Way too much and not enough time...

I have so much going on and so much to share between Dominic's Birthday, Dominic's program, getting ready for Christmas, our new bunny rabbit, bringing the bunny rabbits in to live in our bedroom, organizing the house......oh and I am sure there is so much more to share, unfortunately I just don't have the time, I am so busy trying to get stuff done.

But, I PROMISE I will tell you guys all about it as soon as I find a few spare minutes (hopefully that will be this weekend) because, like I said, I have a lot to share with you all, and even pics, thanks to our new camera

Snow outside

it is snowing outside, definitely something we don't see around here very often, part of my heart wishes it will stick and not just melt away, it has been so long since I had a 'white Christmas' but then another part of me knows that when I moved to Texas I unknowingly agreed to accept a Christmas without snow, but it sure does my heart good to see it, if only for a few minutes--tried to get pics but they didn't turn out, maybe later if the flakes get any bigger or it snows tonight any

New Camera

I am so excited to inform ya'll that we finally got a new camera so I will be able to post pics again which will be nice since we have been able to get most our christmas decorations up and I am rather impressed how far what little we had went this year....I love the Christmas season--so much cheer, so much happiness, so much good will, lets pray that this economy doesn't change the spirit of Christmas and all the goodwill that goes around

A picture says a thousand words

and sometimes those words are lies, but none the less, they are saying words and I like what this picture has to say--It reminds me to cherish the simple things in life.

Identity Issues @ the Animal House

(Note that this was posted on a previous blog many months ago--just thought it was worth re posting here at the animal house since it seems to say it all)

I want to point out here that these photos aren't only of our pets, but that only our pets would have identity issues.....


like our dog who thinks she is a cat--yes that is our beloved, yet very confused, dog Besi that is on the back of the couch, oh and how trashed our lovely house looks at this moment, obviously it was a picture taken on the weekend because my little helper gets the weekends off so our house tends to explode when she isn't here
Yes, that is lovely Bunn bun the watch rabbit, she is in charge of guarding the bathroom, or so she thinks, my husband reports she is doing a swell job, because when he gets up at 5 am to get ready for work she is always ready to bite his toe/foot/ankle when he tries to step foot in the bathroom

Oh and then there is Red, the beloved stray that "followed" John home one rainy day, he only weighed 2 lbs when we got him and now he is over 6 months old and weighs more then the kids, I swear if I knew he was going to get so big I would have left him out in the rain. Being that Dominic tortured this "little" guy so much when he was only 2 lbs, I had to carry him around like a baby to protect him, which is why this dog feels he is more like one of the kids then a dog, yep that big oaf Red sure fits in with those kids--"so where is my supper?" he asks
The only identity issue this little black bunny has is that he has no set identity yet, Dominic keeps changing his name, first it was bell bell, then it was chocolate (pronounced shocolet by Dominic) one day I heard him say Care bear, which I thought was cute but now Dominic says Care bear is a movie not a name--duhh mommy)

Can you guys please help us name this nameless bunny...what do you think we should call him?

PS--the little black bunny was given the name Skiddish, but Dominic now pronouces it as Licorish--gotto love Dominic's speech impediment (I can laugh at it cause I use to have one when I was little--wait, I still have one to some degree)

celebrity sleepover

so I just went to kiss Dominic tonight and I reminded him to scoot over in his bed so he doesn't roll off (he sleeps on a very high bed) and he told me he couldn't because 'that's special agent OSO'

little did I know we had a celebrity visitor spending the night, had I known that I would have changed the sheets and vacuumed, so I really hope he doesn't return to the disney channel and talk smack about our dirty house--heaven knows we don't want to make a bad impression preventing other celebrities to come and spend the night.

I love how imaginative Dominic is beginning to be--he comes up with some of the crasiest things, I always just forget to blog about them, but I am working on that

Halloween weekend ending in Horror

so the weekend started out fabulous, we went out to the waterpark at the villages for about 2 hours. Dominic went down the the adult body slide and loved it, it was definitely a first and a major indication to me that my baby is growing up. I then went to Bunco night 2 hours late but got their right as they were starting the game so I joined in and ended up being the one that lost the most games--yes, I was very proud.

