Bunnies Not Amused by Basketball Tournament

The only March Madness that Ruby Jane wishes for is a huge bucket of carrots.  That is all.  Rabbit Independence Day is coming...

Jor-El Made the Right Decision

The Erb Women

Oh, how could one not look at Miss Jill, Mary Jane, and Betsy Jo and not love their infinite cuteness.  And they all adamantly remind us all that, yes, Superman was indeed adopted as well.  Jor-El and his wife made the right decision. 

Mary Jane and Betsy Jo will be Supergirls... our Supergirls.  Will they bend steel, fly faster than a speeding bullet, or leap tall buildings in a single bound?  Maybe.  But we don't need them to  in order to be our daughters.  They will love us as parents and we will love them as children.  And I'll do everything in my power to prevent whatever metaphorical Kryptonite there is out there from harming them.  Now if for some reason, they pick up a few supervillains along the way... that's on them.  I can only give advice.  (I think I'll cut the Superman conceit here as you and I both know Clark Kent's adopted father doesn't make it much past the first act.)

At some point there should be a musical score from John Williams backing this post.  OK, maybe not but that's how I feel.

Mommy Playing with Our Girls

Amidst all the bunny comments, Bruin basketball, and Academic Decathlon triumphs... sometimes I just need to step back and admit how much I love my women.  They are strong.  They are funny.  They are the best.

Teamwork

Nothing quite like Mary Jane and Betsy Jo both taking turns on their wagon ride around the block.  It's about a 1/3 of a walk but they sometimes rotate the riding and pulling.  Or even the pulling and pushing as seen here.  Usually it's Daddy pulling, Betsy Jo riding, and Mary Jane tagging along.

Do note in this video, Mary Jane has some extra old bamboo leaves for Paul the Panda upon their return.  He's been quite happy with her bamboo collections as of late.  The DudeManBro has been singing a lot more recently and not knocking over supermarket carts.  But more on that later...

Typical Lunch with the Girls

Messy-Faced Betsy

Just your typical afternoon but nothing quite like checking in with Betsy Jo and Mary Jane to see how well they liked their lunch.  Betsy, as you can clearly see, thoroughly enjoyed her smoothie. Meanwhile Mary Jane and Betsy have discussions over lunch while the Pengoon sits in the background and waits for leftovers.  Sorry, Pengoon, no fish for lunch this week.  Then again if it's Lent, you never know.

Lunching with the Pengoon

Rabbits Don't Do Brackets

While Mister John looks over his brackets and ponders the fate of his UCLA Bruins, the rabbits in the back yard prepare for another Rabbit Independence Day.  Heidi and Cookie Sue, both new to the household, have helped holiday veterans Ruby Jane and Prince Phillip with their preparations.  Fortunately for the rabbits, the humans don't always know of their independent leanings.  Signs reading "More Carrots Now!" and "Hop for the Right to Be!" have been placed in the backyard.  These have left Miss Jill and Mister John a bit confused... they thought Mary Jane and Betsy were up to something.  Something indeed.

Shifting into Park

Mary Jane and Betsy Jo had a great time a few weekends ago in a Westwood park (the area just outside of UCLA, fight fight fight).  They ran about and played for quite a while and tried out all the different apparatus that they could.

Watch out, here come the furiously furry feet of Mary Jane.

 Betsy Jo has an interesting way of going down slides.  She climbs on her belly and slides down backwards.  No reason to lie on her back and ease down the slide. This way she can keep an eye on the  camera-holding parent, in this case Mommy.

Betsy was not so keen on the large banana swing.  She kept begging to go into it but then wanted out as soon as she started swinging.  Oh well, that happens.  You can't always get what you want, Betsy.  But if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.

Mary Jane in the Tunnel

Tunnel!!!  Mary Jane starts her way through with the help of Daddy at the far end and Mommy with the camera on the near end.

Happy baby!

Betsy rocks back and forth and is in her own happy land. Seeing pictures like this puts Mommy and Daddy in a happy land too.

Where's My Breakfast?

Cookie Sue is hungry.  "Where's my toast and eggs?  Where is my oatmeal?"  I'm guessing she's been hanging around one Mary Jane for a little too long.

Pope Francis

Mary Jane shows her appreciation for the new pope in this video.

Honoring the Pope's Namesake

Chilling with St. Francis

Betsy Jo and Mary Jane wander to the back yard to pay homage to St. Francis.  While they may not yet realize he is the patron saint of animals (and thus reminds the four rabbits in the back yard to keep an eye on Betsy Jo and Mary Jane), they do realize he has a water dish.  Ooh, free water!  Splash!

Maybe Mr. John will put a papal hat on St. Francis.  OK, maybe not.

Ultimate Peace

Mary Jane Erb in the Land of ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Is a toddler sleeping in her car seat.  I hate the fact of even thinking of waking her up.  But this was after the relatively long drive to Santa Ana for the birthday party for Baby Charlie this weekend.  She had to go and get her cupcake.  Wake up, sleeping bunny!

Our Girls Love Pizza

 Who cares if it's Little Caesar's and it's $5 pizza you can just pick up at the counter.  It's got tangy sauce the girls love and they wear... er, eat it all up!

Mary Jane truly loves her pizza.  Look at that face.

