New Year's Eve

Today started with snow around 7:30 AM. It lasted for about 3 hours, long enough to make me think that getting out of the house with the kids would not be a great idea. Luckily, one of Gram's friends invited him to go bowling (real bowling, not Wii bowling) and they picked him up so Mo and I had some quiet time. She fell asleep while eating in her swing so I got a brief nap today. However, the worl pretty much does not want me to nap. I have had any number of phone calls waking me when I try to squeeze in a nap. Today it was an ambulance screaming down the street right outside our house. Everyone is asleep now (except for me!) and it is snowing again. It should be pretty outside tomorrow morning.

New Year and New Schedule A-Comin'

As 2009 fades away in a very chilly fashion here, I am getting myself mentally prepared (as much as I can) for what lies ahead next week. Mornings of getting all 4 of us ready to leave the house by 8 AM. I'll be walking the boy to school most mornings and then turning back down the street to my classroom. We were doing this before my leave, but on those mornings Beth and Mo were just hanging around the house, not busily getting themselves ready. Not that Mo will be much help getting herself ready, but you know what I mean. Gram and I will leave about 10 till 8 and I'll be in my room about 5 after 8. Beth will leave right after us to take Mo to her day care. The afternoons? Well, we don't have that completely figured out yet. Gram will spend some days at the after care at his school, I'll spend some days getting him and Mo before Beth comes home, and some days Mo will be at the day care until Beth gets her after 5. Long days for a short girl.

Fitting in Gram's homework, my homework, making dinner, etc. It's a routine that tons of families have to deal with. It's just a new one for us and it'll be interesting to see how we work it out.

The cold is pretty severe this week by our standards. A few days of sub-freezing weather and strong winds have kept me and Mo away from our usual rounds of the downtown businesses, so we are spending more time cooped up at home. The good news is that she is fully on the bottle routine with me now as long as I feed her in the correct chair. The day care ladies will be happy to hear this.

Overdue Snow Photos

Back out in the world

So, last night, as I was getting ready for bed, I realized that no one in the family had even left the apartment yesterday. Our Friday newspaper was sitting on the sidewalk and we had spent the day in our pajamas. This morning, I went back into the world and played 4 mediocre games of basketball. My team won once with little help from me. The weather is turning lousy here but I am determined that we will not just stare at the Wii all day again. We'll see how successful I am.

A long happy day

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.