The Dog

The dog is always in trouble, most days I am ready to get rid of him.  It may be because he chewed up someone's shoes or toys or he ran away and didn't come back when I called him.  And then when I go to chase him down he just runs further or barks and won't let me get him.  Then once I do get him, I will grab his collar, he will try to bite me then flop down on the ground making it nearly impossible for me to pick up this 80+ pound mut to take him home, as he continues to bike and scratch me as I attempt to drag him home. 
The girls love him, and sometimes I like him a little too.  He is quite a funny dog when he isn't running away or chewing up things.  He wants to be with the kids. 

When the kids are playing outside he goes crazy, wants to play with them.  He will be alittle too playful when the little ones ride their bikes as he chases them and knocks them over sometimes.

He seems to be doing pretty good with potty training and for the most part minding his manners in the house as far as food goes.  He still begs which I HATE!  He is funny because he will leave a hot dog on the table all night long, and yet if something is on the kitchen counter, which is higher, he seems to think that is better food or its okay to get.  I spent one night making this egg fritata breakfast for Robert and I to eat for the rest of the week, part of a fitness challenge we were doing, and the dog ate the other 5 servings of it.  This is what I found when I came back down stairs.

He left it on the counter and everything, but just ate what he could until I came down stairs. It was a big 9x13 dish with like 18 eggs in it.  Another day Lindsey had made a batch of no-bake cookies.  The cookies were cooling on foil on the counter, he ate EVERYONE of those cookies and part of the foil.  I was so mad at him.  I told him I hoped he got sick.  I basically cursed myself.  I was at a workout class the next morning and got a text that said the dog made a mess, if I didn't have carpet cleaner I might want to pick some up.  I got home with a bottle of carpet spot cleaner.  To spare you the pictures, lets just say it looked like I had a herd of cows in the house that went to the bathroom everywhere.  I guess Amber woke up and saw it and thought it was mud.  I spent the whole day cleaning the carpet.  I spot cleaned it then I shampooed the whole carpet.  He also threw up on my couch that morning too.  He was very close to getting booted out the door!

Whose idea was it to get this dog?

Ok, so maybe I had something to do with getting the dog.  This is what I saw in my mind when I got the dog, and it trapped me. Recently I saw some little puppies and the girls and I went over and looked at them, I felt myself weaken and I was almost pulled into the little girl and dog trap again.  I asked Rob if we could get one.  Seriously, isn't this the cutest thing ever?  Girls and dogs?  It's a trap I was once pulled into...  My mind turns into mush and I can't think straight.  I think how cute and how fun puppies are.  That just looks like happiness right there!

  The next morning was the morning of the carpet cleaning, I was so happy that I didn't get another one.  I'm afraid that one day I will be pulled into the trap again.  I hope I can be strong and think with my head and not how cute the girls are with this little cuddly puppy that will turn into a monster eating toys and shoes, have vet bills, expensive dog food, have to be boarded when we go out of town, and makes everything so hairy!  I hope I remember all that again when I see those cute little things.  Wish me luck!

Sept 2011 Gardens

The Gardens at Thanksgiving Point is one of the favorite places the girls like to go.  If you haven't gone and you have the oppurtunity to, definitely go.  They have many different sections of the garden that are different things such as the Rose Garden, Secret Garden and others I can't remember.  We went out to the pond or water part of it.  They have a little boardwalk over the water.  The lillies were very pretty and the fish were super fun to watch.  Unfortunately I didn't know they had a dispenser for fish food that took quarters, which I didn't bring any. 

 I think Lindsey took these pictures of the flowers. 

 The girls managed to find a few fish food pepples that got dropped on the board walk. 

 We found a little green frog toot hat was blending in with the surroundings, it was hard to see him. It took forever for the little girls to spot it.

 This was another part of the garden, Lindsey was upset so she stopped smiling in the pictures and at times didn't even get in the pictures.  I can't remember what her complaint was, but she did get better later and was happy again.

 There's that beautiful Emily!

 There's cute Amber too!

 Lauren wanted an action picture.  I am glad I caught it at the right moment.  I could have been in big trouble.

 Amber is delighted to get her picture taken again, Lindsey is still upset with me.

 Lindsey is back to her happy self again. 

 Samantha was getting tired of pictures, so she just sat and waited until we were done.

 This was in the secret garden.  Amber was missing from the picture.

 This was a fun little garden too, a carousel.  It's kind of hard to see how cute it is from the picture, Lindsey thought it was pretty fun too. 

 All the walking around made it tiring for the little ones, but they all had no problems rolling down the hill at the amphitheater. 

 The last thing we did was went to see all the waterfalls.  It was a fun time.

 The girls were ready to go home when it was time, but it was a place they ask to go back to often.  I wish we would have visited it more often when we had the membership.  Maybe another membership is in our future. 

Hair cut and back to school Aug 2011

Amber has never really had a hair cut, she is nearly 5 years old.  Her hair is thin and long, wavy and tangles easily.  She asked if she could get her hair cut, at first I told her no, then as I thought about it... my policy is if they want it cut, then that is their choice.  Her hair was so long though.... it was hard to do it.  I think the ease of brushing it was a helping thought too. 

Here she is getting ready to get her hair cut.

 Ready....set.....cut!  It was hard to do it, but I was pleased with the out come, and so was Amber!!

She LOVED it!!

You can see how much we cut off.  I was a little in shock but she was in love with her shorter locks.

August is always back to school time.  The girls picked their favorite outfits to wear for the first day of school.  Lindsey is styling her new outfit, and excited to get back to school.

Lauren is super excited to go back to school and see all her friends and excited about her new class.

Emily is going into 6th grade, she is excited for her new teacher, and I can't believe she will be in Jr. high in one more year.  That scares me!  She is growing up too fast!  She too has missed many friends during the summer months. 

All the girls were ready to go back to school.  I however felt the summer went too fast, and I still had a list of things I wanted to do with them while they were out of school.  I have the same feeling every year when school starts back up.  I am the one not ready for it.