More snow

We got our second snow of the winter. Odin loves playing in the snow!
Odin and dad enjoying a Christmas present together. Thanks Grandpa Dave for the gift.
Odin loves goat cheese! And he prefers to eat it by the entire log!

Santa, Christmas, and Snow!

A week or so before Christmas, Odin got to meet Santa at the NC Art Museum. He wasn't too sure what to think of him...
On Christmas Eve, we had Granpa Dave and Grandma Alla along with Uncle Jeff for dinner. Odin had a gift for Uncle Jeff's dog, Mynx, that he was very excited to give her and help her unwrap!
On Christmas morning Odin unwrapped a chainsaw from Grandma Cathy and WOW, it is by far his favorite! He was cutting non-stop. Can you tell he is a forester's son??
Later Christmas day we went to a local park to let Odin run around, but he mostly cut all the bushes with his chainsaw.
One of his other favorites is a scooter. You can't see it in the picture, but there are 2 wheels in the back for stability.Late on Christmas day it started snowing. By this morning we had about 8 inches of snow!

Trying to make a snowman...

Tree Decorating

We had fun decorating the tree! Odin loves to turn on the Christmas tree lights.

Solar and Xmas Tree

We recently had 10 Solar Panels installed on our south-facing roof. Here's a pic of me on the roof with the supporting rails and the micro-inverters that change the DC power from the sun to the AC power we use in our house.
The 10 panels installed!! The system is a 2.2 KWh system, we sell the electricity right back to the power company. Should have complete pay-back of the system in 6.5 years (and we still own the system). The panels are under warranty for 25 years.

We went to the farmers market today and picked out a nice Fraser fir Christmas Tree! Odin was a big help sweeping up all the needles that dropped in the garage. More pics to come after we get it in the house.

Odin and Great Grandma Leah

For Thanksgiving we were fortunate to have a special visit by Great Grandma Leah! Great Grandma Leah gave Odin lots of special attention and they got along fabulously.

She read stores to him, gave him kisses, and played peak-a-boo with a napkin at dinner!

Bubbe joined us for T-Day as well and helped to keep Odin entertained while Momma cooked T-day dinner. Bubbe is really good at arts and crafts. Odin and Bubble cut, pasted and colored pictures. The day after Thanksgiving we took Odin to Monkey Joe's for some hardcore fun! Odin loves climbing, jumping and SLIDING!!!!!

Especially with Daddie!

And just a very cute picture of Odin playing with his trains...

Richmond Visit

This past weekend Momma and Odin spent some time with Bubbe in Richmond while Daddie went hunting in Vermont with Uncle Jeff and Uncle Brandon.

Odin was terribly sad he didn't get to go hunting with the men, but quickly reassessed the situation when he and Bubbe started playing piano! Bubbe taught Odin about the black and white keys and to only use his fingers on the piano (no elbows, feet or other objects!;-) After playing piano Momma pulled out a special surprise for Odin; a pair of big boy scissors! Odin loves cutting and boy did he love the scissors!

Every night Daddie spoke with Odin on the phone. When the phone would ring Odin would run to it, pick it up, and say, "Hello Daddie!" It was difficult for Momma to get a chance to talk with Daddie because Odin wouldn't give up the phone! In addition to playing piano, cutting with scissors and talking on the phone Odin learned some Jewish traditions. He went to an Orthodox Bluegrass music jam (and sat still for an entire hour while starring intently at the guitar players)...every time they stopped playing he would yell, "More!" Odin also went to Saturday morning services and helped the Rabbi by bringing Thomas Trains onto the Bima where the Rabbi was conducting services. The Rabbi gently gave them back to Odin and Momma encouraged him back down to the pews.

All the play wore Odin out! He passed out on Bubbe for a long nap!

Visit to NY & NJ

We took a trip up north at the end of October for Odin's Great-Grandma Kaufman's 80th birthday party. While there he and his cousin Aaron went on a hiking adventure through the bushes. We also stopped in NJ to visit with family. Odin got to meet Grandma Cathy's ceramic pig "Samantha". He had lots of fun going for a ride! At a social gathering at grandma Cathy's we got to see lots of family and dad's long-time friends Jon and Al and thier families. There was a lot of playing going on that night! We were also able to stop by and see grandpa Jim in southern NJ. Odin got to help pull the rope to hang up a new American flag on the flagpole.