steph's stuff

Ten on Thursday

1.    When did my kids get this big?! The girls look soooooo old!

2.    And why is the dog on the couch???? (They are all too cute for me to yell at - we had a very rough weekend and now Daddy is out of town, so I'm cutting everyone some slack.)

3.     I spent hours yesterday making and canning jam. And, at the end of the day, I only have 11 pints. Sheesh. Seems like I should have more than that.

4.    I haven't touched my sewing machine or fabric since May. :( I am really, really feeling the itch to quilt.

5.    My husband and I do not do well when we're apart. I can't wait for him to get home this afternoon! It has not been an easy week on my own and seeing him will make it all better.

6.     I hit a wall yesterday and refused to take Andrew to soccer practice. It had rained all day long, the fields were soaking, everyone was hungry for dinner, and we don't even keep score at his games. Sorry coach, but Momma made an executive decision. And we all know that Mommas overrule coaches. :)

7.    The only thing I like about my hubby being gone is that I get to drive his car. Racing down the highway every morning (have to drive Em to school every day this week) with the tunes blaring in his sporty little car is just flat-out fun!!! It's a totally different experience in my 9-year-old minivan. :p

8.    Libby and I decorated for fall yesterday and had so much fun. She has a really good eye for balance and design. I mean really good. We were trying to balance out a vignette on a small table and she moved it around a couple of times, muttering to herself, "No, we need something taller here." Or "I think this looks too matchy-matchy." When she was done, it was perfect!!! A tall item on the left, round item in the middle, and a medium-height object on the right. She rocks! I'll try to remember to take pictures and post them.

9.    I need to make a phone date with my bff for this weekend. Chatting with her is such good medicine. :) We text each other to make dates for the phone because we talk so long and I hate to be interrupted by kid stuff or having to leave, etc...

10.   I'm off to do a million errands, have lunch with a friend, pick up my hubby!!!!, and then off to about 4 different events today (including margarita night!!!). Have a great day!!!

Another crazy puppy

Bwahahahaha!!!!

Things I learned while I was sick

 
Today is day 4 of being sick. Stuffed up head, headache, runny nose, runny eyes, body aches, chills, sneezing, etc... Yesterday was the worst and I spent most of the day either sleeping or laying on the couch with my eyes closed. And it's amazing what you can learn when you feel like dog poo.

1. Tissues really are softer than toilet paper when you have a runny nose.

2. Kathie Lee Gifford has a seriously annoying laugh.

3. When you have a sore throat and no cough drops, wintergreen mints are surprisingly helpful.

4. My dog sighs very, very loudly.

5. Facebook apparently imploded yesterday.

6. My iphone is my best friend.

7. Friends who play iPhone games with you when you are sick are the best!

8. My dog's tongue is really, really wet.

9. Knowing that my MIL is arriving in 48 hours seems to make recovery mandatory.

10. All My Children is doing a great job of wrapping up all the story lines before they go off the air.

11. But, wait??? David Hayworth turns out to be a good guy and is bringing people back from the dead??? Someone, please, fill me in on what I've missed over the past 13+ years.

12. Training the dog not to bark when the doorbell rings seems to have failed. AGAIN. He only listens when he sees treats in our hands.

13. The dog can "hold it" for over 8 hours. Oops. I kinda slept all day and forgot that he might need to go outside.

14. Neighbors who take your kids to soccer practice so you can keep sleeping ROCK!

15. My husband is the absolute best! He's been in trial this whole time and has been coming home to leftovers and a sick wife and he hasn't complained once.

16. I hate Ann Curry. Seriously, cannot stand her.

Babying him just a bit

I must be softening up in my old age. Or perhaps it's just that I want to show that I'm not always a mean doggy mommy. ;)

But, after seeing this the other night:

 
I caved. I had to. He had fallen asleep all smooshed up against the basement door while mourning his wittle stuffed puppy. And I couldn't take it anymore.

So, I did something that we rarely do. I let him up on the couch. I am not a fan of animals on furniture but it's such a huge treat for him that I let him up.

He curled up on Libby's sweatshirt and immediately let out a huge sigh and went to sleep.

 
I gotta admit that he's pretty darn cute. :)

 
And, I dare say, I think he was so cozy that he even forgot about his wittle stuffed puppy for just a bit.

He's getting to me

Instead of staring at me all day long, now he's turned away and is staring at the basement door. :(

The first amputation

I swear - Sawyer needs to get his own blog. I really will post about something other than him soon. But he is being such a stinker these days that it's hard not to post it.

Look at this! He thinks I can't see him. He went around the side of the kitchen island.

BUSTED!

But, oh the poor wittle stuffed puppy. His first (of many probably) amputation - bye-bye ear. :(

 
 
 

Why I'm a mean doggy mommy

The kids have moved many of their "non-essential" stuffed animals down to the playroom. They have many, many more upstairs in their rooms and Sawyer doesn't go upstairs. But, wow, does he love the playroom now that the stuffies are down there. Here's the pile where Sawyer found the wittle stuffed puppy.

Sawyer has a long history of loving stuffed animals. Remember the little pink bear?

The problem is that he doesn't just chew on them or lovingly groom them. It's not even that he chews them up and makes an enormous mess with fluff all over the house.  

The problem is that he consumes them. As in swallows stuffed animals. Obviously, it's not good for him.

The other problem is that once he is allowed to have a stuffed animal, he seems to forget that all stuffed animals are not his. He gets absolutely obsessed with them and will go to great lengths to sneak somewhere he's not allowed to get a stuffed animal. We've lost cherished loved ones before and my kids are not ready for that kind of trauma again.

So, I have to be mean. I can't have him consuming all that fluff and plastic eyes and ears. And I can't have have him eating the kids' precious stuffies again.

So, big sigh. Poor crazy Sawyer puppy. We're going to keep taking the wittle stuffed puppy from him.

But it doesn't stop him from trying.

BUSTED!

 
BUSTED AGAIN!

 
AND AGAIN!

 

A new love

I hid the wittle stuffed puppy. Apparently, wittle blue hippos are just as much fun. And not looking at mommy still makes you invisible.

For just a moment

 
For all of you who are rooting for Sawyer to get his wittle stuffed puppy, here you go. He got him! But just for a moment.

Because right after this loving bath he gave the cute wittle stuffed puppy, he took a much less gentle approach.

 
Now, who do you feel sorry for?!

He brought in reinforcements

Ever since Sawyer discovered Emily's wittle stuffed puppy this weekend, he has been inconsolable. Instead of sleeping in the kitchen all day like he's done his entire life, he now lays in front of the basement door (the wittle stuffed puppy resides in the basement) all day long and silently begs. He has perfected puppy dog eyes.

And he doesn't sleep anymore. He just lays there - letting me know alllllllllllll day long that I'm a super-mean doggy mommy because I won't let him have the wittle stuffed puppy.

Last night, he brought in reinforcements.

Sigh. I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be able to hold out.  

(Can you tell from this picture why everyone says that he's the biggest golden retriever they've ever seen? He's HUGE for a golden.)