Back to the Blogging World

I've obviously taken a huge break from blogging, but I fully blame Facebook for that. I mean, it's so much easier to work with Facebook and basically get a snapshot of what everyone else is doing in one quick second rather than follow up with every single blog.

However.

I've also decided that since this SHOULD technically be a journal of our family's happenings, I'll try to keep this blog up too.

So here's a brief rundown of what we've been doing since October. (I know nobody who reads this is really interested, but this will help me at least keep things straight before I head to do some scrapbooking and realize I have no idea what happened in the last quarter of 2008.)

October - Halloween. C decided to be Thomas the Tank Engine again, so that was easy. Halloween was abnormally warm this year. It was basically the calm before the wicked winter we're experiencing right now.

November - C started going to preschool regularly which means that I now has mornings free two times a week. Why didn't we start this earlier? As much as I love the kiddo and every moment I get to spend with him, there's just something about a 3 year old who gets to interact with other kids. He's happier, he's socially better adjusted, and he loves his teachers. The best part? The school actually picks C up curbside. That means I don't have to waste any time going INTO the school, negotiating/bribing a nervous child, and going back to the car. I also don't have to do any of that chit-chatty stuff with pickups. Lovely!

December - C asked for "Thomas at Action Canyon" every day for the last six months for Christmas. (This is what advertising does - it makes parents CRAZY!) At least this year, we had a way to pretty much blackmail C to make sure he behaved up until Christmas day:
C: "Mom, I want a SNACK!"
Me: "C, how do you ask?"
C: "I WANT A SNACK." (mischievous look on his face while he says this, by the way, since he KNOWS that's completely unacceptable.)
Me: "I guess I'll have to call Santa..."
C: "No, wait! Mom, may I pleeeeease have a snack? Pleeeeeeeeease??"

Heh.

We also went to Michigan to go skiing. It was a six hour drive on Christmas day (one way). Here's probably one of the only things I miss about Utah living - being able to drive an hour just to have a place to ski. Oh, sure. We have the Lisle Four Seasons something something here, and I believe there's a golf course in Elgin that turns into a "ski resort" in the winter. But let's face it. Illinois landfills just don't compare to the Rocky Mountains.

That said - for renewed novices like D and I, we had a good time and actually did okay. The only problem was that every run only took me a few minutes, and the lift took about 10-15 minutes. So I could only get 3-4 runs in every hour. At least it's better than cross country skiing.

C and my parents played in the snow, including a snowball fight and sledding down the hills. We've had a ton of snow this winter in the Midwest - which isn't the definition of a bad winter for me, necessarily, but certainly a pain when you have a driveway and a sidewalk. These are the times I miss townhouse living / association dues where we paid someone to handle all the snow shoveling and landscaping. It tempts me to move to the city.

Okay, we're all caught up.