[day 51 ... february 20]

While everyone obsesses over Obama's first 30 days and "Is he living up to the promise?" (already? Can we not give the man more than a few weeks to bring peace to the world and solve the whole financial crisis?), we're still happy Obama fans here. The bulletin board next to the dining table still has our bumper stickers (not so much for putting those on cars, myself, but I like them) and there's still a warm glow.

Sorry not to be getting disappointed already but I still think he's a fabulous, amazing person and am so glad he is in charge, even if everything is a mess. Or more like, especially *because* everything is a mess. I do think once in awhile, "Imagine what he could have done if every single major area wasn't in crisis." But it is what it is, and we can only move forward from here. Glad he's our president while we get to it.

[day 50 ... february 19]

Somehow I started this with Kellen, and it has continued with all the boys: when I put on their jammies or pants, I encourage them to help me (and distract them from resisting) by saying: "One foot, two foot, red foot, blue foot. This one has a little star, this one has a little car. Oh! How many feetsies there are!" They have all thought this very funny and begin reciting it along with me as they get older, of course. Cory and I still do this sometimes and he giggles as he insists we recite the whole saying. Be careful what you start, right? :-)

[day 49 ... february 18]

Cory continues his obsession with all things Star Wars. Apparently it's a major topic at school as well, with classmate Theo being the "expert." Cory is dying to see the movies but Mean Mom doesn't think they're appropriate for 4-year-olds. So for now, he's making do with poring over all the books, studying the Lego Star Wars catalogs, making Star Wars ships from Legos and re-enacting scenes, and, of course, begging Mom to tell the stories over and over again.

[day 48 ... february 17]

Thank goodness Candi was available this week to come play with the kids, since Grandma Shannon came down with a nasty bug and the boys have been sick off and on (in some cases, repeatedly) as well. Only Tynor has been hit with something flu-like; the rest of us have just had bad colds that linger on something fierce.

Niall and Cory have been delighted to have Candi come over. They miss her! Especially Cory, who doesn't see her at Extended Day at school, as Niall does. She's been playing outside with them a lot, since the weather's been nice (for a change!) and she can hopefully avoid Tynor's flu bug as well.

The boys mentioned yesterday that they had been working on making a fort out of the climber, so today, Candi brought sheets and other gear to add. They ended up playing cards and having a snack at the little table under the slide end of the climber - great little spot to hang out. You can see one of the little dogs that Candi's taking care of this week too. She brought them with her so they'd have some fun as well - much to Niall's delight and somewhat to Cory's trepidation.

[day 47 ... february 16]

In a perhaps vain attempt to lure Niall away from Rock Band, I got him SingStar 80's for Christmas (with some help from the Snapp grandparents). He loves to sing in Rock Band - truly a passion for him. But the songs are geared toward teens and are borderline-acceptable for an 8-year-old at best. Many of them I don't let him sing (or watch the older boys play) at all, much to his frustrations.

Now all the songs on SingStar '80s are reasonable for a kid his age, so I hope he gets into it. Plus they're songs I like too, and we have two mics so I can sing duets with him, which I thought he'd like too. "Eye of the Tiger" - here we come! :-)

[day 46 ... february 15]

Cory's hair is so darling and curly when it grows out. Much curlier than any of my other boys' hair. I've been meaning to take him to our favorite gal at Great Clips for a haircut for a couple of weeks, but between illnesses (his, mine and others), hadn't gotten around to it.

Today we zipped down there and Julie gave him a nice "little boys" cut. So cute! I miss the curls, but not the loooong hair drooping over his ears.

[day 45 ... february 14]

My sweet 8YO made me a cute valentine, though he was embarrassed and wanted me to wait "for an hour" (so said the note) before I opened it! He relented though, making goofy faces all the while, and let me read it and appreciate it on the spot. :-)

[day 44 ... february 13]

I love the boys' birthday wish lists. Cory's list this year (his birthday is in May, mind you) is exclusively Legos Star Wars so far. The boy has a passion, what can I say. :-) He loves looking through the Legos catalogs and pining after all the cool Star Wars characters and ships.
He asked for help to write the list, but he numbered each item and wrote all the numbers except for the 7's in the last three kits. He drew cool pictures inside, too, and three sizes of the number four: small, medium, and large. He was very pleased with his writing skill, as he should be. It's progressing by leaps and bounds these days!