Stories from my phone-rest of August recap

It is quite the luxury to be able to sit down at my computer and update this poor blog.  And, it's a beautiful day-I have the windows open!  Kinley is chilling in her chair, watching a show and the beasties are all enjoying an afternoon snooze.  And, before I get up and start checking more things off my to-do list, I will tell you what we've been doing recently.

First-karate promotions for all the boys.  We got back into karate after spring soccer and the boys have been working hard these past couple months.  Promotions were mid-August and all the boys did well.  Marcus was nervous that he wouldn't promote, but he did do a great job!  Of course, fall soccer will keep us out of karate until October.  So goes life,

Marcus receiving green belt.

Cale gets his green belt.

Ewan earned his blue belt.

Liam got his orange belt.  He was sooo excited. Since he started so little, he has taken longer to earn each belt.  I say an orange belt at 7 is pretty good.

Some proud boys there.

Kinley gets a lot of alone time with her best friend-Mommy.  This was a day we biked to the coffee shop and had a cinnamon roll.  That was the first day the temps weren't kill-me hot and before the monsoon season started here.  We haven't been out much on our bike.

A random-"what is this plant" picture.  This thing stands to my thigh and was from a mother's day gift from preschool.  I transplanted the whole pot of little wildflowers and this dude has really enjoyed the horrible soil in my flower bed.  Its stem is like a trunk.

Because I like being super-busy and because I knew they would love it-I signed the girls up for dance lessons at a place 10 minutes from our house.  Here is Kinley on her first day.  She loves her teacher and loves to go to class.  Kella does, too.  I just don't have a pic of her in her dance outfit yet.

Some of Kella's writing.  The two girls in the picture are Kella and her cousin Cassie.  Apparently they are party girls.

Here's Ponyo.  It was national dog day.

A typical Saturday at our house comes complete with 4 soccer games at 2 different fields.  Let's see-Ewan plays U10 on the Ravens, Cale U12 Zardes, Liam U8 Sounders and Marcus U14 Sunderland.

And, on Saturday, between 4 games, Andy had time to go to the store and find a dog to adopt.  Because we weren't busy enough already.  His name is Jasper-a 9 month old Viszla mix who was not well loved at his previous house.  Ponyo has allowed him to stay and be the second dog.

A picture Kella drew of me and her.  I love it!  This little girl is a very, very good artist for being 5 years old.  I think Kella drew this as a thank you for finding a dance leotard to wear to class until the backordered one comes in.  And, I got her some nightgowns.  She was in heaven.  (and, I found these things at the consignment store=jackpot)

I think Jasper likes it here.

And, now you are caught up.

a girl and her dog

Ponyo has been a member of the family for almost 6 months now.  While the cats are yearning for days past when there was no dog, or even before that, when we had old dogs that didn't care....the kids love having Ponyo.  I'm not going to lie-it is almost a daily struggle for the boys to have a good attitude about taking the dog out to potty-she needs to be on a leash or will just take off and run.  And, sometimes, the boys would rather lay around and not play when Ponyo is ready for some fun.  But, I think it's a good experience for them and they do love her.  

Most of Ponyo's days consist of hanging out with the girls.  She is very tolerant to being pet and laid on as these pictures show.  I think Ponyo even fell asleep in the chair laying like this.  She just wanted some cuddle time with Kella.

And just for fun....Marcus brought home his trombone and some new music for a concert they will do in May.  He was super-excited and wanted to play the music right. then.  I can count on one hand the amount of times I have heard Marcus practice his trombone at home.  So, anyway, some of the kids sat down to listen.  Or, I made them, I'm not too sure. 

                                     

Well, it's Friday, again

Another week gone.  Another Friday morning.  It seems that the only time I find time to post is when I have a bunch of cleaning to do on a morning before I have to work that night.

Procrastination anyone?

I sit here knowing I will not get through my entire to-do list.  And, since I'm working the entire weekend, if I don't get it done this morning...well...there is always next week.

I have almost finished with the wretched job of popcorn kernal (that's right) for our Cub Scout pack.  Never again, I say.  Today, I need to order the kids prizes.  Just waiting for 1 parent to get back to me.  And, my kids still have 2 popcorn orders to deliver!  After this, my focus for scouts will be to work with the boys at home on their advancements.  Currently, they can't make the meetings because of basketball practice.

We are having a quiet morning.  Girls' morning.  Andy had to go to a meeting.  The boys are all at school.  Kinley and I are still in our jams and Kella is wearing a princess dress.  Ponyo is here, too.  Sleeping on the couch.

Ponyo is doing better.  But, I still have to remind myself that she is a puppy.  Her new favorite thing is to run up the stairs to find the cats and eat their food.  The boys hate this because then they have to go get Ponyo and bring her back downstairs.  I wouldn't care, except that she does eat their food and the cats simply hate her.  This morning, she ended up in time-out after the second time she ran upstairs.  And, she knows, too.  She's smart.  She actually tried to hide under one of the boy's beds when I went up to get her.  Ponyo especially loves Kinley and is slightly protective of her.  Very sweet.

A couple girls, hanging out on the couch.

It snowed way back in the first part of November.  Measurable snow.  Time to haul out the boots and snowpants and hope we have some that fit everyone.  No one complained, so I guess we're fine.

And, since one of Ponyo's talents is eating Kinley's food, we place Kinley in her fortress of solitude when she eats.

Okay.  There we go.  Everyone have a great weekend.  We have bunches of basketball tomorrow and then a band concert Sunday topped with another basketball game.

best fall break ever!

We didn't do a lot over fall break.  Two weeks off and you think we would of had big plans.  Nope.  Marcus ended up having soccer through the first week.  And, then, 

we    got     a      dog

Meet Ponyo (pronounced "pon-yo" for those who haven't seen the movie).

The rest of the family has been wearing me down for a while.  We've had a 2 year dog holiday since Carina was put to sleep.  I've enjoyed  not having to have to feed a dog, clean up after a dog or decide what to do when with a dog when we go on vacation.  

But, the kids have been asking for a long time now. 

My first mistake was that I liked a couple local humane socieities on facebook.  Wrong.  That exposed me to lots of cute pictures of dogs looking for homes.  

That's how I saw Ponyo.  She was pretty cute.  But, I was going into a 3 day stretch at work and was not interested in the slightest to go see this dog.  I figured we would table this topic and come back to it on Monday (if the dog was still there).  

She was.

And, the boys agreed to spend their own money on Ponyo and her start-up costs:food, toys, crate.  How could I say no to that?  They had been saving the money for a new video game system.  I was happy that they were choosing to spend their money on something that would potentially be more work and not allow them to sit around and stare at the television.

It had to be fate that Ponyo was still available.  There had been an adoption event that the shelter had taken dogs to.  Ponyo was set to go, but was not in the right toom at the right time, so she got left.  

Yea for mistakes.

We met her on Tuesday morning and knew almost right away that this was a very good dog.  She did not freak out when surrounded by 8 people.  She was super happy to be with us and have new play mates.  A half hour later, she was ours and we were heading home.

It's like having a new baby.

We are working on potty training.  Ponyo will ring the bell, over half the time when she needs to go out.  We are trying very hard to monitor was she puts in her mouth (everything).  Trying to keep kid toys put up.  Trying to make sure that she does not run after the cats (who had their worlds rocked when Ponyo walked through the door) and eat the cats' food.  

It's a process.  And Ponyo's a puppy.  And, my kids haven't had this responsibility before.  

It's good for them. 

Ponyo is good for them.

She's not a little spoiled.

Liam was super-excited to have a puppy.

Yeah, Andy is happy, too.