Sleep....

Having an 8-week-old puppy around is pretty much like having an 8-week-old baby around - lots of pee and poop, and not a lot of sleep. So when it comes, we rejoice. Sleep, blessed sleep, we rejoice.

Meet Oliver

Because with just one dog in the house, things were just way too CLEAN.

So to remedy that, Jared and Jack drove up to Pennsylvania Amish country to see a man about a dog. A basset hound, to be exact. A floppy-eared, sad-eyed, short-legged little love named Oliver.


Coming home. Ellie and I were home that day, so Ellie prepared him a welcome home poster.

Oliver's introduction to Otis has been a bit tricky.

As in, Oliver follows Otis around like, well, like a puppy dog, and Otis, well, he kinda hates Oliver.

That looks loving, but really, Otis kinda wants Oliver to very much go away.

Otis has taken every opportunity to jump up to places where Oliver can't get him

Settling in to his new home - welcome home, Oliver!

It's A What?!?

Well, it's an "informance," naturally. Of course I've never heard of an 'informance' before, but apparently it's some kind of ... informative performance? But anyway, Jack's music class put on an informance the other day, and I got to go see it. Jack did great (including a stellar performance as a stag beetle in the Grumpy Caterpillar) and I now feel both entertained and informed.

Dance Off

Apparently my kids have been watching too many Disney TV movies, because out of the blue yesterday they determined that they needed to do a 'dance off.' I'm not sure of the exact purpose of a dance off - apparently it's to show your physical or moral superiority through your awesome dance moves. But here's what I learned about them.

First, they apparently start with some posturing and pointing and a bit of trash talk.

And then the dancing begins - in this case, Ellie's dancing involved a lot of taekwondo kicks and then areb't-I-cool poses. I'm not sure what they call that dance.

Oh, and the catwalk poses of course

Jack incorporated a bit of break dancing into his routine - hood up, of course, to show that he meant business

A little bit of the hip-bump to incorporate some 70s vibe

And don't forget The Robot and some air guitar

I think this started out as Gangnan Style and turned into an Irish folk jig

Not sure what that's called, but at least she did it with gusto

And if all else fails, just spin around the room like Sister Maria up in the Alps

Lesson learned? You really must HAVE a booty in order to shake it - don't worry, I'll educate her on that one

So, I'm not sure who WON the dance off. There's supposed to be a winner, right? Well, at least they got some excess energy out - which I guess makes ME the winner.

A Few Simple Truths

Truth #1: Ellie is a filthy beast.
True, she loves girly sparkly pink things - but she also loves dirt and mud and magic markers and paint and clay and messy foods. And she hates napkins and utensils and hand-washing and all manner of civility. Thus, a part of every day for me is stain removal (or at least the attempt at stain removal). She is both the beauty AND the beast, all rolled into one. (For the record, the stains you see below are sidewalk chalk, magic markers, dirt, and enchilada.)

Truth #2: Leprechauns DO exist.
Sure, some might say they don't (including Jared, who really truly doesn't know when to keep his pie-hole shut), but I for one know that they exist. And so do Jack and Ellie, who designed an awesome leprechaun trap the other day. Unfortunately, that tricky leprechaun was able to spring himself from their trap, but he did leave a scavenger hunt and treasure for their trouble.

Truth #3: Jack and Ellie will find a way to sleep together no matter what you do.
They DO have their own beds. Their own bedrooms, even. But I don't care where you put 'em, they end up curled up in one bed together, or in a big dogpile on the floor, or in this case, TECHNICALLY in their rooms (since Mom told them to sleep in their own rooms), but still within chatting distance. They will find a way.

