the doghouse

Liesl got a new little stuffed animal - a fox - and for whatever reason, Jasper took an immediate liking to it. He got it off the couch while we were eating dinner and chewed off a leg. She was so upset - lots of tears - sad recriminations about how she didn't like poor puppy any more. He slunk over to his mat and lay down, clearly aware that he was in the proverbial doghouse. But then she got over it, and we picked out some nice thread to stitch the leg back on, and everyone was forgiven.

Then there was this other time that Steve and I remonstrated with her about something minor, and she stormed off to her room and left us this note. Also a moment of being in the doghouse. :)

more snow!

It's Wednesday night, and we haven't left the neighborhood since Saturday. It snowed Sunday morning and afternoon, and again on Monday, and then again last night. It's been a gorgeous snowy wonderland, full of kids on sleds, snowpeople, snow angels, romping dogs, and no school. I've been working from home all week, conducting advising appointments over the phone and answering scads of emails (it's registration week, unfortunately) and reading scholarship applications. But this morning, the sun came up on a bright blue sky, and Jasper and I walked the usual loop down to the pond via the trails and enjoyed the crisp beauty of fresh snow and trees and the quietness.

Wyatt and Sebastian playing some snow soccer at 8 am!

snow day!

We have had a mild winter in Portland - not that cold, not that much rain, no snow or ice storms, and even some sunny days. But we woke up this morning to falling snow and the children raced to get outside as soon as they could.  We were alone at the school field at 7 am. (Shocking!) We sledded, made snow angels, threw snowballs for Jasper, and enjoyed ourselves until everyone was famished and we came home. The snowfall stopped and the few inches that had accumulated started to melt away. I went off to climb at PG with Anja and get the week's groceries while the kids and Steve read books and watched a movie (Daddy Daycare! Not exactly new, but pretty funny in a slapstick way.)

While we were eating lunch, it started to snow again - a little at first, and then more and more, until it looked like a snow globe out there. It rarely snows midday in Portland - it'll get cold enough overnight that the precipitation comes down as snow, but once the sun comes up it's usually just rain or sleet. These were huge, amazing flakes. So we got all our snow gear back on and headed out for round two. This time there were lots of friends to play with - the Hornbrooks and Qualls families included - and we had a big snowball fight and sledded until the slope was a muddy mess. Jasper romped with his brother Neptune and some other dogs for hours. It was just a grand, happy, exhausting Sunday. I'm so glad we got a proper snow day for the winter. Sebastian loves the snow so much and was thrilled to be out in it.

 Making a ramp for his snowboard to go over - not terribly successful.

Gong xi fa cai!

We celebrated the first day of the Lunar New Year on Saturday - the year of the dog!! - and hope dearly that it will be a wonderful year of adventures, family, friends, good food, sports and activities, many books, laughter, and love. 2017 was a hard year - the political news consistently made us both angry and depressed, we lost aunt Dianna and uncle Rick tragically, I had a shoulder injury for six months, various house things fell apart and had to be fixed. But in 2018, we are looking forward to a long-awaited trip to Italy, to remaining healthy and happy, and to feeling grateful for our very fortunate lives together. (Yes, Italy!!!! Florence!!! For two weeks, all of us!!!! I can't wait.)

The children got hong bao with lucky money at breakfast, and then we went to dimsum at Boke Bowl. After that, we went to watch the lion and dragon parade and dancing that started in Chinatown and ended at the Oregon Historical Society. It was a good show and it felt festive to be there, surrounded by clanging cymbals and drums and crowds. We may visit the Chinese garden at some other time, when it's less crowded, or see the Tet exhibit that the Children's museum is hosting. And there will almost certainly be more dumplings and dimsum. Gong xi fa cai!