voting

Today was my first experience voting with a 15 month old in tow. He was good for the most part, until he got away from me.

Yeah, that was interesting...

I think next time, I'll go alone

Cool play doh

Elijah is napping right now but he wanted me to post these pictures for you:






He was so excited that he drooled graham cracker on his chin, as evidenced in the final picture!

Thanks, Caitlin! I promised Eli we would test it out after his nap. We'll let you know how it goes.

Oh, and by the way, I almost didn't open the package! It was super bulky and I didn't recognize the return address. I was trying to figure out what it could possibly be. Since it wasn't ticking, I decided it should be safe!

Kitchen helper

Elijah was having one of those nights...he really just wanted me to sit on the couch and hold him. Unfortunately, I was really trying to make dinner so Adam had some good food to eat when he gets home tonight. Elijah wouldn't let go of my legs so I gave in...and took the child lock off the cabinet with all the Tupperware-type stuff. So here is Elijah helping me cook dinner tonight:




He even took his chair down the hall to mom and dad's bedroom! What a helper! OK, seriously, I don't know WHAT was up with dragging the chair down the hall but I told him it was a good idea. Besides between "reorganizing" the cabinet for me and "rearranging" furniture, he was happier than our cats with catnip!

This is actually Elijah being naughty...he knows he's not allowed behind the couch (too many power strips!) but he kept sneaking back there.


Elijah acting secretive and "Jedi-like"!


Stuffing his face during dinner tonight...

A different view of Valentine's Day

Not Like it Used To Be

February 14 is Valentine's Day. Although it is celebrated as a lovers' holiday today, with the giving of candy, flowers, or other gifts between couples in love, it originated in 5th Century Rome as a tribute to St. Valentine, a Catholic bishop.

For eight hundred years prior to the establishment of Valentine's Day, the Romans had practiced a pagan celebration in mid-February commemorating young men's rite of passage to the god Lupercus. The celebration featured a lottery in which young men would draw the names of teenage girls from a box. The girl assigned to each young man in that manner would be his sexual companion during the remaining year.

In an effort to do away with the pagan festival, Pope Gelasius ordered a slight change in the lottery. Instead of the names of young women, the box would contain the names of saints. Both men and women were allowed to draw from the box, and the game was to emulate the ways of the saint they drew during the rest of the year. Needless to say, many of the young Roman men were not too pleased with the rule changes.

Instead of the pagan god Lupercus, the Church looked for a suitable patron saint of love to take his place. They found an appropriate choice in Valentine, who, in AD 270 had been beheaded by Emperor Claudius.

Claudius had determined that married men made poor soldiers. So he banned marriage from his empire. But Valentine would secretly marry young men that came to him. When Claudius found out about Valentine, he first tried to convert him to paganism. But Valentine reversed the strategy, trying instead to convert Claudius. When he failed, he was stoned and beheaded.

During the days that Valentine was imprisoned, he fell in love with the blind daughter of his jailer. His love for her, and his great faith, managed to miraculously heal her from her blindness before his death. Before he was taken to his death, he signed a farewell message to her, "From your Valentine." The phrase has been used on his day ever since.

Although the lottery for women had been banned by the church, the mid-February holiday in commemoration of St. Valentine was still used by Roman men to seek the affection of women. It became a tradition for the men to give the ones they admired handwritten messages of affection, containing Valentine's name.

The first Valentine card grew out of this practice. The first true Valentine card was sent in 1415 by Charles, duke of Orleans, to his wife. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London at the time.

Cupid, another symbol of the holiday, became associated with it because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears on Valentine cards.

TAKEN FROM THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE: http://wilstar.com/holidays/valentn.htm

KAKAR!

Pretty funny story about yesterday...

Elijah was acting all strange yesterday afternoon. He was sitting, with his back to me, playing with a shoe box. He'd open it up, look at me over his shoulder, kind of snicker and then close the box again. He did this about 4 times before I said "What's in the box buddy?" He turned around, held up his hand and said "kakar!" I was confused and said "show me". He came over, opened his hand and said "kakar!" again. And you know what was in his hand? A piece of graham cracker! I said "Yup, that's a cracker all right!" and he said it again: "kakar!" I was amused. It's his new favorite word.