Springtime on the Mall

I know I'm going to jinx it, but we're finally having a bit of springtime weather in these parts, which is quite refreshing after one big Neverending Snow Day of a winter. You know it's bad when even the kids are sick of snow days. So this weekend, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and hit the National Mall downtime. We went to the Smithsonian American History Museum first - not sure that Ellie was that thrilled with it, but Jack really loved the exhibits on Thomas Edison and The Star Spangled Banner. After that, we headed over to the American Indian Museum, which is fairly new - Jared and I hadn't been there before. It was really neat, and had a little hands-on area just for kids. We also had lunch there - their cafeteria had 5 different sections to represent different Native American regions (e.g., Northwest, South America, Great Plains), with Native American menu items that you might find from those regions. After gorging ourselves there, Ellie declared that she wanted to go to the Lincoln Memorial. So we started the hike there. Along the way we also stopped at the WWII Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial. Jack had hit his walking limit by the time we finished with the Lincoln Memorial, so we took a bike taxi back to our parking. We rewarded ourselves for all our good walking with some ice cream, and then were very happy to rest our sore feet back home.



Ellie and Jack enjoyed giving a press conference at the presidents' exhibit at the American History Museum

I know you totally can't see it, but Ellie's favorite things there were Dorothy's red slippers from Wizard of Oz

and Kermit the Frog

They didn't allow photographs in the star spangled banner exhibit, but it was cool seeing the original flag

Then it was on to the American Indian Museum

Jared ate some buffalo steak and cedar plank roasted salmon; I had an Indian taco

Ellie really loved the buffalo chili and the fry bread

This is Jack trying the buffalo - although you can't tell, he actually liked it

They had a hands-on portion of the museum where the kids could try out Native American things - like a kayak

Here they get to test their balance - to see if they would tip their kayak or not, I suppose

They got to play inside a teepee

And inside a grass hut

And then they got to build an igloo

Then it was time to make the long trek to the Lincoln Memorial

It didn't take long for Jack to tire of the long trek

As you can see

But Ellie and I enjoyed it, and had fun reading the Gettysburg Address together

I agreed to one and only one photograph - take it or leave it, people

Time to head home!

Where Did I Go Wrong

So, whenever I drive carpool, we have a 'question of the day' - a silly question that each of the kids answer. Today's question was-

"If you could be famous for (1) being the smartest, (2) being the most talented, or (3) being the best-looking, what would you choose?"

So I have to admit, I waited with baited breath to see what the two girls (Ellie and her friend Grace) would say and ... sure enough, they said what I thought they would - they wanted to be the prettiest. While Jacob and Jack wanted to be the smartest, and Dubs and Noah wanted to be the most talented, those stinkin' girls wanted to be the prettiest.

Where, oh where, did I go wrong.

I dealt with this just the other day, too - it's Dr. Seuss week in Ellie's class, so each day they've worn something thematic - silly slippers one day, a silly hat the other - and on one day, a career outfit. So I went online and bought Ellie a surgeon's costume. But did she want to wear that? NOOOOOOOO. She wanted a dancer's outfit. Or a pop star. Why would she want to wear those ugly scrubs anyway?

Where, oh where, did I go wrong.

So we had a long talk about what important work surgeons do, and how they save lives, and on and on and on. I also threw in some 'inner beauty' discussion too. I finally convinced her to wear the surgeon's scrubs (in part because she has a super-cute headband that matches with them - sigh). But clearly there is much work to do.

Where, oh where, did I go wrong.

Five Things

(1) Our Jack has developed an interest in robots. He's now on a mission to design a robot that will do his work for him.

This brushbot is supposed to sweep the stairs (one of Jack's chores). Since it's about 3 inches wide, though, I'm thinking that might not be such a timesaver for Jack after all.

(2) While I'm very grateful that Jared is handy and can do things like fix our faucet

I'm not QUITE so grateful that somehow I've ended up with a sink on my living room floor

(3) I think it shows my love for my daughter that I'm showing this picture that Jack snapped of Ellie and me, even though it's basically looking up my big bulbous nose, and it makes us both look slightly drugged.

(4) Proof that Ellie takes after her dad's side of the family: she can do the splits.

With her giraffe-like legs

(5) I really, really, really wish it would stop snowing. Because my house ends up looking like this.

And my kids end up looking like this

And they inexplicably grow facial hair

And grow large, hairy feet