On the first evening of Daylight Savings Time.

The bane of parents of young children trying to get them in bed on time, an hour earlier.  Sigh.

S went down beautifully.

G not so much.  In fact, it is 9pm and we just had the following conversation:

G:  Mommy, I’m scared

Me:  Ok, go to bed, talk to God about it.  He’ll help you not be scared.

(a few minutes later he comes out again)

G:  Mommy, God told me that S is asleep.

Me:  He did, huh?

G:  Yes.

Me:  Did He also tell you not to be scared?

G:  Yes.

Me:  Did God tell you there were no monsters?

G:  no…

(a minute later…)

g:  Mommy, God said I could read more books…

(this is a classic delay tactic to avoid going to bed, but I had to give him credit for creativity, it made me laugh out loud)

(another few minutes later)

G:  Mommy!  I love Jesus!

(I couldn’t help but grin.)

(a few minutes before that…)

G:  Mommy, God said he’s holding on, and letting go…

(I’m not sure of the meaning of that one, but it means something to G I guess)

G:  Mommy, Jesus loves Winnie the Pooh

(Now, he’s really pushing the limits, but it sure still is cute)

G:  Mommy, Jesus wants to play the computer with me, he doesn’t want to go to bed

Me:  G, God wants you to go to bed.

G:  God didn’t say that.

Me:  Well who do you think put me in charge?

Never a dull moment…

Both my children are monkeys. They climb everything with ease.

I was walking leisurely along with the Hunt-ster by my side and I turned back to see where the rest of the fam was in catching up to me.  S was standing with her foot poised over what I thought was just a very large leaf.

VERY.  Large.  Leaf.

She kept insisting she was going to squish it and I couldn’t imagine why she would want to squish a leaf, but hey, she’s two.  That’s quite an imagination she has going on there.

C-r-u-n-c-h.

That was no leaf.  Look at the bug in the below picture – this was the one just like it that was encountered on our way back home.  Just like it – only HALF the size.  Yes, the bug S squished so gruesomely was DOUBLE the size of this one.

HUGE.

I’ll spare you the neon-colored details of its insides.

Mutant grasshopper

We play, we swing, we lounge in the humidity of an average afternoon here in the South, then venture on home.

We encountered not small spiders, oh nooooo….because mutant insects are the theme of the day ’round these parts.

Monster spider - he was actually twirling a bug into its web-by casket. This was on the bridge over to the park.

Not overly mutant...but interesting none-the-less. Kids enjoyed it.

We were all exhausted upon arriving home.  But none more so than Huntley.  He literally laid with his face in the water bowl.

Lazy drinker

• I made chicken stock last week and put it in a juice pitcher until I could get freezer containers of the proportions that I wanted.  I should’ve guessed that S would think it was really juice.  She demanded some.  After awhile, I complied, with an evil grin on my face.  G wanted some, too.  I gave G his cup and he promptly made a face and didn’t finish it.  S gulped hers down and asked for more. I am not kidding.
• S disobeyed me several times in a row and per my promise I had to discipline her.  I sat her on the couch and asked if she wanted a spanking or time out.  She thinks for a minute, looks at me with a cute grin, and says, “Lollipop?”  I couldn’t stop laughing long enough to discipline her at all!
• This morning, Chris was sleeping on the couch because S crawled into bed with me.  He awoke to G getting out his VSmile game (video game console for preschoolers) which we had told him several times was broken and not to get out.  Chris snuck up on G and when G turned around his jaw dropped open.  He quickly recovered and said, “Daddy, go back to sleep now.  It’s ok, go back to sleep.”
• And just some cuteness…S loves having her hair brushed.  She’ll even fall asleep in my lap while I brush her hair.  But if I stop, she wakes up and makes me keep going, then she goes back to sleep again.  It’s a few minutes before she’s sound asleep and I can stop.  I love those moments.

Meet Cody.  :)

I’ve been missing Goldie’s company a lot.  For those of you new to my crazy blogginess, you can read about my sweet Goldie here.   She’s been playing at Jesus’ feet now for about two and a half months, but my heart still thinks she is here.  I kept thinking I needed to let her back in the house, or that I heard her collar jingle, or I’d see her out of the corner of my eye laying in front of one of the doors.  

Dogs have always been a part of my life – always.  (Right, Dad?)  The only time I did not have one was during my college years.  In grad school, I rented a house from a professor on sabbatical and dog-sat his dogs for him for the year he was gone.  You guessed it – they were a Golden Retriever and another little rascal that looked like a little German Shepherd.

Then a second year, then the first year of marriage, then Chris succumbed to my manipulations to let me get Charlie, an Italian Greyhound.  I loved him, Chris not so much.  When we moved to Florida and both had to get full-time jobs, Charlie was not getting the attention that he (and most in his breed) need on a constant daily basis and I had to make the horribly heart-breaking decision to surrender him to the Italian Greyhound rescue organization.  His foster family ended up keeping him permanently and they could even take him to work with them!  Score for Charlie!  

Several months later, we were offered Goldie from a co-worker of Chris’s who could not keep her.  What a dream.  So, as you can see, I’ve spent very little time without a dog.  

I’ve been eyeing online rescue sites and other organizations for Goldens here and there, then on Friday afternoon I happened to spy an offer for a Golden Retriever on Freecycle.   However, she was eight years old.  Having small children who are not at an age to comprehend death, especially again so soon, might not lend itself to adopting another senior dog as much as I wanted to.  I did not want a tiny puppy though.  I’m not much for the tiny puppy stage. 