Saturday morning came, and after we lounged around most the morning we finally got our buts in gear, got Dominic in his Costume, went and picked up Kay (John's 'daughter'--a long story I will explain later) and Patrick (the teenage boy John hangs out with, another long story I will explain later) and went to the pumpkin patch where we ran into Dominic's teacher and her family. The kids had tons of fun and we got lots of pics with my friend's camera (which is why I can't post any right now) and video which we got with the non-digital camcorder so I doubt I will ever be able to post it, but it is definitely something to watch if you are ever at our house.

After the pumpkin patch we went to Taco Bell because rumor had it you could get a free taco on halloween, I insisted it was only in the evening but John disagreed and insisted it was all day--well our lunch cost us $12 and didn't include any free tacos, even though the kids got a lot of compliments on their costumes. The reason it cost so much was because they guy who took our order messed it up and instead of charging me for the 99 cent bean and cheese burrito he charged me for the bean, beef, and cheese burrito which cost a lot more, and didn't taste good at all, unfortunately I was so hungry that it didn't sink in till after I ate half of it so john took 2 of the 4 we got back and exchanged them. John then ordered some drinks and ordered a med., I then told him to order a small, when the manager came to fix what the guy taking the order did she kicked him off the cash register (oops, didn't mean to get him booted to the back, I am sure he was happy to see us leave). We ended up not eating everything we got so we packed everything up on a bag and headed to the church.

The boys (John and Patrick) cleaned the church while the kids played around and I laid down on the couch resting. I could hear the kids running and screaming and playing and at one point I am sure they were playing with the organ and piano on the stand, not to mention the mic. I was definitely happy to head home.

Kay got dropped off with her pumpkin at her house and we headed to Goodwill where I picked up a few books for Dominic and we ran home to carve pumpkins and get our costumes on to go trick or treating.

Carving pumpkins isn't as easy as it looks, especially when your shild chooses a pumpkin more suitable for pumpkin pie then carving. The side were so stinking think I felt like I was trying to cut through a 2X4 instead of carve a pumpkin. I finally managed to carve the 3 pumpkins while John took the dogs for a walk (which reminds me, we did run to Lowes and Petsmart--where we got Red a new chocker collar so he wouldn't pull so hard when we walk him, yet another story for another post) The pumpkins turned out cute, I just wish we could have gotten a picture of them.

Running late, I decided to change and attempt to look like an extra in GREASE, burnt my finger trying to curl my hair, but I think I pulled it off, we then went and joined Marty and took the kids to the mall. turns out I was right about the trick or treating at the mall starting at 5 and since we showed up at 6 most the stores were already out of candy, so it didn't take us long to finish up there and we headed off to find a good place to go trick or treating.

WE took a pit stop at a gas station to let the kids go potty, unfortunately the bathroom wasn't to the kids liking so they both refused--oh joy.

there was a neighborhood that seems to be known for being a great area to trick or treat, they even had cops on bicycles monitoring the streets, we ofcourse were late and so the houses with candy were definitely few and far between so we did a lot of walking. The neat part about this neighborhood was that if they had candy they would be outside handing it out, we didn't have to go door to door knocking. There were a few houses where the people weren't outside and john wouldn't let us knock but every now and again we would see other kids knocking and if they got candy we soon followed.

Halloween was definitely fun and profitable, but it came to an abrumpt end after we visited Dominic's sunday school teacher's house we had to head back to my friends house, we decided to hit up a few places in her neighborhood, including the house that my husband calls the "girlfriends past" house because it had a bunch of gravestones in the front yard with girl's names on them and a huge one labeled 'graveyard of girlfriends past.' this house definitely went all out, the man was standing in the front yard and 2 older teenage boys were dressed up as zombies, one of which was eating a fake human head.

