a dog blog

Dear Max,

It's been a few years now since you showed up at our door, stealing the hearts of my babies within seconds. 

Those first few days we wondered where you had come from and if we would have to give you back and since we decided that you could be part of our family, you have been more loyal than anyone could ever ask. 

Thanks for giving Milo rides on your back, for letting him yank on your ears without so much as a growl. 

Thanks for meeting Levi and Josi every time they hop off of the bus, as if they are heroes returning from a grand adventure. 

Thanks for accompanying me on my walks even if you roll in the mud before we load up again. 

Thanks for slobbery kisses that make

baby Elsa smile.

And thanks for holding down the living room rug on cold nights, your snores rumbling through the darkness.

You're a good dog, Max.  A good dog.

Saturday Quote of the Week

Saturday Quote of the Week:

This is Levi's favorite quote.

" Never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.''  -Winston Churchill (source)

Wall Walker

Our hometown has a wonderful park, complete with a running fountain, a great playground, and a walking path that winds through the beautiful trees. 

Surrounding the park is an amazing rock wall.  Every kid that grew up here has put one foot right in front of the other making their way around.

So this week on a sunny afternoon, I snuck off to the park with my best little buddy in tow. 

After we chased around a bit and climbed all over the carved bulldog stumps, it was time to join in on tradition and let Milo take his first trek along the wall.

  At first he was nervous but in the end he did it all by himself joining the ranks of wondrous wall walkers.

Mama paparazzi pause

You might remember a few weeks ago, my camera bit the big one and I ordered a fancy pantsy bigger n better with all the bells and whistles?? 

It came....and went.

When it arrived, I loved the beauty of the pictures.  They were so crisp and clear. 

 But I didn't get a zoom lense, so I was right up in everybody's face...and there was no video so I missed some of my live action movie making.

For a few days I felt like a professional photographer.  (You know sometimes my imagination gets a little extreme)  But then I did something a little too enthusiastic I guess and the autofocus lense stopped working. 

Ok I bumped it. 

But good ol' Wally World is so forgiving and since it was under 30 days they refunded my $$$$$.  I have spent the last week or so trying to decide if I keep up the Photojournalist gig, or revert humbly to the mother documentary.

In the end, I decided to go back to the Canon Powershot. I did love it.  It wasn't as huge as the big Rebel, nor did it take extreme caution to pack along.  It's images are WAY better than my crappy cell phone which I have been using...and my little missy is doing all kinds of cute and crazy things that need recorded for sure.

So now for just a few days...repreave for the people in my life from the mama paparazzi, but then...

look out.

the canary has flown

It's official:

The canary has flown. 

The Sunflower has wilted. 

The yellow is gone. 

Here is the grey

 It has a bit of green that

reminds me of these...

 

and a peacefulness that

makes me think of this...

Gone grey!

I have officially gone grey!!

I stayed up all night painting the livingroom.

I am writing this on my phone during elsas midnight snack.

I plan on zombie walking through tuesday.

I might get a chance to post some pictures.

PS. if the Home Depot lady that convinced me to paint the ceiling white instead of grey is reading this...
You were right and I love you for it!

Xoxo

Junk Mitosis

Would the person responsible for all of the crap in my basement please step forward…

Hello?  Anyone?

Ok if no one is responsible...

my theory about junk mitosis must be correct.

You see, only two years ago, I took all of the rubble from many moves and much collecting and had a garage sale.  On the block was everything that was not tied down.  I even tried to sell that scraggly box of nuts, bolts, screws and nails.  Everything that did not sell was donated. 

Basement Bliss!

Fast forward to this week.

While rummaging through some books downstairs, Larry made a horrible discovery. 

The box of scrapbooks that sat on the floor had a big crack in it and sometime last summer suffered from water damage. 

Yep. 

Moldy scrapbooks. 

BOOO HOOOOOO! 

Some of the victims were the world travels of Larry’s Navy days, my childhood memories and some of our wedding pictures. 

I wanted to throw up.

Instead I began another basement purge.

And so started my theory…  All of the junk that disappeared a few short seasons ago had spontaneously reproduced.

• A Christmas tree (plus 2 little ones)…along with some great decorations

• Enough clothes to open a thrift store…all sizes available

• 4 hand-me-down ride on toys and a plastic kitchen

• A box of dried out squash from the garden that we never ate

• Empty shoe boxes…I will retain an ounce of dignity and not mention any numbers but lets just say I might have a problem

Where did it come from?

No dump truck backed beeping up to my doorstep.

 No Supermarket Sweep winnings (remember that show?) 

No donations brought in for my orphan children.

I guess if it did not reproduce itself, it must have gotten down there one hurried chuck from the top of the stairs at a time.

Arrrg.



Saturday Quote of the Week

  "Vision is not a requirement for success. Capacity, imagination, and determination
are all that is needed, and blind people have all of these qualities."

-Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the

   National Federation of the Blind

descriptive movies for the blind

Much to someones delight...

and to the credit of one awesome big sister with incredible Netflix management skills, Toy Story 3

has been monopolising available spins in our DVD player.

This morning when I started it up, I noticed a language selection menu.  There was of course good ol' English, Spanish and French, but another choice caught my eye....English descriptive version.

Nine months ago, I would have zipped through the language selection, hit the play button and let the techno nanny manage the little one while I delved into my to do list. 

But today I had a sweet cooing someone to give me good reason to take note.  So I picked the descriptive version.

It was amazing to me that someone had taken the time to describe every non-verbal action that crossed the screen.  It was like hearing the storybook version, both poetic and enlightening.  Captivating my mind in such a way that I could hardly believe my ears.

Toy Story 3.

  Narrated in a way that my sprout of a couch potato could carry on with a family tradition. 

 

There has been a big part of my mind and heart worrying about whether Elsa's visual impairments would prevent her from getting all of the education she would need. I feared that I might miss out on giving her every boost for success, hardly even considering how she might be simply amused.

So upon seeing something so well thought out, casually presented, and easily accessed to give her great entertainment, I was sort of stunned.  There are really people doing all they can do so that my little chicky babe can even sit back and enjoy the show. 

Awesome.

Music speaks...

Music speaks what cannot be expressed,

            soothes the mind and gives it rest,

  

heals the heart and makes it whole,

flows from heaven to the soul

-author unknown

a healthier lifestyle...

Last week I decided that rather than count calories or follow a complicated formula, I would simply eliminate sugar from my diet.

Day one:

Did great!

I only sampled the ice cream cake that I was making as a necessary culinary obligation.

Day two:

Family birthday party.

I ate a piece of the

previously mentioned cake. 

Ok I ate two.

Day three:

Valentine’s Day

When I bought the candy I was completely convinced that I was doing it for the children.

Now I am wondering…

What if I decided that in order promote a healthier lifestyle, I would discontinue my pursuit of spinach or broccoli?

Do you then think that for the next few days, weeks, months, my mind would crave, obsess and justify the consumption of these things?

Would I justify eating broccoli because it is Valentine’s Day? Or for a Birthday?

Or would just a bite of spinach somehow tumble into an out of control consumption of the entire bag?

Would I sneak broccoli behind the backs of the children?

After a few days, would I justify that it is impossible to completely give up these foods and therefore revert to a regular diet?

I’m gonna try it.

 

Bring on the junk food!!

I am changing my life!!

As of today,

I am adopting a crappier lifestyle!!

only a few sugar crashes.

6:00 am- Sneek heart stickers on  unsuspecting snoozers

6:15-Blow up package of red balloons

to litter house

6:20-Snicker at heart covered

sleepy zombie teens

(please note pictures were not available, as mother feared for life)

6:30-Smile at baby with balloons

6:45 Serve Pink (and Black) pancake hearts

7:00-Offer massive amounts of

sugary candy to 3 year old

10:00-Play with new Valentine toys

10:30-Create Playdoh sharks, boat, men

10:45-Witness sugar crash over a playdoh man without a horse

11:00-Cuss popped balloons, wrapping paper mess, and playdoh sock crusties

11:05-Eat the rest of the candy and experience personal sugar crash

11:45 Answer "Is it still Thanksgiving?"

with "yes Valentine's Day is all day long!"

12:00-Swoon at an amazing man at my door with roses....

all in all,

a Happy Valentine's day!! 

Saturday Quote of the Week

And if you catch yourself saying,

"You know what I'd like to do..."

Why not do it?

    -From pappy's retirement card

        (Obviously not from a sweet 16 card or from an anger management coarse)

pyros, sunflowers, and the likes.

This is a definite A*D*D* blog which seems to represent how my thoughts have been all day.  So hey lets just roll with it.....

Please say goodbye to the  yellow living room.  I cannot stand the sunny glow any longer. 

It once was bright and cheery, like a golden sunflower.

Somehow within the past few months it has gone from happy to horrendous. 

The golden has begun gagging. 

The sunflower morphed into an obnoxious mustard stain.

 So, here is my inspiration for the redo.

I love this floral fabric. I think I will paint the walls grey and a few pieces of furniture the fancy shiny red.

I have already started the changes.  Covering pillowcases and moving out the junk heap sewing corner to better manage the toy overflow.

Eventually it will go from this:

To This:

 

Easy as that.

Too bad I don't have an edit button

on my walls.

oooh scary thought.

In other random news...

Milo is still being gracious with the camera obsession. 

 Big Larry has been spoiling us with many deeeeeelicious dutch oven and grilled meals.

And luckily,Josi's teacher turned the science fair experiments from required

to extra credit.  

Because our method of dumping an entire bottle of lighter fluid on one tile and a bunch of gas on the other in order to find out how fast ceiling tiles would burn if painted, proved 100% that 

We are not gifted in the pyromaniac department.