A Mother's Love

You will not believe what I did this morning--I captured a LIVE praying mantis in a jar for my children!! Blechhh! I hate bugs! But they were so excited about it and I decided it was a learning opportunity. That is just how nuts I am about my boys. NO ONE ELSE warrants such sacrifice and grit. Our specimen (of decent size) is now on the shelf in the garage where it can be inspected by all the neighborhood kids as well. Andy is hereby responsible for either feeding it or disposing of its corpse when that time comes.

In other news, Carson cracks me up. Okay, that's not really news. He is getting really funny to play with. I found some cowboy and Indian figurines at the dollar store, so we were playing with them the other day. There were bombs exploding and all kinds of violent happenings. My cowboy broke his leg in the blast, and the only sympathy he got was "You want a Bandaid--yes or no?" I hate to admit it, but I love to argue with Carson because he says, "Yes you didn't!" or "Yes I don't!"

Spencer is enjoying first grade. Here are the pics from his first day. (I honestly forgot to put them up until now.) He likes his teacher, though she is not quite as mothery and affectionate as his kindergarten teacher. It's been a big adjustment for all of us to have him at school all day. We had to make a new rule that he doesn't play with friends on school days because it just throws him over the edge. He gets so tired he can't even function! He is now eating lunch at school, too, which makes things strange around here. He claims he eats a peanut butter sandwich or pizza for lunch nearly every day, which I take with a grain of salt. I have access to the menus, so I know he has other choices. Anyway, he has a good teacher who seems very on top of things. She focuses a lot on reading, which I appreciate. If a kid is a good reader, everything else comes easier.

Lastly (this is not really news either), our dog is a big sissy!! When I bring her upstairs, Slippy usually keeps out of sight. The other day, though, she was feeling feisty. She sat at the top of the stairs and when Dakota came up, she stayed right there, hissing and growling. Dakota was on a leash, so Slippy could have escaped anywhere she wanted to. But no, she was in a crabby mood. Finally she stepped aside and my poor big baby put her head down and went behind me to my other side to avoid the 6 1/2 pound kitty! The next couple of days, Dakota would look around nervously, head down, to see if there would be another encounter! She is a sweetheart, but not the bravest dog I ever knew! (Which makes me love her even more!)

My Guys

These are just some cute pictures of my favorite dudes....

Doggy Playdate

Dakota has been a busy girl. Just when I thought she was a complete angel, she proved that she is still a teenager. Here is some of what she has been up to lately....

Doggy kiss! (Dakota is a bit forward.) Our next door neighbors went away for the weekend and asked me to take care of their Golden Retriever, Bronco. "No problem!" I said. "Can he come over for a playdate?" Poor Bronco. I think Dakota wore him out completely. She was so excited to have a friend! She chased him around and around the backyard till I thought I should tie her up for a while just to give him a break. Bronco is not even a year old yet, but he is very mellow in comparison! Anyway, they finally settled down a bit and sniffed each other and wandered around together for a couple of hours. Then it was time for Bronco to go home. He didn't wanna. He dug in his feet like a mule and fought me all the way to the gate. Dakota thought she should go with him, and since he was reluctant to go out, she pushed her way through ahead of him. I took Bronco back to his own yard and then I had to catch Dakota. She was super wound up from the doggy party and didn't feel like coming home. I bribed her with a treat, but she thought it was a game and she grabbed it faster than I could grab her. Long story short, I finally got her, but she was a naughty girl. No more playdates for a while!!

This is one of her favorite toys... a squeaky lobster. She slobbers him all up and then drops him in our laps.

Helping Andy make her doghouse....

She is so happy to just hang out with someone...anyone!

I bought her this lovely bandanna. Doesn't she look cute in hot pink?

The little boys played downstairs one afternoon with Dakota. They were giggling like crazy. Spencer would hide in this little tunnel and the dog would "find" him and lick him.


Today was Pioneer Day here in Utah. Most people celebrate by going to a parade or having a barbecue with friends and family. However we decided to stay home and get lots of jobs done. Spencer suggested that we have a picnic for dinner, so we turned it into a redneck party. We ate hot dogs and watermelon on our front porch and listened to Johnny Cash (loud). Too bad all the neighbors missed it.

