Moose and Andrew

Moose is used to Andrew, but his favorite is still Mali. I think he believes her to be another puppy. Click here to see more recent photos.

Moose gets a play date

I took Moose to Alana's for lunch today so I could feed Max also, since Alana was working. He wasn't as overjoyed to see his brother as I thought he would be. He just sort of wandered around sniffing everything for awhile. I left them outside to eat and romp - Alana told me Max was a pro getting in and out of the doggy door. Sadly, when I returned half an hour later, they were both standing in front of the door waiting to be let in from the cold. Luckily, the weather was actually kind of nice this afternoon. Now, however, it is snowing hard!

Dinner at Gustav's

We finally went to Gustav's last night, with Paul&Family who just returned from a long weekend of skiing. Alana joined us too, along with Doug and Erin and Gabrielle. Andrew went to dinner at Maddie's instead - for an Asian beef fondue-type meal - much more his style, and without the horde of girls.

All Moose, all the time

Moose LOVES Mali. He will get up from a nap to follow her around. He wants her near him ALWAYS. He tolerates the rest of us just fine.
Last night Susy and I headed out to the local Embassy Suites for the Intel Winter Luau.
The desserts tasted like tar, but Susy won an iPod Shuffle, so we were happy.
Follow the picture below to more of Moose and Mali, and one of Maddie, Andrew's newest friend.

Moose, Day 1

Moose is in da hoouuuse! He had a little anxiety last night, looking for his brothers and his momma, but he's doing fine now. It helps he's had overwhelming attention from Mali, and they are both very taken with each other. Andrew had Maddie over so he didn't spend as much time getting to know him.

Long Weekend

Last night we all went to Paul&Nancy's to put a collar on Moose so someone else doesn't accidentally take him home. We are taking delivery on Wednesday.
Other news:
Saturday, Mali and I picked out a new bicycle for her - an early 11th birthday present. She's been riding her old one a lot, but it is ridiculously too small. We were spurred to shop by Andrew's excursion to Pizzicato with some 8th grade friends. Mali didn't understand why she couldn't tag along with him.
Movies: Mali, Andrew, and I went to see Bridge to Tarabithia Saturday. A very good movie, but nothing at all like I thought it would be. I thought it was some crazy fantasy movie, but it was waayyy too reality-based for my taste. I certainly wasn't comfortable with the 3rd act tragedy. Andrew had read the book, and hinted at it to Mali, so they weren't hit in the head with a sledgehammer like I was.
Yesterday I dropped Mali and Lilly off to see Norbit, and Andrew and I met Susy (she had to work) for lunch at GoGo's Mongolian Grill. Andrew spent the rest of the day over at Maddie's house.

Egyptian Art Night

Susy and I went to a Portland Art Museum member's event tonight. It was a great deal - for a small fee we got appetizers, dessert, and all the wine we could drink. There was live quasi-Middle Eastern music, and even a belly dancer! Then we got to wander the museum, so we took in the Egyptian show.

Puppy!

I returned from Washington after a rain-and-traffic-filled 5-hour drive. I got to meet Andrew's friend Mattie (Maddie?), who was still there visiting after an invitation to dinner. We drove her home (just down the hill) and continued over to Paul&Nancy's to see our new puppy.
It is official, we have selected Moose. He will move in with us probably next weekend. Here's a cell photo of him giving Andrew a sniff.

Mali's Valentine's Day Duck

Mali's class is having a contest for Valentine's Day mailboxes. This is her entry.

Here she gets a kiss on the nose.

I'm healthy!

Except for a little relapse last night, I am doing fine now. Still tired.
Mali got her birthday present a little early - we went and got her a cell phone today.
Andrew went out to lunch at the Chinese place with a bunch of his friends. He's not home yet, so not sure how that turned out.
Susy took Mali to Michaels to get supplies for her Valentine's Day dragon/swan mailbox that she is creating. Her class is having a contest. They dropped me off at the library, then afterwards we all went out for coffee/hot chocolate at a nice new coffee shop next to the library. While we were there they posed for a cell phone photo.

