Random bits!

Last week we went went on a walk with some friends. A couple of the neighborhood boys wanted to come so we took them too. On the return home we had a car full of sweaty, smelly children. 

 So Jon and I rolled down the windows. Almost immediately Caitlin started yelling -

"Roll up the windows. We are going to junk!"

We couldn't figure out what she was talking about. Finally after several questions we realized some of her papers were blowing around in the back seat and she was afraid they were going to fly out the window causing us to litter or junk. And junking is very bad!

We are babysitting a precious little dog, Bo. He's been an absolute angel and the kids and I are really enjoying having him here. He's sweet, obedient, patient, and the list goes on. He's a doll.

In this picture he had jumped on the chair (I don't let animals on the furniture) and was watching tv with me. The kids came in and had to join him. Notice who is taking the whole seat?

I also don't let the kids sit on the arms of the furniture. But I just didn't have the heart to make to make any of them move. It was just too precious.

He's also benefited us in a way we didn't expect. 

We have an annoying neighbor dog that has a serious case of little dog syndrome. He's always charging the kids, barking at high volume. It scares them and it's especially bad when he gets into our back yard when they are out playing.

Yesterday I was at the neighbors talking to my friend. One of the boys came running over to get me. The annoying dog was in the back yard chasing again. I could see the gate open and assumed one of the kids had left it open. Since little Bo was also in the back yard I was a little concerned. Bo is a bit froufrou. What would this dog do to sweet little Bo? I came back across my yard to barking (we had yet to hear Bo bark). But to my surprise it was Bo in full attack mode. He was nipping at this dog's legs as he chased him out of our yard at full speed. As you can imagine Bo got lots of praise and a treat.

We might be kidnapping borrowing a little dog. =)

Isn't he cute?!

Random bits

I have several photos that wouldn't take an entire blog post so thought I'd throw them all together in one.

Jon was concerned because our puppies weren't growing a winter coat. So we decided they could come inside during the evenings if they stayed in one spot. Then at night we'll still put them to bed in the workshop like we've been doing. They love this new development.

 Caitlin wanted to see what her hair bow looked like. I haven't finished the mirror in my bedroom so it's leaning up against the wall. I sent her in the bedroom and when I followed her to see what was taking so long I found this.

 Dominic's school is in the Cookeville parade. It's been cancelled twice now, but they sang the song for church this last week. Those kids are precious.

 This is Dominic's Thailand outfit. It actually looks close to the picture I have, except he should be wearing a t-shirt. But it's freezing cold and I didn't want to make new pants so I used my capri yoga pants. They probably don't use leis in Thailand, but I had to do something to differentiate this from USA clothes.

 This past Sunday we brought all of the Christmas decor into the house and set up the tree. 

It's so much fun to do this with the kids. The ornaments are all clumped in one place, the tree skirt is lumpy and the tree is often crooked. But they have so much fun and they love it!

 All finished. Unless mom decides to even out the ornaments. =)

I have all of presents purchased and almost all of the stocking stuffers. Now I just need to find a time when they are not here or asleep to wrap everything.

Update

Just an update on those crazy dogs.

Last night Jon went out to check on them and they'd escaped again.

The allure outside the gate was just too much and they'd dug a hole under the fence.

There is now a cement block in the hole and we are watching them VERY carefully.

We'll fill in the hole when they've stopped digging there, otherwise they'll just dig it right back out.

Silly dogs!

Lost

Today has been an eventful day in Josie and Sarah's life.

After dropping Dominic off at school this morning I returned to get the puppies ready to go to the vet. Jon and I forgot about their appointment so I had the wrong car. The Accord just isn't puppy friendly. But I managed. I placed blankets on the front seat and got them both in. They refused to sit on the floor and ended up sitting on top of each other. Between Sarah trying to eat the gear shift and Josie wanting to sit on my lap, I managed to get us to the vet without a traffic accident.

After their appointment we came home and I sent Caitlin out to play. She plays well in the back yard and I've never been concerned before about her being by herself.

She played very well until about an hour before we needed to leave to pick up Dominic.

She came in and told me Sarah was in the road. She had opened the gate and Sarah was indeed in the road. I called and she came running. No problem.

I had a chat with Caitlin about NEVER opening the gate without either parent there. She agreed and went back outside. A few seconds later I heard her calling the dogs and I couldn't find her in the back yard. I ran around the corner of the house to see her standing in the front yard and no sign of the dogs. I was about ready to leave to pick up Dominic and so I loaded Caitlin in the car and stopped every neighbor I saw asking about the dogs. I called Jon and told him about what had happened.

When I returned home from picking up Dominic I saw that Jon had come home from work to help us look. About 30 minutes later the dogs come tearing around the corner of our neighbors with silly grins on their faces. They came willingly with me. I thought that was the last of my dog stress for the day.

