Google- Eric Carle-style...

It's the 40th Anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar so in celebration Google did a little adjustment to their logo. I have to admit, Sadie didn't really take to the book. She actually found it more fun to rip it apart than to read it. I guess she's more of a Curious George kind of kid. But if YOU are an Eric Carle fan, you should check out the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Or you can see it in person in Amherst, Massachusetts. I've mentioned it before on this blog, but there aren't many museums devoted specifically for Children's Books or their fantastic artwork. It doesn't focus just on Eric Carle, but has the artwork of many of the children's illustrators that you remember from your childhood. Personally, I just love looking around their Online Shop.

It's easy bein' green....

Of course the O'Bamas would do something fun for St. Patrick's Day! These are people from a city that turns the whole river green in Chicago just for the holiday.

A little info on the fountain... The AP reports that First Lady Michelle Obama has ordered the fountains on the north and south lawns of the White House dyed green in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. According to the First Lady's office this is the first time the fountain has ever been dyed for the holiday. Let's be honest, Washington, DC isn't really into the Irish holiday like Chicago, Boston, or Savannah. There are other holidays we are much more excited to celebrate (like when half a million people show up to watch fireworks on the lawn on the 4th of July.)

It's a shame because I really wish there were more Irish pubs around here. The Dubliner is nice, but there simply aren't enough authentically Irish pubs around. I can think of only 3 in the area that I like (and that includes Baltimore, Annapolis and D.C.)

Being a mommy hasn't changed much over the years...

I love Shorpy.com
They have some of the best historical photographs that show what regular American life is like in the early 1900's and into the 1960's.

The everyday stuff. Average people. I like that.

You get better insight that life isn't all that different from our Great-Grandparents. This is a photo from 1905 and was taken in Washington, DC.

Shorpy has these high quality photos that allow you to really see details you wouldn't normally notice in other photographs, like the pattern on the rug or the chair in the background. (Which is useful for interior designers and historical preservationists). But really, I love this photo because it's a mom giving her baby a bath, and I realize my life isn't that different from the mommies before me. And that's a nice thought. I like being connected to other women that way.

Here's the direct link to this photo. They are constantly updating.
About the Photos: Most of the photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs, 20 to 200 megabytes in size) from the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) Most were digitized by LOC contractors using a Sinar studio back. They are adjusted by the webmaster for contrast and color before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here.

The winner of Smithsonian's photo caption contest...

... is a lady named Christine. Her caption:

“After the success of the Horse, the Greeks decided to try the Trojan Hippo”

Check out the Around the Mall blog.

Sadie is turning two years old on March 27th

Sadie Angelica Joynes was born at the right place at the right time. And Charlie and I are the luckiest people in the world to have her choose us as her parents to show her around this place called Earth. We are finishing getting things ready to celebrate her 2nd birthday, with lots of family coming to visit her. Since she went through another growth spurt, I'm sure everyone will be shocked by how big she is and how easily she's singing her ABC's.

She is incredibly curious, ridiculously brave, and brings so much joy to everyone she meets. In a nutshell: She's Awesome!

A new way to look at Mario Brothers...

Sure, it's a fun game to play. But what if you really were Luigi?

Pretty creepy, huh?

Kermit, you really GET me.

My friend Eliza posted this on her Facebook page, and I had forgotten about this since the early '90s. So, when are the Muppets going to come back and do a regular show? I miss them. I'm currently 5 episodes into my Fraggle Rock collection. That means I am done with 1 DVD and have 19 more to go.

Support your local drama club...

... they'll just DIE if you don't. (Click on it to see it bigger.)

Eye Candy...

... for history nerds. This is Vintageous, a wonderful little site with lots of gorgeous vintage clothes. You can look at formal wear, blouses, purses, accessories, and even little dresses like this green and white prom dress from the 1950's that could pass as a wedding dress today. Yummy!

*Sigh* So pretty.... I swear I played with this site for an hour.

I work with teenagers...

So I have to Facebook, Twitter, FlickR, MySpace, and do whatever other do-dad that comes up next. It's exhausting. At first I though, "I'm so glad I'm married and don't have to date in this kind of culture." Then I thought, "I can't even imagine being a teenager in this kind of constant techno-bombardment." I have no idea what the world will be like when Sadie is a teenager, especially since most technology is obsolete every two years. Then I saw this video while I was doing some research for work. Every teacher should take a look at this. I've got a lot of work to do to make sure these students really get the education they need:

Santa, Santa, Santa....

Sadie didn't know who Santa was for her 1st Christmas. By the second one, she was still a little confused. I now have a photo of my daughter with a perfect frowny face with a man in a big red suit on our refrigerator from the church bazaar. Santa completely freaked her out on every level in every experience she had with him. But then something happened. Santa brought her the most amazing pink stroller and baby for Christmas... and now she loves Santa.

However, in her realization of the pure awesomeness of Santa, she now thinks that anyone with a white beard is THE SANTA. We can live with the fact that she thinks Noah from her Little People's Noah's Ark is now Santa. And she now points out all of the "Santas" in her nursery rhyme books and storybooks.

Then came the Lincoln/Darwin Bicentennial. A lot of people don't know that Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were actually born on the same day. Since I work for the Smithsonian this was a major event for us. I brought home my newly published Smithsonian Magazine... and Sadie thought Darwin was Santa. And to be honest he does kinda look like Santa.

But I don't think it's worth all of the effort to correct her.