My Valentine

I was tagged by some friends to share a few things about my Valentine. I thought it was cute, and since I'm married to such a wonderful guy, I thought I'd brag a little bit and pay tribute to my love.

What is his name? James LaMonte Ellertson
How long have you been married? 10 Years this July!
How long did you date? Dated a few times Christmastime 96 to early 97. Then nothing until October 97. We got engaged Feb/Mar 98, Married July 98...so a long time about a year in a half from meeting to married.
How old is he? 33 (old man!)
Who eats more sweets? ME...he likes snacks but I like sweets!
Who said I love you first? It was Jim. I remember feeling it, but not wanting to be forward, so I thought I'd wait for him to say it first.
Who is taller? Jim is WAY taller--9 inches more!
Who can sing better? I think this is a tie. I can read music really well so I can stay on tune, but Jim has a beautiful voice so I think it's a tie.
Who is smarter? This is really subjective. I know more answers on Jeopardy and I read a lot more, but he knows so much more about computers, sports, etc.
Who does the laundry? This is how it goes...I put the loads in, and we usually fold together while we unwind after the kids are in bed...and then somehow between the two of us, it gets put away...team effort!
Who pays the bills? Me
Who sleeps on the right side of bed? Me
Who mows the lawn? Jim does, but when it is SO long, I've been known to get out there and just do it real quick too.
Who cooks dinner? Me, but Jim will "prepare" it (leftovers, etc.) if I'm just not in the mood.
Who is more stubborn? Me.
Who asked out whom first? Jim asked me out first after meeting through a friend at her Christmas party.
Who proposed? Jimmy did.
Who has more siblings? Jim has 5 siblings, I have 3
Who wears the pants? Hmmm. We both do--in some areas of family life, I take the lead, in other areas, he does. It really is a team effort.

I must say that marrying Jim was the best thing I ever did. My life could have taken many different courses, but every day--every day--I thank my Father above--for the life I share with my husband. He is the most patient, loving, kind person. I aspire to be more like him. He is such a good example to me of the kind person I want to be....and SO much more. I LOVE him.

Balmy February Day

I don't know what it the "official" temperature was in Castle Rock, but on the news chanel, is says it was a high of 65. I think it was about 57 here. I love it! Exercise class was a bit of a bust, as our instructor was ill and put on a tape...and to top that off, Kyle was rather fussy...RATHER. So, I left exercise class after about 45 minutes of doing the Windsor Pilates (not too bad for a day's work out) and then Kyle (as I knew he would) passed out in the car. I thought, well, I could head straight home and salvage an afternoon nap, or take advantage of some "Just Rory-and Me"-time. I did that!

Rory has been asking, begging, every day to go to the park. Well, it's the middle of Winter...so I have to say no all the time. Well, I pulled up to the park and his little face just lit up. I parked the car (let Ky keep sleeping)--it was LOCKED and I could see him just fine and checked often--so Rory and I PLAYED! We went on the swings (his personal favorite)--went sliding and had just a glorious 45 minutes together. He was SO happy. I was happy he was happy. Now in a couple of months I'm going to think 56--burrr! But right now, it felt like shorts weather (or capris?).

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Rubber Ducky & Heart Warmers

I had to write this down, as it warmed my heart. I was in taking a bath and Kyle came in the room. He saw that I was in the bath, went to the closet (where we keep a few toys), and brought me his rubber ducky. How brilliant is my 1 year old!?! It just warmed my heart. (I had Jim grab the camera real quick)

Kyle is off to the races--he can do a walk/run so good now and he's fast! He even tries to play tag with his brothers, and they get a kick out of it. They FIGHT over who was playing with Ky first..."No Rory, I was playing with him first...MOM!" I love it. I hope they always love each other this much.

So, Bryce and Rory are HUGE into Spiderman! For a good portion of the day, they have their web-shaped hands out making the shooting-of-web-sounds...something like "Psshhhhh" and believe it or not (I almost couldn't) but Kyle goes around holding his little arm out making a miniature version of "Pshhhh." (Could this be considered his 1st word?) It's adorable--and again...it warms my heart. Lovin' them!

January on to February

I love February...it's my birthday month! Now as I'm getting (a bit) older and cringe when I think of my age...I still love my birthdays! So maybe I'm not getting that much older if I still love my birthdays? I'll be 32 and that's not so bad.

I know I've been slacking in the blogging department. We've had quite the past month. So much has been happening, it's hard to get a moment to sit down and type up everything...and then I get further behind and then I know I'll need even more time to catch up...time that I haven't had.

Sick...ROUND 1: Bryce is doing so wonderfully in school...and he loves going every day...however the hygeine skills of the kids his age leave something to be desired. He brought home some of those wonderful Kindergarten germs...or from somewhere.... and he started out sick, then it went to Rory and then to Kyle. The icky chest thing was not fun...bad cough and Rory & Ky were both taking nebulizer treatments for nearly10 days. Then Kyle got an ear infection...went on Amoxicilin for it... On his 2nd to last day of his Rx, Kyle decided he'd have an allergic reaction to the Amoxicilin...we ended up in the ER...poor kid was just covered in hives and all out of sorts (understandably so). Finally, we got through that, and got over his cough, as did the other boys.

Sick...ROUND 2: Bryce again brought home a cough...it went to Rory, Isabel, Myself (with a nice sore throat)...but luckily Kyle has been spared thus far.

So besides the sick thing...Isabel is selling Girl Scout Cookies. This should come as no surprise to any of you, because I've probably asked you if you would like any, and if I haven't...well, they're still for sale. She is goal oriented and the troop set a CRAZY goal of 350 boxes! Ugh! So, in support of my daughter, I've tried to contact my contacts...not feeling too bad about asking others...afterall...they're GIRL SCOUT COOKIES...and who doesn't like them!?!

Kyle had his 1st birthday! What a year it's been. Not the easiest, but adding another child to the family never is. Rewarding though. He is such a love and so cute. I'm enjoying this new stage of things. He is weened (that took some doing this month as well)...cruising around...almost running with his brothers...eating (loves goldfish already). He's our doll. Finally, he is semi-good in the car (knock on wood). I'm looking forward to this next year with him.

Rory went poop in the potty (a HUGE milestone for us)--now if only he could continue to... He got a gum ball from his gumball machine (he will get one each time he goes)--we even took him to Chuck E Cheese's for a celebration. It was a lot of fun. But now he's back to his -not-going on the potty. It's quite a doing...potty training. We always think "maybe the next kid will be easier" but...not so much!

I went on a field trip with Isabel's class--and that was great fun. I really don't get much of a chance to volunteer at school since I have such youngin's...so I relished this opportunity--and it was fun! I had a great little group of kids.

I'll try to keep up a bit better with the blogging so it doesn't get so far behind, but really, actually living (and not just blogging about the living we do) is my priority...getting through the day, week, etc. I appreciate your interest in our family and goings-on. I too love to see how you all are.

--Sara