Something to do with excess Easter eggs

Good Buddies

Wanted to give a shout out to our friends/neighbors/bus buddies the Koch Family. What a group. We love them all, but MJ has a special place in her heart for Carina, the preschooler of the set of five. MJ and Carina have quite a bond. It's truly a joy (and hilarious!) to hear them play. They are so imaginative. A sampling of their conversation might be:

"Let's pretend that we are moms and the dads went on vacation."
"Then let's pretend that we took our babies to the park."
"Then let's pretend that the dads were having so much fun on vacation they didn't come back!"
"Then let's pretend we could live with each other with our babies!"

(Don't take it pesonally, Brian and Scott. It's just pretend!) We love ya, Kochs!

Carina had paint on her face for her preschool circus unit. :)

MJ and Carina were in Preschool Players at our local library. This was a four-week program that culminated in a night of short skits done by 10 rowdy young 'uns. One of the high points of the evening included MJ dancing with the group and saying, "Shake yo booty!" at an inappropriate time. Ah, the pride of a parent ...

100 inches

They're printing t-shirts that say, "I survived the winter of 2008 in Madison, Wisconsin."

We'll take four of them!

We hit the high mark of 100 inches of snow this year, blowing the record out of the water (or snow bank). We tried to imagine what 100 inches of snow would look like and decided it would just about go floor to ceiling in our family room. Wowzer. What a season. With the exception of about 4 or 5 very dreary days, we somehow warded off depression and managed to enjoy the bounty of white stuff thrown our way. It's been fun!! But, c'mon, let the melting be complete soon.

Scooting between lingering powder on a warm day.

Waiting for the final melt at Wexford Park.

Easter Tidings

Happy Easter! The gals did wear their bonnets to church and the Easter Bunny paid us a visit. He must have worn his boots because we had a white Easter.

Note the representatation of three holidays: snow for Christmas, dyeing Easter eggs, and MJ's skeleton necklace for Halloween.

White eggs and white snow in the window.

Anna's befuddlement (is that a word??) at her cracked egg.

At the Kitchen Table

Many memories are made at the kitchen table. We just got our first new table EVER. For about 12 years, we'd been using a table that was in my mom's dining room. We'll miss the old table -- I recovered those chairs three times, we ate a lot of holiday meals there, and that table saw its share of cookie dough, sprinkles, tears and laughter, Easter egg dye and crayons and markers. But we look forward to continuing our mealtime (and in between mealtime) traditions on this new piece, which we've dedicated to Grandma Born, the Queen of the Kitchen Table.

Happy Spring!

The sun is shining. So what if we're forecasted to get snow this weekend. Bring it on! Nothing can stop spring from arriving. We're ready for Easter, green shoots peeking from the soil and the chance to say, "Wow, it's warm out here. We don't need a jacket today!"

"There's a dog in school ..."

How can you not smile at a preschool music program? Mary Jane's class sang the Cuppycake Song, I Have Super Manners, Bop Til You Drop and the ever-popular Dog in School, among others, with the lyrics:

There's a dog in school -- oh, no!

What are we going to do?

As long as there's a dog in school

He'll have to learn his alphabet, too.

(to the tune of the alphabet song:)

ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff

ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff

ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff ...

You get the picture! It was darn cute and MJ was a show-stopper with her big smile and wiggly behind.

Dogsitting

We're on Spriiiiiiiiinnnggg Break! (As my dear college roommate Kelly would sing.) Yes, there's still snow on the ground. Yes, we are forecasted to get more. But, hey, at least we have Coco to entertain us. We're watching this adorable mutt for some friends who are traveling. Coco is a dream dog. The only problem is that the kids fight over her.

Welcome, Charlotte!

After Heather endured 18 hours of labor, Charlotte Jane Malcomson joined the family. She was born March 14 at 11:04 p.m. It looks like she will have Heather's curly hair! We are so proud to be Aunt Lisa, Uncle Scott and cousins Anna and Mary Jane. As MJ said, "She's such a cutie pie!!" Chuck, Heather and Charlotte, WE LOVE YOU!!