Dominic has finally grasped the concept that things at Halloween are fake--it has been a hard concept for him to grasp, but he seems to have finally grasped it, unfortunately Kay hasn't. As the 'Zombie' eating the fake human head inched his way closer Kay freaked and screamed bloody murder, refusing to accept the candy and resulting in me lsoing my cool and yelling at John to come and get her. She was so scared she just stood their screaming and since she is too heavy for me to lift and carry John had to come and get her cause she wouldn't move because she wasn't going to take her eye of of that Zombie and she didn't care what I said about it being fake. Luckily Daddy John was their to save her. Dominic on the other hand tried to get as much candy as he could, he didn't care who was eating what as long as it wasn't his candy.

Now after that exciting weekend dominic is now super sick and super contagious, we took him to the doc monday and he has an ear infection and was given antibiotics, and so hopefully it will help.

No more rat

Oh, I forgot to mention, when we got home from the halloween carnival saturday night John discovered the dead rat laying in the hallway, he disposed of it properly. It was huge, it was ugly, and it was definitely dead--despite all of that I really wish I had a camera to take a picture so I could post it on here

We have a rat

Yes, I know we have a lot of animals already, I have already admitted defeat, as far as I am concerened having 2 dogs and 2 bunnies, not to mention all the kids that come and go through this house, is possibly more than I can handle. So why do we now have a rat? Because it has yet to eat the poison we have stuck out for it to eat--yes this is an unwelcome visitor who we hope will come to a nasty devise sooner rather than later.

As I sit here and wonder I am thinking about poor little dirty who came up missing over a month ago--the little kitten we got so it could eat the mice in our carport--well we thought they were mice, turns out they were rats. I now sit and wonder if our new little visitor had anything to do with little Dirty's disapearance because I saw it the other night while it ran from the dinning room into the frontroom and it was most definitely bigger than Dirty was before he came up missing.

I have been debating getting another cat to ensure that we get no more little visitors, it would have to stay outside because of my son's allergies ((I know he is allergic to dogs, and therefore we shouldn't have dogs, discussed that with the doctor and because of the breed of dog it is acceptable so don't judge me)) and so we would have to worry about shots and getting it fixed and all the joys that accompany having those things done to an outside cat--but on the plus side, we might no longer have little visitors that I happen upon in the middle of the night as I try to put dinner away.

Either way, if you were wondering, we have since discovered that Red was attempting to get the rat when he ate the couch, so once the rat has met his nasty dimise we will be getting a new Sofa, so if anybody has any good suggestions please share

MY best friend Melody Jones

Todays blog is actually going to be a shout out for a dear friend of mine, I met her about 5 yrs ago when I was pregnant with my son, out of the blue I felt inspired to offer her a bag of shoes a co-worker gave me that didn't fit and later she told me that I was an answer to her prayers, and that she had said a prayer for shoes and how blessed she felt when I suddenly asked her (whom I had only met a few Sundays before) if she could use them.

Anyhow, this friend of mine has been a stay at home mom as long as I could remember and has recently returned to the working field which shocked me, she loved being a stay at home mom to her 4 children, she even home schooled, so I was rather shocked that she was letting her husband take some time off school and work to stay home with the kids while she worked outside of the home--she informed me she was doing it because she wanted to help people and because she felt it was what God wanted her to do.

We actually had a rather long conversation just a day or 2 ago about how she felt, and I agreed, that the skills she had learned these last fews years being a stay at home mom while her husband attended college and her family grew from 2 kids to 4 kids, well lets just say this lady can budget, and she felt like the she could use this skill to help others, mainly that she could use this skill to help others save their homes.

I definitely agree with her, if she can make meals for a family of six and only spend about $60 a month doing it (I think at one point she spent less than that), they have excellent credit, their vehicle was paid off--I mean she was able to do everything I wish I could do, but never did, and it wasn't easy, it wasn't like she had a rich grandpa who paid for everything--no she is a bargain hunter, she has this amazing ability to find a bargain and jump while the going is hot, and on top of her amazing money saving skills she also has this amazing faith, and the point that she is truly doing this to help others makes me believe that this world is definitely going to be a better place because she is apart of it.

