More pics

Graham smiling (sort of)

Picking dandelions in the yard

Jeanne being chased by the day care kids

More recent pics

Finally some new (old) pictures

These are mostly from before we moved, but at least they're new to Cotterville:

Jeanne got a hold of the camera and took this one herself.

Jeanne raids the recycling box.

Playing in the rain on the new deck.

Oh Mommy!
(I'll try and post some newer pics of Graham soon - he's so much bigger than this now)

Jeanne and Daddy.

Jeanne rides a pony at the zoo.
She was so composed, not scared at all. She did so well, moving with the pony like she'd been doing it her whole life.

Applicants Sought for Thankless Job

POSITION: MOM

JOB DESCRIPTION: Long-term team players needed for challenging permanent work in an often-chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work various hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24-hour shifts "on call." Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in faraway cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES: This is for the rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated at least temporarily, until someone needs $5 to go skating. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers.
Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects.
Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks.
Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next.
Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys and battery-operated devices.
Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.
Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product.
Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT AND PROMOTION:
Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE:
None required, unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION:
You pay them, offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS:
While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered, job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.

Two bathrooms

When you've gotta go, you've gotta go.

We have two bathrooms.

To mothers near and far, happy Mother's Day

Migrant Mother, 1936, by Dorothea Lange

"So when the great word 'Mother!' rang once more,
I saw at last its meaning and its place;
Not the blind passion of the brooding past,
But Mother -- the World's Mother -- come at last,
To love as she had never loved before --
To feed and guard and teach the human race."
-- Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Baby

All moved in

Hey everybody,

We are officially all moved in to the new house and all moved out of the old one. The moving truck came yesterday, but we spent today cleaning the old place and getting all those little things that didn't make it into the truck. The new place is great, but it's going to take us forever to unpack. We've put all the boxes in the garage and we'll be moving stuff in over time, but it's ridiculously over-full.

Jeanne has adjusted well to the move, but then again we've been coming over here every day since we closed on the place and she immediately liked this place better. The fact that the new house was so familiar by the time she had her first night here meant that she had no problems sleeping through last night (which we were immensely thankful for).

Graham doesn't seem to have notice that anything has changed, which isn't surprising since he isn't even two months old yet.

We're looking forward to all of our guests coming to see us this summer. Now that we're here full-time we're actually around to answer the phone, so feel free to give us a ring (the number is the same for now, though we may change it at some later date).

Be well,
Ellen et al.