Randomness

I'm not much in the mood to blog right now - too much going on!

• Bruiser had his developmental re-evaluation for Early Intervention today, followed by his initial meeting with the school department to determine if they will continue his services when he turns three. And we went from speech and hearing concerns to fine motor delays, sensory issues with a huge lack of attention. Just lovely! The good news is that he tested through the roof cognitively! He's super smart but refuses to use his words to communicate, sit still to learn, or make transitions easily. I guess there is still a long road ahead! Early Intervention will continue his services until January and we find out in December if the school department will service him.

• Miss Wiggles' first birthday party is Saturday! I need to cook, bake, clean, organize...and I still need to buy pumpkins!!! Ahhhhhh! I'll be a bit calmer by Sunday

• Papa and Mimi are coming to visit tomorrow! The kids are so excited!

• We are also trying to make some pet decisions. More about that later...I promise, Dana!

Weekend Review!

We spent the past weekend making a six-hour drive to Mimi and Papa's on Friday, visiting with the family on Saturday, and making a six-hour dive home on Sunday - just a quick trip! But it was enjoyed by grandparents and the grandchildren - and that's what matters! Mimi needed a pick-me-up, Tater needed a Papa-fix, Papa needed a "Tater Squeeze," and Bruiser needed to take a trip "up Papa's...hill!" Of course, Mommy and Daddy enjoyed some family time, some yummy food that can only be gotten at Papa and Mimi's, and some bargain shopping (at least Mommy did!).

Since this was our last visit before Halloween, we decided to celebrate a bit early and went knocking on Mimi and Papa's door and even stopped by Auntie M's and Uncle J's. We got a few looks, but the kids had fun!

Attack of the "roar"!

The only shot I could get of the bunch that is always moving!

I woke up Sunday morning (at 5:00am!) to Papa telling me Tater had a tummy ache. I assumed she had a bad dream (They watched "Shrek" before bed!) and told Papa to turn on some kid shows and she should settle down. Two hours later, I found out I was wrong! Tater - who's only 4! - got herself to the bathroom before she got sick. What an amazingly big girl!

So then we began the debate about what to do. Do we take a sick child in the car for six hours? Do we stay another day and both miss work on Monday? And what if some else gets sick until Monday morning? Nothing is ever easy in our life!

In a couple hours, after several mad dashes to the bathroom, Tater was claiming she was "starving" and successfully kept her snack down. So we bit the bullet, loaded the car, and headed off to home! She was a trooper! Not a sick moment on the trip. And we only made one stop, halfway through. She took a good two hour nap (see below) and I think that help her more than anything! She did stay home from school Monday but only because she was up four times Sunday night to go to the bathroom - really, what four-year-old does this? She is so big!

In a future post, I'll share our new toy (hint: we finally hot a Wii!!!!!!) and how we broke Papa's heart by buying it!

And, here's the other news...Shadow stayed with Mimi for a vacation and to give her a bit of company. He's determined to sleep on Papa's pillow...we'll see who wins that battle! But, we are missing him...especially when Miss Wiggles has spaghetti for dinner!

A "New" Dog?

Shadow went to the "puppy spa" for a much needed haircut, bath, and pedicure! He really looks like a new dog! The last time we took him to the groomer, they gave him the traditional schnauzer cut, which left him practically scalped and severely embarrassed. Even Daddy hated how they did his trim. So this time we tried a new place and I told them we didn't want it so short. The woman looked at me and said, "Oh, you want the puppy cut." Who knew! This is just how we want Shadow to look!

What I Learned This Week!

When I wrote my entry yesterday, it was to help restore my mental state, but I really should have thought ahead...it SO could have been today's "What I Learned This Week"! But I suppose that would be considered cheating in blog world, so I will dig deep and think about what I learned this week!

1. Change is inevitable. Enough said but click here if you want to know more!

2. A missing child is a very, very, very scary thing in a mommy's life! Again, enough said but click here if you want to know more!

3. It is impossible to try to understand a man's thought process. Daddy actually thought this was the right place to leave all his tools!

4. You can live in a great neighborhood, full of friendly people who love your kids and animals like their own, and there will still be one bad seed! I debated about posting about this but it's still bugging me and I can't let it go! So time for some writing therapy! Last week, one of our neighbors called the "puppy police" (what Tater calls them!) on Shadow. So we had a friendly visit from the local animal control officer, who very nicely explained to Daddy that "a neighbor" was irritated by Shadow's constant barking and that she knew of several other neighbors (who have dogs that bark and cry more than Shadow!) who felt that way too. Oh, and by the way we forgot renew our dog licence. Well, we admitted to forgetting about the licence (life got away from us again!) but his rabies was up-to-date and we were all set on that front. As for the barking, I have kept a journal of Shadow's noises for the past week (like I have nothing better to do!) and guess what - 10 barks and 7 growls. Hmmmmm...I wonder who is barking because its not Shadow! Unless someone has super-sensitive ears and those 10 little barks set off her bad attitude!

5. And, speaking of dogs, this is what happens when your child's ball goes over the fence and into the yard of three dogs!

6. Finally, I have found a new decorating passion! On Friday night, my friend drug me along to a home party for Uppercase Living and I fell in love! For those of you who aren't familiar with the company, Uppercase Living produces vinyl quotes and expressions that you adhere to your walls for accents. They are affordable and fun! I just placed my order today, so when they arrive, I'll post pictures!

"Secret Beach"

We live near the ocean...and we love it! One of the dreams I have on my "bucket list" is to leave in a house on the beach...I'm not quite there! There are plenty of beaches near by that we frequent during the summer, frequently enough to require us getting a seasonal beach pass. But we do have a beach not five minutes from our house that we frequently go to walk on. I'm not sure we would ever swim at that particular beach (it's a bit industrial!) but we love to hunt for shells and see how far we can go depending on the tide.

