Why I Can't Have Anything Nice

I am dreaming of apartment living today. Back when we had no worries, no dogs, and no upkeep. Yes, I would much rather live in an apartment today.

We have been nursing our back fence for years, hoping it will last until the van is paid for in 2012. We've been patching it up and handling it with kid gloves. I'm just so sure that one of these storms is going to take this whole thing down. This fence has survived the ice storm in Dec 2007, the hail storm April 2008, various 40mph wind storms and tornado watches and warnings. However, it couldn't hold its own against an 8 year old girl.

That's right. Aurora took 3 planks out of this fence yesterday. I didn't notice it until I woke up this morning. Needless to say, I was livid! We have 2 dogs and they need to stay in our backyard. I told her she was NOT going to pull any more planks off, or we were going to make her pay for the replacement boards. I'm thinking about making her pay for at least a percentage of the cost. Little Stinker! I don't know why she gets these destructive motives in her head. What is it about things that she thinks she needs to tear it apart? I remember being a kid and wanting to build things. When I saw broken things, I wanted to fix them, not tear them down!

I've known about her Boppy for many months now. She decided one day that she didn't want her Boppy to have any more tags on it. No problem, right? Except the Boppy's tags are sewn into it! She pulled the tags off, which left a gaping hole in the side! I've made her live with it, since she obviously put a lot of effort into ripping the tags off. I mean, I can barely get those plastic tags off shirts--you know, the ones that fall off anyway after you wash and dry them 5 times? I have NEVER been able to get cloth tags pulled off anything. How does she do it? I am going to patch this hole up and put away her Boppy. It was the pillow I used when she was an infant and I'd like to say I'll hold onto it forever, but chances are I won't. In the meantime, it is worth it to patch it up. Fluff is falling out all over the place.

Upon inspecting the backyard, I noticed some other damages made by someone. I don't know who did this, but SOMEBODY has been peeling paint off the siding. The alleged culprit started with a hail mark, smaller than the size of a rice grain and began pulling the paint right off, one tiny piece at a time. All the paint chips are on the ground below the picture. For time and interest's sake, I saved you all from one more photo. *sigh*

And, then there are the dogs. I have many photos from all over the yard that look just like this one. It all started a few months ago with Salty digging for moles. We had moles in our yard and he would root around under the ground and get them. I don't know what ever happened to them, but shortly after he started digging for them, they disappeared. Good dog, right? Well, it was good until Sassy came along! My mom warned us that Sassy was a digger. I had no idea how serious she was! These dogs have come into the house with mud all over their paws and whiskers. I have tried to discourage it by giving them both baths immediately and saying no digging the whole time I'm spraying their faces with the shower head. It doesn't seem to be very effective. Their biggest hole is a foot deep and right next to our foundation.

See the photo at right:

Every time things like this happen, on top of all the other woes this house brings upon us (leaky chimneys, a potential sagging foundation, insufficient heating and air conditioning, water in the duct work, etc.), these little things are bugging me today. The one area of the house that we really didn't need to pay much attention to--the backyard--is now being destroyed. And, not by the elements. I can't blame Oklahoma for these things, can I? *sigh*

Busy Day at the Zoo

Wow! We have had such an exciting day! First off, I bought an annual membership to the zoo. Online. Yes, I am that awesome! So, we decided that today was the perfect day for me to pack up all 3 kids and head for an outing.

Of course, we didn't get to the zoo until right at 3 p.m. It closes at 5. More on that later...

As I was getting everything sorted out and paid for online, I sent the older 2 kids and the dogs outside. They were out there for probably about an hour. Now, Aurora had come in and told me something about how she knew where the dogs were getting the red-colored dirt in their whiskers. Over the past week or so, they would come in with very Scottish-looking, previously white whiskers. I didn't pay much attention to WHY she was telling me, though. I just kind of shrugged it off, thinking she had found the dirt. Poor Aurora. She was trying to tell me something.

When I called the kids inside to eat before we left, I saw the dogs. Their paws and whiskers were caked with dirt--wet dirt, at that! Aargh!!!! I had just given those pups a bath yesterday! We were practically all packed up for the zoo and I didn't want to have to waste more time bathing the dogs before we left. So, I went upstairs and told Rob to leave the dogs outside until I got home. He gladly obliged; the thought of NOT meeting Sassy and her toe licks on the stairs made him happy.

So, the kids and I left for the zoo. When we got there, parking was crazy! People were parked on the grass outside of the parking lot. There was a place with good parking spaces, but it cost $5 to get in there. If I had brought some cash, I would have gladly paid for those spots. However, as I was driving around, a truck was backing out of a spot fairly close to the gate. What luck! (On St. Patrick's Day, no less.)

We were able to just scoot on in with our membership pass, which was wonderful! Ellie had never been to the zoo before--which I'm sure surprises you all, right? I mean, how many 2 month old babies have been to the zoo before? *severe eye roll at my own expense* I think I got more photos of Ellie smiling in her stroller than I did of any animals. I got lots of pictures of the kids in the petting zoo area, though, so that offsets it. We did all the fun things that we wanted to: the children's petting area, the rainforest room, the elephant exhibit, and the koi pond. Everyone was pretty exhausted by the time 4:30 rolled around, so I said "Let's go to the Gift Shop and then go home." Apparently, that was everybody else's idea, too! I could barely get the kids in there, much less me and a stroller! I'm pretty sure the Fire Marshall would have had a cardiac in regards to the number of people in that store! We left without getting to look at very much.

I had to feed Ellie in the van before we left. The kids thought that was pretty neat. It was like camping, they said. We really need to show them what camping really is! Once Ellie's belly was full, we headed home. Where I knew there were 2 crusty dogs waiting for their baths. That was the first thing I did. Neither one of them appreciated it, but I really didn't care! It's not ideal for me to give them a bath 2 days in a row. Now I have to clean the tub out again!

On top of the zoo, bathing dogs and feeding babies, I have also been doing laundry and continuing my Spring Cleaning today. I need to get the vacuum out and go over the downstairs with it. As you can probably imagine, I'm tired. Hence, my rambling in this post instead of doing what I should. *sigh* I think I'll wait to vacuum until after the kids are in bed tonight. After all, they contribute to the mess almost as much as the dogs do!

I seem to think there is something else I did today that was noteworthy. And, no, my showering is not it, although I was so glad to be able to wash my hair!