Cat Science

The girls were combing Nelson (the cat) on the radiator this morning, and they were fascinated that as Nelson shed, his fur rose up in the air rather than falling on the ground.

So we had a discussion about why that was -- I asked them where they were sitting, and they figured out that the warm air from the radiator would rise, and carry the fur with it.

Then they did the experiment of moving Nelson off and away from the radiator, and sure enough, his fur stopped rising!

Science in action -- you gotta take advantage of any opportunity for a home science lesson!

Fine Arts & Fine Artists

This past month Abra had ballroom dance lessons in her school PE class, and so the kids had a dance recital the other night. It was very short, and so I actually missed the opportunity to get picture of the kids dancing, but here is a shot of some of the dancers: Katie, Abra, Caroline, and Maddie:


Then the other day when we had snow and Nelson was at the window chattering at the birds outside (like this:


), Thalia pulled out her sketchbook and drawing pencils and sketched a pretty darned impressive picture of him:


She then followed it up with a crayon drawing of all four of our cats:


(the dancing panda is actually on the other side of the piece of paper she used to draw this one.)

Her Aunt Pauli had a role in this one -- you might notice that those cats look like Ed Emberley cats, and sure enough that's where Thalia learned to draw cats, from the Ed Emberley drawing book Aunt Pauli sent the girls last year.

(If you are looking for a drawing book for kids, I can't recommend Ed Emberley's books enough. We had them as kids, and the girls love them...)

Random Picture Dump and Stream of Consciousness Thoughts

Sorry, folks, I just haven't been in blog writing mode recently. Maybe it has something to do with my football teams being pummeled week in and week out, maybe it has to do with busy times at work, maybe it just has to do with being out and out lazy.

So in the meantime, until I get motivated to write more, here are a few pictures:

Thalia and Nelson, watching TV:


Pearl, who just, by sheer coincidence, happened to be walking by the stove while there was a leftover chicken nugget lying around. She swears she had no idea that it was up there.


OK, what the hey, I've started a blog post, so here's what else is on my mind:

• Coming home from Target yesterday we were listening to (what else?) the Rolling Stones. "Let it Bleed" came on. Abra piped up "there's a Glee version of this song!" uh, really? Now I don't know the first thing about Glee, other than it seems like some up-with-people pop soap opera thingie. And I can't imagine them doing "Let it Bleed". So we went back and forth on this for a while, and finally worked out that Abra was thinking of "Lean on Me", not "Let It Bleed". Too bad -- I was looking forward to seeng how are they were going to work in lines such as "oh that jaded, faded, junkie nurse // what pleasant company!".

• Wacko is in desperate need of a haircut, but has gotten too old to deal with the groomer. So the poor dog is going to have to deal with Brenna and I being his groomer. Pictures when we're done, but I am reminded of my kindergarten picture, where my father literally had given me a bowl haircut the day before.... The good news out of this is that as near as I can tell, the grooming clippers are close enough to the ones the haircut place uses on me, so when I'm done with the dog, I'll just start in on myself.

• RichRod.... sigh. Yeah, it's time, Michigan, time to let him go. I'm fine with the progress made on the offense, but watching the defense take backwards steps each year has gotten me at the end of my rope. I'd live with a coaching change on defense, but we've already had that, and still things go worse. I'm not going to beat this issue to death -- volumes are being written online right now about this (and here's one I mostly agree with). But suffice to say: while I'm not a card carrying member of Ann Arbor Torch & Pitchfork, I'm going to advocate cutting our losses on this one.

• The Redskins -- was there anyone on God's green Earth that didn't know the Redskins were gonna lose to the Vikings last weekend once Minnesota got rid of Brad Childress?

• Thursday Lebron comes back to Cleveland. This is going to be interesting, to say the least. I'm not above enjoying watching the Heat struggle so far this season.

OK, that's it for now. Hopefully next time I'll be more interesting....

Another Picture Dump

OK, here's a random dump of pictures from Summer 2010. Enjoy and, as always, click on the pictures to embiggen.....

First, earlier this summer we went strawberry picking, and here are the girls with their haul:


Then the other day, I got a bit fed up with all the toys, doll clothes, and whatever strewn all over the floor in the girls' room. So I hollered that they need to clean their room and in particular GET ALL THAT STUFF PICKED UP OFF THE FLOOR!! So, here was Thalia's response:


Which, I have to admit, accomplished exactly what I had asked. I have no idea where her poor doll is going to sleep, though.

Then Thalia went out and spent all her saved-up allowance money on a new piggybank:

She explained to me that it would help her save money. Hmmm.

And then it just can't be a picture dump without silly cat pictures. Here's Healy helping to load the dishwasher:


And Healy and Pearl fighting over a ribbon:

- Gimme that!
- No! It's mine!

And then finally here is Nelson bravely defending all of us during a particularly loud thunderstorm this summer:

(Nelson is the black thing barely sticking out from under the couch.....)

