This Stuff Gets Around Fast

Okay, Bobbi got me again. So I'll play another game of tag.

What is his name? James Patrick

How long have you been together? We met for the first time 11 years ago and we'll celebrate our 10th anniversary this May
How old is he? 31
Who eats more? It's always a competition, but I HOPE he wins

Who said I love you first? James did, by a few weeks
Who is taller? Definitely James, by nearly a foot
Who can sing better? I think it's me, but James sure sings a lot at inopportune times (drives me nuts)

Who is smarter? Well, I like to think that I'm more intellectual, but I might just be deluded. James is definitely better with finances and numbers
Who does the laundry? Uh, yeah, me. James' contribution is to bring the hampers downstairs and upstairs
Who pays the bills? James, I'd be lost if I had to do it
Who sleeps in the right side? James cause that's the man's side, isn't it?
Who mows the lawn? The lawn guy :-) James used to do it but it was always one more pesky chore to do over the weekend and I never thought it looked good enough so we wised up and hired someone this last season
Who cooks dinner? Whoever is one kitchen duty at the restaurant of our choice :-) We do eat out a lot but I'm usually the one cooking dinner if we're at home - James' idea of making dinner involves a can of pork and beans
Who drives? James - I hate driving
Who is more stubborn? Me :-)
Who kissed who first? James probably had to initiate it, but I'm sure it was very mutual
Who asked who out first? Again, I think James probably took the initiative - especially since he flew across the country for our first date
Who proposed? James, on my birthday
Who has more friends? James, he's much more sociable and outgoing than me
Who is more sensitive? That's a toss-up, we're both sensitive in our own ways
Who has more siblings? We both come from families of two boys and one girl - I'm the oldest though and he's the middle child
Who wears the pants? I let James think it's him ;-P

Snow Day!

I can't believe that we actually had a snow day in Boise! It hasn't happened since 1993, I believe. The weather here has just been something else - cycling between cold, snowy, and windy. I have to say, I think this is the first TRUE winter I've seen since moving to Boise. School was cancelled yesterday due to some brutal road conditions in the early morning, although the day itself wasn't too bad. The kids enjoyed their day off and played video games, watched movies, played card games, and, of course, went outside and played in the snow. Their cousin Oriana spent half of the day with them, which made the day even more of a treat.

Brr...

Call me a wimp if you must, but it's been the coldest, snowiest winter I think I've seen yet since I've been in Boise. Snow has been on the ground for most of the second half of December and January, and temperatures have been in the 20s during the day. The kids have enjoyed the skiing and playing in the snow, but right now a Hawaiian vacation sounds just about right to me. The roads have been a mess - thank goodness for 4 wheel drive. At least, living in Boise (and not Wisconsin), I know that spring will arrive next month, LOL.

Colin's Off to the Races

Colin has started to crawl! It's not too pretty yet, but it does the job. He kind of scoots along army-crawl style and he's getting better and better every day. We are going out this weekend to buy gates for the stairs, because we know from experience that once they start being mobile that it snowballs. Before we know it he'll be walking. He's such a treasure, although he definitely knows what he wants and isn't afraid to tell us. It's another normal weekend for us - we've got errands to run, a house to clean, Hero has a friend's birthday party, Allegra's going up to Bogus with Papa to take advantage of the new snow that hit us hard early in the week (Hero's pretty jealous actually and complained that skiing is more fun than a birthday party, lol), and the boys will get to just hang out.

On to the New Year

Yes, it HAS taken me this long to recover from Christmas. Thankfully, the crispy trees are out of the house, the lights are down, and the Christmas china is packed away for another year. Don't get me wrong, we had a wonderful Christmas, but it's nice to get back to our slightly less chaotic "normal" life. Allegra celebrated her 6th birthday at Boondocks with family and some kindergarten classmates. Now its time to start thinking about Ian's birthday already, LOL.

Finding the Joy in the Season

This is the reason I do it all - the crazy round of shopping, baking, cleaning and chaos that signifies Christmas - to enjoy the children making memories and creating traditions that will define Christmas for them forever. When you are a child you don't see all the work that goes into making your home a wonderland of holiday sights, smells, and sounds. Now that I'm a mom, well, I just have to say kudos to MY mom for creating such a warm, inviting atmosphere surrounding Christmas. This weekend we took a few moments out of our busy schedule to bake in the kitchen. The kids helped me make BonBon cookies from my vintage cookbook. They all donned aprons (even Ian) and had their special duties (most important of which was licking the beater and spatulas, LOL). The cookies themselves were delicious, but the togetherness was infinitely more sweet.

One Step Closer to Christmas

The trees are finally up! It's always so exhausting to pull the 19 bins out of the garage and begin the arduous process of changing out the everyday stuff for all the Christmas stuff. It makes me think maybe we've got too much Christmas stuff, but, nah, that's not possible, right? :-) We've got two trees again this year, one for the living room and one for the music room. Now, if I could just get that angel straight on the one...