The Yorkshire 500

OK, I must say one of my more amusing pleasures is watching Abra and Thalia riding their bikes down the sidewalk. Thalia's on her trike, of course, and Abra has a two-wheeler w/ training wheels (borrowed from Colleen -- thanks, Colleen!).

Thalia knows she can't ride faster than Abra, but if she beats her out of the driveway and onto the sidewalk, then she can block. Abra will come up behind her, and Thalia will start drifting left and right, so that Abra can't pass.

This is hilarious to watch from the back (which is where I am, usually with a dog leash in my hand...), where Thalia is constantly drifting left and right, frustrating Abra's attempts to pass. Abra, who is not well-renowned for her patience, is typically howling "Thalia, let me pass!" at this stage. Meanwhile, Thalia pedals on, swinging left, then right, then left again.....

I am thinking of putting a number 8 sticker on Thalia's bike helmet.

"Whose" doing the writing at Yahoo?

Yes, OK, I'm kind of anal-retentive about writing, but things like this drive me up the wall. Is Yahoo hiring fifth graders to write their web content these days?

Overheard at the Breakfast Table

Thalia: Is Mommy going to class forever?

Abra: Thalia, do you know what "forever" means?

Silence

Abra: Forever is longer than people live.

Silence

Abra: When Mommy and Daddy die, we will still be alive.

Long Pause

Thalia (somewhat concerned): Then who will make us breakfast?

Picture Dump

So here are a few amusing pictures lying around on the camera:

Abra is a proud Safety Town graduate today. (Safety Town is a progam run by the Cleveland Heights Police Dept which teaches kids about personal safety, being a good pedestrian, etc). Here's her graduation picture:



Meanwhile, Thalia had some tasty juice next door at Jon and Molly's, which give her quite the impressive face:



(Am I the only one thinking of the Joker here???)



And, back at the ranch, Healy decided it was just a little too much work to reach the top level of the cat tree:



Snapshots of our life....

What's your dirt doin' in mah yard?

I dunno, boss...

Actually, it must be mulch season! Abra and Thalia called this "Mount Mulch" and had a ball playing on it. Their parents -- not so much of a ball hauling it all around the yard. But the gardens look better, and next time we might get away with a bit less (maybe 5 yards instead of 7?)...

An Exciting Day

So today Wacko finally went to the groomer (U Dirty Dog) to get his summer haircut. Thanks to all of you who voted to spare him the worst of the razor. Instead, he got a haircut that's short enough to keep him cool, but not so short that he looks like a mutant from Planet X. Here he is:



(Here's a "before" picture to remind you of what he used to look like....)

But while I am standing at the counter at U Dirty Dog picking him up, my cell phone rings, and it's Brenna saying that we have to take Thalia to the emergency room. Evidently Thalia's head lost a battle with the arm of a rocking chair (which is pretty impressive -- I would have bet that Thalia's head is the harder of the two...).

So I zip home and we pack everyone in the car for the first of what is sure to be many family trips to the pediatric emergency room. They did a great job, and so did Thalia -- she sat through them putting a stitch in her eyebrow without a single tear or cry. That's my brave girl! (Abra, of course, was chattering away -- luckily the doctor was good at simultaneously sewing and answering the questions of a 5 year old). So here's our girl is posing with her brand new bandage:




So now both girls are in bed, the newly shorn dog is asleep, and the cats are all suspiciously wondering what all the hubbub was about. Just another fine day in the Mihowski household....