Welcome Buddy!!

  

Well, we finally caved.  After being begged for years and several comments like “When Dad and Ryan die, can we get a dog?”  Cassidy got her way and we brought home a little puppy.  Buddy (which happens to be his name, as of publication) is a yorkie-poo.  That means he’s half Yorkie and half poodle.  He is tiny, darling and black as black can be.  He will only grow to be 10- 12 pounds.  The kids, (yes, even Ryan) are loving having a dog.  They have even remembered to thank us several times since we brought him home.

 

The pursuit of a dog began as a pursuit for a small animal, like a hamster or gerbil, but I just couldn’t see myself trying to catch the little rodent, if or rather, when it escaped out of it’s cage.  I was seriously looking at guinea pigs.  In fact, Cassidy and I went to the pet store to check out the guinea pigs.   The guinea pigs at the pet store were HUGE!!  I didn’t want cage something so pig.  Then we saw Buddy.  Buddy was the same size as the guinea pig.  He was so cute and seemed rather mellow.

We went home and told Nathan and Ryan about the dog we saw.  They wanted to see it too, so back to the pet store we went.  We had Ryan and Nathan hold the dog then touch their faces so we could see if they had any allergic reaction.  (Yorkies and Poodles are known to be good non-allergenic dogs)  We left and waited several hours with no reaction from either of them.  At that point Cassidy was sold – as if she wasn’t before.  After much consideration we decided this was the dog for us. 

Nathan and I were very concerned about Buddy’s first night in our home.  We had lots of thoughts of the first few nights with a new baby.  But surprisingly, Buddy went to sleep around 11:00 pm and didn’t want to get up when we woke up at 6:00 am.  Cassidy on the other hand didn’t go to sleep until 2:30am.  She kept coming downstairs to see if Buddy was awake.  It was worse than Christmas Eve for her.  I have to admit I am surprised at how willing the kids have been to help.  The poor dog can’t get a minute alone.  But he loves the attention and follows everyone around like a little shadow. (another name we considered)

Projects, Projects, Projects!!!

Moving into a new house always means a few projects but I don’t think we comprehended how many projects were in store.  There are lists of things we’d like to update and change in the house.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great house but it just doesn’t feel like ours yet. If feel like the last month of my life has been spent waiting for a contractor, painter, cabinet guy or flooring guy to come give me a bid. (Okay, I was out of town for two weeks but besides that….)  In the meantime I feel I am living amongst a half finished project which is enough to make me batty!  The good new is I’ve remembered to take before pictures so when all the work is finished I’ll have some great before and after blogging to do.

Morning Visitor

This morning I had to run to the grocery store to get a few things for Ryan's scout camp. As I was putting groceries away I noticed a little lizard scurry across the dining room and under some piano books. (the dining room is basically empty) It was just a little guy but it startled me. I grabbed a jar and tried to catch him but he went behind the piano. I figured he wouldn't stay there too long because there is no food there. Sure enough, I was right. As I walked out of the Craft room after posting my last blog post,(very loosely termed craft room - more like the crap room) I saw the monster in the hallway. I grabbed a cup and scooped him up. Before letting him go I had to snatch a picture of my catch. He was very compliant during the photo shoot. (I was only brave enough to take one picture.) Then I set him free and told him to munch on all the bugs he wanted in the backyard but to stay out of the house!

Need an idea for dinner?

Cass has asked several times if she can experiment in the kitchen and make her own recipe. In my mind I am seeing every condiment out of the fridge mixed together in some horrible concoction. When I question her about what she wants to make she answers, "I just want to experiment." I've tried to explain to her that when I cook, I don't experiment, I follow a recipe. She insists she wants to make her own recipe. The other day, she won and I let her experiment. Here is her OWN recipe. Enjoy some Flattened Rice!

P.S. You have to use already cooked rice.

Fresh Nest

You may have noticed my new Fresh Nests button on the side of my blog. This is a really cool blog that I've just begun following. Send in your decorating challenged space and they will give you ideas on what to do with it. Their ideas are simple but impressive. Check it out!