6 lbs. 12 oz., 20.5 in. of pure joy

Rocks Rock

I joined Anna's class at the Geology Museum on the UW campus today for their field trip. Fascinating! Anna got to demonstrate how something gets fossilized. She convincingly played dead as our guide talked about the parts of her body that would disintegrate. A shark bit off her arm and then all the soft parts of her body were gone until she was just bones. She should get an Oscar for her performance!

Our guide rocked (pun intended). Two interesting things I learned: 1. Wisconsin is not called the Badger State because we have a bunch of badgers here. "Badger" was a derogatory term given to the men who came to look for gold and other minerals in southern Wisconsin. They came as single men and dug their small homes from the sides of hills -- like badgers! and 2. Anything that flies or swims is NOT a dinosaur. (For instance, I thought pterodactyls were dinos -- nope!)

You may have known these things, but obviously my knowledge base is at a first grade level!

Oszkar, Anna and Alexus next to the wall of fossils.

Losing a Tooth

After we put Anna to bed last night, she came back downstairs complaing about her tooth. "It hurts!" I think what hurt was the fact that it was hanging by a thread in her mouth and she wanted to lose it. Dad yanked it out, sans tears. And -- who knew -- there really is a tooth fairy! She found a dollar under her pillow this morning.

Visiting the Fire Station

Fire fighter Freddie gave us an oustanding tour of Ladder #2 in Madison. We learned about fire safety and about how the fire fighters live and work in their station. We sat in an ambulance, listened to the sirens and even watched a team go out on a real call.

Scott's Tribute to Ramona

Our cat Ramona died today.

She had been sick with cancer for about a year. Last year we had a tumor removed, but it came back a few months later. In November they gave her six months to live.

Ramona was our faithful friend. Those of you who met her early in her life in Lincoln may remember how she used to skitter away when deep-voiced men came to the house. I think she may have bitten many of you. For that, I am sorry. For most of you.

She outgrew those tendancies over time, and came to be quite a social cat.

Ramona was inclined toward sitting on people's chests and sticking her face directly in yours, looking for pets.

Lisa found Ramona under the porch of our neighbor's house in Lincoln. I was vehemently opposed to taking her in, and forced Lisa to keep her in the stairwell of our apartment until I knew for sure that she wasn't diseased.

Good thing we did that. One day Lisa came home and found tiny kittens that Ramona had delivered. Of course, none of them survived despite Lisa's best efforts.

Ramona used up her first life then when we had to operate to get an unborn kitten out of her stomach. She used up her second life after eating 10-feet of yarn and promptly pooping it out. Well, not all of it. I came home from work one day to find the stained yarn sticking out of her, but still attached.

Another operation down, she survived that one too and many other near-death experiences.

In many ways Ramona gave our family stability even during times of turmoil. Every night, no matter what, she would come out from wherever she had been hiding during the day, and nestle with Lisa and me the whole night.

The kids loved her and she loved them. Mary Jane especially felt a connection with Ramona and has been distraught over her death. Even though her first reaction when Lisa told her was, "Well, she's not going to see spring." Later in the night she cried and cried, wrapped herself in a blanket, and said things like, "Ramona was a good soul."

To the very end Ramona was happy and content. She knew it was time to go. In the vet's office, when the final dose was administered, Lisa was holding her and we were both petting her. Ramona lifted her head one last time, looked at me, let out a faint purr, and was gone.

I miss Ramona. She was a member of our family for 12 years and can never be replaced.

R.I.P. Ramona

January (?) 1997 to March 6, 2008

Great Eggspectations

In anticipation of Easter (and to fill the time while we wait for snow to melt), the kids played an Anna and MJ original: The Egg Game. This consists of one sister being bundled in a blanket, the other sister sitting on top while sister #1 squeaks and whines. Then sister #1 wobbles and "cracks" out of the shell while knocking sister #2 on the floor.

And you thought we spent our free time tipping dairy cows!

In Like a Lion ...

March 1st ... dare we dream of daffodils?

Tiny Dancer

Mary Jane's taking ballet class at the YMCA. It's a laid back program -- no recital and no frills. But it's all she needs to feel like a princess. Her favorite part of the lesson is "free dance" -- where all the girls float around the room and do dramatic poses. What other time in our lives do we feel confidant enough to look in a mirror and see a beautiful ballerina?