Brussels

These pictures are from the middle of last week. Brian and I were working hard writing, and Brian let the ferrets add comments to a document while he took a short break. All the ferrets seemed to be doing okay. It was a really nice day.

Since then, Brussels has not been feeling well. His blood sugar dropped to dangerous levels (the vets weren't sure why he wasn't having seizures) and he has become very low energy and, at times, unresponsive. He is at the vet hospital today, and he was pretty out of it when we visited earlier this afternoon. We are in a bit of shock that his condition deteriorated so quickly. Please keep Brussels in your thoughts and prayers.

Ginger

Things around our house have been a little quieter the last couple days, since Ginger went back to her own house on Thursday night. She was a very well-behaved guest, and we really enjoyed having her. Here are a few pictures from the last week.

Ginger working on her new chew bone:

Ginger with some of her toys:

Pausing to look at me:

Hanging out on the couch in the evening (Ginger loves belly rubbing):

Brian and Ginger on the couch, both sleepy:

Smoothies

Since we arrived home, Brian and I have been enjoying fruit smoothies on almost a daily basis, putting my new hand-held blender to good use. The blender came with a handy mixing cup, which is large enough to make two small smoothies at the same time. I start with some frozen fruit (strawberries, sometimes with pineapple or mango or peach). Recently, I started adding some frozen cranberries, which adds a really nice flavor. Then I add a banana (always) and sometimes some pineapple tidbits (if I have some in the fridge). Finally, I add some yogurt and liquid (either milk or fruit juice). We have experimented with the flavor a little bit (different fruits, different yogurt flavors), and so far, we haven't found a bad combination.

Before: frozen strawberries, frozen cranberries, banana, pineapple, yogurt, pineapple juice, orange juice:


After: everything blended together into a delicious smoothie

Early January

A little more than a week ago, this new year started. It seems like it has been a lot longer than a week though. Since that time, we are getting back into a routine of work. Things are really starting to pick up with my dissertation progress, and I am feeling some stress from it. The past several days, I have been working nights. I don't think it is the most healthy schedule, but when I get stressed, I often feel like I can focus more at night, when the whole world is asleep. Brian has been keeping my company a lot of the time, since he says it is hard for him to sleep when I am awake working. Anyway, I just sent off a large amount of work to my advisor for review this morning, and I hope to get back into a normal sleep schedule in the next day or so. We didn't sleep last night, but we hope to stay up all day today so we can sleep tonight (and probably go to bed early).

Here is a picture of the beautiful morning sky a couple days ago, right before I went to bed (after working all night):

Right now, we have a special guest at our house named Ginger. She seems to be doing okay here--the first night was a bit rough and I don't think she knows what is going on, and if her owners will be returning. They will be back on Thursday evening, so I am sure she will be a happy lady then.

Ginger likes to wrestle. She definitely has a puppy's energy.

Ginger can be quite attentive. Here Brian is asking her to give him a high five (she did).

Here Ginger is showing Brian that she knows how to shake hands.

A few more shots

Here are a few more shots from out trip to Michigan last week.

Dad with powdered sugar:

Mom and me making olliebollen:

Ginger, showing me her sit:

Brian and me working on some Scrabble words:

Brian and me playing Dominion:

Simon, modeling Oma's new scarf:

Brian watching Beauty and the Beast with the boys. Josiah seemed to like the film, but Eli was easily frustrated by the mushy parts (or as he called them, the parts about marriage and kissing).

Present Time

This year, many of us had help unwrapping things from three eager boys. They seemed to have a great time though, and they were calmer than in previous years. We also had a new addition to present time: Ginger. Ginger also remained quite calm through all the hustle and bustle, which was very impressive to me. Unexpectedly, Peter was able to stop by for several hours on Monday before he had to head back to Ohio for work. It was great to see everyone!

Uncle Peter gets assistance from Joes, Eli, and Simon, while Anne and Ginger look on.

Uncle Brian also got some help from the boys unwrapping these running aides for snowy weather.

Uncle Brian with a acrobat toy, symbolizing time at the gym.

Whatever Joes just got, he sure is happy about it!

Anne and Dad smile big for the camera.

Reading

During our Michigan trip, I did some reading for fun (which has become a rare activity, sad to say). A lot of the reading I did was children's literature, but the books were all new to me, so that was still nice. There was one book that I was just getting started by the time we left. It was about HeLa, a lady who unwittingly "donated" some of her cancer cells and ended up getting those cells duplicated over and over, long past when the donor herself was alive. Mom, can you remind me of the title and author of that book so I can track it down here? It was from the library.

This book about people from different parts of the world kept Eli's attention, but Joes was distracted. No big deal.

Oma has the full attention of Eli and Joes.

David is a pro- he can get all three boys to listen. (Although, they all look pretty tired, so that might help.)

This was their favorite part of this Winnie the Pooh book. Can you tell what the picture shows? It is pretty funny.

Knuffle-bunny!

See other blog

I have not been feeling inspired to post pictures lately, since David has been posting a lot of the pictures I took over on his and Rachel's blog. So if you are interested in pics, please use the link to the left to navigate over there and check it out.

Seriously though, I will try to get some new ones up in the next couple days. :)