Baby, It's Cold Outside!

As the temps drop to the single digits here in Albuquerque (which, luckily, is NOT a common occurrence for us!), we've been bundling up and spending some quality Greenie time inside the house. And to prevent the heating bill from being totally outrageous, we've all be wearing a few extra layers to keep warm.

Carter has been keen on wearing his stocking hat and mittens around the house (which is adorable, I tell ya!). You'd think the loss of dexterity would prevent him from causing as much mischief??? Nah...

Here he is going to town on UN-organizing the Tupperware cabinet:
Apparently we have too many items IN the cabinet that they need to be moved OUT...
Lucky for us, he was able to reach WAY into the back and get everything out...
Since it's been so cold, we decided to make my dad's infamous Summer Sausage recipe. It requires the oven to be on for over 6 hours, so we don't make it that much in the summer. However, we really didn't mind heating up the house this month. Here's a goofy picture of Matt forming the sausage loaves (and is it just me, or does he look a little psychotic?!):
Ahh, the finished product - goes great with a stone-ground mustard and those little tiny rye breads:
These next photos were taken on the day that we put up the Christmas tree (yes, a post is coming about the Great Greenie Christmas Extravaganza...I'm just behind...). Matt was running in and out to the shed to gather the Christmas decor, so Carter and I were doing our part by staying bundled up inside (thanks, dear!).

The following pics are in sequence and I've kept them this way to show my readers just how hard it is to capture a photo of a busy, busy toddler (and can you believe it?! He's 22 months old today!!!). Anyway, if you ignore the views of our messy house, here I've tried to follow him around the bottom floor of our house to capture just ONE good photo of him in his adorable hat and mittens:

Let the, ahem, race begin - living room:
Might as well stop for a little dancing... Why not tap dance in Mommy's TV tray?
Whoops, I think the mittens are coming off... Too slow, Mommy!
Maybe not...

Hurry up, I'm leaving the living room:And around the corner he goes...
And we made it all the way around the house and back to the kitchen (to sit on the box of Christmas goodies that Daddy just brought in):
Ok, Mommy, here, I'll sit still for 3 seconds:
And make a goofy face...
And then run away to the living room play with my toys...
Well, folks, there you have it. Carter's a busy, busy boy these days. While he's not busy running around, he's definitely busy chatting up a storm. Was thinking for one of these posts I'd write down all the words he knows. Some of our recent favorites: "Cool!" "Aww man!" and "Cookie?" (thanks Uncle John and Stephanie for sending us 40 pounds of Christmas cookies... We blame you for adding this word to his vocabulary! I think Carter ate as many as we did! Good parenting, I know, I know...) :)

Hope that you're staying warm and enjoying time with your family too!
~kerrie