Anyhow, with that said, I wanted to ask you all to spread the word that Melody Jones is available to help them not only sort out their finances but to also save their homes--this isn't a scam, she isn't out to take your money--I usually do not trust these types of things, but I trust her and i know anything she tries to do she is doing for the right reasons, so if you are struggling please give her a call to see if she can help you out (she says to mention Meagan sent you, you don't have to but it would at least help her figure out where everyone is getting her number from) you can call her on her cell at  801-688-2985 and her alternate phone number is 801-528-6719--she lives in Utah but can do this over the phone.  The company she goes through has a webpage at www.fortifiedfinancial.com where you can find out more details on what the company (known as Fortified Financials) does, they specialize in loan modification, but trust me when I say, just call her up and talk to her, she can do wonders for finances.

We moved to texas over 3 years ago when we were no longer able to afford the town home we purchased, once the 2 yrs fixed rate was up and the Adjustable rate mortgage kicked in we just couldn't afford it, she watched as we struggled, we had a lot of debt that built up in 2 yrs (I went from perfect credit to not even being able to sign on a car loan--well anyhow, it is a long story for another day) we tried to go through a different company and that company was a complete joke, they talked big but when it came down to it they weren't even able to negotiate with all our debtors we were still getting collection calls and when I finally went off on a collection rep about how we were doing this and they weren't to be calling us the guy enlightened me that the company we were going through was a joke and a waste of money, that not only could they still call us (which the company had promised wouldn't/couldn't happen) but that they didn't have to accept their proposals (and they didn't) and because of the company they wouldn't because everyone knew that company was a scam--we later found this out to be the truth, the company screwed up most our payments and when we tried to contact a few other companies they were unable to help us because once you sign with one company another company isn't able to touch you for like 5 years and we didn't have 5 years we were losing our house in 3 months so we just packed up, moved out and were lucky enough to sell it within days of foreclosure--i really wish Melody would have known then what she knows now because she could have saved us a lot of heartache and tears--when we moved out we had my brother and a family friend living with us and they both had to find new places to live, this didn't just affect us, this seemed to effect everyone.

I am just trying to say, don't wait till you are backed in the corner, don't think there are no options, give her a call, she knows the economy started going down hill when people started to lose their houses, and so she knows the one way to keep us from entering another depression is to keep others from losing their homes--she is truly inspired.

well, this has turned out to be a lot longer than I had expected, i just don't know of any quick way to say how much I trust melody and anything she does.  Good luck ya'll

To grandfathers house....

To start off, 3 yrs ago we moved from Utah to Texas, a few months after moving here I landed a job as a flight attendant and the flight benefits allowed us to fly home and visit family and friends in Utah and Nevada for not very much money (unless of course a flight was canceled and we ended up spending the day in the airport or ridding the greyhound from Vegas to Fillmore, or something like that) Unfortunately when I took my sick leave last year i had to give up my flight benefits, which means no more trips to grandma's or grandpa's house and since my dad used my benefits to visit us, this also meant Grandpa couldn't visit as much.

Well, it has been well over a year since we last visited Utah, the boys were the last ones to visit Utah, they made it on the plane and I didn't, I figure it has been atleast 2 yrs since I have been to visit my Mom in Utah and remember going in Oct. 2007 to go and visit Salt Lake, I don't remember any trips after that, like I said though the boys have since been but it has been a year. One must say in the year I had the flight benefits our little boy became quite accustom to flying, so much that he still mentions it quite a lot, he loves airplanes and has probably wasted a forest of trees making paper airplanes.

Well this weekend we have been cleaning out the carport (and by we, I mean John) and some bags we have in huge trash bags have been brought inside and Dominic found a little carry on bag and he went and packed it full of toys and books (he says, I haven't looked to see just what he packed) and he came and stuck his head in the bathroom and informed me that dad was going to take him to the airport and he was going to go and visit Grandpa, at first I played with, thinking he was pretending, and I told him he ought to call his grandpa--well grandpa agreed and jokingly I told my dad all he had in his bag was toys and books so they would have to get him clothes--Dominic at that point excitingly announces he has clothes and runs to his room--this was about the time I realized Dominic was seriously about going to Grandpa's and the tears that soon followed were enough to make me want to cry.

