The photo doesn't do her justice.

I'm a little worried about boring readers of this blog with too many puppy photos and too much talk about puppies....but not so worried not to post this photo. I mean. Seriously. Cute. Dog.

We met Lacey yesterday, and there is simply nothing like holding a puppy. Your own puppy. Here she is in Leah's arms, where I predict she'll spend a lot of her time in the not too distant future.

Lacey lives in a big, old, crazy, wonderful farm house in eastern Ohio, with a pack of other dachshunds who run freely between the kitchen and the sun porch. She was happy and playful and tail-wagging, and didn't seem to mind in the least when we picked her up and soaked in her puppy goodness.

It was hard to go. She's not old enough to leave her mama and littermates yet, and even if she were, we can't bring her back to our rental house. I'll pick her up when I drive to Ohio, and our new life and house there, in early July.

We closed on our house yesterday, then we got a thorough tour. I love it, even more than I thought I would. Now, in the fullness of late May foliage, it looks lush and private in the backyard. It's a pretty great house. It's ours!

We also stopped at my children's new elementary school, a short walk away. I'll wax on about this in another post, but I'll just say that my first impression of this school was wonderful. A good place.

So, Ohio, and the parts of our life there. Falling into place. Feeling true and right. Can't wait.

And, simultaneously, I'm now home in Virginia, doing the soccer game and birthday party circuit this weekend, and it seems unlikely and unwise to leave this scene and these people. Complicated.

Family Music for Grown Up Tastes

Here's the list: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90432642

Great selections here. There's a part of me that says, but wait, does every children's song have to appeal to the grown ups in the house, too? Some stuff ought to be just for the kids. Of course, I'm saying that as a Kindermusik educator, and as someone who, I've noticed, can listen to children's music longer and more happily than most other adults can.

But what I really think, is that really good music transcends age. The best children's music isn't "aimed at adult tastes," nor is it cloying, over-simplified, and poorly produced. Good children's music is good music.

I feel exactly that way about good children's literature--anyone would enjoy reading it. It's a good story with good characters, regardless of your age.

Introducing...

Lacey!

As in Maud Hart Lovelace. Lacey is a name all four of us really like, and it smoothly rolls off the tongue, and doesn't she just look like Lacey is her name? Once again (as all the names we've seriously considered), Leah came up with it. That kid has an understanding of what makes a good dog name. She's also devoted nearly every waking hour to the project....

We are taking a rather silly but very fun family trip to Ohio on Thursday and Friday next week. We're going to sign all the paperwork to close on our house, and then it will really be ours! Morgage and all! Woo-hoo! We get to walk through the house after signing (for the kids and me, it will be our first time), and the current owners have offered to tour us through the yard and show everything they've got planted out there. I can hardly wait. (Silly because we easily could have had the papers mailed to us, and saved us all the trip. But we didn't want to be spared the trip.)

And, as we drive back, we're going to stop in the little Ohio town where Lacey is currently hanging out with her mom and littermates, and meet her, too. What a great day.

We'll pick up Lacey for good on July 9th, the day we drive to our new house just ahead of the moving truck. That's bound to be a big day, I'll wager.

Great children's website alert!

You know the wonderful pop-up books by Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart?

Well, of course, Robert Sabuda has a website! A marvelous website! Including downloadables and directions for making a few gorgeous pop-up cards of your own.

Oooh, I can hardly wait to do one of these.

Kindermusic grads everywhere!

Thanks so much to my friend Heidi for reminding me that Kindermusik grads are here, there, and everywhere.

As we wrap up our last few classes of Kindermusik for the Young Child semester 2, and as I say good-bye to these wonderful, enthusiastic, and musical children as my family and I head for Ohio, it's good to remember that we are part of a huge network of young musicians who are getting a fantastic start in music and in life through the fun and joy of Kindermusik. Love it, love my Kindermusik kids!

Company

We're having company tonight, and there's nothing like it to spur a flurry of clean and tidy activity from myself and every other member of the family. Place is looking pretty good. Marvelous.

Wanna come over next weekend?

Craig's List Magic

I have both bought and sold a number of things on Craig's List lately, in preparation for the move, and so I'm freshly reminded of the magic that is Craig's List. The best example of this is the photo enlarger. It was a beast, it was in my basement, and now someone has it who loves it. Here's the story.

My neighbor had put this crazy-looking, old-time machine out on his curb, ready for trash pick-up, with a scribbled sign taped on it that said, "Working Enlarger. Take it." We had just recently moved here, and I had just become my son's coach for his Odyssey of the Mind team--where kids take stuff and make their own inventions. This thing in the gutter was just weird enough to be interesting, and I thought a team of first graders might think it looked like a sci-fi transmogrifier. And, it was a big, metal thing, and the thought of it spending eternity in a landfill made me cringe. So, with considerable effort because it's HEAVY, I loaded it into my trunk.

The team chose something else. The enlarger gathered dust in my basement. Fast forward almost two years--it's time to move, and I've got to get this albatross out of my life. I list it on Craig's List for $10. Ted, a guy in his sixties who has a hobby of rebuilding photography equipment, picked it up this evening, and he was completely delighted with it, joyfully turning its knobs and naming its many moving parts. "A little beat up," he said cheerfully, "but I've seen worse!"

Craig's List. Ted is happy, I have $10, and the landfill is spared one more thing. Pure magic.