It's Saturday! I love Saturdays. Nobody has to be awake before 8 a.m. (although Ryan always is) and we rarely have anywhere to go on Saturday. It's kind of my day off. Kind of. Well, you know what I mean...
This morning I decided I was NOT getting out of bed before 9 a.m. Ryan disagreed with me. So did Aurora. Ryan woke up looking for some toy that he couldn't find. The whining began at 7:05. Aurora woke up screaming because 1 side of her nose was stuffed up. It was like a nasal apocalypse had begun in her room. *sigh*
The kids were anxious to get their day started. They love Saturdays, too, because they get to play together all day long. Their make-believe world is absolutely fascinating to me. One minute, they could be building a rocket ship to Pluto (Aurora wanted to visit to see if it really was a planet, or a sub-planet, or a moon), the next minute they could be getting married to one of their stuffed animals! They're awesome, I tell ya!
Amidst all their make-believe this morning, Ryan decided to put on a TV show. He called it "Baby Search". It was like something out of a Saturday Night Live skit. He would introduce the audience to the show: "Welcome to 'Baby Search'. Today we will be looking for babies." Then he would hold up one of his baby dolls and introduce her/him to the audience: "This is Tiger-Baby. He loves tigers. Say hello to Tiger-Baby." I guess that is where the audience interacts. Who knows? My favorite part of the show, however, was the audience question and answer time. Ryan would say: "Who has a question for the baby? You do? Thank you for your question. That is all the time we have for today. Thank you for watching 'Baby Search'!"
I don't know what the question was, but it obviously didn't need answering! I stifled my laughter in my pillow and Ryan continued on to the next baby--whose question needed no answer, as well!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
The Great Schnauzer Swap
It's a long story. One that really can't be made short. Suffice it to say that my mother and I worked together on this interesting scheme... I apologize ahead of time!
About a year ago, my mom acquired a miniature schnauzer pup from an allegedly redneck family going through a divorce. She had symptoms of abuse and my mom and her fiance, Paul, were glad to bring her into their home. They named her Sassy.
Not too much longer after that--in fact, it was in March of 2010--Rob and I decided we needed to bring a dog into our home "for Ryan". We went to a shelter and were totally psyched about bringing home a mutt. Much to our surprise, we saw Salty and fell in love. He looked like a full-bred miniature schnauzer. He's a little on the large side of the minis, but he fit into our family quite well. Salty had come to the shelter with a horrific wound on his backside, just above his tail. The shelter workers said it looked like someone had tried to skin him alive. We brought him home and have loved him ever since.
In May 2010, we went and visited my mom. Salty and Sassy were like old buds. They played together all day long and were tuckered out by evening. Mom's older dog, Coal, was grateful for the respite; Sassy had become her arch enemy because she had so much energy! Salty and Sassy were great companion dogs. Also of note: Salty had been biting and licking hot spots all over himself until he met Sassy. We had been keeping "the cone of shame" on his head for weeks to help heal his self-afflicted wounds. The whole week we were at my mom's house, Salty didn't lick himself once! Mom and I talked about possibly letting the Rose family have Sassy, but it never amounted to anything. Rob and I were serious about finding a companion for Salty. We felt it was worth our while if it helped keep him from licking himself all the time.
I started a new job in August and a coworker
mentioned to me that she was trying to find a good home for the white schnauzer she rescued. Did you know there was such a thing? I had never even heard of an all-white schnauzer! Her name was Molly. We fell in love immediately and she was such a sweet thing. Her story is really sad. She is a puppy mill survivor. She showed so many signs of abuse and Rob and I had so much compassion for her. The poor thing was so timid--she was afraid of her own shadow. Literally. While Salty was incredibly interested in our pet rabbit and was set to attack it at any given opportunity, Molly would run out of the room every time it moved! She was so sweet, though, and very cuddly! We had every intention of keeping her forever.
Then, my mom mentioned how her old dog didn't like Sassy. I mentioned how Salty wasn't exactly enamored with Molly. That's when the scheme took on a life of its own.
Mom planned on visiting us after the baby was born. She would bring her two dogs and we would see how Salty and Sassy got along in Salty's territory. We would also see how well her older dog and Molly got along.
Well, to finally get to the point: Salty and Sassy renewed their friendship, Molly and Coal were able to enjoy being old dogs together and peace was established all over the board. Mom took Molly back to Mississippi with her and left Sassy here with us. We think it's the best fit for all the dogs. Molly will be in a home with less chaos and Coal will enjoy being rid of ball-of-fire Sassy. Salty and Sassy have each other to wear out and play all day long. So far, it's working really well.