How exactly do you explain to a 4 yr old that they can't just go and see Grandpa (or grandma) like they use to? Before it didn't matter how much money we had we just got on a plane and went--sometimes Dominic didn't even care what plane, he just wanted to board a plane and thought all planes went to grandpa's, but that is a different story for a different time. I tried to explain to him that we could only do that when mommy would fly a lot but now that mommy is home more and doesn't fly we don't get to fly anymore--he seriously looked at me like that was completely unfair, that now not only does he have to see mom all the time but because of that he doesn't get to see his bested buddy grandpa, so before he could say anything to that affect I quickly told him that we were trying to save up some money so we could take him to grandpa's for Christmas.

I have wanted to take Dominic to Temple Square to see the lights so bad--unfortunately we never made it with himto see them at night, even when we lived in Utah , we actually haven't been to see the lights at temple square at night since about a week before Dominic was born, John and I went there together but by the time we got there i had to go to the bathroom (being pregnant and all) and all the lines to the bathroom were so long we ended up walking the 2 blocks back to the credit Union where my dad was to use the bathroom, we were going to return but then Dominic was born and after our stay in the hospital and Dominic being so early and tiny we didn't think it appropriate to take him out at night to see lights, the next year we took him during the day but felt it way too cold to take him at night, and then we moved in the summer...every year since then we have droven around Tyler to see the christmas lights a few days before Christmas and he always enjoys that so I am really hoping to be able to make it to Utah this Christmas so I can take him to see the lights at Temple Square (as well as family and friends and all that too) I was thinking maybe if I could score some cheap ticket Dominic took take a week off of school and him and I could fly to Utah for his Birthday and either return right before Christmas or have John follow closer to Christmas--i figure even if we drive right before Christmas it won't be that expensive because we can save gas by not having to use the air conditioner

Either way, right now it is just a dream/fantasy, with no money in our bank account and bills coming out our ears it seems it might have to be something we put off till next year--either way, I realized today that Dominic is almost at age to be an unaccompanied minor so now I am trying to remember if they can fly unaccompanied at the age of 5 or 6 or was it even 8? and in addition to that, do i trust him to fly unaccompanied even if the airlines permit it?

the joys of children

I wanted to post an inspirational post about parenting and the joys of children, unfortunately, we are having people over for dinner and I haven't even prepared the food, not to mention the children destroyed my clean house so I have to reclean it, if that wasn't the case this so would be a post about how much children bless my life--well maybe next time

wish me luck

Note to self--Cheerios and Goldfish crackers go moldy when left under ones couch

It's my party

And what a party it was, on friday we went to CiCi Pizza, and while there we toured a firetruck, met barney and bounced in a bounce house, then we went out to the Villages to play putt putt Golf with the kids, and boy was that exciting, we got some good video to share once we figure out how.

Today was exciting, it had it's good and it's bad, but everything worked out rather well, especially when daddy helped cook dinner, and even finished loading the dishwasher.

AAAAWWWWWW

I have spent the last few days preparing for the state to stop by and check out our lovely home, anyhow, a few little darlings have been sleeping at our house and tonight is the first night that they have spent at home in a few days, and low and behold I was up late checking out craigslist.com when I hear what sounds like someone breaking into the house, so I hollor at John who comes out yelling to blame my dog only to discover the ceiling in Dominic's room has collapsed right onto the bed that one of those precious little angels had been (and would have been if he was here) sleeping on--I just thank the great Lord above that our little guests were safely tucked in at their home tonight and not ours--tomorrow is going to be a busy day, so wish me luck and now I am going to bed so I can be well rested to deal with the state, my lanlord and hopefully the person sent to fix the hole in my son's ceiling

