Here in Wilmington we get snow one day a year, if we're lucky. We live in a weird climate. In the summer its practically tropical. In fact, the famous Venus Fly Trap was discovered here, and only grows in the wild within a 100 mile radius of our town! See? Weird. In the winter, we have a strange humid, windy, chill-you-to-the-bone climate some days, then it'll get up into the 70's for a few. And as I said, snow is rare. Even when the rest of the state is getting their inches upon inches, we get squat. When it does snow, schools and businesses close up and there is a run on the grocery store for milk, eggs and bread. Its crazy!

We finally got a good snowstorm. It came overnight, and in the morning everything was covered with a nice thick blanket of shiny whiteness. This was officially Bodie's second snow, but the last time it snowed he was only 5 months old. Now he's 18 months and he was completely wonderstruck when he saw the snow. I opened the blinds in the morning and lifted him up to look out, he stared for a second and his eyes got wider and wider, then he said "OH NOOOO!" I laughed. "It's just snow, Bodie. Do you want to go outside and play?" He nodded his head vigorously.

After 15 minutes of bundling our offspring, they were all set to go out. Bodie initially took some very cautious and timid steps into the backyard, curbing his famous feisty bravado at first. Then he did a happy little jig, stomping a small circle into the 4 inches of white fluff, as if testing his footwork on the new terrain. After his rare moment of hesitance, he charged full speed across the lawn, squealing and whooping like a wild animal. Inevitably, he ended up doing a full faceplant into the snow. He fell pretty hard, and it didn't look good from where I was standing with the camera. I was thinking, "Oh boy. Playtime might be over before it even began." I didn't say anything to him as he sat up, knowing that any acknowledgment of his crash might bring the tears. If I act like its no biggie, then he will just shake it off, which is exactly what happened. He popped up, looked around, and kept going.

The snow was so heavy that it bent our loquat tree nearly to the ground, making a really cool snow cave for the boys to run through. Gavin and Garrett made snow angels, a snowman with a pickle for a nose, had a snowball fight, and of course filled up a bunch of tupperwares with snow to put in the freezer for later. Doesn't everybody do that? Now they eat the snow for dessert after supper. Simple pleasures!

Of course, it doesn't last long. Within 24 hours, the only snow left was the little clump of a snowman in the front yard, his oreo cookie eyes staring forlornly at the Carolina blue sky as the sun slowly terminated him. We'll miss the snow for sure. Maybe we'll get lucky and get a double whammy this year. I guess I should be careful about what I wish for...

Bodie is the most rough and tumble kid I've ever met. I thought my other boys liked to play rough with me, this baby actually flings himself at me like a projectile from a slingshot!  When I'm wrestling around with Gavin and Garrett, Bodie plows into the melee headlong like a bowling ball. In football, it's called spearing, and he'd get so many 15 yard penalties his team wouldn't even be in the stadium. If I'm not ready to catch him, I pay the price of 2 bruised faces - mine and his! He has no fear whatsoever (except for the vacuum, and I believe he's just copying his brothers when he runs screaming from it to scramble up onto the couch). Bodie is supposed to be our in-house model for these baby onesies, instead he's the in-house stuntman. His aunt and uncle bought him this helmet for Christmas, only 49% as a joke. They are seriously concerned about their nephew and his hazardous tendencies!

This baby is a complete do-it-your-selfer too. We can't turn our backs on him for one minute, or he'll be somewhere in the house taking an unnecessary risk. His latest thing is to pull a kitchen chair over to the counter top and get his hands on whatever he can. Here he is caught in the act - looting the valentine candy.

We try to keep everything back from the edge of the counter so he can't see it from the floor, but that doesn't make a difference. He knows there are things on the counter, and he will stop at nothing to get at them!

He doesn't wear this helmet all the time, just when he's really feeling dangerous. He sometimes brings it to me to put it on him, and I'm thinking to myself "What is this kid about to attempt now?" I'm sure someday soon he'll be stuck up in the top of a tree or on our roof. (knock on wood)

We thought babies were supposed to get easier, this one is a real challenge. In this picture he's enjoying the fruits of his labor, sporting his soaked and marker stained turtle neck.

That's the other thing he does - he can turn the water on in the sink and play in it. He covers the faucet with his hand, spraying everything within a six foot radius. Unbelievable! Too young to put on the "Naughty Bench" , we just verbally reprimand him and redirect. I don't think most of his exploits are actually acts of naughtiness, I just think he's exploring his own capabilities. He's an Indiana Jones and Crash Test Dummy all in one 28 lb package!

Now that the boys are in a bunk bed, bedtime is a little easier. It is a lot more fun now. For some reason they both get pretty wound up right before bed, but reading a book with them can usually get them to settle down. While the top bunk officially started out as Gavin's, they take turns being up there. I still end up falling asleep with a book on my face on the bottom bunk with Garrett most nights.

Every now and then Gavin will have a nightmare and walk through the house looking for me, and if I'm in the bunk already, he just crawls in. He's been having more nightmares lately, and I think it could be just stress from school. He doesn't have the ability to tell me about his dreams in great detail, but I can make a few intuitive assumptions. It isn't "Where the Wild Things Are". Thank God he's over that one. He has a lot of stress in his Kindergarten life, being a child with autism in a class of 26 "neuro-typical" (normal) kids.

They are both great at sleeping. I would bet a large sum that they could sleep through a category 5 hurricane! Unlike the baby, Bodie. He wakes up at the slightest squeaky door hinge or cat meow. When he is taking a nap, the house has to be in deep silence mode - ringers off, t.v. muted, etc. When he is awake, nothing gets accomplished around here. All productivity occurs at naptime and very early morning!

I took this picture the other morning when I woke the boys up for school. I thought it was so sweet. Apparently Gavin had one of his nightmares and just crawled into the bottom bunk with his little brother during the night. Garrett doesn't realize it yet, but he'll probably be his big brother's protector throughout their lives. Gavin is lucky Garrett was born with a compassionate soul, a comforting aura, and an optimistic attitude.