We miss Molly, but we know she's better off with my mom. You can see her sad eyes in her picture.
Sassy (top left) and Salty (bottom right). It's almost hard to tell them apart because their coloring is so similar. They both need grooming right now, but we're going to wait until the weather is consistently warm. For now, we'll just have to be the ones with the scruffy schnauzers.
About a year ago, my mom acquired a miniature schnauzer pup from an allegedly redneck family going through a divorce. She had symptoms of abuse and my mom and her fiance, Paul, were glad to bring her into their home. They named her Sassy.
Not too much longer after that--in fact, it was in March of 2010--Rob and I decided we needed to bring a dog into our home "for Ryan". We went to a shelter and were totally psyched about bringing home a mutt. Much to our surprise, we saw Salty and fell in love. He looked like a full-bred miniature schnauzer. He's a little on the large side of the minis, but he fit into our family quite well. Salty had come to the shelter with a horrific wound on his backside, just above his tail. The shelter workers said it looked like someone had tried to skin him alive. We brought him home and have loved him ever since.
In May 2010, we went and visited my mom. Salty and Sassy were like old buds. They played together all day long and were tuckered out by evening. Mom's older dog, Coal, was grateful for the respite; Sassy had become her arch enemy because she had so much energy! Salty and Sassy were great companion dogs. Also of note: Salty had been biting and licking hot spots all over himself until he met Sassy. We had been keeping "the cone of shame" on his head for weeks to help heal his self-afflicted wounds. The whole week we were at my mom's house, Salty didn't lick himself once! Mom and I talked about possibly letting the Rose family have Sassy, but it never amounted to anything. Rob and I were serious about finding a companion for Salty. We felt it was worth our while if it helped keep him from licking himself all the time.
I started a new job in August and a coworker
mentioned to me that she was trying to find a good home for the white schnauzer she rescued. Did you know there was such a thing? I had never even heard of an all-white schnauzer! Her name was Molly. We fell in love immediately and she was such a sweet thing. Her story is really sad. She is a puppy mill survivor. She showed so many signs of abuse and Rob and I had so much compassion for her. The poor thing was so timid--she was afraid of her own shadow. Literally. While Salty was incredibly interested in our pet rabbit and was set to attack it at any given opportunity, Molly would run out of the room every time it moved! She was so sweet, though, and very cuddly! We had every intention of keeping her forever.Then, my mom mentioned how her old dog didn't like Sassy. I mentioned how Salty wasn't exactly enamored with Molly. That's when the scheme took on a life of its own.
Mom planned on visiting us after the baby was born. She would bring her two dogs and we would see how Salty and Sassy got along in Salty's territory. We would also see how well her older dog and Molly got along.
Well, to finally get to the point: Salty and Sassy renewed their friendship, Molly and Coal were able to enjoy being old dogs together and peace was established all over the board. Mom took Molly back to Mississippi with her and left Sassy here with us. We think it's the best fit for all the dogs. Molly will be in a home with less chaos and Coal will enjoy being rid of ball-of-fire Sassy. Salty and Sassy have each other to wear out and play all day long. So far, it's working really well.
We miss Molly, but we know she's better off with my mom. You can see her sad eyes in her picture.
Sassy (top left) and Salty (bottom right). It's almost hard to tell them apart because their coloring is so similar. They both need grooming right now, but we're going to wait until the weather is consistently warm. For now, we'll just have to be the ones with the scruffy schnauzers.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Necessity is the Mother of Invention
Ok, well I didn't necessarily "invent" this, but I certainly took a great idea and ran with it. Ellie had been fussy all day long and I just couldn't put her down. I mean, I could have put her down, but the consequences of such an action would have been immense. You see, when the baby cries, it doesn't stress me out; I know that babies cry and she's certainly not the first baby to ever cry in my presence. The kids, however, are a different story. When she cries, they start hollering about how she's hungry, or she needs to poop, or some other made-up reason that makes sense to them. Then, they start getting stressed out because I'm not responding rapidly enough. Their stressing out causes me to stress out and the baby's cries end up in a screaming crescendo.
We have been snowed-in for a couple days now. Ellie has been getting increasingly fussy as the days wear on and I decided yesterday that I needed a sling. With the roads being completely useless, I am not able to go out and purchase one. Being the resourceful woman that I am, I started to look around the house for a remnant of fabric that would be long enough to make a sling out of. Wouldn't you know it--I had no remnants of fabric. After all, I don't sew.