The Water Fountain

I think this was a few weeks ago, before cutting off 2 to 3 feet of hair, back when even when I rushed washing my hair in the shower I still ended up in there for at least 3o minutes, Anyhow, Dominic was being so good and quiet, or so I thought, until I realized he wasn't in his room, he wasn't in the house at all, I ran and looked out the back window, yelling his name, but he wasn't in the back yard either, I freaked, I ran to the front door screaming his name in a panic I threw open the front door and to my suprise there he is safe and sound in the front yard, and I had to run back into the house to get the camera and take this picture

granted, I had to hurry and get the pisture because in my shock of what I found my first reaction was to yell "turn off that water and get your but inside and in a corner, so as he dashed to turn the water off I realized just how neat that was, Our own gas can water fountain. Now this isn't the first time Dominic has somehow stubbled across one of daddy's gas can's and I am constantly
reminding (he calls it nagging) him to keep them out of site, out of reach, and out of gas...obviously he doesn't believe me, because as Dominic ran into the house a very definite flamable smelling aroma entered the house with him, and after re-examining this photo I must say we were definitely lucky nobody threw a cigarrette out their car window while driving by (and my neighor thought it was bad when one of our tree branches fell on his room damaging 2 shingles, granted it would have made his house the local "hot spot")

So a reminder to all those who think a gas can with the tiniest bit of gas in it can't be dangerous, if you don't put it out of reach, out of sight, and make sure it is completely out of gas, you might find out that a simple thing like this little gas can and that normal looking water hose can combine to make this












but in all seriousness, please remember to empty out the gas can, as not only is it super flamable and we were lucky that neither of our houses caught on fire, but also extremely lucky that Dominic didn't try to drink it.

PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, THIS STUNT WAS PREFORMED BY A TRAINED 4 YR OLD WITH EXTENSIVE TRAINING IN MISBEHAVING AND TROUBLE MAKING, SAID 4 YR OLD WAS PUNISHED AND AS A RESULT HE CAUTIONS ALL OTHERS TO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME unless they have purchased, read, and understand all his instructions and warnings, if you would like to get a copy of his instructions and warnings you can for a mere $19.95, see the legal aspects/ad below:

and now for the legal aspect, Dominic has copyrighted his design and so if you want one of these delightful fountains you will need to purchase the right to display it in your own yard, but he has agreed to sell that privelge for a mere $19.95, he will not only sell you the privelge to display such an amazing gountain in your yard, but for that $19.95 he will also include photos of what it is suppose to look like, the design he came up with all on his own, instructions on how to construct it, and the typical warnings that come with any instructions, one of which is, DON'T USE A GAS CAN WHICH ALREADY HAS GAS IN IT AS IT MAY RESULT IN A FIRE HAZARD!

My quiet boys

Most of you know this already, but some of you may not, I live with some very quiet sneaky boys, i.e. John, and Dominic. John, is so nice in the mornings that he quietly gets ready for work and sneaks out the door without disturbing me (mommy Meagan does need her sleep) and most mornings I appreciate that, but lately I have been asking him to wake me up, so I can shower while he is home and was also trying to work it out so that I could walk him part way to work to get my some much needed extra exercise, and another reason why I keep asking him to wake me up is my quiet boy number 2.

Dominic, my son, who loves his momma very much, has learned from Daddy's example and he too is very quiet in the mornings and lets me sleep, the only problem is his motive for letting me sleep, and that is he has figured out if my sleep is undesturbed, his ability to do and eat what he wants while I sleep is undesterbed, but ultimately it is when I shower that he seems to be the quietest, because I can always wake up and sneak up on him catching him in the act, but when I shower he knows that when the water shuts off he has to stop doing what he is doing or he will get caught, he has some warning time, I often wonder what I would catch him doing if I left the shower running and stepped out of the bathroom to check on him.

Now, don't get me wrong, I do appreciate their generousity but I am thinking of investing in my own alarm clock because as you will see in posts to follow, Dominic has gotten a little too adventuring during my short showers (OK, so sometimes I find my 5 minute showers turning into 10 minute soaks in the tub, but serious people, I truly thought Dominic was still sitting watching Handy Manny--I have learned better, though)

Guard Dog Red

SO small,

so sick

yet so loving

he came to us on a cold stormy day in january

We cleaned him up

fed him food

took him to the vet

oh, how we loved to play with you

2 lbs 15 ouces doesn't last long

before we knew it you grew rather tall

the lbs kept adding,

you loe to fetch the ball

but late at night while all is well

you wait beside me on the couch

I hear you snoring

but then you jerk

what did you hear?

your head pops up,

you look around

nothing to worry

your here now

then a car door opens,

your ear perks up

I hear a growl

your eyes are closed,

your head still on the couch,

but you're still growling to let them know

don't be fooled by what looks to be a sleeping dog

Guard dog Red is on the job,

he's bigger now

and he won't let anything happen to the family that took him in from the cold

(and on that note, Red has a vet's appointment on Aug 12th)

Never alone....

