Have you seen my rope?

I was at the end of it on Tuesday, but now, it's just gone. Thank goodness for the weekend and the return of Hubs!

The kids have been *normal* but they are driving my batty!!! Typical for their age, but they just feed off of each other and make me want to put myself in time out. But then, as I type this, Strip just said, "You have a beautiful face!" Redeeming moments, but mainly driving me batty.

Anyway, Tuesday night, Strip could tell I was stressed. As I was getting her ready for bed, this conversation happened:

Strip: Mom. Are you angry?

Me: No, I'm not angry, I'm just frustrated.

Strip: Why?

Me: I just don't understand why I have to ask you 47 thousand times to do something, then yell and scream and THEN you do what I ask. Why can't you just listen and do what I say the first time.

Strip: Well. Mom. I can't help it. YOu know, this is just the way God made me.

I think I bit a hole in my lip trying to keep a straight face. I told her that yes, God made her to be a sweet girl, but he also made her able to make good or bad choices, and lately, she hasn't been making good ones and that made mommy sad.

She said she'd work on it.

Steps forward and steps back

Zoe's been here 3 nights now and it feels like three years. She's just slipped into our lives so easily it's hard to believe we just got her.

The kids are having a blast with her. They LOVE playing fetch with her, although Nugget likes to play along; he'll throw the ball while triumphantly exclaiming, "Now goooo get it!!!!" but then runs after the ball himself (Zoe always wins). Strip drew a picture of Zoe and took it in for show and tell, and yesterday, the preschool office staff got to meet her. She did really well and didn't pee on them! Yay Zoe! The kids were hanging in the front office because I got caught up at the vet and they were asking about the new dog. Nugget told them, "Er name is Zoe. She is orlange and brown spotted." I'm sure they were wondering what the heck kind of freaky Dalmatian we had adopted. As we were standing there chatting about her, three little kids came over to pet her and she did beautifully! You'd think she'd been around kids her whole life!

The vet was as great as ever. He was so sweet! We chatted about June then he looked over Zoe. I was there for an HOUR AND A HALF and most of it was just chatting about all things Zoe. LOVE my vet. I'd take my kids there if he'd let me. On a side note, did you know that the well-child check-up of a free, healthy dog cost 50% of the cost to do diagnostic testing, labs, ultrasounds, mri's, euthanization and cremation of a dog with cancer? I'm looking into pet insurance as I type. AND, the vet JUST CALLED to say all of her lab work came back perfect! AND she's eating and drinking like a normal pup! Hooray for Zoe!

So steps back? Today, the kids were playing outside with Zoe when Nugget came in, walking funny.

Oh.NO.

Me: Did you poop in your pants?!

Nugget: Umm. Yeeeessss.

Me: UGH! WHY did you poop in your pants?!?!

Nugget: Zoe poop out schide in the yard. I poop out schide in the yard.

Awesome. Nugget has gone from potty trained to housebroken.

I blocked myself from Petfinder.

But I forgot to block Facebook.

A week or so ago, one of my high school buddies on Facebook posted that he had to find a new home for his baby. I saw he was online and proceeded to berate him via instant message. How could he give up his dog!? What is WRONG with people?!

Then I realized that he really was upset, and I made it my mission to find his baby a new home. What if it were June that needed a new home because we were moving? I would be devastated! High School buddy lives 4 states away, but his status said to "check out her pictures," so I did. I had to giggle when I saw this:

Not exactly the finest sales pitch for her :-)

I asked all the questions to try to find her a good home. UP lives near him and I thought he might have some dog lovers that could take her, so here are the stats:

* She's a brittnay spaniel

* She'll be 2 in July

* She's house trained, crate trained and has basic stuff down

* She doesn't pull on the leash

Hmmmm. Sounds promising.

The more I thought about the next pup for us, the less I liked the idea of a puppy. Sure, puppies are cute, but adopting a pound puppy is like playing Russian roulette. With June, I got her at 3 months. She weighed 5 lbs. Every vet appointment, her doc would say, "I don't think she'll get much bigger," and she would inevitably double in size. I finally told the doc to be quiet, a 40lb dog was all the dog I wanted!

Also, puppies will require all of the basic training. Sure, I got June broken in fine and quickly, but that was 10 years ago!! And then there's the chewing and the barking and the tearing up of things. Did we really want to go through all of that again? I had been looking at older dogs to rescue, but they were all 8-10, and I just didn't have it in me to adopt a dog to bury. I wasn't ready for that, and I couldn't put the kids through that.

But back to this baby! I put out my feelers and started researching the breed. The definition of BS's? AWESOME!! They are about 35 lbs max and love to run and play. They are super smart and easy to train. They are extremely loyal to their owners, but are great when re-homed because they bond quickly. They are great family pets and sport pets.

I immediately begin to judge all interested families.

Hubs leaves for another week of travel and it's just me and the kids. I am so lonely. I am so sad. Even my new baby wasn't perking me up. I couldn't sleep and I quickly realized it was because I was on edge with Hubs away. With June, I knew I had a bark and a growl to alert me, but without her, I had nothing (and I'm a heavy sleeper!).

I broke down, swallowed my pride and emailed Hubs professing my love for this pup. Hubs managed to avoid and evade the issue all week.

He had me second guessing her from the moment he walked in the door Friday. We sat down with our calendars and plotted his trips. Nothing but big lines saying, "Hubs in ________" week after week after week. UGH. I couldn't stand the thought of being alone that much. I wanted this dog. I needed this dog. He wasn't even going to be around, heck he might not even notice if I got her. At least until July!

