Here's a few pictures. Shannon loves her new scarves from Afghanistan. And Calvin is just convinced that I am going to let him come inside with his lovely buffalo bone. It is extremely fresh. As in still dripping marrow. Ick.

We are having some warmer weather. Here are Shannon and Calvin playing on the deck.

Happy Easter Daddy! Sorry you couldn't be here for it.

Here she is with her new flower basket. She loves cutting flowers and pretending to sell them from her basket (like Eliza from My Fair Lady).

Shannon has been setting up and taking pictures lately. Here are a few samples of her work. I think she does a great job.

Playing on the floor.

We miss you!

Shannon got another great dress from Taylor. This one she thinks is a ballerina dress so she was showing off her dance moves. Apparently ballerinas don't smile for the camera.

We finally got the right snow to make snow beasts! Usually the snow around here is to dry and powdery but I guess warm winters give you good snow beast snow. Here is the Daddy Snow Beast, the Little Girl Snow Beast, and their pet Bird Snow Beast.

And just so Calvin doesn't feel left out, here is a picture of him.

Alex has a new cage. He still doesn't like it, so it is pretty entertaining around here right now.

Shannon has a newly decorated room, thanks to Nina! Now we just need some curtains.

No idea why, but Alex decided to be friendly. I was waiting for a chomp and a scream, but he behaved himself for once.

We had a pinata for New Year's. Maybe next year we can make our own.

Shannon took this picture of Calvin and I lying in the sunshine.

She loved the bird and blanket from her cousins - now she has a soft blanket to take to school and one to leave at home. And what is Christmas without the ability to make edible zombie parts?

Shannon's favorite presents were probably the Playmobil zoo set, her new Zhu Zhu pet beauty shop, and her princess dress and cloak. Try not to pay too much attention to the lovely pale blue sweater paired with raspberry pants.

We had a great Christmas. Tom's parents came down for Christmas and I had to work the whole weekend so Santa came a few days early. Shannon got some great presents, and Calvin even got his own stocking. No stocking for Alex though - I think Santa is going to skip him for years!

So I didn't get a lot of sleep last night and ended up sleeping on the blow up mattress. Then in my sleep deprived state today it seemed like a good idea to let Shannon play on it. The only problem we had was that Calvin eventually had to be put in his kennel because he insisted on playing on it too, generally while Shannon was in mid-jump.

So right before I took this picture Alex and Calvin were having a great time playing. In this picture they just look like they are causing trouble. And the reason there aren't any more pictures? Because Calvin had just backed Alex into a corner and smacked him with a paw.

I had several pictures of Shannon decorating the tree (and of a Christmas puppy) but for some reason they all came out blurry. So this is all we have.

As usual, we went Trick or Treating with Sammy. This year, Mattea and Arun came along as well.

Shannon's 5th birthday party a little early. It didn't really seem like we got any good pictures. However, I did finally manage to make her a pretty cake that actually turned out well.