Building Oliver's Dog Run

This little dog will gain 120 pounds and grow a couple of feet taller in the coming months. He cannot live inside forever.
Time to build the dog run. Everyone is getting involved with this big job.
Clay's handling the jackhammer like a pro. It's a bit loud!
Emmie loves the bounciness.
Emmie's on the tractor making sure the auger is lined up to dig the holes.
Scott is letting Clay use the jackhammer all by himself. "Look Clay, no hands!"
Clay is adding water to help Scott mix the cement.

The kids and Oliver take their maiden voyage in the back of the pickup. The kids liked the ride a whole lot more than the dog did. They took the tools down to the shed to put them away. After the ride Emmie helped Oliver out of the truck.
Time to call it a day. The posts were in just before the rain started

Following the Rules

When you are in a hurry to run oust and play but mom says to put shoes on first, does it really matter what's on your feet?

Clay's Secret Tattoo

I have never let the kids use any of the dozens of rub on tattoos they have been given until now. I 've always tossed them as soon as they forget about them. Clay got this cool pirate one and really wanted to wear it. He wanted it on his belly so it could be a secret and he could show it off when he wanted. I am really surprised at how long is is staying. He's been really careful not to wash that part of his belly to preserve it.

Fur and Teeth

Here are just a few things Oliver has destroyed. He chewed through the cords of the telephone charger and the kids' Smart Cycle. He grabbed my favorite slipper and before I could even catch up to him it was shredded from the inside out. My fault for leaving it on the floor. We have several pairs of shoes on the kitchen counter. Blech! This is the 4th time he has knocked over this potted plant. I keep re-potting it and putting it back in the window. It's obviously my own fault, again. He's all fur and teeth right now. I'm sure this is just the beginning of the destructive force of this 12 week old puppy.

Fishy Business

Our neighbors brought us a 10 pound trout from Lake Comanche. They caught this monster fishing right off the shore. It was too big to go in the freezer so we BBQ'd it right away. Clay was trying to be helpful. Scott was showing off his gutting skills. The head and all the organs came out in one giant nasty piece. It was actually pretty good on the BBQ. I'm just glad Scott was here to receive the gift of a giant stinky fish needing to be cleaned.

Bath Time with Oliver

Oliver loves the water but mostly he wants to be where the kids are. He was begging to get in the tub with them. He was so jealous. It won't be long before he can just hop in with them if he wants.

The Tooth Fairy Visited

Em put her letter under her pillow and this is what she found in the morning. This is about the best smile she will give us with all the interest in her teeth lately.

Emmie Lost Her First Tooth - Literally!

Emmie's front bottom 2 teeth came in before her baby teeth had a chance to fall out. They were not even loose enough for us to sneak in and pull them out while she was asleep. It's been about 2 months since the first tooth started to poke through. Today Scott noticed her tooth looked a little dark. Actually it was gone. Emmie literally lost her first tooth. She had no idea where it was or that it had even fallen out. Emmie was worried about the Tooth Fairy not knowing she lost a tooth so she decided to write a note. She wanted to write. "Dear Tooth Fairy, I lost a tooth, but I lost it." That didn't quite sound right to her so she came up with another way to write it.

Ollie Paws

Who has the bigger paws?
Imagine this all over the house. We love Oliver and his big feet. I can't wait for the rain to stop however and for everything to dry out. Oliver is so fluffy he is like a giant sponge. After he's been out to play or drinks from his bowl everything inside is wet. We have to wear shoes all the time to keep from getting our feet wet. Blech! I am not going to mop the floors until Ollie moves out to his yard.

Clay Goes to Preschool

The Big Preschool KidAll dressed with his Incredible Hulk backpack on in case he does a craft and needs to bring it home to show mom. Clay is wondering if he will get to play on the playground. That puddle looks like a lot of fun!

Clay was the first one at school. Miss Tamara was peeking at him from behind the door ready to greet him.
Clay is so excited, notice his big smile and his clenched fists.

Clay told us last night he was going to play with the blocks first. He kept his promise.