Then, I remembered that I had something even better--twin sized sheets!!! Surely a top sheet was long enough. I could tie a square knot in it and sling it over my shoulder. It'll do, right?
Sure enough, it was perfect! I didn't have to cut or sew anything and no other materials were necessary. It'll do, for now.
Baby seems to like it and I was able to get a few loads of laundry done today--using BOTH hands! What a concept!
We have been snowed-in for a couple days now. Ellie has been getting increasingly fussy as the days wear on and I decided yesterday that I needed a sling. With the roads being completely useless, I am not able to go out and purchase one. Being the resourceful woman that I am, I started to look around the house for a remnant of fabric that would be long enough to make a sling out of. Wouldn't you know it--I had no remnants of fabric. After all, I don't sew.
Then, I remembered that I had something even better--twin sized sheets!!! Surely a top sheet was long enough. I could tie a square knot in it and sling it over my shoulder. It'll do, right?
Sure enough, it was perfect! I didn't have to cut or sew anything and no other materials were necessary. It'll do, for now.
Baby seems to like it and I was able to get a few loads of laundry done today--using BOTH hands! What a concept!
Some things I learned during the Snowpocalypse of 2011
1. Husbands are more excited than kids when it comes to a blizzard
2. Kids think it's funny to wear shorts and short sleeves in the house while it is pouring down snow outside
3. Babies will poop just as much during a blizzard; have plenty of diapers on hand
4. Powdered milk tastes bad. Do not believe the writing on the package; they are lying!
5. People who are addicted to caffeine will spend 3 hours shoveling a driveway in sub-zero temperatures in order to get the van out of the garage and into a WalMart, where there is caffeine
6. Dogs do not like to pee in the snow
7. Dogs do not like to go out in the snow
8. Dogs will poop and pee on your carpet instead of in the snow
9. I want to kill my dogs
10. A snow day is great; a snow WEEK, however, is a recipe for disaster
11.When in a pinch, an upside-down lawn chair makes a great snow shovel.
12. No matter how bad it is, people will always work together and help out their neighbors in need--this includes helping to rock a car out of a snow bed and lending snow shovels to non-caffeinated geniuses
13. Do not, for any reason, leave your laptop unsupervised during a blizzard; it will mysteriously and/or spontaneously fall off its table and shatter into a million pieces
14. Best Buy does not stay closed during a blizzard, thankfully (there must be a lot of unsupervised laptops around here)
15. My kids play really well with each other until about 2 p.m.
16. 2 p.m. is nap time, apparently
17. No matter how much water a humidifier dumps into a house with gas heat, you will still get shocked every time you touch metal
18. A 4 foot snow bank will hold up a 7 foot wooden fence that would otherwise fall over
19. Snow can melt from the bottom up
20. No matter how quirky and how cooped-up my family is, I wouldn't trade them for anything (the dogs, on the other hand...)
2. Kids think it's funny to wear shorts and short sleeves in the house while it is pouring down snow outside
3. Babies will poop just as much during a blizzard; have plenty of diapers on hand
4. Powdered milk tastes bad. Do not believe the writing on the package; they are lying!
5. People who are addicted to caffeine will spend 3 hours shoveling a driveway in sub-zero temperatures in order to get the van out of the garage and into a WalMart, where there is caffeine
6. Dogs do not like to pee in the snow
7. Dogs do not like to go out in the snow
8. Dogs will poop and pee on your carpet instead of in the snow
9. I want to kill my dogs
10. A snow day is great; a snow WEEK, however, is a recipe for disaster
11.When in a pinch, an upside-down lawn chair makes a great snow shovel.
12. No matter how bad it is, people will always work together and help out their neighbors in need--this includes helping to rock a car out of a snow bed and lending snow shovels to non-caffeinated geniuses
13. Do not, for any reason, leave your laptop unsupervised during a blizzard; it will mysteriously and/or spontaneously fall off its table and shatter into a million pieces
14. Best Buy does not stay closed during a blizzard, thankfully (there must be a lot of unsupervised laptops around here)
15. My kids play really well with each other until about 2 p.m.
16. 2 p.m. is nap time, apparently
17. No matter how much water a humidifier dumps into a house with gas heat, you will still get shocked every time you touch metal
18. A 4 foot snow bank will hold up a 7 foot wooden fence that would otherwise fall over
19. Snow can melt from the bottom up
20. No matter how quirky and how cooped-up my family is, I wouldn't trade them for anything (the dogs, on the other hand...)
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