Snow!

We finally had some snow here today, however briefly. It was great snowman-snow though, so Liam and I built "the leaning snowman of Newark" in our back yard. He (snowman) was ok at first, then he slowly started to tilt. On the far-left you will see the snowman as of a few minutes ago--it has started raining so he's really starting to lean and we had to prop him up with the water/sand table. Liam was very excited about the whole snow experience, so we were outside for quite a while. Then we came inside and built a fire in the fireplace and watched The Snowman. This all probably sounds ridiculous to you in Wisconsin--celebrating an inch of snow so lavishly. It's only our second inch of the year though, and it will probably be gone by tomorrow afternoon, so we have to may hay while the sun shines, as they say. Mom--think "All Summer in a Day"-Ray Bradbury, except it's all winter in a day, or two.
Other humorous items to note: a few nights ago I was telling Liam a bedtime story about an "animal talent show" (his request--it's from a little tv program he likes to watch). We were going through all his stuffed animals and deciding what their talents are (crawling, hopping, climbing, etc.). I asked Liam what his talent is and he said jumping. Then I asked if I have a talent and he said "No, you don't have one. And neither does Daddy." I said that I thought I was pretty good at making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but he said "nope." There you have it: just as we always thought our parents had no talents, so we have arrived at the same fate. Talentless and tired. But wiser! Now I know how parents become this way...
Yesterday Liam insisted on making dinner for me. He got out his little wooden vegetables and breads (the "pre-sliced" ones that are held together with velcro so kids can practice knife skills without the loss of an appendage), a play wooden knife, and play cutting board. He got down all our bowls from the shelf, cut all the vegetable and bread, and placed each type of "food" in a separate bowl. I was told, rather forcefully, to sit at the dining room table and wait for him to bring my supper out to me. Finally he brought it out and we "ate" it together, very seriously, and it was just delicious. I complimented the chef heartily on his creation, then I got up to make him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (but probably not a very good one, for reasons stated previously). Here are some action shots, before I was told to "stop taking pictures and sit down at the table."
And I think that's about all I have for now. For all Scott Fans (you know who you are) here he is after dinner last night (talentless and tired, exhibit A):

Ok. Time to go. I hope all these photos and stories help Grandparents and far away family and friends feel a little more in touch. It will be great to see everyone in March! Hope you're feeling better Grandpa Tom!