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Clay was so excited to go to preschool. He jumped right in bed the night before. His first words when he woke up were "Preschool Day!" He got dressed and ready for school and even wanted his hair to look handsome. He had me put gel in it and slick it down. We were actually ready for school 10 minutes early.

Scott came home right before it was time to leave for school so we all piled in the car. Emmie wasn't as excited of course it was just a regular day for her. It was a beautiful sunny day though after having torrents of rain and wind for almost a whole week. Clay is really hopeful he will get to play on the playground. Sadly it might be too muddy. He's been waiting for this day for years.

We dropped Clay off at 8:30. Miss Tamara greeted him by getting down to his level and holding his hands. She asked him if he was ready for this and he smiled. She told him to pick a cubby and he chose the very first one on the end. Clay went right over and started playing without any hesitation. When I told him goodbye he ran over from the blocks to hug me tight. Clay is a lucky kid. His class is mostly boys. In fact, when I left there were no girls there yet. At church and in his play groups he has almost always been the lone boy and he has always been in the minority. We're hoping he can control himself in this unfamiliar environment with a bunch of other equally crazy boys. We hope his day is great!

Merry Valentine-mas!

This is a little embarrassing but it turned out really pretty. Our fake Christmas tree is huge and heavy and a real pain to move to storage. All the Christmas decorations have been gone for quite some time except for the obvious tree in the living room. Scott has been busy and when he's had time the weather has been horrible. There are the excuses. Here is our solution. The kids made valentines for the tree. It turned out to be a really fun project. I will say this though, we will NOT be decorating for St. Patrick's Day.

Oliver Jenkins

"Look mom. He's so tiny I can even carry him around!" said his best girl Emmie.Check out these paws. Even though he is fairly light he sounds like an elephant stomping around the house. He runs from us when we try to get him to come back in the house. He loves it outside! It's all about the teeth recently.

This is his favorite boy and his favorite chew toy rabbit.

We have been tossing around the idea of getting a dog for awhile. We need to finish the fencing and make a dog run. There are so many things to do before we do anything else. I decided I was tired of waiting and looked at the online pictures of the dogs up for adoption in Placerville. While I was looking at them, one I liked was adopted and disappeared so I asked the kids if they wanted to look at the dogs and of course they were excited. We flew out the door to the pound. It's a really nice place. You don't have to get permission to take the dogs out and you can walk them and play with them out back. We might start doing this as a family service project. It could be really risky though. We are definitely not ready for a second dog. I was looking at an older dog and the kids fell in love with a puppy named Oliver. They saw someone else looking at him and they started crying. So I impulsively went and signed the contract. He was such a calm laid back pup. On his description it read that he was lovable and lazy. That's perfect for a puppy. It also said he was a New Foundland German Shepard. I knew the shepard part so I expected he would be sort of big. Holy cow, I didn't know how big the Newfie part was. They are humongous. Bigger than St. Bernards! They are great swimmers and have webbed toes. They swim with the breaststroke not the doggie paddle. I can't wait to see that. I can't even imagine what that might look like. They're water rescue dogs and one actually pulled a boat with 20 people in it to shore. We are hoping to train Ollie to pull the kids in a sled up in the snow next year. Right now his is 9 weeks old. He's mostly fur, teeth and paws. He's afraid of the dark and being alone. He's learning to ignore the cats quickly. He likes them but he knows he's not allowed to bark at them. He tolerates being hugged and dragged. His favorite things are going outside to play, peeing on the carpet and sleeping every chance he can get away from the kids. The pound named him Oliver. Emmie liked it but not Clay. Clay has been wanting to name a brother Jenkins for some reason. So we decided to compromise and name him Oliver Jenkins. It seems strangely appropriate. He's been a lot of fun and a great new challenge.

Preshool!!!!!!

