when I started this blog five years ago, I was a pet sitter and the name animal-crackers made sense. now I'm a stay-at-home-dad and freelance writer, but rather than confuse everyone by getting a different blog, it's just easier to keep posting things here.

Holy cow, has it been a month since I last updated? We've been busy. I've been juggling eight projects. It's weird how a few months ago all I had was some book pages to proof. Now I'm writing ad copy, brochures and all sorts of marketing stuff.

Josh is doing awesome. We get a daily report from his teacher that is either a star, smiley face, straight face or frowney face. In November he brought home two stars, 14 smiley faces, one straight face and ZERO frowneys.

Dylan had his brain checked this month. He had an appointment with a neurologist, plus an MRI and an EEG. We have little reason to worry. Although he had some bleeding in his brain a few days after he was born, we haven't seen any evidence of damage. But it doesn't hurt to check. His noggin is working fine.

Andrea is finishing up two weeks of vacation. This week she's been painting like mad. Our white living room/dining room walls are now medium yellow (officially called brown mustard), except for an accent wall in the dining room, which is medium orange-red. It looks very Tuscan.

Here is where the colors meet.



Not the greatest picture, but you get the idea.

I could give a minute-by-minute account of last night's festivities. Instead, here a few pictures.