[day 43 ... february 12]

Facebook: it's where we live online these days! I love being able to share and see photos, check out what people are up to, send quick notes or comments, and just have a little window into people's lives. Great fun!

Sometimes a kind of "chain letter" goes around where you can create and share a list of things about yourself, like your favorite music or all about your first pregnancy. I don't participate in most of them, but here's one I really enjoyed: 25 Random Things. It's such a kick to read tidbits about other people's lives and likes/dislikes, and to see how different the info is that people decide to share. Being the verbose writer I am, I came up with more than 35 items and had to winnow my list. :-)

[day 42 ... february 11]

Every evening after Cory's in bed, Niall and I spend 10-15 minutes having "special playtime." We started this routine several years ago, and now it's an immutable part of our pre-bedtime routine.

Usually we play card games like Cribbage, Crazy Eights or Double War, or board games like Sorry or Guess Who?, but sometimes we play Legos or draw pictures. Once in awhile, we'll watch part of a movie but that doesn't help us wind down to sleepytime so is an infrequent exception.

Niall enjoys this time so much, and I'm always glad to eek out some 1:1 time with each of my kids. Cory already has a nice, long bedtime routine but is now clamoring for his own "special playtime" in addition! He's right - it's probably time to see how to squeeze that in. Hopefully without extending the total time, because this mommy already spends upwards of 2.5 hours getting two little people ready and tucked into every night!

[day 41 ... february 10]

What do you know - more snow! I thought maybe December met our quota for the season but Mother Nature had another idea. Not a big deal this time, thankfully. It was a light round and the roads stayed pretty clear. As long as we aren't stuck at home and driving isn't too hazardous, I'm all for more snow!

We woke up to a few inches yesterday, though the prediction was for Tuesday (figures), and then more fell today, most of the day. Nice wet snow - great for making snowballs and snowmen! Niall still has his rash but is otherwise feeling fine so he went out to make a quick snowman and run around in the snow. The temperature was so borderline, the snowman quickly caved over, but the fun was in the making. :-)

Cory, Niall and I spend some time outside before dinner making BIG snowballs - so quick and easy with this kind of snow - and then tromping out tracks and paths to follow, just for fun.

[day 40 ... february 9]

Poor Niall woke up with an awful runny nose and, worse, an itchy rash over much of body. Yikes! All over his hands, arms, legs, feet, lower back, shoulders. Seems to have skipped his face, chest and most of his back, but that's the only saving grace. He is handling it remarkably well, but it's no fun.

I dosed him up with Benedryl and put hydrocortisone cream on the worst of the itchies, and we'll see how it goes. I expect it's a virus. He hasn't had anything new to eat, no new clothes or laundry detergent, hasn't been roaming around in any strange bushes, and definitely no visits to foreign countries. Definitely not chicken pox (although I know it sounds like it). Think he'll just have to wait it out.

[day 39 ... february 8]

Our refrigerator is so covered with photos, alphabet letters, magnets, lists, and whatnot, it's a challenge to find room for anything new - ever! The side is just as buried. I suppose someday we should clean it all off and start afresh, but here it is, immortalized in all its glory in its current state.

My sister and her family contributed to the clutter (in a good way :-) by sending the boys little funky magnets to decorate photos: hats, horns, mustaches, etc. plus bubble magnets and some short phrases. Cory and Niall think the magnets are just hysterical and love piling them onto people's photos or strategically placing just one or two incongruously somewhere (like the cowboy hat on Grandma Frances' head). Quite amusing, I have to say. And keeps them entertained on occasion, which is always a good thing.