When Jon came home from work (for the 2nd time) he mentioned the beautiful weather and told the kids to go outside. We looked out to see the dogs in the neighbors yard. Apparently BOTH gates were open and I only closed the one that I'd let the dogs in. Sigh!

Although it was stressful thinking I would have to spend several hours looking, I am now convinced that my family loves those silly dogs. Caitlin cried when it dawned on her that the puppies were missing, Jon missed work to look for them and Dominic was ready to make a missing poster.

I'm so glad they are home and that they are loved.

Spoiled rotten

My children are very spoiled.

Caitlin loves the little princesses that she got for going potty.

She wants to sleep with them and carries them everywhere.

We were coloring on the couch and one must have fallen on the floor.

The next thing we knew Sarah had chewed a leg off.

Caitlin picked up the pieces and tried to make her princess "all better."

But there wasn't anything we could do and she sadly threw her away.

She kept saying "Bad Sawah!" over and over again.

It broke my heart and I told Jon about it at lunch.

He went to the store that night and bought her a replacement.

We had a very happy little girl that evening.

Bathes and Bubbles

I received an email from Shutterfly offering me some free cards. But I didn't have a new enough picture of the kids. So I lined them up against the wall and tried to get a decent photo.

The kids did not match and were really, really dirty. But I planned to turn the picture into a black and white so I knew this wouldn't matter.

They were NOT being still or smiling.

Jon blew bubbles and that helped for a moment.

Then it was back to wiggles again.

With a bit of touching up, I think I have a good one.

The kids weren't the only dirty ones. The girls were pretty smelly.

Jon took both of them into the bathroom and Josie sat on his legs while he bathed Sarah.

We tried out a new Mexican restaurant today.

The kids loved the bright decor.

Caitlin eating her tomato with my scrunchie in her hair.

What a day!!!

This is a typical stay-at-home day. It didn't happen today. After reading this you will understand why I blog at night after the kids are in bed. But every single one of these things DID happen.

And in the words of my mother (who was so sweet to point this out) -

"Wow! They are JUST like you when you were little!"

Thanks mom! Makes me feel so much better.

The morning starts out well enough. Dominic wakes up and we cuddle on the couch while we wait on Caitlin to get up. She usually wakes up and calls for me. But occasionally she will wake up screaming.

Occasionally happened this day.

As we are eating breakfast Caitlin dumps her breakfast on the floor. It is very cold outside so the dogs are in the house. They rush over to help "clean up". Dominic reaches down with his sticky fingers to pet them. Now they need another bath. 

Caitlin gets her hair in her food and swallows it. I have to pull it out of her mouth with the food still attached as she gags.

Both spill their milk and cover their clothes in breakfast.

Caitlin asks to go potty, but before I can get around the bar she pees her pants.

I am washing dishes when I hear a little voice -

"Uh Oh. Huwwy I poop, I poop!"

I hurried, but not fast enough.

It's cold. Weather.com says it's 19 degrees outside. So the dog's water bowls are inside.

Sarah dumps the water on the floor and it runs under the refrigerator.

I moved the refrigerator and mopped up all the water.

Caitlin spends this time eating dog food and emptying my cans out of the cabinets. 

Dominic spends this time emptying every toy in his toy boxes.

I am helping Dominic put his toys away.

Caitlin is putting panties on her head and arms and legs. 

She already had a pair on her bum.

While I am putting her panties back in the drawer I hear a scream from the bathroom. (Dominic tattling.)

I go into the bathroom to find Caitlin getting ready to flush the toilet.

Here is what she had done. 

She had taken a bowl from her kitchen and emptied the water from the toilet into the almost full trash can. 

She then dumped all of her bathroom toys into the toilet. 

This was what she was getting ready to flush when I ran in.

The rug is wet, the toys are gross and WHAT am I supposed to do with that trash can?!

It's now 9am. My day is just beginning!

I'll highlight a few other things that happened later.

Josie stuck her nose in the paint. Dominic backed up against it.

The toys that had been in the toilet were in the tub waiting for a chance to be cleaned. The kids climbed in with their clothes on and are now soaked with toilet bowl water.
I put them at the bar to color so I could play catch up. The bar is now covered in bright green marker, as are both kids.
I've found that dried play doh does NOT come out of carpet.
Caitlin put about 6 cups of kitty litter in the toilet and about half that in the shower. This litter dissolves when it touches liquid. So the toilet is clogged.
Caitlin spilled milk all over the couch.
The dogs peed on the floor because I forgot about them needing to go outside.
The carpet in the living room is wet and smelly because Sarah likes to take a mouth of dog food into the living room to eat it.
Caitlin stripped naked in her crib every time I left her bedroom and never ended up taking a nap.

