Poor Henry

I do not like the cone of shame . . .

Berry-cute-a

Do not be fooled. This deadly creature is known as the Berry-cute-a. It will suck you in with its cuteness and then nibble you to death. Or lick you. It's hard to tell. Even with its eyes closed, its cuteness is mesmerizing. Do not be fooled.

See how it uses its amazing powers to wrestle toys away from larger prey? Its powers know no bounds, so beware . . .

Look at its powerful jaws and razor-like focus. It will come at you from nowhere and attack. Beware!

This picture is not berry cute. Not at all.

Happy Birthday, Henry

Yesterday was Henry's birthday. Just look at this baby picture. Can you tell why we love this puppy so much? He is so much fun and has brought such joy to our lives these past 10 months. Yes, he sheds. Too much. Yuck. And yes, he eats all kinds of crap -- including, you got it, crap, as well as shoes and sticks and rocks and magazines and plastic straw wrappers and anything fun he finds in the yard or on his walks. And yes, his very existence complicates vacation plans and any activity where we're away from home for eight hours or more.

However, he makes us laugh. He makes us smile. He licks away tears and sad faces. He cuddles against you and keeps you warm. He plays a wonderful game of tag or soccer. He protects the family from scary intruders like the mailman and the UPS guy. He is goofy. He barks at the TV or the fireplace just to keep them on their toes. He plays hard and sleeps hard. He suns himself on the hot pavement. He is the first to greet you when you walk in the door, and he is always happy to see you. He answers to several nicknames including Boom Boom and Teeny Tiny and Wookie. As Sean summed up once, "I'm glad we got Henry, Mom, because now we're a real family."

Happy Birthday, Henry Hope Mosher; we're so glad you're part of our clan.

If only there were pictures . . .

I am without a camera. My latest one bailed on me last Sunday night. This is the second camera to die on me in the past six months. So, needless to say my postings will be bereft of visual confirmations until I can purchase a new camera. And this was the week to have a camera on hand. Some things that will not be shot for posterity (that really is a leading sentence . . . ):

1. My boys fully engulfed in their maps of the San Diego Wild Animal Park and not watching the path, other people, their own feet, and so forth.

2. The tiniest elephant in the world -- seriously, I thought it was a toy. With the proper zoom lens, this would have been the cutest picture EVER! Baby elephant, born on Valentine's Day, walking with his mom at the Wild Animal Park. I could just cry.

3. My boys cuddling their stuffed lion cub (Sean) and meerkat (Gavin) as we exited the park. Sean named his "Cuddles," and Gavin named his "Aurora." (Gavin always names his stuffed animals after girls. Not sure why. A little afraid to ask. )

4. My daughter and the hub getting ready for their first snowboarding experience! Gloves, hats, bibs, snow jackets, boots -- the works! They looked fabulous and so excited.

5. My daughter and the hub lying prone on the couch after their first snowboarding trip, still happy but exhausted.

6. My daughter and the hub limping and groaning the day after their first snowboarding trip, not quite as happy but talking about going again.

7. Crane Fly Land -- Lately, our home has been swarming with these prehistoric bugs. They are loud and seem drunk because they cannot fly straight at all. There are so many of them on the wall; they look like art.

8. Henry eating the crane flies that the hub swats. (Actually that would be a pretty gross picture, so I'm kinda glad I didn't pursue that one.)

9. Grace's open house. This will be her last year at this school, and I have no picture of her classroom or teacher or desk, etc. Will be stalking later.

10. Henry grabbing the ShamWow and running all over the backyard while we're trying to dye eggs. That dog is fast! Would have been much easier to get a new towel, but I was invested at that point. Grace finally succeeded after employing bribing and trickery. Good girl.

11. Mosher Dance Party time -- There's something about The Black Eyed Peas . . .

12. Our backyard and how nice it looks when Jose has been here.

13. Kellen, our sweet little niece, running after Henry in the backyard saying, "Me too! Me too!" because it's fun to run around like the crazy dog.

14. Sean playing (and totally obsessed) with Uncle Mike's iPhone.

15. The cool Easter baskets and presents the Easter Bunny brought. That Easter Bunny is pretty clever. . . .

Happy Easter to all. Celebrate life and redemption and freedom. May your day be joyful and your camera at the ready . . .

St. Patrick's Day Tomfoolery

Okay, so this picture should give you some idea about our St. Patrick's Day. If you read my friend Melissa's blog, you will gasp in delight at the amazing things she did for her girls on St. Patty's Day and at how creative she is. She made them green pancakes and created an awesome scavenger hunt with the help of leprechauns (apparently they are on call, and I need to get the number), complete with chocolate coins. She decorates; she thinks creatively; and I am in total awe and jealous as all get out.

What I love most about Melissa is that she is all about making each holiday and/or event in her girls' lives memorable. I, however, am not that person. I strive to be. I want to be -- deep down, where it counts. However, I cannot or forget to direct that desire to the part of my brain that controls the movement of my limbs and my schedule. I cannot get my mind to create something in advance, so I'm usually rushing about at the last minute to make things happen. She probably has Easter handled in her mind already. I'm wondering when Easter is this year.

So, as far as St. Patrick's Day goes, I made sure all the kids were wearing green, even Sean who needs to wear blue to make sure he is not mistaken for Gavin, and that was it. Grace went off to school with a small note in her lunch from me that had Erin go Bragh on it, and that pretty much ended the merriment. I even ignored our traditional fare of corned beef and cabbage because I had a chance to go out to dinner with my sister. The kids and hub went to Ruby's instead. So much for tradition (although dinner with my sis was fab).

Our only contribution to posterity regarding St. Patrick's Day 2010 is the above picture, one of about 17, where we tried to make Henry feel festive. Really the hat just ticked him off, so we wound up laughing hysterically and trying it on ourselves and then laughing some more and then putting it back on the dog, because, hey, it's fun. I'm hoping that as the kids grow older, these are the memories that they will take with them: our laughing at the crazy, dumb things we do as a family that make our life what it is.