A cast of characters

We've been having fun this week with a new camera. We have quite a ways to go before we are proficient with it, but we're trying to learn! Here are a few of our first attempts.

R took this very artistic picture (ooh, blurry background!!) of some lovely tulips he and C brought me when I was out tutoring last week! So spring-like!

This is our dog Bandit. (Yes, I now know this would probably have been a better picture sans flash.) He is . . . special. We rescued him from the streets of Atlanta. His first home was Fulton County Animal Services, which may well be the saddest place I've ever been. He is incredibly protective and loyal, but predictably neurotic. He has a sweet side, no question, but he has some rather odd traits.

This is Flash. He is huge. He is mischievous, lovable, sweet . . . all the things a proper lab should be. Oh and drooly. His salivary glands must be as large as his brain, maybe larger. He thinks the fact that we have a baby is great because a) she always has food on her face and on her clothes that he can lick and b) we frequently have to leave him unattended to deal with fussiness and this opens the door for him to get into trouble. Case and point: A few weeks ago, C was (supposed to be) napping, and she started to cry. I went upstairs to check on her. I came down a few minutes later to find Flash running guiltily out of kitchen. What I found was a full tin of my fresh cornbread muffins (that were supposed to be cooling) with their tops all removed, bottoms still intact, and a very happy dog. Things like this happen all the time. Did I mention he's huge?

C has recently become very aware of the dogs. Every morning, we go outside and Flash and Bandit show off by wrestling for us. They stop as soon as we go inside or stop watching. She thinks it's very funny when Flash nuzzles her (which usually involves licking too . . .). Tonight, Flash got her going in a full giggle and we happened to have the camera handy. How often do those two things coincide?

So this blog post was a random smattering of stuff, but it's been a while since I updated. So there you go! C is going to be baptized this coming Sunday, so that will be my next post. Lots of family coming to celebrate with us!