It's the end of the day. The kids rooms are a disaster. The house is not remotely clean and we had left overs for supper because I didn't have time to cook.
A friend (who doesn't have children) told me that I would look back on this day and smile someday.
You know - She might be right.
But it will be a very long time in the future.
Because tomorrow is likely more of the same.

Business trip

Jon had to be gone for two days this past week on a business trip.

He left on Wednesday morning. Dominic has gymnastics on Wednesday and his class gets out at noon. So we always eat lunch with Jon. I hadn't completed my errands when I had to pick him up so we went ahead and ate in town. The kids kept asking where Jon was the whole meal. Dominic kept saying how much he missed his Daddy.

Then that night they both missed him again. He is usually the one who gives them their bath and puts them to bed. I get to supervise tooth brushing and get hugs before they head to bed. When I did everything for them it really confused them. 

I also missed him when I was alone at home in the dark. =)

The puppies never asked for their supper and so I was ready for a shower and bed when I remembered that I needed to feed them and let them out to potty. I put their food in a bowl and put it in the kitchen. We usually feed them outside, but it was a bit cold. I was in the shower when I heard someone knocking on the door. I yelled for Dominic to come in and nothing happened. I was pretty freaked out by the time I opened the door to discover my dogs were bumping their heads on the door. They wanted company while they ate supper.

The girls love their cage. They will go in and fall asleep before they've even had supper.

 Josie asleep on Jon's lap.

Jon's parents arrived for a visit on Thursday afternoon and much to our delight Jon showed up right after supper. We were so happy to have him home again.

Going places you shouldn't and other things

Both kids have been caught in places they probably shouldn't be in. So, like the good mom I am, I have to grab the camera and take a picture first. =)

Dominic had been told not to climb the railings on the patio. He's gotten clothes and appendages stuck and we're afraid he'll fall or be left hanging.

The child lock is now activated on the washer and dryer thanks to Caitlin.

I've been trying to come up with creative ways to fix Caitlin's hair. It's baby fine and won't stay no matter what I do with it. I've braided it and it falls apart within minutes. These head bands work great until she realizes what she's wearing and takes it out to look at the "peety bow" as she calls it.

Caitlin eating a tomato like an apple. We were pulling items out of the refrigerator to make lunch and I handed her the container with half a tomato in it. Turned around to find it almost completely in her mouth.

I walked by the back door and saw Dominic laying down with the dogs on either side of him. When I returned with the camera he was hugging them and rubbing their bellies. He never knew I'd taken these pictures. These two dogs sure do love him.

 

Random bits of stuff

When Dominic says something cute and I don't have a moment to blog I will write it down in my planner. I was throwing away the old pages and found several things from the previous weeks and thought I'd go ahead and post them even thought it's not in order.

Dominic was praying for lunch.

"Please bless the food and please bring us more."

Guess he figured I hadn't made enough. =)

Dominic had been playing really rough.

"My underknee hurts. I guess I'm falling apart, Mom."

Caitlin turned to me out of the blue and gave me a huge hug and kiss. Then she said "wov you mom." I melted into a little puddle. Dominic has her calling me mom and it's so cute to hear her. She's starting to talk more clearly, but will frequently make up words for ones she doesn't know. It's keeping us guessing. Her most consistent one is maa maa for water.

Dominic had been waking up very early and I wasn't having time to have my devotions. So I put an alarm clock in his room and told him it had to have a 7 in the front before he could get up. This has worked amazingly well.

Yesterday he woke up at 8am. It gave Caitlin and I some quality time together. When he came out of his bedroom he said:

 "I slept until 8 o'clock, Mom. I think I went overboard in sleeping."

By the time we got into our home the kids comfort items (bear and blanket) were getting pretty disgusting. So I tossed them in the washing machine on hand wash. It was apparently fascinating and distressing.

 

Good thing the handwash cycle is short. Because they stood right there and watched their precious items the WHOLE time.

Yeah! They are done!!!

Dominic playing on his bunk beds. Blogspot won't rotate the picture correctly. But I think you get the point.

Caitlin playing IN the toy box.

Our little girls.

Josie

Sarah 

The dogs love these bar stools. They head straight for them when they get in the house. In fact, that is where they are sleeping right now.

Every morning when I take the dogs outside I see this beautiful fog. But by the time I get the camera it's all burned off. I finally captured some of it.

Promised pictures

Here are the pictures that I promised from the previous blog.

The kids were "helping" me pack up the hotel to move into the house.

Dominic and Caitlin LOVED these trees at the entrance to the hotel. 

For some reason Caitlin kept hugging them.

