The Fun Bed!!

(photo by Brent Curtis)

Otto has always loved cuddling soft things.  He enjoys ignoring Mommy’s request to hop in the bath by rolling around on the soft bed.  He’s taken this a step further by collecting every soft blanket and pillow to create The FUN Bed!  The Fun Bed is made for cuddling, but quickly deteriorates to fast paced pillow fight then spread across the room for front rolls and cartwheels.

Squeak Squeak Hoooowl!

Smeggs enjoys a chew on her squeaky toy.  After a few minutes, she howls enthusiastically or empathetically.  Lucy, Otto and Clementine can’t help but laugh.  Smeggs has floppy ears, but when she looks up at you, her German Sheppardness begins to show.  It’s still uncertain as to the breed of pappa, but it looks very much in the Shepherd family.

March Snow brings … I dunno.

Again with the snow! March last year can be remembered with sunglasses and flip flops.  This year, the kids get another snow day at home.  Otto-the polar bear-decides to make tracks with his bike.  He also reminds us that the yellow snow is made of pee.  Thanks Otto!

Some Eggs

Lucy, Otto and Clementine now have someone new to boss around.  Meet Smeggs.  She entered the story when Brent was visiting a potential farm to buy.  The mother of Smeggs had a litter of nine puppies.  Not realizing that the mom had a hot summer fling with a stud at the neighboring farm, when Smeggs and her littermates arrived it was not with delight.  Eight puppies got knocked on the head and Smeggs stuck around to milk the mother.  Needing a dog for the farm, Smeggs went off to grow up Curtis.

Lucy and Otto have been working on dog names for a while before the idea of getting a dog ever entered the picture.  Lucy liked “Sugar” and “Hamburger.”  Otto liked the name “Bacon and Eggs. “ As names were teased out of the meal theme, they landed on Otto’s morning declaration of what he would like to eat for breakfast, “Mom ca’you mehkme smeggs.”  The phrase really means, “Mother, I’m ever so hungry.  I realize that it’s 6:30 in the morning, but if you would be so kind as to get up and make me some eggs to eat I’d be most grateful.  Thank you for being so kind.  Again, thank you.”  And at 6:30 in the morning after a five-year-old rise and shine, all that is audible is “Smeggs.”  A dog name was born.

As Smeggs has been hanging around the family, her name – as names do – has undergone several derivatives.
Smeggy
Smegg-head
Smeggelton
and a personal favorite Segs, as said by Minty … which sounds a lot like “Sex.”
“No Segs!” “Segs! Come!” “I kick Segs.”

Smeggs looks like a typical French farm dog.  She’s very smart and loves the children.  She spent the first three months of her life outside on the farm with her mother.  So far, she’s required very little training, as she seems to know what to do.  Other than keeping off the comfy couch at night when no one’s looking, she’s a well-behaved dog.

Seven, Five and Three (almost)

Long story short, we quit our jobs and moved the family to France. Bon.

Lucy is seven, speaks French and learns a poem like nobody’s bidness. She’s doing very well at school. But more importantly, she continues to model three to five outfits a day. The latest trend is the layering of skirts. Now that she’s a big seven years old, she no longer screams when her creation doesn’t go quite right. She has the maturity and ability to straighten, tuck, tie, button and the rest. She also designs and cuts out her own fashions for inspiration … and positive feeback. Oh and she’s got no front teeth!

Minty, however, is back on phase one of dress up. If the princess half-shirt doesn’t go beyond her belly as she was expecting, drama ensues. She wakes up, puts on her tutu and gumboots to start a full day of play.

Otto is into lego at the moment. He started with “shooters.” Once he figured out a sturdy design, he suddenly had as many shooters as he could possibly want. After that came spaceships. A little more fragile by nature yet exist as a perfect accessory to the shooter. He’s now exploring people making. He has tons of little lego people storm troopers, which he loves. He enjoys creating his little lego star wars army. The other day, however, he moved beyond the little people and took it upon himself to create his family out of lego blocks. Working hard in his room, he would run downstairs when a new family member had been created. First it was Daddy, then Mommy and then Chubby (uh, that’s Clementine’s nickname … poor kid). Not soon after the whole family emerged including himself, the dog and the cat with Lucy last. “And heeeere’s Lucy!!!” Otto says “The whole family is done!” “Excellent!” I reply coming in for a close look at his project. I’m not certain if it was the fangs or the frown that strengthened his piece, but the caricature of Lucy in lego as made by little brother Otto couldn’t have been more perfect.