Then Saturday, our anniversary, he gave me his sweet card. And in it, he said he had talked to my buddy and she was ours if I wanted her!

Hubs got up at 4 am this morning and started driving. He went 2 states south and our buddy went 2 states north. They met in the middle and we became a family of 5 again.

The kids and I went to church, then lunch and made a stop into Petsmart to get a few little things for our new pup. Every person we met along the way, they had to tell that, "We have to get home! Daddy will be here soon with our new doggie!!" Hubs called after he picked her up to tell me, "She's not your dog. She is SO my dog!"

They arrived in the driveway at 5:29 and by 5:30, she had us wrapped around her paw! You could tell that she was well loved, and she was a little skittish at first, but she warmed up quickly to the family. We let her out in the backyard, and she.took.OFF! WOW that dog is fast! Strip initially wanted her middle name (since she already came with a name) to be Daisy, but after 10 minutes with her, she said, "I think her middle name should be Zip! She's so fast!"

My main hesitation with her was that she had never been around kids before, but you wouldn't know it! She's been great with both of them, although I'm keeping a super close eye. She's better behaved than Nugget and she loves to be loved. During one of our chats, Trey told me, "She's so intense. It's like...she wants to be inside you...she gets that close." And man he wasn't lying! Is there such a thing that's closer than a shadow? Whatever it is, it's this dog. She LOVES to be loved and snuggle. As I type, she's managed to weasel her way into Hubs' lap and is lying on her back, paws in the air.

She'll never replace June, and she'll forever be Trey's baby, but we are welcoming the opportunity to have her in our family as well! So meet the newest chick in the mommychick family, Zoe!

I'll try to get some better pictures, but Zoe "Zip" is quick, even for my Nikon!

I know she won't replace June, but...

**June Bug "playing" cars with Nugget**

We have a new addition!

Hubs has been out of town all week, and I'll admit, I've been kind of down. Tomorrow is our anniversary, so I decided to treat myself. I loaded the kids in the car, and we headed across town to pick her up! He doesn't know I got her yet, so we'll see what he says when he gets home tonight/tomorrow.

She's War Eagle Orange and white, so we've named her Weagle, and she's just adorable. The kids adore her and love taking turns playing with her. She's so quiet, sometimes I forget she's here, but am so happy to have her around after my messy kids eat and drop crumbs all over the floor. She's quickly made herself at home in every room of the house, but rests nicely in the laundry room.

So, without further ado, I present, Weagle:

What? You thought we got another dog? Not yet. But the crumbs were killing me, so I've been hoarding Target gift cards for months. In fact, I sat on my newest prescription from my nephrologist just in case there was a coupon in the paper! After a busy morning with the kids on a hiking playdate, we headed over to Target and picked this bad boy up. Yup, cordless vac with a little dust buster on board, which the kids love (so obviously, I love!). The docking station charges it, and it has pretty good suction for what it is. Obviously, it's not putting Dyson out to pasture, but Weagle definitely holds a special place in my heart! We might be in the honeymoon phase, so I'll give another review once she's been with us a while.

Feeling like Noah

So the flood has made me go a little nuts. We saved important things (like Noah) and had all the wasted stuff washed away.

Actually, it hasn't been washed away. It's all sitting in the garage. But at any rate, it's made me think. The kids have lost 85% of their toys. They have a few special things in their rooms, a few things on the main floor, but most of their stuff was in the basement.

And they had a LOT of stuff. Since the splash, though, they've been playing with the same things. Strip has a few princesses, Nugget has a few cars and they both share art supplies. And they? Have been happy as larks. Strip told me today, "It's kind of nice having the basement all messed up. Know why? We don't have to clean it!"

Couldn't agree more. So we are in the process of re-doing the basement, but are covering the basics. Re-buying the stuff they love and keeping it simple.

And I? Am going crazy.

BAGS AND BAGS of clothes are piled up for the AmVets truck that's coming by. They aren't doing any good sitting in a closet, give 'em away! I have three bags of kids' clothes for two of Hub's co-workers and their new babies. I'm itching to sell my mom-mobile and downgrade to something smaller, and after our recent trip to Chicago, I really want to sell our house and buy a 600 sqft condo in the city.

I think the flood is coinciding with my nervous breakdown/realization that we will forever just be a family of four, and I'm feeling the need to clear out the clutter.

Oh, and by the way. We are a couple of hundred dollars away from the swing set! Can you say, "woo hoo?!?"

We have a new contender!

Something about our house gives helium balloons the will to live. Last year Strip's butterfly ballon from her birthday party floated up to our bedroom ceiling where it stayed for a good month. It really came as no surprise when the same thing happened to Nugget's #3 ballon after his party:

It's been up there for two weeks and two days. I wonder if it will make it through Strip's birthday.

High School

As we were getting ready for school this morning, Strip asked if she could borrow a brush. I fished out Hubs' sassy aveda paddle brush, handed it to her and watched her bounce off to her bathroom. A few minutes later, she appeared in the doorway, brushed her hair off her shoulder and exclaimed:

Strip: I look like a high schooler. Recept a little shorter

Me: Umm. Ok. What's high school?

Strip: You know. Where everyone makes music together and learns about caring.

Oh, honey, if ONLY that were the case. I think I'll let her keep the magic of Disney and the magic of high school for a little while longer. I just hope she doesn't think they all bust out with musical numbers and jazz hands there, too!