Success

Gram declared today to be the best day of his life and it wasn't even 9 AM yet when he made this proclamation. A Wii console and the Mario Kart Wii game prompted this sentiment. We are officially, and deeply, immersed in the world of video games now. Beth figures that today is the first time since she was in high school that she will have played a video game. I tried a few rounds with Gram already. I beat him at bowling but he beat me at tennis and boxing. I must admit that I am a bit confused by how to control the actions of the game. It's not a natural environment for me and it makes my eyes hurt. I suppose that, if I want to continue to be an active part of Gram's world, that I will need to come to some sort of peace with the video games. Mo was up before 5 and just finished her customary 30 minute morning nap. Christmas photos coming soon!

White Christmas

Well, it almost certainly won't be snowing on Christmas day, but with all of the snow still piled up from last week we will have a white Christmas here. Gram is on vacation and my vacation time (as opposed to daddy time) has officially begun. Winter started late here this year but we keep hearing that it will be a long and snowy one. I certainly hope that the common wisdom is wrong on this one.

Beth and I are in the process of finishing our annual CD and a batch will go in the mail tomorrow. Once again, we missed a Christmas arrival. We've been passing a bit of a bug around the house the past week. Beth got sick last Thursday, I passed out on the couch before 7:30 on Friday night and Gram woke up last night throwing up around 1 in the morning. He seems fine now, but we kept him out of his last half day of school. Mo's patience is wearing thin with all of the holiday based errands we have been running and I think she is as sad as I am that the weather in the morning has made our walks almost impossible. This has meant more car rides and that means more of Mo screaming at me. She DOES NOT LIKE THE CAR.

We hope everyone will have a wonderful holiday and we will write more soon.

Counting Down

So, Gram has 2 and a half days of school next week and my school ends today. I guess my daddy leave is over and my winter break starts today. Above is my favorite current photo of me and the kids.

Rhythm Interrupted

So, Mo and I had settled into a pretty nice rhythm for awhile there. We would walk together in the morning, usually heading to the Y where I could work out and she would hang out in the kid room there. Well, the last week has seen some actual winter weather starting and our morning walk is not happening now. Today the wind chill is in the teens and I can barely stand it, I am certain that it would be too tough on her. So, we have been in the car and in the living room more than either of us would prefer to be.

First Snow of the year

So, we finally had our first snow day here. After a drizzly morning, around 1:30 PM today we started seeing some of the rain turn to snow. By 2:30 it was a full-on snow and it has not stopped yet. I originally thought that none of it would stick because of the early rain, but we are covered outside right now. I'll take some photos in the morning and post them soon. Beth and Mo never made it out of the house today, so it was a tough day for Mo. She was pretty cranky by dinnertime. We started a new family tradition. On Fridays when we are home we have pizza and movie night. Gram gets to pick the film (this week it was Garfield- The Movie) and he eats some white pizza. Beth and I had some buffalo chicken pizza and did our best to pretend to be amused/interested in the movie. Tonight we had family game night. We played BINGO with a game Gram bought from a local Goodwill type of store. It is called Caged BINGO and has a cool spinning ball that you use to select the BINGO numbers. We also played a card game he learned at school which helps him with his addition facts. A pretty fun night for the family on a snowy evening.

Settling In

So, after a few days of winterish weather we had temperatures in the 60s today. Word is we'll pay for it with our first snow this weekend. By this time last year we had already had a few snow days off of school.

So, Mo and I have settled into a pretty nice routine. We leave the house around 9 and walk to the Y. I pick her up from the kid room around 10 after I work up a sweat and then we walk our way home, stopping in a few downtown shops on the way. Today I had the chance to chat with the indie kid who works at the local record shop while Mo just smiled and gurgled. We usually get home around 11 and Beth gets home noonish. The afternoons are tough since the sun sets shortly after 4 these days. She's fine up to the point where we go get Gram from school. The stretch from 4 on is pretty rough.

Tomorrow's another day...

December - Winter is Arriving

A cold day today as Mo and I went for our morning walk. Here are some photos, finally. The top two photos are from Halloween and the bottom two are from a beautiful day drive we took recently to a cute nearby town.