The Door has closed,

Goodbyes where said

As the cars drive away I notice the silence of an empty house,

Even John and Dominic have left to run errands,

it is just me, alone at last

So I pick up the laptop

I sit on the couch

I get all sorts of comfortable

and right as soon as I begin to soak in the feeling of being a lone

I am quickly reminded by 2 mangy dogs tug-a-waring over a toy that I am never alone

at least not while I am at The Animal House

(Which is actually good, because I am extremely afraid of being alone)

The animal House has some new additions...

I want to tell you all about a few changes we have made...

Friday we had a group of guys come out and rate our house on energy efficency of our Air Conditioner and we failed big time, they made some changes to improve things, and so did we, and now instead of a doggy door made out of plywood and a black trashbag we have a new doggy door that John has constructed out of 1x1's and plexi-glass that we just happened to have laying around. The dogs are a bit concerned about their new doggy door and I think that is because they looks so good they think it is actually the window, but we have been working with them on getting use to going out it.

Some of the benefits of this new doggy door is not only that it saves energy by not letting all the cold air out, but John didn't screw it into the window like the last one--it is secured to some degree but in an emegency can be removed and the window can be used by all as an emergency exit which brings us one step closer to becoming state certified because one of there requirments is 2 emergency exits, one neither of which can be the kitchen door--SO YEAH ME (as London Typton would say)

Also, since the doogy door looked so nice and John was on a roll I was able to convince him to finally put up the wood fence panels on the side of the House where the vegitable garden is and so now the bunnies have an area of their own where their cage can go and they won't be bothered by the dogs, after the scare we had when Red knocked over the cage last week we realized hwo big a problem having the bunnies in the backyard could really be. Also, now that we have an area outside the back yard that is fenced in we have an area where we can pitch the tent for camp outs, and were we can set up the blow up pool without fear of the dogs puncturing it--not all at once because the area still is small, but we can now do things that we have been prevented from doing because fo fear that the dogs would be a problem--not only that, but if we ever have to we can lock the dogs in that area while we occupy the back yard dog free--See there are so many possabilities

SO, I am sorry iI haven't been on all weekend, but as you all can see, I have had a very busy week getting all this stuff taken care of --telling John what to do can be a full time job in and of itself ;)

And for all of you who are wondering, my laptop has finally been sent out for repairs and should be returning to us fuly functioning at the end of the month so I will be going back through these posts and posting pictures then.

Play Dough

Who invented playdough? I don't know whether to hug them or hate them, I love how happy and content the children are when they play with it, I hate the mess that some how always creates. Play Dough, in my opinion, might just be one of the simplest educational toys you can get, and this is why I love it:

• the bright colors stimulate a young childs mind
• it can help a child learn about colors
• a child has fun with playdough whether playing by themself or with 20 other kids
• playdough doesn't need accesories
• it can honestly entertain a child for hours
• Imagination builder--need I say more

I only have a few gripes about playdough--the mess it makes and how it seems to be a one time only thing, cause after you give a child playdough it always seems to go from solid color to marble in a matter of secondse--why is this?

