Blizzards, etc.

The Sullivan Five...
Enjoying some ice fishing on a snowy day!
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I've been so busy shoveling lately that I have barely had time to think! Whew. I'm doing a recap of February here, so hold onto your hats now...

We had school vacation, which went relatively well. Owen was sick for a couple of days with a fever, so he laid low and we had a lovely few days of almost total quiet. Then he got better and was in everyone's face all the time, I presume that was to make up for those "wasted" days of getting along with his brothers. Those were two days that he could have been totally annoying everyone-- gone down the tubes! We knew it had to come back around to bite us at some point. By the time that week ended, I was quite happy for everyone to go back to school. Even if there was more winter weather and more school delays/cancellations involved. At least there was some peace. Although, we did have an interesting time letting Rocco experiment with finger paints for the first time during vacation...

Rocco, first taste of finger painting- har har
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Rocco, after being told that the paints
are for PAINTING-- not eating...
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Rocco enjoyed the paint clean-up
much more than the painting itself!
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We all went to the 2nd Annual, ALR-sponsored Kids' Ice Fishing Derby. It's free to participants... held on a local pond... The State's Dept. of Inland Fisheries stocks the pond with an extra 500 fish from the local hatchery to help insure fishing success for all the kids. There are food vendors with fries, hot dogs, hot cocoa, etc. The holes are pre-drilled for the kids and ALR provides an ice fishing trap for entrants... Kids got small fishing tackle boxes, too. There were bait stations with nightcrawlers and shiners- all free... And plenty of ALR guys walking around to assist folks with baiting hooks or reeling in a catch, in case you don't know what you're doing.

Chatting with Moni at the ice fishing derby...
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It was super-snowy that day so by the time we left we were all pretty frozen. Rocco had been amazingly patient just sitting around in his LLBean sled... (a hand-me-down from when Keall and I were kids.) I was happy to leave the ice, though... Even if we did leave fish-less... for the second year in a row! (We did get a bite on one line, but the fish took off with our bait. Oh well.) Ice fishing has never been one of my favorite sports! But it is really nice to see how happy it makes all the kids from area communities.... And to know my hunny is behind it. It's very cool. I like showing up without any ALR gear on, to hear what people are saying about the event. This year we were all incognito so not everyone knew who we were... And we heard the nicest, most sincere comments!

Somewhere in all those blankets is Rocco...
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Owen lost a big, front tooth... and just a few days later, he lost the other front tooth! It is really fun to hear him talking now... But we've assured him that we are laughing because he looks and sounds so cute, not because we are making fun! He is cool with it and he has been laughing about it, too. The tooth fairy brought him TWO shiny gold dollars for each of the big front teeth. We assume it's because those are prime real estate in any mouth, right?

Owen's gaping new smile
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Oscar has been writing up a storm! He is really starting to catch on with words... They use phonics to teach in our school system and, even just a month ago, we could rarely figure out what he was trying to write. But now it is more often than not that we know exactly what he was writing, though it is not spelled correctly in most cases. And he has been just madly in love with Lola, of course... He often draws pictures at school for her (we tape them up over her dog bed) and his latest piece of school work that he brought home was a "finish this sentence" kind of project. It went like this, "When I am 100 years old, I will need ________________." Oscar wrote, "a dog." And drew himself with a dog that he says is "very hairy... like Molly!" (My parents' dog.) He is so cute!

Rocco just turned 18 months old! Eeks. He is so much more mobile and interactive now. Skip adores Rocco's daily greeting at the door now when he gets home... R is often the first one to run around the corner to give Skip a hug or wave hello. It's very cute! He says "uh-oh" with some clarity now.... I think that's going to have to be considered his "first word." To be fair, he has been saying "dah?" and pointing to things for some time now, as if to ask "[what's] that?" He clearly wants us to name the item he points at. But it's nowhere near a clear pronunciation, so I'm not counting it. And he has also been saying "Dah" when we talk about Skip, but, again, he calls just about everything "Dah." Skip will probably say that I'm not considering that as his first word because I'm jealous that he isn't saying "Mommy." Maybe... But, c'mon! He really does use that word for just about everything, so I don't think it counts. To me, the first word is the first word that they say with some amount of clarity AND accuracy. (For example, if he said "DOG" clear as a bell, but pointed to a spoon when he said it... I'm not countin' it! And I'm the one writing it in the baby book, so there!)

I've been really enjoying my yoga classes... They bring me a peace to start the week with. I often try to bring myself back to that spot later in the week when craziness has implanted itself in our home. I've also been doing daily sit-ups and trying to walk on the treadmill at least 4 times a week. It's going pretty well and I'm definitely seeing a change in my waistline. I think I might be down a jelly roll! haha

There was, however, a minor setback to my "Gee, aren't I doing well?" pats-on-the-back last week... I bought a fancy new scale that calculates body fat, bone mass, etc. It will tell you how many calories to intake daily to maintain your current weight. It even calculates your metabolic age, given the statistics that it gets from your measurements. I had to try not to cry when it told me my "metabolic age" is 46! Ohhhh it's going to be a long, painful swimsuit season. I can tell already. Good thing I'm pretty thick-skinned and I can take it! Bring it on.

On a happier note, I've been having a lot of fun playing Rock Band this week. On Sunday I decided to play straight through the set list from the beginning. I beat the game on guitar in easy mode... Now I'm moving on to beating it in "medium" on guitar and vocals! I'll keep you posted. I still prefer Guitar Hero when playing guitar.... But Rock Band is nice because, when your hands seem permanently clenched into a crippled guitar fist, you can switch to singing for a break. If you ever want to challenge me online, feel free! For Guitar Hero, my Xbox gamertag is: BarryJive5. We have Rock Band on the PS3... And I've been too lazy to set up my own ID on there yet. So for now I play under Skip's ID: SkippahG. Look me up! Whatcha waitin' for? (You're probably scared.) haha

...17 days 'til Spring....