Double the Dog

Just back from the vet. Lisi is double the size of when we got her. Now rounding out at 24 lbs. I'll post a picture I just took this afternoon...

The vet was so impressed with her ability to sit, down, wait, at the ripe old age of 12 weeks. He called in a tech lady to see it and said, 'this puppy is definitely ahead of the curve'. But of course!!!

The un-ending job

I think I put in my list of "100 list" that I like a clean house. Well... as I was once again vacuuming, I was thinking of a job of a homemaker. It is never 'done'. My dear husband is a writer of humongous appraisal reports. And when the job is done and he sends off the big thing, that job is 'done' and then he moves on to the next job. I think that is the frustration of stay-at-home moms. It is never just.... done! Our dear ones are wearing clothes that will need to be washed, the food is being digested, the house will once again get full of clutter, crumbs, and dust, the bills will keep coming in. The dog will once again need to be walked. I think you get the point. Oh sure, I do have moments when the house is spotless, the cupboards and fridge are full and the laundry baskets empty. It is a feeling of "whew!!!" (that lasts about 10 minutes). And then it is back to tasks at hand. I don't think anyone but another wife/mother can understand what I'm talking about. But anywhoo, that was my thought of the day. Looking forward to a wonderful weekend ahead. A little friend of the girls will come to play together tomorrow. Sunday we'll have Gpa and Gma D. here for noon after u. meeting and Gpa and Gma R. here for supper! The kids will be very happy!!! Gpa and Gma R. are getting home today from being gone a month to China and Hawaii. Will be fun to hear of their trip. And my dad is anxious to meet Lisi. He loves dogs and had a hey-day with Lincoln. How many dog-Grandpas go out and buy a special box of treats to have 'on hand' when he comes.

Let Me Hold You Longer

We brought home another pile of books at the library and as I read one last night to Trevor and Mira it made me cry. It is by Karen Kingsbury with the above title. It isn't about 'firsts', it is about 'lasts'. The last time we needed to get up in the night with a baby, the last time we held them on our hip, the last colored picture... and it goes through the life of a little boy and ends with him going to college. We don't take pictures of 'lasts', we take pictures of 'firsts'. I've thought about that a lot as we've left babies and toddlers behind. There was a time when there was the last time I nursed, the last bottle, the last diaper change, the last butt-wiping. And when we're doing it, we don't know it is really the last. And that is a blessing, or we'd be sad as we go through life. So enjoy the moments knowing that some of them will be the 'last' time we do it....

On a silly note, I'm sure thankful that I had the last puppy 'pee spot' on the kitchen floor!!!

Sunday sillies

Before we left for meeting, I took a couple of pictures of the kids. It just turned out they all were wearing navy and looked so cute together!

We had a very nice past week and weekend. Fun to have the kids off school and so we went to Karen's in Rockford for the day and left the girls for 24 hours. Our workers were with us this weekend. I love how the house feels having workers around. They bring so much and it isn't tangible.

Now off to kindergarten and I'm sure another story!

Some random thoughts

* Did winter win? I found myself thinking today in the very bitter cold that I don't even want to complain about it anymore. The elements have beaten us into submission. It is too redundant to talk about extreme temps, record snows, scary ice... so I guess I just will say 'mercy.. you got us this time'.

* I like this blog thing. Not necessarily contributing, but lurking in on other person's pages. But I have some worries about it. It takes time. And I fear it might be robbing me of doing other valuable things, having right thoughts, or being a help to another. And after hopping around the other day I asked myself, 'why am I reading about these people in Manitoba that I don't even know???

* Zach (a boy in Mira's room) told me at lunch today (while I was working as an aide, 'Mrs. Debelak, I'm leaving for FL tomorrow! Isn't that exciting?' Yes! I'm very excited for you! (I find him the most annoying in the room at times and I'm working in there tomorrow).