Child proofing

SO a few weeks ago we bought this childgate that goes in wide doorways, we use it to block the walkway from the front room to the dinning room, it is metal and very sturdy so we were certain it coudl outstand Dominic, he though figured out how to open the door, and since we don't have all that much need to keep the door closed it stays open most the time, the problem is that the gate wasn't deigned to sit flush with the floor and so this little bar hangs about 2 inches off the floor causing anybody who doesn't realize its presence to trip over it, causing it to be more of a hazard than a help (oh the storied I could tell)

NOW, I ask you all--what childproofing item do you feel does more damage than good? which one do you feel the house would be safer without? (you all know atleast one)

animal house going hairless for the summer

With temperatures reaching well over 100 degrees the other day we have decided to go hairless--well John has anyways. I cut over 2 ft of hair off, trimmed dominics down from 2 inches to half a centemeter---sorta.....next the dogs, wait, Besi is short haird and Red was shaved last month (kinda) either way, we have definately got our money out of those $10 clippers from walmart...I will post pics later

Camping out on the tramp

I don't have time to post a long post right now as we are getting ready to run out the door to do some more 4th of July Celebrating, but I did want to pop in and say that last night Dominic had a friend sleep over and daddy slept with them out on the trampoline--that is a special treat.

I started the night out there but came in about midnight so I could use my Cpap mask and get to sleep (all the boys were asleep at this point) and when I came in I found that even though we were all outside sleeping the dogs were still assuming there regular bedtime spots--Besi on our bed, and Red on the floor next to it, laying on some blankets, and to think we thought that was where they felt they could protect us best, we should have known they slept there cause they liked it and that they wouldn't be sleeping out with us last night.

Gotto love our dogs and how they are still in denial that they are, infact, actual dogs.

I will post pics later, by the way

sorry it took so long to post the pics

No name (the bunnie) Has an official name

I forgot to tell you all that John and I finally decided on an official name for No Name the male bunnie, and as much as I thought No Name would be his official name, and as much as the kids wanted to name it Care Bear or its original name Bell Bell, we have decided the best name for him would be Skiddish, he is so small and everything around our house is so big and lound that he can't help it if he is a bit Skittish, but since we come from Utah where "T" sound more like "D" we Utahn'ed his name and now call him Skiddish.

Excitement

Image by roberthuffstutter via Flickr

OK, so today was an even more exciting day than we had originally planned it to be, we had 2 new additions arrive at our house around 4 am, I would like to say all the commotion they made woke us up but we actually were already awake, I woke up at 3, Dominic woke up about 3:45, and John joined the crew around 4--granted he woke up cause his alarm went off, he had to leave early to get "Jessica" since her car broke down yesterday and so she couldn't drive here at her usual time today, instead John had to go and pick her up before he went to work.





Anyhow, the commotion started about 4 am, but I didn't find out who was really the cause till about 7:45, at which point I tried to welcome the 2 little strangers into the home, I flea bathed them and then we let them outside. Unfortunately Red is just fine being the baby of the family and was not about to let 2 strays take his place, and so before he could literally kill the 2 puppies we had to seperate him from the bunch--but that didn't work out so smoothly.






Anyhow, we finally decided what I already knew--it wasn't meant to be, but unfortunately the new puppies didn't see it that way, I never thought I could keep them, but I at least thought we could hold on to them till we found them a new home. Either way, the commotion the dogs were making and the point that I had little sleep the night before made for a bad equation, I finally decided to crate the puppies on the front porch till I could figure out what to do with them--silence is bliss, and that is what we experienced while they were in the crate.






About 3 pm I decided they needed to be walked and that was when we came to the brilliant idea of how to get them a new home--no we didn't drop them on the side of the rode, we just took them for a walk without a leash and they were so eager to join some other kids "jessica" said she figured that was their home and left them there (way to go "Jessica") either way, they are probably safer there then they were here with attack dog Red (note to self, Red does not do well with other male dogs)


Oh and if having the visitors for 12 hours wasn't bad enough, during that time we decided to take the bunnies outside, well Skiddish got out of "Jessica's" hands and Red for the first time tried to eat him, it wasn't pretty but Skiddish (our male baby bunny) survived and was safely returned to the cage after the 5 minutes it took us chasing Red and him before we finally caught him, speaking about that, now that all is said and done (we had a small dinner party) we should probably go and let those 2 little bunnies inside to continue guarding their "bathroom"

Knowing our luck our little visitors will return biright and early tomorrow morning.

update:
to our amazement it has been a while and they have yet to return--Yeah, turns out they just needed to be reminded that they had a home of their own.