Cuter Than She Smells

Although I don't really have to celebrate every holiday ever invented, I have been enjoying Read Across America week at the kid's schools. I'm sure Seuss himself would've enjoyed our kick off assemblies, held at Maidu and Excelsior schools Friday, Feb. 27th. With much hoopla, Ryan Jones, Peter's scout leader and a lawyer, attended wearing judicial robes to swear everyone in as Life-long Readers. He was fantastic--I couldn't have done a better job at casting. Speaking of casting, the cast of Emily's production of Sessical was off-the-charts energetic and captivated the kids and teachers with their performance of three numbers from the show. This week, some of the older cast members returned to Excelsior as TNT (Take Note Troupe) presenters and performed poetry, Shakespeare and shared their favorite books with students during their library visit time. My partner Beth Thomas and I have been very grateful for all the support we've received and gratified to receive kudos for the event from the students, teachers, principal and librarian (who got into the spirit by dressing as the Cat in the Hat during the week!)
Sat., Feb. 28th was Peter's basketball playoff. He executed a very disciplined game with no mistakes that I'm aware of. Marv, with help from co-coaches Rob and Mark, did an amazing job preparing these boys and their overall improvement over the course of the season was clear. The other team had a few more points on the board when the buzzer sounded, but nobody went away feeling unhappy. Our boys and parents showed a lot of appreciation for Marv, which he deserves. Dashing from Peter's basketball game to the site for her Girl Scout troop's cookie sales, Emmy was asked to give information to a interested customer. She said, "They are really delicious and I can eat as many as I want and I never get fat." The belly on this customer suggested he might not be able to get away the same thing, but Emmy made the sale nonetheless.
After being so busy with extracurricular activities, I knew I needed to get more done around the house this week, but where to begin? I kept procrastinating, using the kids' half day schedule at school as an excuse. One day, Emmy and I painted our nails and I coerced her and her friend Jordyn to make a leprechaun craft. Another day we had a blast going out shopping with Diana--please visit Diana's blog for details! Peter and Marv played hooky one day skiing on the slopes at Sugar Bowl. Over the course of the week, my piled high desk did get a few inches shorter, but I credit Diana who came Friday for help with serious cleaning. Definitely tidier this week: the dogs. I usually keep up on their bathing and brushing, but it was overdue. Peter was having a hard time being around Lucy--"She's cuter than she smells!" was the comment that pushed me to action. Armed with coupons from Petco, Merlin got to leave hair on someone else's floor for a change and Lucy, her first away from home grooming, received a special lucky charm tag for her collar.