No Work Today

Well, so much for getting any work done today. Evidently my work bag has been co-opted for a cat bed.

Merry Christmas 2009

Last night the girls began tracking Santa on the computer using the NORAD/GoogleEarth site. We got the globe out as well, and they tracked him across Europe and into North Africa. It turns out this is a good way to learn some geography!


After dinner, the girls hung up their stockings:


and a very excited Thalia did a little Christmas dance:


Then the girls set things out for Santa and the reindeer. Santa got cookies (koulourakia, in fact!) and milk, and all the reindeer got carrots. All but Blitzen, of course, who (as Santa explained to the girls in his annual letter a few years ago) prefers broccoli to carrots. So the girls set out a piece of broccoli along with the carrots. Healy, of course, tried to muscle in on the action before Santa came:


Later in the night, Santa stopped by, and left the stockings full and presents under the tree, including Thalia's American Girl doll!


Early this morning (at about 6:20) we heard the girls sneak downstairs, and about 10 minutes later we followed them down to find this sight:


And Thalia was just about jumping out of her skin she was so excited about her doll:


And it turns out Santa left a note:



The girls gave us our presents first. Thalia had made a calendar for us in school, which she wrapped beautifully:


and the girls collaborated on our other gifts: a dollar bill for each of us -- woot!

Lots of other presents were then opened, here's just a small sampling. Abra got the Harry Potter set from Gramma, which will definitely keep her busy:


Thalia got Lemony Snicket from Papou and Yiayia:


And "Ant Cat" got the girls an Easy Bake cupcake kit:


And there were lots more presents; thanks to all our family and friends for taking such good care of the girls and us. After it was all over, and wrapping paper, boxes, and bows all littered the floor, I sprinkled catnip (from the cats' stocking) into a few cardboard boxes and hijinks ensued:

So now I need to get busy working on the turkey for Christmas dinner. Merry Christmas, all!

Yet Another Picture Dump

OK, many pictures long delayed. In quasi-chronological order:

Abra gets her first library card:



Remember the wall-painting fiasco from a few months ago? Where I painted and then repainted? Here's why. Here's a shot of the corner of the dining room. On the right is the original color that I painted. It looked good on the card, but turned out a bit too electric on the wall. On the left is the second attempt. Much less electric, much more sage. It looks better. And at the bottom, you can see the red. We're reasonably happy with this combo:



And then here's the time I saw the cats fighting over a box, and upped the ante by sprinkling catnip inside. That provided significant comic relief. First Healy took control:


But Pearl took offense, and a catfight ensued:



Now while Nelson looks to be a disinterested watcher in that last picture, he took advantage of the melee to take control of the box:



But Pearl took offense, and a catfight ensued:



And so in the end, She-elzebub herself took control and the boys ran away:



In other news, the other day I went upstairs and noticed this array set up in the playroom. Who can tell what it is?:



Yes, it's a stage. Risers in the back, microphone and drums set up on stage, and the stuffed animals in front, about to rush the stage. It's like a Nickelodeon version of "Gimme Shelter"...

More cat shenanigans. Tango enjoys boxes, which led to this lolcat moment. GET OUTTA MY BEER, CAT!



Abra had a formal party tonight, and so she got a new dress and one to match her American Girl doll. But who can figure out my absolute favorite part of this picture?



And finally, this is what I made for dinner tonight. It tasted as good as it looked:



That's all for now!

Picture Dump #34512

So postings have been slow lately, due to a variety of factors including a house undergoing rehab, the learning of a new operating system, and work in general. While I don't have anything exciting to say, I'll at least update folks with some pictures.

Several weeks back, we went to the Case-Oberlin football game (I'm somewhat embarrassed to say that it was the first time I've been to a Case home football game). The girls made signs:

and off we went to the game.


Thalia certainly enjoyed vamping for the crowd along the front


Case won 41-6, although we left after the halftime show. My favorite part of the game was Case's 42 yard bomb for a touchdown with 10 seconds left in the half, which was called back for a false start. What do you call after that? You guessed it: "OK, guys, same play." Which resulted in a 47 yard bomb for a touchdown.

I should say at this point that Case is playing a lot better than any of my other teams. Right now, they are riding a 26 game regular season winning streak, and ranked 10th in Division III football. Nice job, "Good Spartans" (as Thalia calls them, so as not to confuse them with the "Bad Spartans" of Michigan State).

Other things going on? Well, Thalia has started soccer, which she seems to enjoy. And is pretty good at, I think. I love this shot of her with a friend waiting to go into the game:


We also picked apples at Patterson's Fruit Farm last weekend. The girls enjoyed being able to reach the apples high in the trees, with a little help:


And here is Thalia doing her best audition for a commercial for the Apple Growers of America:


Mmmm, apples:


And finally, the living and dining rooms remain torn up while we rehab and paint. This has resulted in ample messes for the cats to get into. Nelson seems to enjoy burying himself in the plastic drop cloths:


Money back guarantee, indeed.