So despite my frustration with this crazy weather, my son is super cool and makes me laugh!

let it snow

**Edit at bottom**

I don't like winter. I used to say I didn't mind the snow...I just didn't like the cold. Well, we've had almost 70 inches of snow so far this winter and it's official: I DON'T LIKE WINTER.

I spent over an hour digging out my car from our parking spot in back of the house. This was rough for a few reasons. First, they actually PLOWED the alley! We normally aren't given that service. It'll be nice to drive in the alley now, but it also meant there was a good amount of snow plowed up behind my car. Second, there is really nowhere to put all the snow that I clean off my car and from around my car, especially when there is 17 inches on what little lawn area we do have. Third, I guess Larry-not-the-cucumber has decided NOT to park in back after this snow storm. His parking spot is still completely covered. I thought about just putting all my snow on top of his but decided against it after about 3 seconds. Anyway, there was just an obnoxious amount of snow to try to work with and around. Adam called when I had gotten about a third of the way done. I told him I wasn't sure I was even going to finish it. But then I remembered...this is Wisconsin. We're supposed to get between 2-3 inches tonight (ARG!!!) and then tomorrow afternoon, we're going to pull that really cool trick where the temperature drops like 40 degrees in a couple hours. If I didn't get my car unstuck, it would just be stuck in ice and covered with ice. So I just sighed and finished it. There was the mound of snow in front of my car that I couldn't get to because I had pulled too close to the stairs so I decided I may as well back my car up and shovel it out. I get in my car, put it in reverse and...

Yeah, it won't move. The tires just spin. Doesn't matter if I try to go in reverse or drive. I am stuck. I decided against trying too long because I figured if I spun the tires continually I was just going to end up with the tires in holes with snow piled up around them. I talked to Adam again and he suggested I put some salt around the tires. Done...but you know what? I don't even feel like going anywhere now! (I'm stubborn, I know...) It's not imperative that I go out today, but my Kleenex supply is going to be depleted pretty soon with Elijah's runny nose and my runny nose! Plus we have a VERY slow bathtub drain that really needs some Draino or something. And I need something for my cough. So I guess it's not a matter of life or death but I really was hoping to get to the store today. Oh well...there's always tomorrow.

So an hour of digging out of the snow while Elijah was napping and now we're just going to hang out here. I don't like winter...

...and I'm going to blame it all on that silly groundhog, Jimmy. He needs some glasses or something!



**EDIT**
This is getting ridiculous....

Issued at: 2:48 PM CST 2/8/08, expires at: 11:00 PM CST 2/8/08

Blowing snow advisory in effect from 3 pm Saturday to 12 pm cst Sunday, wind chill watch in effect from late Saturday night through sunday morning,
The NWS in Milwaukee/Sullivan has issued a blowing snow advisory, which is in effect from 3 pm Saturday to 12 pm cst Sunday. A wind chill watch has also been issued. This wind chill watch is in effect from late Saturday night through Sunday morning.
A very strong cold front will push through southern wisconsin saturday afternoon. West to northwest winds of 25 to 35 mph, gusting between 40 and 50 mph, will cause considerable blowing and drifting snow.
Near blizzard conditions with visibilities less than one quarter mile will be possible at times. North to south roadways may experience significant drifting, and hazardous driving conditions will result.
Temperatures are expected to plummet Saturday night to between 7 and 14 below zero. These temperatures combined with gusty winds may produce wind chill readings between 35 and 43 below zero Saturday night and Sunday morning.
A blowing snow advisory is issued when blowing snow will cause restricted visibilities due to gusty winds. Conditions may approach blizzard criteria at times. Use extreme caution while traveling, especially in open areas.
A wind chill watch is issued when the combination of very cold air temperatures, and winds of 10 mph or greater, could create dangerously low wind chill values of 35 degrees below zero or colder for 3 hours or longer.
Even if wind chill warning criteria is not reached, such strong winds and bitterly cold temperatures would cause frost bite on unprotected skin within 15 to 25 minutes. Monitor the latest forecasts for updates and possible warnings on this situation.