The discussions began.

Which breed?  Registered?  Puppy?  Younger dog?  Then we wondered off into…

Rescue?  Humane Society?  Animal Control?

We perused the websites for available dogs and spied a Golden mix puppy at the downtown location, but doubted he would be there by the time we got there.  Still, there might be other dogs?  We mapped out a plan to hit both Animal Control locations as well as the Humane Society and headed out with the kids on Saturday morning.  

I was a woman on a mission.  (Chris will tell you that is a dangerous thing.)

I felt like I was dating…or shopping for a wedding dress…waiting for that “I just know” moment.  Because I knew that when I saw the dog, I would just know.

First stop, Animal Control near our home.  Cute puppies, but nope…Chris liked one of the puppies there, though.  

(Unbelievable the number of pit bull mixes at all the locations.  Sad, really.)

Second stop, Humane Society.  Lots of dogs, puppies spoken for but none that said “take me” to me.  Very loud place, as you can imagine, but what a great organization.

We ventured downtown to the main Animal Control location…not really the best area of town, you know?  We signed in and walked the long sidewalk to the adoption building and I zoomed down the cages looking for a dog that could be ours.  

Chris said, “Tara, what about this one?”  I looked into the cage.

I knew.  

The cutest Golden mix puppy, the very same one we had seen on the website was, amazingly, still there.  I had no need to look any further.  He was three months old.  We asked to see him and play with him and off we went and it was an easy decision from there.  

I asked the lady helping us if puppies like him stay very long.  She replied, “I am actually surprised he has been here over twenty-four hours.”

I just knew.   That made me smile.  Was this an answer to prayer?

$40 (half-off Saturday) later we were gone and Cody was in my arms.  Do you know what that $40 dollars got us?  I am so impressed – a neutered puppy, all up-to-date shots, Frontline, and a microchip.  Seriously?  

Then we learned how they pay for it.  A family next to us came to retrieve their dog who had been, uh, impounded?  (Is that the right word?)  They took him home $250.00 later.  Many thanks to that family for paying for our dog’s surgery, shots, and microchip – in a round-a-bout kind of way, of course.   

The shelter named him Cody and I liked the name.  It fit.  G and S’s suggestions were “dog” and “puppy” respectively so Chris and I made an executive decision to go with a less-generic name, like, oh, I don’t know – say…”Cody”?  

He has been a dream.  We do not know how long he was stray for, his age is a guess, as is his breed – the staff vet’s best guess.  (I’ll hear my vet’s thoughts on this later today.)  But surely someone had him?  He is nearly already potty/housetrained and doing well with crate training.  In addition, there was a severe thunderstorm the first night he was here – he slept right through it.  Wow.  Goldie would’ve been in our bed.  

Ah, memories…

Time to create new ones and I cannot wait.

Oh, and just so you know…after we left Animal Control, riding home, I was holding Cody, and I said, “I can’t wait to go home and blog this.”

I’m so addicted.  Just be happy I didn’t lobby for a name that started with “G”.  Now THAT would be sad!

ReverendFun.com

Christian comics.  Take a peek if you need a smile.  Here’s a preview:

Today, I not only wore my super-mom cape and fancy-schmancy shiny outfit with the fab gloves and boots, but I also donned Geekwear.  Oh, yes – the geek in me had to come out.  I received notice from our website hosting company that our server account thingy (I’m not THAT geeky) had been suspended for suspicious activity.

My glare-free glasses came out of their dusty case and I flexed my fingers.  But no popping them.  That’s just gross.  I whipped my hair into a sloppy ponytail and the kids became BFFs with Scooby-Doo and Friends.  I sat down with my laptop and prepared to do battle.  

When all was said and done, correpondence with said company’s security department indicated that our account had been hacked – the 100/100 super-duper-the-green-bar-said-it-was-the-best-password-ever password had been compromised.

I think the lightening bolt on my superhero cape just sparkled in righteous anger.

Evil, evil spammers.  

Our websites were re-enabled and passwords reset to something nice and gloriously complex.  I jumped on to discover that the enemy had created seven email accounts on our domains.  My cape whipped around me and my hair blew in the imaginary wind as I furiously deleted accounts and madly changed complex passwords which I am sure I will never ever remember again.   Good luck emailing me.

Then the hubster comes home.  The superhero to beat all geek superheroes.  What a man.  After the kids were in bed, we transformed into our superhero selves once again, and we found (ahem, of course it was Chris, but it makes me feel good to take some credit since I was sitting next to him and it was my computer after all) where the spammer had lovingly placed a few extra files of code to assist him in his spamming efforts.  

Hitting the delete key felt oh-so-nice, but hitting the delete key a little closer to his home  would have felt nicer.   I hope his hard drive crashes, too.   I’ll refrain from sharing my other unkind thoughts as I work towards compassion for this lost spamming soul.  

Don’t they have better things to do with their time?  Really?  I just do not get it.  If its boredom, I really could hook him up with lots to do around here.  The yardwork is calling his name.  Many hours of it, in fact.  Hours.  

Justice.  

I’m hanging up my cape now and going to bed.  The glasses are going back into their dusty case, and tomorrow, I will once again be BoringMom.  The world will never know.  Except now you do.

I’m seriously sleep-delirious.  Have a good night.

B.  Learning to color inside the “lines”

C.  Toddler pedicure

D.  Washable marker quality testing

E.  All of the above