Thursday, December 20, 2012

Boring

Our lives are pretty boring these days...but boring in a good way.  We are all healthy and happy and doing well.
 
So here is a quick run-down of our December so far.
 
  
 
We climbed trees.
 
 
We went to Cirque Du Soleil.  (THANKS Grandma Anne!)
 

 
 We snuggled the puppy...a lot!
 


...and a lot more...

 
Even the cat got in on the snuggling action.

The there was that whole thing with the aliens taking over the pet's bodies...but we got it all straightened out.


Why yes...my stairs and floors DO need vacumming...


We went shopping...just one or two times.
 
 
And then we went horeback riding on a very cold day.
 

This beautiful  Clydesdale was a rescue horse....they told us he was very underweight. WOW!
 

 And this Chihuahua of questionable intelligence found constant solace under the Clydesdale.





 
 
Finally we had a little cookie decorating party to kick off winter break.
 
 
 
 


Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Let me begin by saying I know having three dogs is insane. It borders on hoarding.  It isn’t wise.  It is generally a bad idea.   I know all of this.  However I’ve been aching for a puppy for a long time now.  I kept talking about it…the kids were on board but my husband…well…he didn’t think I was serious.  He gives me too much credit.
 
Last weekend I thought I’d just take a little drive over to the Humane Society.  I mean I was just curious. I had heard about their fabulous new facility and I thought it might be nice to check it out. 
Whoops!
 
This little sweetie captured my heart. She just walked right over to me. I can’t explain it but I was a goner. None of the other dogs acted the same. I honestly wasn’t planning to come home with a puppy. I really wanted to talk myself out of getting a puppy….at least for another month or so.
 
At the Humane Society you have to fill out a form to even hold a puppy. I wanted to hold this puppy…so obviously I HAD to fill out the form.  As long as you are holding said puppy you have “dibs”. I wanted the family to come see her….I held her for over an hour. She sat nicely on my lap the whole time. She was so good.
...and for some odd reason my husband agreed to get the puppy. We stood there in the shelter and discussed all the pros and cons. I still knew it wasn’t my best decision to get a puppy…but I’m calling it my mid life crisis.
We have had her for a few days and although it is a pain to have a puppy…she is a really cool dog!  Her name is Cleo....you know from the hit TV series (in Australia) (If you are an eight year old girl)H2O Just Add Water.  Cleo is the name of "j's" favorite mermaid on the show....sigh....That's what good parents do...they let their kids name the pets.


I mean look at those ears. She is one million times better than our first dog was as a puppy. To start with she is sweet. She loves to snuggle. She is funny. I mean her unabashed joy for life is delightful and her uncoordinated puppy antics are so fun to watch.

Her favorite spot is cuddling in a lap under a blanket.


Look at that face...



Adding a third dog to the family is interesting.  I researched a lot about having three dogs.  Basically two dogs is two dogs but three dogs is a PACK.  One cool thing about having two middle-aged dogs is that they are teaching little Cleo how to be a dog.  She loves our other dogs and she brings out a new level of playfulness in them that I have never seen before.
 
 
She is really well behaved (for a puppy).  Today we had a long car trip to the mountains...she slept on the kids laps the whole way there and back.  We stopped and the kids took her for a quick walk and she went potty....
 

I had maybe forgotten what a pain potty training was...especially getting up in the night or early morning and standing out in the cold.  I had also maybe forgotten how puppies like to chew everything they can reach.  But so far her cuteness outweighs her naughtiness. 

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Halloween

So this was our 10th Halloween.  Boy have these kids grown. This year “T” dressed as Wario…not to be confused with Mario.  This was a $5 clearance costume I bought a week after Halloween last year.  Bless his sweet heart for loving it and wearing it.  “J” was a “delinquent devil”.  She saw a similar costume at Halloween City…it was the only costume out of 1000’s that she found acceptable.  Of course we had several costumes at home that she could have worn but apparently none were "right" for her.  Well, being a cheapskate, I refused to shell out 36 dollars for a costume….When will I learn.  Home-made costume ALWAYS costs more…whether it is time or money….they always costs more.  But “J” was happy and her friends though she looked “so awesome” and that’ all that really matters.
 
 
2012
 

2006




The many faces of Wario.



Halloween Pre-Game

 
Hello, I am a cheap skate...it's true.  Perhaps I should elevate my status by calling myself a bargain hunter or a deal seeker...but no...I'm cheap.  My husband is trying to help me recover...I am doing better but I will always have an apple in my purse so I don't have to pay for lunch...and I will always stress myself out by taking advantages of opportunities like...
 
KIDS IN  COSTUMES GET IN FREE ON HALLOWEEN. 
 
So we went to the aquarium.. The kids went last year but I hadn't been in two years. 
It is a top notch facility.  We should visit more often.





My son in Wario....NOT Mario-which I keep calling him.

This is just fantastic...it never gets old. One day when my children move away....
I'm going to sit in here for hours and watch the whale sharks.

 We got a lot of one-on-one attention from the staff. 
I learned a lot.  I hope the kids did too.



This costume is a "teenage delinquent devil"....someone please help me....
 




The kids crawling through the penguin tunnel.



These are weedy sea dragons.  I love these guys..their camouflage is epic.


 
A wolf eel....a face only a mother could love.

I love the Halloween spirit....actually there was some crab in the pumpkin.  They were trying to entice the octopus to come out and play.


 The whale slide is always a favorite.


 


I might be cheap...but a snack break was in order.  I item per person please.


OK-this was funny.  We ran into Mario and Luigi in the Aquarium.




Dolphin mask at the gift shop.

 
It was an unexpectedly great day. 
Now we have to head home and rest up for Trick-or-Treating.