* Lisi hasn't had an accident since the fateful Valentine's fiasco when she peed twice and I sprained my ankle (still in recovery mode). She's almost fun now.

* Freddy (our 3-year old Betta) is suffering from the new addition. As I type this I realize his water needs changing again. He's been a healthy sea-farer for a long time in this house.

* I think my mind is completely empty now. As my brother would say, 'that isn't very hard'. So I better check the back of my eyelids pretty soon.

Saturday sleepies

Whew! I sure love my new boy at this house. He's a good cuddler. But after being outside with him for just an hour, my bed felt mighty cozy!!!

Friday's finish

Hi. I don't have much to add for thoughts of the day. No potty accidents (mine or the puppy's!). tee-hee. I was vigilent as can be. My ankle update is somewhat reduced swelling, but very, very purple all over the foot and ankle (ick). Looking forward to the weekend. Duane may take the kids sledding tomorrow. I might stay close to home with the pup and make rolls or something. The thought of crawling up a hill with a sore ankle doesn't appeal. Or maybe I'll just tag along and watch. My folks are still galavanting along in China. Hi Dad and Mom! Stay warm there and enjoy your days. My nephew who is a NIU student is luckily doing an internship in Chicago and not part of the shooting in DeKalb. Scary stuff. Happy Belated birthday Nathan! G'night my fellow bloggers.

Thursday's thoughts

As promised. Happy V's Day by the way!!!

1) It is snowing. Only 1-2" expected tonight. But I just see we have a NEW WATCH for Saturday night/Sunday. Expecting 6-10" on top of the 70 something inches that have come down so far this season. Global warming anyone? Good grief.

2) I sprained my ankle today. Hauling in Sam's Club stuff, missed the last step going downstairs. Twisted it good. It is fat and ugly. But I'm still walking on it. I have to. Because...

3) I have a puppy. One that was highly dispppointing today. She actually peed in her crate. Not a good thing at all. Then after I was just cleaning that all up, she squatted by me and had another little puddle at my feet. Does the SPCA come if you wring a puppy's neck? Are there visible signs of abuse from neck-wringing? Just kidding on that. I realize she's 10 weeks and still a baby (without the benefit of a Huggies or Pampers covering her little behind). I'm anxious for potty training tips of any kind. I was awesome with our kids. Not with a stoopid (sic) puppy.

4) My dear spouse brought home a dozen roses last night. He's a nice guy. :-)

5) I don't have to work at school tomorrow! My first 'free' day this week without seeing the halls of Prairie Elementary. I might go see my friend Sarah. She's worse off than me. And I haven't been with Ella in a spell, so I need to go get a hug from her.

And... that's all folks! I wonder about Friday's finale?

Wednesday wonder

Why is it when winter starts that 12 degrees feels sooooo cold. And then after the brutal winter we've had so far... I thought 12 felt pretty dandy this morning as I waited for pup to poo. Strange!

A wonderful study here tonight.

Just didn't want to disappoint the bloggers out there that I dropped the ball on Wednesday.

Thursday's thoughts anyone?

Tuesday trouble

So I come home from lunch duty at the school with my arms full of groceries. In a 10 minute span this is what happens:

1) I stop to go potty and in comes Lisi and away she goes with the end of the toilet paper in her mouth. She got about 30' from me before I could catch her (fumbling to get my britches back up)

2) I've got my head stuck in the pantry and realize that I haven't seen the puppy in about 45 seconds (never a good thing). She's over by her crate hiding and shredding a brown paper bag to the teeniest of pieces.

3) I'm trying to enjoy my lunch and I look over and she's trying to pull her big quilt out of the crate from the side (a very small opening) and so she basically is hauling her crate sideways some distance with the quilt in her tiny, razor sharp teeth.

And on it goes...

Did I mention we're getting another 4" today?

