Video?

Trying once again to post a single video.  If it works, this will be a vid of Jimmy and Kirsi at Gramma Jean's house.

Launch Failed

Well the bad news is that the house didn't sell.  I guess the people who wanted to buy it couldn't get the financing, so... back to square one.  But our agent says the housing market is taking off again, which is slightly reassuring.  I wasn't expecting the house to sell until late spring/early summer anyway, so I'm trying not to be too disappointed.  At least we don't have to take Jimmy out of school yet, which is something to be happy about.

In other 'news' the weather improved long enough for us to get outside a couple of times.  Patchy sun and highs in the low 40's - yay!  Now of course it's raining again and back to the 30's.  But in the few days of less crappy weather we finally got out and did some GeoCaching.  First expedition went great and we all had a blast, but when we went out again on Saturday we couldn't find any of the caches we looked for and ended up being bored/pissy/frusterated/cold, respectively.  At least there was some neat scenery at the last place we stopped.  Trying to teach Jim the lesson here - you don't always find what you set out looking for, but hopefully you can enjoy the journey anyway.   

Chris' birthday was nice and quiet.  We had already gone out for dinner a few days before, so we stayed home and played with the kids and he cooked us a delicious dinner of T-bones and stuffed baked potatoes.  

In super creepy news, I want to let everyone know that I had a spider in my ear!  You all laughed at my fear of sleeping with my ears uncovered - there was a reason!  

January passed quickly, with few great accomplishments on anybody's part.  We showed the house again, and an offer is probably forthcoming - let's just hope they're willing to pay what we want.  The downside, should we sell right away, is that we'll have to pull Jim out of school and have him finish the year in Oregon.  But we'll worry about that if and when the time comes.

Small victories grow in abundance, such as Jim's earning a Citizen of the Month Award at school and bringing home a glowing report card.  However, now that the glow of learning is wearing off, he's been getting a few reminders about talking to his friends when he's supposed to be working.  The teacher is finally starting to give him some harder work to stimulate him - Hallelujah!  He decided it was time for him to climb a tree, so he and Chris trekked out into the woods out back to find one.  Jimmy chose a very small pine to start with, and quickly found that small trees are not the best to hold a growing boy.  He had better luck the second try.

Kirsi emulates her brother's climbing instincts by tackling her walker - she'll climb right over the side of the seat and get stuck in the chair with her legs hanging out.  She's got a little push-toy now and loves to walk around the house with it.  She stands alone for up to a minute now, and will certainly be walking before long.  She's developed a liking for playing dress-up, and loves to put on hats and shoes and truck around the house in them.  

The kids are getting along really well now, and it's wonderful to watch them playing together.  Kirsi loves to play peek-a-boo, which Jimmy has never stopped loving, and they play a game where Jim tries to kiss her on the nose and she tries to pull her head away before he gets her.  Jimmy has been a great help entertaining and sometimes even feeding her!

Chris and I hover in the background - haven't really done much this month but clean, work, and play with the kids.  Chris turns 32 next Sunday!  Then we need to get ready for the kids' birthdays in April and May...  Jimmy has already planned his party out for me, and would like everyone to know that he wants the $90 Lego PowerMiners kit - I told him, "Good luck with that!"