Whistler, now sick

I ditched my wonderful family for a weekend of skiing and poker at Whistler. It was great fun at Bob's place. Then Sunday we were trapped because of the landslide that closed the highway, so Paul, Jonathan and I hid out at the mansion John (and Brian, Vincent and Eric) rented with his families.
Paul and I made it home at 2:30 Monday morning. Monday was fine, but Tuesday I got sick - I think I have the same flu that Susy had earlier.

OregonMom sick

Susy has been sick since Friday. She took Monday off, but went in yesterday only to come home early to sleep for a couple of hours before dinner. I think she's okay today, finally.

OregonMom sick

Susy has been sick since Friday. She took Monday off, but went in yesterday only to come home early to sleep for a couple of hours before dinner. I think she's okay today, finally.

Literacy Night

Mali's friend called at a quarter to literacy night, to ask if Mali was going up to Nancy Ryles for it. I had forgotten, and so we cancelled our plans for steak and Chinese food and went with toaster-oven reheated pizza and a sandwich for Mali, and all three of us walked up to the school. Susy was due home at 8:00 from her work-trip to API in Issaquah.
We got there just in time to catch the Mayor reading the last page of Cat in the Hat, and then we got to hang out in Mali's classroom, reading her fractured fairy tale starring Christina Aguilera as Red of Little Red Riding Hood in the New York City fashion industry, or something. Then we climbed aboard the Awesome Adventure Airlines for an alliteration lesson. We also covered onomatopoeia, personification, and my favorite: hyperbole. Andrew and I wrote about our trip to Mexico ("The click, clack, and tap, tap, tap of Ping Pong balls kept us awake on our trip. We played Ping Pong day and night without stopping, on our magnificent, magical march to Mexico")

Then we went to the store for eggs and milk and bought tons of other stuff, and got home and unloaded just before Susy pulled in.

No school today, because it's Oregon. Mali just left for school anyway, but with a soccer ball, a tennis ball, and a tennis racket. And my cell phone. Meanwhile, Andrew is still sleeping.

Weekend without soccer

Andrew had no game this weekend and his practice tonight is canceled. Mali decided she'd rather practice soccer outside with her brother than go to another indoor practice, so that's what they did. She's an outdoor girl. We walked/biked (she biked) to Starbucks Sunday morning. She Really Needs a new bike, but she loves her old one.

Saturday night we went over to Paul and Nancy's for cheese fondue and to see the puppies. Susy is very thrilled with the two large (forSchnauzer) salt&pepper pups, Moose and Sandy (both male). They both like to sleep a lot. Paul and I played Scrabble while everyone else watched some Twin Towers movie that sounded awfully depressing.

Mother and child(ren) reunion

Susy is home from Florida, to everyone's great joy. There was quite a reunion scene at the airport.

Snow day(s)!!!

It snowed 4 inches Tuesday morning, surprising nearly everyone, though MOST schools were able to sensibly make the decision to close. Not Beaverton School District. They thought they'd stay open until kids got on buses that got stuck in ditches, and teachers slid their cars into other teacher's cars. I walked Mali up to the school to find out what was going on, and of course discovered chaos. Most of the teachers weren't there, NONE of the buses made it there, and the kids who were there were being herded into the music room to watch videos. Mali and I left and walked over to Alana's for some coffee, and I called Andrew to tell him not to get on the bus if actually made it to his stop. He found it there, stuck on the hill.
We had a great day of sledding and fun. All the usual suspects ended up at Alana's house for food and Scrabble while the kids spent more time going up and down the hill. I worked yesterday while the kids enjoyed more sledding. Today it looks like they'll be going in two hours late.
I have lots of great pictures stuck on my (old) camera. Here's a photo Nancy took of Zoë and Mali.

Grandma's surgery a success!

Susy called from Florida:
Irene's surgery is over and went well! Everyone is much relieved. She should be back home in a couple of days. Hooray!

Mali Makes Mocha Missing a Tooth

Here's a photo from this morning. Mali makes mocha, and I needed a shot of her missing tooth.

Mali's Very Small Bike

Mali needs a new bike. She loves this one though. She left it at Zoe's, so we walked down to get it. She walked it up the big hill, seen below.