Tuesday, February 23, 2010


A New Coat For The Old Dog
For the past year or so I have been on the look out for a new doggy jacket for Rowdy. His old red & green sweater is really old (about 15 years older than him and he's almost 14). His old sweater is also stretched out and it covers his rump which makes it difficult to do his doggy business.


Last week I found this sharp blue rain jacket for him at Big Lots. Shopping at Big Lots is kinda like going to a garage sale but without the haggling. You never know what you are going to find and if you find it ya better grab it, because it won't be there if you go back for it.
So I found this nice blue jacket for all of $7.00 and that's a steal because they usually cost twice that much. It has fleece lining and a nylon outer shell. The best thing is it has velcro straps, no over the head and no leg holes to deal with. I just lay it on his back and wrap the straps around him, it's rather simple and painless. He was good about lifting up his paws with his sweater but you had to be careful not to snag his toenails.

I think he looks quite dapper in his new blue coat, he seems to like it too.
Oh, and his coat has a pocket on the back, I suppose you could fit a small puppy treat in it but then he would be trying to sniff his back trying to get it out of the pocket and that just seems kind of cruel.



Did you notice even my dog sticks his tongue out at the camera, it's just not something the kids do.

I made Rowdy a doggy scrapbook a few weeks ago. I posted the pictures on my scrap blog..go check it out!

Sunday, February 21, 2010


I have lots of pictures to share from this weekend, but it is going on 10 p.m. and I have to go next door to watch the neighbor boys at 6 a.m. tomorrow. So this kid needs to get to bed.

But before I turn in for the night here are some pictures of our adventures at the sledding hill this morning.
Enjoy!

Paige and Megan before their hats flew off and they got hot and sweaty. It was nearly forty degrees out, but my feet still got cold in two pairs of socks and snow boots.



These are proof that I was there! I had the camera in my front zippered pocket of my coat when Mike jetted me down the hill on the red plastic sled. As my back pounded down the slope it felt like I was sledding over boulders, guess that means I'm getting old and wiser....because I only did it once and that was enough!





Mike was the designated sled pusher, he is much better at it than I am and that is fine with me!

The yellow sled got a small hole in the bottom so it became Megan's resting place. The snow was a little soft and this sled does better on frozen-ice snow.

Just so you don't think the girls had all the fun and Mike did all the launching...

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Sharing the love....here's a peek at my very special Valentines....

While I was at work on Saturday Mike and the girls were busy making cards, bookmarks ans origami and poetry. They were all one of a kind works of art.




Mike also got me a chocolate cheesecake sampler from Trader Joe's I will have to share it with my lovely family of course!
Share the love and share the calories :)


Friday, February 12, 2010

Perspective
There's an igloo next to our driveway... you can't see it in the picture below but it would be to the right just past where the driveway bends to go up to the third bay. It's not huge but both kids and the youngest dog can fit in. The old dog is not interested in going out and sitting in a hollowed out snow cave. Our three year old neighbor boy, Jake thinks it's pretty darn cool. He sat in it and clapped his hands while grinning ear to ear.


If you enlarge this photo you can see Paige's boot next to Rebel, Megan was in there too. Here is a shot from when I bent down and took a picture inside...thank heavens for digital cameras you can blindly take pictures and not worry about "wasting film".


For some reason when I look at these pictures I can hear the John Devner song "Grandma's Feather Bed" going through my head. "It was 9 feet tall and 6 feet wide". "It'd hold eight kids and four hound dogs and a piggy we'd stole from the shed" "didn't get much sleep but we had a lot of fun on grandma's feather bed".
I'm sure the igloo seems a lot bigger to my kids than it does to me...it's all a matter of perspective.




Wednesday, February 10, 2010



We had a snow day yesterday...and we are having another today. Paige says "it's like having a weekend in the middle of a week." She's always clever like that.

Megan was wearing her "I Heart Snow Days" shirt...Aunt Shann sent it to her last year.



It snowed, and snowed and snowed all day. At first it was real fine and blowing sideways then later it was big and fluffy and floating like feathers. The kids were content to stay inside where it was warm and dry. They made fish and snakes with their clay. They played Mario Kart on the Wii, they read, Paige played her clarinet by 4 p.m. , they played on the computer (Ty pets or Webkinz or maybe both) and they watched an hour of t.v.
They did not ask to go out in the snow until I was going out to shovel when Mike got home. Our neighbor John across the street noticed that Mike was not using the snow blower. Mike told him the auger broke when he was clearing off Denny and Kristie's driveway on Saturday. So John came over with his big snow blower and had our driveway and sidewalks clear in less than 15 minutes. I guess what goes around comes around...since we have been the ones for the past 3 years or so helping our neighbors clear their snow.
After the driveway was clear the girls decided they wanted to build an igloo in the big pile of snow. Mike helped them dig it out and it looks pretty good. Not only is he part Amish but he must have some Eskimo in his bloodlines too!


When I came outside to take pictures of the igloo all I could see were feet sticking out..turns out both Paige and Megan were inside excavating.


I have a feeling that they are going to want to go out and play in the snow this afternoon...but it is going to be windy and extremely cold. I have a feeling I am going to be making lots of hot cocoa today...and drying coats and gloves in the dryer too.

Tuesday, February 09, 2010



Sunday morning I worked on getting laundry washed and put away. Paige finished up her mini album and Megan made her valentines for her class party that is coming up on Friday. The girls also took Rebel for a walk in the bright sunshine. I made a late lunch/ early dinner of ribs, cornbread, smashed potatoes and asparagus. Mike built a fire and we watched the Super Bowl while the girls made some clay sculptures. It was a rather relaxing Sunday.

Can you spot the differences between these two photos?


Saturday night Megan went across the street for Ayva's 7th b.day sleepover party. Mike, Paige and I went out to eat at Pei Wei's Asian Diner then back home...Mike watched Nascar stuff and Paige and I went upstairs and started working on her mini album filled with pictures of Rebel. It was a nice relaxing night.


Our snowy Saturday (2-6-2010)


Good thing we cleared off the driveway and sidewalks on Friday because by Saturday morning it looked as if we had not touched them. It was pretty blustery out. After a breakfast of waffles, bacon and fruit we got our snow gear on and started moving snow, again!


"There's one good thing about snow, it makes your lawn look as good as your neighbor's"-Clyde Moore


I noticed these little punks from around the corner, the one on the battery powered mini bike is in Megan's 3rd grade class. Looks like the kind of fun that me and my sister would have had if it ever snowed this much when we were kids in Sacramento. Except we wouldn't have had to worry about our battery running low...our motorcycles were gas powered...back in the day!


Brian and Laura's Birch trees looked magical covered in snow.


They were having fun making a snow fort and goofing off...until I asked them to help knock the snow down so their dad could have and easier time with the snow blower...then I got these sad cold faces. After this photo Megan went inside to get warmed up and Paige took Rebel for a walk before going inside for the day.


After I shoveled the sidewalk from the edge of the driveway to the back lot line, helped Mike dig out the apron of the driveway I went around back and cleared a path off of the patio for the dogs and cleared a patch in the back for them too. Of course this does not stop Rebel from plowing through the snow and standing belly deep to pee. I guess dogs and kids are kinda the same in that way...you can shovel it but they will still feel the need to plow through the snow and make their own trail!