A Brief Afternoon at the Santa Ana Zoo

Charlie's Cake

Daddy in Charge of the Kids' Table

The Girls and Their Cupcakes

Wagon Time with Baby Charlie

Mary Jane, Betsy Jo, and Daddy went to the Santa Ana Zoo today for Baby Charlie's first birthday party.  Mommy was actually in Atlanta for an adoption conference so she was not there.  That gave Daddy a chance to show his mad skeelz as a Dad.  Well, the girls didn't open up any cages and let the animals out.

They did have some snack food which was not in their typical diet.  They might have both had a cookie each, a small box of chocolate milk (Betsy never really could figure that one out), and the cupcakes (seen in the photo).  Betsy loved the frosting; Mary Jane preferred the cake itself.

At the end of the day, everyone went on a train ride around the park.  Fun was had by all and the girls came home tired and a bit cranky.  That happens after festive days.

Banner!

It's been a good month or so for banners!  And by the way, thank you, Utah, for finishing off the Ducks to give us the conference title.  It was an inconsistent year but that's what you get with three freshmen starting.  Now onto the conference tournament and beyond...

New Zoo Review!

Mary Jane and Betsy Jo are heading off to a zoo shortly for Baby Charlie's first birthday party.  Nothing like seeing some animals!

Tis the Season

And yes, it does seem like I've been doing lots of blogging lately.  I gave up Facebook for Lent so at this allows me to write as I feel.  Then again no one really reads this blog besides my wife so it's just a message to her (Hi, Honey!).

I have learned that Facebook is a giant waste of precious time that cold be used for other things.  Like sleep?  Like reading?  Like... heck, even watching TV!

Anyway, time to get back to my regularly scheduled Lenten programming.

Voting Day?

Ever have an Election Day and no one showed up to vote?  Well, welcome to Los Angeles.  Not that really any of us cared... after eight years of Villaraigosa who turned his head toward every TV camera (and female newsperson), the bar has been set very low.

And no more phone calls about the local LAUSD race.  I don't mean to sound... hmm... elitist... but my girls will go to private school.  I don't care about the LAUSD race.

Shocking Secret Revealed: Sequestration Is Starving the Bunnies!!!

Phillip Feeling a Bit Thinner

Betsy (Head Down) Avoiding Comment

 The government stalemate which has created automatic spending cuts has greatly hurt the Mar Vista rabbits, most importantly the four belonging to Mister John and Miss Jill.  According to the new cuts, all expenditures have been sliced by 10%.  This means that across-the-board munching by the bunnies is now down more than it was previously.  According to media representatives of Phillip, his water and food has declined greatly over the last few weeks.  He also says this directly relates to having Ruby Jane forced into his cage.  While he does welcome the warm comfort of the "Brown Bear" in his cage, he does state the food in the bowl is less than it used to be.

Spokespeople from Mister John and Miss Jill vehemently deny these accusations that less food has been going to the rabbits.  "There are almost no oranges left on the tree," said Mister John last Sunday from his luxurious couch in the living room.  "They've eaten almost all of them."  However, the spokesperson for Phillip also added that Miss Jill thought he was "too plump" and "needed to lose some weight."  More denials from the Miss Jill camp.

The children have oddly been very quiet about the supposed rabbit food cuts.  Betsy, as seen in the picture to the left, closed the door to the "Pa Car House" and only requested "Up" after being confronted with the allegations.  Later on that day she took an extra serving of applesauce... this information later was leaked to the rabbits via Paul the Panda.

Mary Jane Cut in Budget Battle

Cookie Sue and Heidi Protest Together

Mary Jane has also been oddly quiet through this crisis.  According to some sources, the rabbits threw a carrot at her and cut her face.  While Mary Jane does deny this -- "Bunny outside" was all she could say about this -- it was seen by many bunnies that the carrots which were to go to the rabbits were ultimately stolen and eaten by Mary Jane and Betsy Jo.

The cruel irony of this whole mess is that Rabbit Liberation Day is on the horizon.  While many humans refer to this day as "Easter Sunday," the rabbits all know this is the day that rabbits will gain their independence from humans by their repeated acts of thumping.  The revolution may be brewing while Miss Jill and Mister John deny all potential revolts.

Mary Jane was finally quoted as saying about this situation, "One, two, three, four... five!"  Indeed.

Bruins Win... Another Season of UCLA Home Games Is Done

 Mister John happily completed another season of tickets for UCLA basketball as he and Mr. Shane watched UCLA beat Arizona by five points.  It should have been more but that's an argument for another day.

Mister John also posed next to John Wooden's statue.  He didn't want to fold his arms and look like Coach.  He'd rather be himself.

The Mystery of Phone Wolf

 Miss Jill asked me again today, "Where did we get Phone Wolf?"  I honestly don't know.  Somehow, somewhere, he just showed up in our house.  He seemed quite polite and asked for some ice tea.  We didn't have any that day but Miss Jill got some for him anyway.  He lounges about but is often hiding in the den.  Sometimes Phone Wolf has been sighting playing cards with Papa Bugg, TV Turtle, and Simon.  But Phone Wolf himself is a mystery.

We know that he loves sitting by the phone much like TV Turtle is a veritable "hog" of the remote control.  But Phone Wolf does have this odd obsession with Commute Bunny.  It's not healthy.  I really don't think so.  He often asks about her... or singing rabbits for that matter.  But how can one mistrust an animal that like iced tea?  It's just something about him... I'm not sure.

Regardless, he's a part of our family now and Mary Jane refers to him by name once in a while.  He has made it to the middle tier of Guys.