend over...
Avery ready for some fun!
Heading off to sled with her buddy!
Avery had two days off school. Jeff had a day and a half and the elementary schools around here at 3 days off! So on the first day we had a little impromptu Snow Day Celebration! A lot of our neighbors work in the school system, so they all came over for coffee, cocoa, and cookies! Video games were played by the older boys, the little kids ran around like crazy people, and the adults enjoyed some snacks! It was really fun! Here are the neighbors enjoying each other's company!!
Thankfully, today was sunny, so most of the sidewalks and driveways are melted already!!! Should make for an interesting Halloween tomorrow!
Last night while Oliver was eating dinner, Avery was running back and forth yelling, "ready, set, gooooo!!!" She would stand on the little circle yell her saying and then run and throw herself on the couch. When Oliver was done eating, this video is what he started doing! "ooohh, ooohhh, doooo!!!" He did this for the next 30 minutes or so... so cute! (oh and yeah, this is a good video to see how messy our house is!)

In other news, we had a pretty decent snow yesterday! Seems like there is always a good snow in October, but we'll be back to sunny skies and warm temps in a few days!


This is actually from the night before the snow, but isn't he cute in his hat??Pretty Plum tree with snow!

Now for a random story. This is Oliver and Bear. Oliver loves Bear. He carries it everywhere. Bear makes Oliver very happy. Bear has some issues. Oliver eats Bear. Here he is taking a bite.Chewing some fur...Uh, yeah. This is what Bear looks like now. That's a bald spot. And bald ears. Has anyone else's kids ever done this? Maybe this is too much info, but yes, there has been fur in Oliver's diaper before. Poor Bear.

Apparently I'm feeling picture happy this morning. This post if choc-ful-o-pics!! We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday on Jeff's Fall Break (his one day of fall break- everyone else around here gets at least a week!). Good time was had by all!

Oliver got to play with rocks... so he was pretty happy!
That, and barking at ALL animals and playing pumpkin drums was just about all Oliver needed to have a good day! He also spent a lot of time shouting "ball" at the acres and acres of pumpkins. Here Oliver is barking at a cow.Pumpkin drums...Enjoying the wagon ride with the fam...Finding our perfect pumpkin!Avery lovin' the barrel train. She rode it twice!The highlight of the day for Avery was when we were nearby when the ponies arrived to begin pony rides. She got to watch them unload and then the sweetest little kids let her help get one of the ponies ready!!! She got to brush it and help put the blanket on! She was so excited! I think she won them over with her little stable shirt that has a flap on it- when you open it, there is a horse inside! It's her favorite shirt!!

Petting and brushing her new buddy...
Helping put on the blanket. Seriously, these kids could not have been nicer to her! They kept telling her what a good helper she was and asking her all sorts of questions about her love for horses!Avery with her favorite horse in the background. Looks like Trigger liked Avery too!Avery and Trigger!Wooooaaaa!!!
We headed home... a good day was had by all!!!!

Oliver got his stitches removed on Wednesday and his lip is looking so good! He didn't love the removal process, but who would?He has been smiling a little bit crooked!! Or maybe it just looks crooked.
We've been suspecting for some time that Oliver's head was leaning toward producing curly hair. We didn't know Avery's was curly until about 15 months, so we've been patiently waiting. Then, after his bath last night- it looked REALLY curly! I couldn't be more pleased! Avery and Oliver aren't proving to look too much alike... but at least they'll have the hair!
Poor little Oliver fell and split his lip!!! It was quite traumatic for the Smith fam! We were visiting the neighbors and he tripped or something and hit their coffee table! So sad! We took him to the er (our first visit with one of our kids) and 6 hours later, he was stitched up with 6 stitches! They had to sedate him to do the procedure and he was loopy!! Hopefully none of us will get the swine flu after spending so much time in the er!!

So here is our happy little guy with his big lip! Some of these pictures are kind of gross, but it had to be preserved for posterity's sake! I think they get progressively grosser, so stop reading if you're not interested!

This is Oliver's latest "trick" and I couldn't resist sharing it. He really, really likes animals and tends to bark at most things that look like a mammal- excitedly!!! 101 Dalmations was on tv the other day and Oliver was freaking out! But thanks to one of Avery's stuffed animals that purrs and meows, he has learned a super realistic meow. I think its the cutest thing, so here it is.

It should be noted that our neighbor graciously offered Avery her choice of some stuffed animals (which does creep me out a bit- not because of the neighbor, but the germs- but she was excited... so whateryagonnado). I came home from work the other night and our living room is full of these freakishly realistic stuffed animals- a huge doberman pincher, a scary cat, a creepy squirrel, a bunny, and this weird ocelot thingy that Oliver is loving on.