Yeah, it really is about the kids.

We've had snow since arriving, but yesterday was absolutely perfect.  It was light, fluffy and warm all day so the snow today was wet and sticky.  I was in town for a bit and when I got back to the farm Christine and the boys had just moved outside to build a snowman.  I grabbed a bowl of soup, returned a call from my sister, then went outside to join them. While the snowball fight was going on, Grampie George hopped in the big blue tractor and built us a snow hill.  Christine and I took a few slides down the side to create a couple of reasonably solid tracks, then turned it over to the experts. And tonight, partway through story time Daniel interrupted me to tell me:  "Daddy?  I love snowball with you and Mama and James."

This one is by request. James and I were out on a supply run yesterday.  Drug store for toothpaste and the like.  It wasn't too busy with the Christmas Shopping Living Dead yet so I was doing okay.  At the check-out the cashier was positively sunny: Cashier:  Hi guys! How are you doing?  James:   <mumble mumble> Cashier looks curiously at me and I shrug.  So she tries again. Cashier:   How are you guys doing? James:   <mumble mumble mumble> She gives me another look and I smile at her to give her a bit of encouragement, so she gives it one more try. Cashier:  Are you guys having a good day?  James  (brightly) :  On Saturday my butt threw up! You can probably figure out the context.  I'm going to leave it like I left that other one .

A couple of weeks back I made my shredded pork for the first time in probably seven or eight years.  I planned to make it sufficiently mild that the boys might have some too and just add my own spice to it when I was assembling my wrap / sandwich / whatever.  Then, wandering through the grocery store, James spied a package on the shelf and so we came home with a dozen fresh jalapenos. I sliced most of them up but a couple of them I decided I'd eat whole.  James was so fascinated by this that I decided to play it up for him a bit.  By the third meal of this it'd become a ritual and even Daniel was getting in on it.

Last night I went upstairs right around midnight to check on James and take him to the bathroom, because he's still not great at waking up in the middle of the night to pee.  He's always been a sound sleeper — I frequently joke that while he has a hard time falling asleep, once he's out I could pick him up by his ankles and move him from one bed to the other and he'd never wake up — and that works against him in having a dry night, so I'm usually staying up until 11pm or later to help him out. Last night. I carried him to the bathroom and had him sitting on the toilet.  He was clearly in that semi-sleep state, then, as clear as a bell, this exchange happened. James:  Dad?  Me: Yes, James?  James:  You can't hear them, but I do.  Me: ... I'm out.

As most of you know, Christine was out of the country from October 25th through November 4th.  The boys and I drove to the maritimes to meet her and her dad when they returned on November 4th, but that's a story for another time.  If ever.  Seriously.  I drove with both boys in the car for eleven hours as the only adult(-ish type person) and there's actually very  little to tell.  I literally cannot imagine how the trip could've gone more smoothly. Anyway.  While she was away I kept things both as normal as possible for the boys (despite they were now functioning in essentially a single-parent home) and as busy for them as possible.  The latter so they didn't have time to (a) get bored and drive me insane and (b) ask a lot of questions about where mom was and when she was coming back and why she had to leave and such. The plan worked flawlessly.  Up to and including when I had my friend, Paul, come over on Hallowe'en night to hand out candy while I took James an