Toy Gnomes
Yesterday evening, a conversation between me and Mariel: 
Me: "Why is there a big pile of sand next to and under the couch?" (not asking about her shoes, sitting next to the pile).
Mariel: "I don't know.  It was someone else."
Me "Noella?"
Her "No.  Must have been someone else."
Me "Who else could it be?  Daddy?"
Her "No.  I think it must have been the toy gnomes.  Yes, mom, it was the toy gnomes."
Me (wondering where this would go. "Oh, ok.  I guess that is what happened." I swept up the sand.
A few minutes later she told me she did not think it was the toy gnomes and it might have been her, by mistake.  But she sort of forgot about it.  And she forgot that she was not supposed to dump the sand out of her shoes in the house.  I said that I was glad that she told me the truth, because otherwise the toy gnomes would have gotten in trouble for something that they did not do.  They might not even have been allowed back. She agreed that she made a good choice by telling the truth, and said that she would try to remember where to dump her sandy shoes for the next time.
I am very relieved, because if I had to ban toy gnomes from the house I would have to come up with some new creature to threaten to take away toys.  For my sake, I hope the toy gnomes continue to behave themselves.

Behind
I am not a good blogger this week- you will all have to forgive me. 
As some of you already know, we are expecting Flaherty baby 3 in May.  When I found out in early September, I called Patrick at work and announced it with this news: "We are going to need a van." 
This (the pregnancy, not the need for a new vehicle) means that I am very excited, and very worn out.  I am torn between wishing the time would fly and needing it to slow down.  I find myself in a very busy few weeks at work (so of course, I spend my time wisely on my late night at work by... blogging) looking ahead to the long list of things that I would like to accomplish by the end of the semester.  Some are possible, some are absolutely necessary, and some are not very likely to happen.  At home, I have a constantly evolving to do list, although thankfully most of those items are far from necessary.
While all of this competes for my limited energy, along with the two girls, dogs, Patrick, and general day to day needs, I am afraid that the blog may suffer.  So be forgiving if it takes me some time in between posts these days.  I have a baby to grow.