 Caitlin woke up really early one morning. She was wet and uncomfortable. So after changing her I brought her to our bed. She fell back asleep. She looked so tiny in that huge king bed.

The chaos of my kitchen during moving day. I would unpack several boxes and be excited because I could see the floors/counters again and the movers would unload another bunch of boxes. It was days before I found the cook top again. The rest of the house didn't look any better.

The pavement was hot so Dominic was giving Caitlin a ride on his trike. The picture was so cute. But after I finished taking pictures I made them put shoes on. Couldn't have an doctor visit on moving day.

I had to take these two pictures. We had broken furniture and pictures. Some of my books were badly warped. But the Cheetos and a single flash card were wrapped in triple paper so they wouldn't be harmed. =) Typical of professional movers.

Caitlin was getting into everything and found a package of peanut butter crackers. We didn't realize she'd put them into the dog cage until they were almost gone.

Josie and Sarah were exhausted. Sarah was so tired she laid her head in the water bowl and her head and the blankets were soaked. She slept right through it.

Our new home

Just a quick update on our new home.

We moved into our home on Wednesday and Thursday. The movers were here at 8am on Thursday morning and didn't leave until almost 4pm. The cat was locked into the spare bathroom so he wouldn't be disturbed and no one would accidentally open the door. He seemed to survive okay. We didn't pick up the dogs until that evening when we had found our dog cage and bed.

We didn't realize how much stuff we owned. =) It's been an adventure trying to find things. The packers weren't great at putting things together. So we have all of our clothing - but no hangers, some toys - but not all of them and no toy boxes, and books mixed with dishes and clothes.

It's been five days and we still don't have everything unpacked. But a little bit gets done each day and we will have it done eventually. In the mean time we are LOVING living here.

It's only a few minutes to the stores and yet we live in a country setting. Our neighbors have been stopping by all week to introduce themselves and Dominic has found neighbor kids to play with every afternoon.

This house is, of course, bigger than than the carriage house we moved from and I'm enjoying the extra space.

Today during the kid's quiet time I sat in our new library chair and enjoyed the peace and quiet while I read a book I pulled from one of the boxes. Just the fact that I'll have all of my books within reach again is enough to make me fall in love with this home. =)

Our puppies are the cutest things ever. The kids are enjoying them and Dominic is getting over his fears very quickly. The fence has a 3 inch space beneath and this is just enough for Sarah to squeeze under and go back to Mommy. Josie has surprised us by staying at home. She's the more talkative of the two, but seems to be less of a trouble maker. We purchased some fencing to attach to the current fence that will prevent escapes. We just have to find the time to put it up.

I have quite a few cute pictures, but will post when I have more time.

Have I mentioned how much we love our new home? =)

Add on to yesterday's post

I just thought I should clarify why I made the comment about matching up the personalities of the pets to the kids. Dominic is very scared of dogs. He'd been bitten several times and doesn't remember when we had our own dog. So a quiet gentle dog is the perfect one for him.

Caitlin, on the other hand, is afraid of nothing when it comes to pets. She gets so excited when she sees a dog and, if allowed, would walk right up to one and pet it. So Josie, with her puppy energy, is perfect for Caitlin to chase around. 

Our newest family members

We would like to introduce the newest members of our family.

Please meet Sarah - she's shy, but so very sweet. Her little puppy kisses are precious.

And Josie - who is full of energy and impishness. She wouldn't be still long enough to give kisses.

We first found them when we were looking at our house. Our neighbor had a dog with eleven puppies.

I'd been going by the house to try to catch the neighbors at home. Finally found them last night. The puppies are half Basset Hound and half "that stupid mutt running round the neighborhood" (neighbor's words).

We think they are adorable and when we went back to the house tonight to get some measurements we went over to say hi again and get some pictures.

Here is Sarah just waiting to be picked up and Josie chasing the kids! 

Sarah is Dominic's dog and Josie is Caitlin's.

Seems we matched up the personalities pretty well.

Country living

One of the "joys" of living in the country is no leash laws. Most of my neighbors keep their pets contained by regular or invisible fences. But there is a pack of dogs that roams around tearing up trash and destroying property. A couple of months ago they charged a family member and have tried to pull my cat out of his kitty door. So we called animal control to find out what we could do and they came out this morning to set traps (large cages). She said to call if we caught anything before 4pm otherwise it would be the next morning when she came to check the traps.

Wouldn't you know that at 4:32 we caught a puppy. The trap is large enough to catch a small bear, but this dog has been howling ever since he got caught. So now we have to spend the night listening to a puppy whine and howl. Sigh! This isn't even one of the regular pack members. They have been sitting beside the cage from time to time either comforting or taunting him. I haven't figured out which. Dominic has a clear view from the window and has been enjoying the show. So I guess that's something. =)