Miscellaneous Silliness

The title of this post pretty much sums up my everyday life. It's fun. I am a very fortunate woman (though it's hard to think of myself as a "woman"--I feel more like a girl).

One day several months ago, we discovered a book about "Winnie the Witch" at the library. Carson has been in love with the series ever since. I only know it is a series because I got online and found other stories about Winnie. They are hard to come by in the USA because they were written by an author from the UK. Nevertheless, they are very cute and entertaining books. I quite enjoy them myself. Anyway, Carson is always pretending to be Winnie. When Spencer participates, he becomes Winnie and Carson is her black cat, Wilbur. They are quite a pair.

Too bad you can't hear the sound effects he was making while I took this picture. Boys just can't play anything without making lots of sound effects (which means there's also a shower of saliva everywhere they go).

Obviously, this is Spencer taking a photo of himself while talking on the phone. Though I don't necessarily approve of his use of the camera, I have to say he takes some pretty good pictures. I especially like the ones he takes of himself. They are so...Spencer! It makes me chuckle.

This is what happens when we disagree about what he should wear. He layers the outfits! This day happened to be on the chilly side (it was weird, but we had a lot of those in June). I told him he would freeze his fanny off if he wore the shorts and tank top. So he tried to please both of us. I gotta give him credit for diplomacy.

We went to a family reunion and the uncles started bouncing kids around in a blanket. This is Spencer flying around. He thought it was marvelous fun. Carson firmly declined when they asked if he wanted a turn.

I don't know why I'm posting this one, except that it will remind some of our far away relatives what I look like. Perhaps your memory would serve me better than real life. Anyway, there I am.

Dakota

Okay, now that the Pioneer Trek is done, I can begin my life again. (I promise to tell you all about it when I get pictures.) For now, let's just say it was a great experience and I am finally clean and sweet-smelling again!

Here is the card Spencer made for Dakota shortly after she came to us. This is a picture of him taking her for a walk.

Here he is reading her a story. She enjoys his company in the evenings and is a very intent listener, not to mention that it's good practice for Spencer!

She loves to play in the sandbox with the kids. I read somewhere that it's fun to bury treats and toys in the sandbox so the dog has a fun activity when no one is outside. I don't think she has discovered anything yet, but I did hide a couple of things out there.

Bedtime. She is such a good girl and never makes a peep until about 6:30 when she has to go out to the potty.

Licking her nose... She likes to give BIG, slobbery kisses! I wasn't sure how I felt about that, but after the first day or two I got used to it. I don't mind doggy slobber anymore!

She loves to play fetch, especially with this squeaky duck. She brings it back to me every time! She is also a pro with a frisbee, tennis balls, and she loves her squeaky "wubba" thing that looks like a red octopus.

She enjoyed this rubber stick so much that she tore it to pieces within a few days.

It was a short love affair....

She is such a sweet doggy. She is getting very good at going for walks with us. One night Andy even let go of the leash for a short time, and she stayed right with us. She gets a little intimidated by other, (usually smaller) more aggressive dogs who bark and try to scare us off. She is a gentle giant. She sees cats around the neighborhood and gets excited to play, but they don't feel the same. I tried to explain to her that not all furry things have the same fun-loving spirit that she does!

Fun with Cousins

It's catch-up time again! Spencer's best pal in the whole world, his cousin Jeffrey, had a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. We had been trying to avoid Chuck E. Cheese, but for an occasion like this, we had to relent.

Three little boys standing very close to a giant mouse wearing shorts--they don't seem to think anything is unusual!

It is apparent in the pictures that a marvelous time was had by all. (Or, as Spencer would say, a "fablious" time.)

This one is my favorite! I don't know how they came up with these poses, but they are hilarious!

I'm already dreading his 16th birthday. Isn't it more of a fatherly duty to teach the kids to drive??

This is a family birthday party. Like I said, these guys are two peas in a pod!

And these two are very seriously focused on their cake!

Just a little R&R with Dad.... Carson is really fun to chat with now, if you can get him to slow down long enough!

And here's our favorite doggy pal. She's so fun and the boys are finally feeling pretty comfortable around her. (More on this later.) Spencer likes to go out and play Fetch with her. He giggles at her constantly. Carson doesn't scream anymore when she licks his face up one side and down the other. Her tongue is so big, she can cover a lot of surface area in one lick!