Time for a picture!

Ethan is growing SO fast! Here he is, now 3 1/2 months:




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Today was supposed to be the day we jumped back into homeschooling full-bore. I even made schedules and lesson plans! But life intervened, as it tends to. Ethan was up for the first half of the night, crying (screaming) with teething pain. (It's really unfair for a little guy to start teething before he can reliably maneuver a teething soother into his mouth!) Brianna was up several times vomiting. It's now after noon and she's still in bed feeling yucky. :o( Of course the kids' travails meant that Firmin and I got precious little sleep. Alexander was the only one in any condition to do school this morning, but he was more than happy to ditch math for the prospect of exclusive use of his ill sister's new snow board! Oh well, we'll try again Wednesday or Thursday.

Happy New Year to everyone!

A Day Late and a Dollar -- O.K., Many Dollars --Short

My friend over at Memoirs of a Chaotic Mommy tagged me for this meme well before Christmas, but I just didn't have time to get to it before the big day. My computer time is getting more limited now that Ethan is more awake. (He's nearly 3 1/2 months old already!) Plus, our computer room is *freezing* in the winter, so I tend to check email and get out! Which is also why I'm not keeping up with everyone's blogs as much as I would like to. I'm keeping up with reading them better than with commenting on them. I'm more of a lurker these days.

Anyhoo, here are my post Christmas answers:

“Favourite Christmas memory…”

Making breakfast with my sisters every Christmas morning once we got old enough. Our dad insisted on having breakfast before we attacked the presents, and the wait was excruciating for us! So my middle sister and I eventually got the idea to make breakfast as soon as we woke up. We would make something to eat -- at first cereal and toast; later, more elaborate hot breakfasts. Then we would wake our parents (think 6 am) and announce that breakfast was served! When our younger sister got old enough we included her in the ritual. It was a tradition we continued until we left home, though we eventually stopped getting up *quite* so early!

“Favourite Christmas song/carol…”

I love so many of them. I would say "O Holy Night" and "Carol of the Bells"

"Favorite Christmas Movie"

How the Grinch Stole Christmas The older TV-special version, that is.

"Favorite Christmas Character"

Mary. Gotta give props to any woman who gives birth in a stable, lol!

“Favourite Christmas ornament/object…”

No specific one. I have several "special" ornaments that I like about equally.

“Plans for this Christmas…”

We opened presents at home on Christmas morning, then went to my parents house for the afternoon/evening, as usual, and had a wonderful time!

“Is Christmas your favourite holiday?”

Yes, absolutely.

Primary Decisions - Help wanted!

So. Michigan decided to move it's presidential primary election to January 15 in an attempt to be more relevant to the campaigns. (We used to be a Super Tuesday state.) In future elections, this may pay off, but for this year the effect has been to disenfranchise me as a would-be Democratic voter. Only 4 nominees will be on the Democratic ballot. The rest have boycotted in support of the DNC's policy against states "jumping ahead in line". The two candidates I would be most interested in voting for are among the boycotters. Hillary Clinton will win the non-contest, as the only "top tier" candidate on the ballot. I would likely vote unenthusiastically for Hillary over a Republican if she became the nominee, but I'm not psyched to vote for her in the primary.

Lucky for me, I have an alternative: voting in the Republican primary! We have an "open" primary, which means I do not have to register as a Republican to participate. I'm not looking to be a spoiler -- I want to vote for the Republican that would be the most acceptable president to me. If only I could decide whom that would be!

I thought it might be fun to get some help from my blog friends! If you are going to vote Republican, whom are you supporting and why? If you are voting Democratic, what factors would help you make a decision like this? Please keep it as positive as possible -- you can critique the candidates' platforms or records and talk about your own priorities, but please do not cast aspersions on a candidate's supporters or disrespect another person's priorities. (Disagreement does not equal disrespect, as I think we all know.)

I can't wait to hear what you all think. I'm finding it a fun exercise to choose from a group of candidates I normally wouldn't consider. Do I go straight pro/con on policy questions, or -- especially after the disaster that has been Bush II -- do I pay more attention to honesty and integrity?

Discuss...