I don't know who is more excited, Clay or me! Hmmm, definitely me! Miss Tamara called to say the preschool is finally ready to open. The state has been so slow about accrediting the program. There are only 3 months left in the school year, terrible. Miss Tamara said Clay gets first priority because he'll be in kindergarten next year and he's been waiting so long. Starting the 18th of February I will get child free time. No wait, I mean Clay will get to go to preschool and make friends 3 days a week. I know what will really happen. I will get sucked into volunteering one day a week in Clay's class and one in Em's. That's the right thing to do but I'll do my best to resist. What will I do with all my free time? Toilets, windows, floors, beds? So much to choose from!

The Super Wedgies

I really debated about posting this one. It's too funny and embarrassing not to. Last summer the kids pulled out some underwear and stretched the waistbands as far as they could to get them to be shoulder straps. They ran around in them pretending they were swim suits. They did it off and on for a few weeks. No, they never actually swam in them or even went outside. Even with our general seclusion here I wouldn't dare let them out. That would be the same moment the PG&E guy would pull up to check the meter or we'd get an unexpected package from UPS!

Slumber Party

Here's a not-so-good photo I just have to post from a few months back. The kids love to have slumber parties on their floors. Whoever has the cleanest room gets to host the party. We haven't had one in a few weeks because you can't even walk through their rooms without risking a twisted ankle much less having enough room to even lay down. The picture explains the rest itself.

Snow Cat

We went to visit Scott at his job at Marshall one day just after it snowed. He was called away to actually do some work. Dang-it! I took the kids up to Apple Hill. We stopped at High Hill Ranch and the place was nearly deserted. We had the place to ourselves with a nice blanket of untouched snow. I don't keep a sled in my car on a regular basis but I sure wish I had that day. I managed to scrounge up 5 individual gloves in varying sizes. We had a great time making this snow cat. Emmie was extremely particular about the whisker accuracy.

Hug Bugs

Clay spent the night with Scott at the work house for his Marshall job. Then he went to an in service training with him early the next morning. He sat in the meeting and kept saying, "This is so stupid!" The other people Scott works with just looked at him and nodded in agreement. This arrangement was made so I could volunteer at Emmie's school. Emmie and Clay were so excited to get separate mom and dad time they gave each other a dozen sincere goodbye hugs. This was also the very first time they had ever slept in different houses since Clay was born. Unfortunately, Emmie started throwing up as soon as we got home. I had to call and cancel school the next day. Maybe having a sickness come on put Emmie off her game and that's why she was being so sweet. I'm sure glad I was able to capture the moment.

Donut Face

I bribe Clay with a donut when I need to go grocery shopping at Winco. He calls it the donut place. I let him eat the donut in the shopping cart while I shop. When I checked out this time I had to hand the twist tie with the sku number on it and ask the guy to charge us for one eaten donut. He looked at Clay and asked, "Well who ate the donut? Did someone sneak it?" Clay sat there and smirked like he had really gotten away with something.

Last Year's Snowy Day

I found some older pictures on my phone and finally figured out how to put them in our picture files. I liked them well enough I wanted to post them. We only had enough snow this time to make everything really pretty and knock out the power for awhile. I had to pull the kids in the sled all over the lawn. Surprisingly, going down hill was not any easier than going up hill. I took them around the lawn twice and pooped out. I think I remember they went and jumped on the snowy trampoline afterwards. They thought it was fun to listen to the noise as the snow jumped with them. It's not looking like we will get any snowy play days this winter, not at home anyway.

In n Out

News Flash! In n Out is finally open in Folsom. Clay promised to take me there when we first saw it coming several months ago. We drove by at 10 am and saw a tiny open sign in the window. Clay really wanted to go so we hurried over. So we were at the counter and I asked Clay if he wanted a hamburger. He said no. Of course. Why did I ask? We almost left right then. The place was nearly empty and the servers were really happy and excited to be open for business. The girl who took our order ran over to deliver our food. They gave Clay stickers, and a girl rushed over to give Clay a real worker hat. Then the trainer they had helping the staff get things going came to visit while we ate. He must be the schmoozer on duty. He said Clay could work there when he was older and he would get to eat all the food he wanted for free while he was working. Nice perk! Clay is already looking forward to that.