A Place For Everything...

What does Cam like to do on Sunday afternoons?

Organize his dresser.

I'm more of a lay-around-the-house-and-catch-up-on-television kind of gal, but who am I to say what makes the best use of time?

We have the pants and shorts...

and the shirts, stacked by brand.

The crowning top drawer glory: underwear and socks. And scout badges that wait to be stuck on a shirt or something.

That boy loves to organize!

I'm thinking of renting him out by the hour.

Double Digits

Aaron turned 10 yesterday.

He had more hair on the day he was born than he has right now. I still have that hair - along with Cam's curls and a pile of teeth - stuffed down in the bottom of my underwear drawer.





At 10, he loves Nerf guns, the trampoline, truckin' with Dad, computer games like Oblivion and Call of Duty, Drake and Josh, silly jokes and books like Ripley's Believe It or Not and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He also loves the watch he got for his birthday. It has a stopwatch feature and we now know that the opening song in Sacrament Meeting lasted 2 minutes and 36 seconds and the closing song was well over 4 minutes. Teeth brushing rounded out at a minute and thirty seconds.

He does not like waking up, showering, brushing teeth (mornings are a blast!), homework or bleu cheese. I think he'll come around on the bleu cheese.

Is it just me, or does he look like he's wearing some big fancy headdress?

He's my errand buddy, my tennis ball picker-upper, my drink getter, my foot rubber, my food taster, and the one who always remembers to say prayers - even when I'm tired and forgetful.

He's generous with compliments, enjoys using a broad vocabulary (be still, my heart!), and still lets me give him a hug and a kiss in front of the school.

Love you, Aaron! Happy Birthday!!!

There's a New Kid in Town

I know, I know...I said we wouldn't get another dog just to keep Troy company while he's out on the road.

I lied.

Only it's not really a lie if it happens to be the truth at that moment. My intention was to not get another dog (at that moment). We did not need another dog (at that moment). We were NOT getting another dog (at that moment).

The moment passed.

Meet Pippen! He's 5 years old, a Scottish Terrier/Miniature Schnauzer mix. At least that's what they tell us.

He's had a busy past few weeks. A little over a month ago, he was probably with a family and was well taken care of. We think this because he is well mannered, house-trained, knows commands, he's been neutered, etc. He's also had his voice box removed, and while we don't particularly like that it happened, it's evidence that he had people in his life.

But then he got lost. Or "let go" when his people couldn't afford him. We'll never know.

He was found wandering around and taken to a shelter where he hung out for about five days. He was adopted by a young couple and stayed with them for three weeks before they realized that they just weren't able to spend any time with him. They both worked, the man was going back to school at nights, and the woman really wasn't a dog person. Pippen was practically living in a laundry closet. And they were feeding him really cheap dog food.

Thank goodness we came along!

It's been a love at first sight kind of a thing.

Pippen's been a bit of a fixer-upper in his first two weeks with us. He had some itchy skin because of the poor quality dog food he'd been eating, but that's cleared up nicely. His initial vet check showed a few problem teeth that needed to be removed. Eating and chewing on rawhide is much nicer without the pain!


And since he was knocked out for the dentistry, I had them remove a mole from his back!. He's been sporting a little Frankenstein look.


Moles can go bad, the vet told me, become cancerous and such. Truth is, I had that mole removed because it freaked people out. It was right on his back and when people petted him they would hit that mole and pull their hand back and go "Eewwwwww! Is that a tick?"

After having that happen half a dozen times, and yes, I was a little freaked out myself, that mole was coming OFF!

He's a mellow little guy, content to just sit...

...or lie on the floor. This particular way of relaxing is a Scottie trait. And we laugh every time he does it.

All in all, Pippen's transition into our family has been perfect.

Pippen is home.

Yeah...Well...You're Short

I called over a kindergartner to read to me today. I patted the seat next to me so he'd sit down. He scrunched up his face and sighed.

"When I'm close to you it makes me very nervous."

"What? Why do I make you nervous?"

"Because you are so old."

Maybe I smell like his great-grandma?

Love my job.

Taking Precautions

...and not taking any chances.



Happy Monday morning!

At least (so far) no dogs have gotten in the way.