Now, of course, this beach has a proper name but in our family, we have a special name for it! One day, shortly after G-Baby was born, Daddy decided to take Tater and Bruiser on an adventure to give them some special "big kid" time. We pulled in the parking lot of this park and they headed down a "mysterious path" while I rested in the car with our newest little bundle. To get to this particular beach, you must trek down a long flight of stairs, leading to a somewhat hidden beach. Daddy told Tater and Bruiser that they were heading to a "secret beach." Hence, the name of our beach became "Secret Beach"!

Tater has personally taken on the responsibility of keeping the beach secret! Whenever we have visiting family, they must ask her if they can go along to Secret Beach and most times she has to think about it before she answers! I think Papa's the only one with an open invite!

Tater took Uncle Nailbag fishing.

I think we came home with wet feet this day!

Uncle Nailbag is fishing and Daddy is watching him instead of his daughter climbing on the rocks!

Little Prints!

Even Shadow comes along!

(I think the goof is shaking his head in this picture!)

Love the scenery.

Cousins!

Uncle Nailbag and Bruiser fishing.

Bruiser loved the tackle box and sat with Uncle Nailbag for the longest time looking at all the lures - Uncle Nailbag was quite happy!

The water was really clear this day.

Can you say "wet feet"?

Uncle Nailbag fishing.

Catch for the Day = 0

This was on Mother's Day after all the festivities from the baptism. It was very windy but Bruiser loved look for hidden shells. Grandma K re-incarnated!

Tater, Bruiser, Mommy, and G-Baby

G-Baby was still in the sling in this picture but she is now to big for it! We have to decide if we take the jogger stroller or the backpack for our next visit!

Love those little legs!

Papa and his girl!

So next time you are in the area, stop by and see if you are worthy enough for Tater to share her special spot with you but remember...shhhh...it's a secret place!

Random Pics!

These are some random pictures that have been on my camera and instead of creating multiple mini-posts, I decided to make a collection of the randomness (is that a word?).

Bruiser and Mimi took a ride on the carousel...can you find them?

Papa and his girl walking on Secret Beach

Taking a break on Secret Beach. The tide was so low this day!

We walked the farthest we ever have on Secret Beach.

Mommy chasing her duckings ... luckily there was no where for them to go!

Bruiser hunting for shells ... must be a bit of Grandma in him!

She played so hard!

Yes, he is licking ketchup off his plate.

Yes, there were five grown-ups watching him.

Yes, we laughed.

Yes, we took a picture!

Tater was decorating Pop-Pop with napkin pieces ... they were even in his ears!

Bruiser learned how to open his bedroom door! It was a sad day for Mommy!

This is how he spent the hour and a half before Tater woke up.

He loved playing with the Little People camping set (Thank You, Mimi and Papa)!

Tater and Mommy had a "Girls' Night" last night.

We got dressed up, went out to dinner where the animals on the wall talked, and then went to the Dollar Tree so Tater could spend her own money (with some guidance from Mommy!).

Daddy claims Shadow isn't allowed to sit on people's laps and be on the couch.

This is what I discovered when Daddy fell asleep on the couch the other night!

Freedom!

Shadow (or as Bruiser says "Sha -do") joined our family at a very crazy time. We really wanted him (even Daddy who will try to tell you differently!) but two weeks after he arrived we discovered G-Baby would be joining our family and we had to endure the next three months of me being deathly ill. Not the best time to add a puppy to the mix! Can you picture it - two toddlers, a sick and pregnant Mommy, and a Daddy who has allergies? Crazy!

Well, since then things have settled down a bit (occasionally!) and Shadow has been released from his "room" and has joined the family. His bed is in the living room, not the mud room. He has the run of the downstairs both at night and when we are out of the house. I have to say, I think his enjoying his upgraded status - perhaps a little too much!


Shadow has also made a new friend. Our neighbors adopted a rescue dog named Nellie. Shadow and Nellie have play dates several times a week. We love it because Shadow comes home exhausted and sleeps the rest of the day - Nellie is younger than our old man! Here are a few shots of Nellie trying to get into our yard to play with Shadow!

Sharing Through the Eyes of a Toddler

Tater and I had a mother-daughter morning - Tumble Tots, the library, the grocery store, and the dry cleaners. At the dry cleaners, they hand out lollipops. The nice big sister that Tater is, she asked for one for Bruiser. Usually, I would place him in his high chair to eat the sticky mess on a stick but Tater handed it to him before I could intervene. And before Daddy and I could intervene, we caught Bruiser sharing a lick with Shadow, the dog!

Snow Update

Well, I have been blogging from our laptop with wireless Internet and couldn't figure out how to connect the camera so I could add pictures. You see, our camera completely crashed two weeks before Christmas after four years of daily use. Not the best time to be without a camera - especially with a new one not being in the budget! So, Mimi to the rescue! Mimi isn't that advanced in the technology department (Sorry, Mimi - but it's the truth!) and had a camera she wasn't using. She gladly, for the sake of the grandchildren agreed to loan hers to us. The drawback? No cord to plug it in to the computer. It wasn't a problem with the desktop - I just plugged the memory card into the printer and away we went! Well, silly me, I never thought to check our old camera's USB cord until today - and miraculously it fits!
So, all that being said, here are the snow pictures I took on Monday (Martin Luther King Day) after another 4 inches fell through the night. And to make matters worse, we got another 1/2 inch Monday night - can you say stir crazy?!?