The Fish

Sure, let's get a fish. Why not. Its not like 2 kids and 3 dogs is enough. Actually, Adam is doing a nice job taking care of him and he's affectionately named his fish "Adam".

Getting back in the routine

After 3 more snow days last week and sub-zero temps, this week has been wonderful so far. Temps in the 30's and the boy is in school (YEE HOO!). Got a note yesterday from school saying they will start making up the days by having school on MLK day Monday.

I am keeping busy during the day. Alexander is going to the daycare at the gym a few mornings a week while I get my workout in. Its been a good experience for both of us. He gets to be around some other kids and I can do some running (normally, my running consists of chasing Alex!). I think the daycare ladies are slowly getting to know him - today I walked in and he had just dumped an entire bucket of crayons over and was throwing them across the room. I may also have a temporary part-time job working for a non-profit in town (Restore Omaha), so I am excited about that. I'll learn more about it this weekend.

Tim went in with the neighbors and bought a snowblower. Right now it appears to be taking up half of our garage, but he assures me that it "folds up". Not sure what that means. Now we are ready for some snow. We are making an effort to cook more at home, and he's been cooking some pretty nice meals lately. He's got a fantastic Spaghetti Carbonara that he can fix you anytime you want to come visit!

Adam is soaking up all that is presented to him at school. He can count to 100 by 10's, he is sooo close to being able to read, and he learned about Mozart and Beethoven in music class (this made me very happy!). He continues to tell me that he is being chased by girls on the playground. I hope this is not an indication of things to come....

Alexander just turned 14 months and has learned how to twirl around and get dizzy so he falls over. He can say "yes", "Ada", "dada", "budah'" (buddy the dog). He loves to dance and stomp his feet. Today he learned how fun it is to put on my shoes. He still loves to eat, but most of the food gets thrown on the floor for the dogs to enjoy. It's more entertaining that way.

Here are a few photos of the past week:

Alex has decided that he MUST eat with a spoon or fork now. This is his first attempt at feeding himself. Strawberry yogurt. He did pretty well!

Adam in front of one of our snow piles. This is why Tim got the snowblower.

Another photo of Buddy the snow dog. He loves to hang out on top of the picnic table in the snow. He's also blazed a path to the back fence so he can continue to bark at the squirrels. He couldn't let a little snow get in the way of that.

Snow day = playing with friends and hot chocolate. Adam and his buddy had a fun day last week.

Alex attempting to go for a run in my shoes. I'm sure he's probably faster than I am.

Its Snowing in Korea, too.

Here are some beautiful photos I saw online today. It snowed 10 inches in Seoul over the weekend (Actually, they report it to be 25.2 centimeters). Its the largest snowfall there in 41 years. I'm grateful that we traveled there in the summer!

The heaviest snowfall on record hit Seoul, Monday, creating rare scenes across the capital. At left, a child is seen waist-deep in snow in Namsangol Hanok Village in downtown Seoul, while visitors take a walk around a snow-covered pavilion in the village. / Korea Times Photos by Shim Hyun-chul

Let it Snow

This photo basically summarizes our winter so far. This is our neighbor, Karol, up on her roof trying to knock down a snow drift that blew in on Christmas eve. Before she started, it was almost covering those windows all the way to the top.

Christmas with the McMahons

We finally made it to Lincoln on Sat. for Christmas with my family. It was nice to have the whole family there all at once. This was our 4th Christmas! (Isn't that a movie). We ate all day and played with toys. A good time was had by all. I think we can now officially usher in the new year and put all the Christmas stuff away. And wait for more snow.... and more snow.... and more snow.....