Don't expect Wednesday wonderings... I'm not a daily blogger (so far anyway)

Monday musings

Hi to all. Had a great past weekend. But it was just terribly cold here. Should I quit complaining about our winter? Ok... I'll try. Did some errand running on Saturday morning. Then Sat. supper we had Klenk's and Synstad's come for pizza supper. Wasn't anything glamorous, but sure fun to have last minute company like that. Sunday was a lovely morning meeting. Then we had Schueler's come join us for a last minute Sunday dinner. Somehow, it all worked out. Sarah had surgery last week and has a bum knee for awhile now. Poor thing. Kids always enjoy all the play time with friends and I love the adult-time with our friends here. Again, we're very fortunate to have so many running the race by our side in this area...

And back to Monday we go. I just spent the morning in Mira's room helping the 5/6 year old crowd get a handle on what pennies are. But poor Hunter decided about half-way through that he missed his mom and was just about hysterical. I tried to calm him down and then he says, 'my head feels hot and I think I'm going to puke'. Boy did I move away fast (he didn't). Another boy told me he'd like to see his dad 'Tony' more, but right after work he has to go back to jail. Another told me his dad died in a car accident. Another girl told me, 'my mom and dad aren't married but they are talking about it and so me and my sister might get to be flower girls and my brother would carry the ring, but I don't think they'll get married'. Boy, these little kids sure have some intersting lives. I'm on lunch room duty again T/Th this week. It is BRRRR-CHILLY standing out there making sure the kindergarteners don't self-destruct the 20 minutes they are out there. So better get on to the other mundane things of life... laundry, bread making, bill paying, sweeping, and on it goes.

And the latest Lisi update: she has it figured out on 'sit, come (almost), her name, give, off', and so I think she's brilliant. And then she pees. Or worse. Only two accidents in the past 4 days, but I still find it horrifying. Lucky for us and the house she only has kitchen privileges. But still!!!

Happy Monday!

Snow Day!

We're getting a bunch of snow today. They said it'll be 12" before it is done, so we'll see. We've had quite the winter. The kids are off school for the 2nd Wednesday in a row. They are enjoying the outside winter wonderland. Mom is inside making a big ol' pot of spaghetti sauce to keep my Italian husband happy! Lisi is doing better by the day. She's very good with the 'sit' command, hasn't gone potty in the house for a couple of days, and is learning her routine. Here's a few pictures since last time. We celebrated Grandma D's birthday here last week, so hope to include one of her too! Happy Birthday Grandma and mom!

An accident free day...

It is official. I am trained. Not Lisi... the mother. I was thinking how absurd it is for me to stand in the snow on a dark and cold Saturday night wishing this little ball of fur would do her business. Then make a big fuss and celebrate when she does finally go. Didn't I just celebrate the end of diapers only 3 years ago??? But she's working her magic on me... and today I almost really liked her for a bit! She's very good with her name, knows 'NO' and will come up and sit and look very serious if I'm holding a Charley Bear treat.

The kids had a great time skating at Stier's this afternoon. Perfect ice and perfect weather. I even laced up and didn't forget how to loop-de-loo!

Better go do something more meaningful on this Saturday night now...

Day 2...

Well, the new world of puppy has been fun, challenging, grueling, frustrating, adorable, tiring, and silly. The first night I was up every two hours with a big HOWL. Last night went much better. Took Lisi out at 1:45 and then she was up again at 5:30, so that wasn't toooo bad. I can only think it'll get better. She's better in her crate, but still protests at times. I'll post a couple more pictures.

Last night was Rayna's winter concert. Will try to post one or two of her too. She loves to sing for sure!

Today I take Lisi in to Rayna's room for a little socializing and then a vet appointment. Tonight, Gpa and Gma D. come for supper to celebrate Grandma's birthday yesterday. Gpa and Gma R. flew all yesterday and some in the night to Hong Kong. They'll be there for convention, go into mainland China for a bit and then on to Maui for a week. Must be nice! They are blessed with health to be able to take on a trip like that. Hope you're having fun mom and dad!!!