Jacob and Papa Day

As previously mentioned a couple weeks ago, I got to spend quality one-on-one time with Andrew which was dubbed "Andrew and Papa Day". With Jacob, it's much harder for me to get time alone with him since Andrew would always be in the picture. It's also rare to find a picture with only Jacob and I as seen with our most recent picture together (adjacent), which was taken in June 2011. But this past weekend, Andrew had a classmate's birthday party to attend so I had Jacob all to myself.

40 days and 40 nights

It's that time again. It's time to abstain from eating meat on Fridays, better known as Lent. Why do so many Catholics freak out on Fridays because of this dietary limitation? I don't know but it's easy to go meatless. Besides, it's only for one day a week.

President's Day

What is President's Day? Besides a day off for students and some government employees, I have no idea what this day is about. Being that I love to expand my knowledge (and not wanting to look like a fool if/when my kids ever ask me), I wiki'ed it. Apparently this holiday is in honor of George Washington's birthday. I never knew that. Add that to my encyclopedia of semi-useless knowledge.

Breck yo' self! (Colorado)

This past weekend I went to Colorado for what would be the second annual snowboarding trip with my high school buddies. All of my previous trips have been with college friends but this new tradition seems more fun. I heart snowboarding. Every year I get an itch. I need to go. It's a highly addictive drug. I've been skiing/snowboarding at least once a year since 2003, except in 2008 when Andrew was born, so with baby Ty in the picture, this trip almost never happened. But with an understanding wife and helpful parents, I got to feed my addiction.

Andrew, my Valentine

My Valentine's Day was not spent with the girl I married but with my second born child, Andrew. I had an extra day off to recover from my mini-vacation this past weekend (which will be the next post) so I had the whole day to spend with my family... or so I thought. Lynn (who was taking baby Ty) already had plans with her sister and mom for that afternoon and Jacob was at school so that meant it was going to be Andrew and Papa Day.

Jacob turns 6!

Jacob is now six years old. When parents talk about their kids getting older, you would get the usual "time flies" and "they grow up so fast" comments, which are all true, but for me... I say they get less innocent. He's older now, attending a public school where (we think) he's picking up bad habits. He talks back a lot more now. He teases Andrew more (it used to be the other way around). Quite frankly, he's becoming an asshole. Kind of harsh to call a kid that huh? I'm not saying that he is one, overall he's a good kid, but he's been acting up way too much lately. Him growing up is not sad to me. Him becoming a delinquent is.

There's a game during the Super Bowl?

Super Bowl XLVI is today. Giants vs Patriots. People are gearing up and preparing for this one game. Some people would consider this day a holiday... it's their Christmas. To me, it's just another football game. I know, blasphemy. Unless your team is in it, why should you care? Don't get me wrong, I love football and I'm still going to watch it but the other stuff seems more interesting than the actual game itself. Obviously there are the commercials and halftime show but are you aware of the prop bets?

Family portraits

This is the first time we have ever gotten our family portraits professionally done. We had our family pictures taken when Jacob was barely one year old but that was all taken outside (candid shots) and they didn't charge us for it since it was done by a friend of a friend. We never had an opportunity to take our portraits indoor, under studio lighting and all in not-so-natural poses. So why now? We got a (Groupon) deal, duh. Our intention was to use one of the portraits for our family Christmas card but Tyson was severely sick and his face looked horrible. Now it's been over a month since and even though he's over his illness, his face never fully recovered. I honestly don't remember when his face was ever clear except the day he was born. Damn eczema! The Groupon was about to expire within a few days so we had no choice but to Just Do It™.