A Smorgasbord of Snippets

Although the past week has been sad as we've grieved for Rosko and I've agonized (as I'm wont to do) about what to do about a new dog (i.e., get an older, housetrained dog immediately or wait until next Spring and start fresh with a new puppy?), we've had tons of fun, funny, and memorable times as well.

Stu told me last night that he's going to write a parenting book someday and it's going to be titled, "WTF was I thinking?  But how many great laughs would I have missed out on if I hadn't?".  Our kids keep us on our toes constantly.  The other night Stu and I were literally holding our bellies in pain because we laughed so hard and long after Adam had emerged from his bedroom after being tucked in for the night, for about the fifth time.  This time, he tried to be sneaky.  He put his "Blue Blankie" which is only about 1x1 square over the top of his head, presumably so that we couldn't see him.  He tip-toed into the living room, being covert.  Only problem was - he couldn't see where he was going so Stu and I quietly watched him slowly move across the living room, only to walk straight into the wall and fall over.

Max told two jokes today that first had Grammie and I in stitches and then had Stu and I giggling as well:

1. "Three holes in the ground...well, well, well!"

2. "Where does the king keep his armies?"  "In his sleeves!"

We decided that Max should probably learn to ride a bike this summer since he'll be turning seven in December and still hadn't even attempted to ride a bike without training wheels.  At first, he refused with all his might, crying and screaming about how scared he was.  But after two weekends of dedicated practice in nearby church parking lots and the tennis courts at a park down the road, he's already nearly mastered the art of biking sans training wheels.  He is now ever-so-proud of himself and was excited to pose for a photo.

Ryann's been practicing without training wheels, too, and is getting pretty close to not needing them anymore.  She and Adam were excited to pose for pictures during our afternoon bike ride, too.

We've been making the most of our last few weeks of great weather and time together before school starts and Fall arrives and were having a grand, old time hanging out in the backyard the other day.  I loved catching Max and Ryann running purposefully through the yard on some childhood mission.  And I especially loved getting some shots of the batting practice Adam was adamant that Stu and I watch.

The one thing I am definitely missing in all of these memories and photos is a great dog to share our fun family times with.  I so desperately miss Rosko and don't want (nor ever do I think I will be able to) replace him but I really relied on him for a feeling of security, love, and companionship.  So I went on a mission this Saturday, visiting two adoption events and the St. Paul Humane Society looking for a young adult or even adult dog that needed a home (since we definitely don't have time during football season to train a brand new puppy) but none of the dogs was quite right.  I was pleasantly surprised that when I talked to Stu about it, he was totally on board with getting a puppy next Spring.  He loved Rosko but had always asserted that after Rosko, he had no desire to have a dog again.  Admittedly, they can be a pain.  They mess up and stink up your house, they can be expensive, and if you want to travel - you have to figure out what to do with them.  But they're oh so worth it, to me.  But last night, after my failed search for a new companion for our family, Stu was the one to bring it up at dinner time, letting the kids know that I'd looked for a new dog and didn't find one that would fit for our family, and asking them what kind of puppy they'd want in the spring.  Ryann, of course, wanted a Papillon and Max and Adam want another big dog.  I half-jokingly suggested we get one of each.  A tiny lapdog for Ryann and a nice, big lab or lab-mix for the rest of us.  Stu was not for that plan.  However, we're pretty sure we'll end up with a lab or lab-mix puppy next Spring and we're thinking of continuing the tradition of naming our dogs with "R" names (so far we've had Rosko and Rags).  We'll probably get a female this time.  Any suggestions for a cute, girly, "R" dog name?

Tonight (Sunday) we'd been invited to a friend-from-church's house for a potluck gathering with other young families from church.  I think there were probably 12-14 adults there and at least 20 kids under the age of about 11.  We had lots of good conversation and the kids all played really well together.  Plus, you couldn't really go wrong when the house had a great deck overlooking a small lake, a new trampoline in the backyard, and towards the end of the night, the kids discovered a nest of tiny, baby mice in the canoe.  And who do you suppose went after those baby mice and wanted to hold and cuddle them?  Either of my boys?  NOPE!  My pink-bespectacled, party-dressed, fancy-shoed little princess wanted to hold the ishy, practically hairless baby mouse and loved every second of it.

Yesterday, while I was out watering the vegetable and flower gardens, I was having fun capturing some backyard beauty after I noticed that little "yellow birds" as my mom and sister refer to them as, were stuffing themselves full of our sunflower seeds.  And that these fat, buzzy, bumblebees are super attracted to a particular, tall, flower growing near the corner of our house.

Backing up again, I tried to capture a family shot with my new lens and the camera on a tripod.  I think I should have used my telephoto lens for better quality but this one makes me laugh.  At the last second of the timer, I was trying to pull Ryann closer to me (and Max refuses to smile in group shots lately).

Finally, another great shot of some of my favorite people on earth...but I was behind the camera this time so I'm not included (not that I am one of my favorite people on earth...except maybe I'd include myself in that group...I'm pretty proud of myself and how resilient I've learned I am lately)...

FYI - the other day, I started a blog post and went to upload a picture and I got an error message that I'd exceeded my storage space for photos in the Picasa web album where all the photos I post to my blog were stored!!!!  I hyperventilated for a minute but then figured out I could buy a huge amount of additional storage space for $5.  Well worth it, in my opinion!  I was also flabbergasted to learn that in about two years of blogging, I'd posted nearly 700 photos to my blog!!  Well, I shouldn't have been that flabbergasted; I mean I know myself pretty well and I shoudn't have been that surprised.