It's in the mail.

I FINALLY got the gifts I promised those of you who participated in my "Pay It Forward" and my contest into the mail. I have had them ready and sitting here in envelopes for a while now and just never made it to the post office. Today they are officially on their way. So, if you are one my list to get something, I am terribly sorry it took me so long! I hope you enjoy the little gift that Tink and I made you.

Meet Maggie May!

This is our new baby. Maggie May. She is 10 weeks old and is half black labrador and half coon hound.

Tink has already claimed Maggie May as hers. They have been running through the house together nonstop. It's a good thing Maggie May is so cute, she's going to be a handful and she's going to need all the cuteness she can muster to keep out of trouble.

Tonight

We are off to look at puppies. Hubbs and Tink aare determined that it is time for another dog. Personally I'm not so sure.

I, of course, end up taking care of all the animals.

The poor fish have been swimming in a dirty tank for a month now. Hubbs was supposed to clean their tank. He hasn't done it yet. Last night I noticed one of them is now a floater. I pointed this out to Hubbs. It was still floating this morning. Guess it's now been transferred to my list of things to take care of. As will the care of a new dog.

I am a total sucker for lab puppies though. So.... enough complaining and protesting and on to meeting and bringing home a puppy and naming her. (The only ones left now are females)

My question is......What to name her?????

We already have Bocephus (named for Hank Williams Jr) we call him Bo usually. Hubbs picked out the name.

I'm thinking I get to name this one.

Here's the list I am considering:

Maggie May (my favorite)
Abby (Abigail was one of my choices for Tink)
Nala
Maddy
Emma
Ivy
Holly
Bella
Ella

We'll have to see if I can talk Tink into any of these. Her choices for Bo were Inside-Outside and Hillside. Hubbs had a hard time convincing her Bocephus was a better choice.

What would you name her?

We did it all!

I talked Hubbs into everything on my list!

Tink and I visited with Shannon, Kristen and the ever adorable Sara. We gifted them with lots of hand-me-downs for Sara. They gifted us with Tink's first fishing trip. Tink caught 5 fish and loved every minute of it. As long as she didn't have to touch the fish. (She is definitely her mamma's girl!)

We braved the crazy people at Old Navy to emerge with 5 pair of flip flops and a new swim suit for Tink.

We made our way to the cabin. No tv. Food cooked over the fire pit. Swimming at the river. No cell service. Time spent TOGETHER. No indoor bathroom. It was FANTASTIC!!! (Except for the outhouse part.) (And the part where my MIL and stepFIL showed up and sat on their tushies while I was expected to cook for them.)

Bo "gagged up" the toy fish. (Tink refuses to say the work puke, it's always gagged up.)

Graduation party for cousin Brooke was lovely. Lots of good food and family to visit with.

Now, it's back to work and the same old craziness of my life. Dance practices for Tink are crazy with recital coming up in only two weeks.

What to do?

I am in desperate need of time off work!!! I know, I had a four day weekend last week. I also had a puking kid the entire time, so that doesn't count. Luckily this weekend is a three day weekend.

Now, what to do???

I'm thinking:

• visit Hubb's brother, Shannon, my cute SIL and niece tonight.
• hit the Old Navy $1.00 flip flop sale tomorrow morning to stock up for next summer. (Tink and I LOVE flip flops!!!)
• head to our cabin for the first time this year.
• spend Sat and Sun nights there so we can cook over a fire pit, swim in the river and relax.
• head home on Mon.
• go to Hubb's little cousin's graduation party on Mon afternoon.
• spend the rest of the day visiting with family and relaxing.

Now, if I can just get Hubbs to agree to this and then get him out of town BEFORE he tells his buddies or his family where we are going. (I don't mind his buddies, it's their goofy wives and my MIL that drive me crazy!)

Damn Dog!

Our crazy dog, Bo, LOVES to play with Tink's fishing pole.

Well, the fish that came on the end of the pole really.

It's a hard plastic fish that was attached to the line on the Dora fishing pole and was meant to teach your little one to cast.

Last night Hubbs was playing with the pole and the dog was chasing the fish around the yard. Bo would get close and snap at the fish and Hubbs would jerk it away and Bo would chase it barking.

Fun stuff!

Until Bo caught the fish. He snapped the line and swallowed the fish whole.

Now we are waiting. And watching.

If the fish doesn't pass we will be having doggy surgery.

Not fun!

I keep asking myself

Why did I....
What if.....
Why can't I....
Why would I....
Why wouldn't I...
Do I really...

I know the answers already. The questions are still there.

My Hubbs.

This is the view from my living room window. On Friday there were three trees. They were each approx 70 - 80 ft tall. Now there are two. Sadly, I was too busy taking care of a sick Tink (and evacuating the house when the tree was actually being cut) to take pics of the first tree coming down (and when it was laying against the side of the house.) Here's a better look at the trees. They are growing on a hillside. The first tree was actually growing crooked like the one in the pic, but it was leaning the opposite direction, towards our house.It's not east to see him, but Hubbs is in this tree (the one leaning up the hill) getting ready to cut the top off it.That's my Dad. He's hooking cables that are attached to the tree to his truck and tractor. The guys used these vehicles as leverage to make sure the tree didn't fall on the house after it was cut. The top that hit the house was so heavy it actually pulled the tractor backwards as it fell.

There's Hubbs in the top of the second tree after he cut the top off. Hubbs loves doing things like this. He scares the crap out of me!!! Personally if I had to climb a 70ft tree and cut it down from the top I would have a heart attack. Especially when the top falls out and crashes down to the ground making the entire tree sway. I almost had a few heart attacks with Hubbs being up there.

Hubbs and my dad are going to finish taking the trees down very soon. They ran out of time over the weekend.

Not Me Monday

I haven't confessed in a while and I feel after the week I've had I may need to come clean. So, here we go:

* I did NOT get puked on about 10 times in the past week. Nope, my kiddo wasn't home sick for 4 days!

* I did NOT start to get nervous when Tink's fever spiked to 104.8 at 9:30 on Thursday night.

* I did NOT dye my hair red this weekend.

* I did NOT want to smack my MIL when I walked into her house with a new hair color and the first thing that came out of her mouth was "Well, I don't know how we are going to fix this!"

* I did NOT almost have a heart attack when Hubbs climbed to the top of the pine trees behind our house to start cutting them down.

* I did NOT freak when the top of one of the trees hit the side of our house as it fell. Luckily it did not damage anything.

* I did NOT get angry at my oldest niece and cousin's daughter when they made Tink stand in the corner when she asked to play with them.

* I did NOT cringe when I got stuck eating alone with my MIL while EVERYONE else ate together in the dining room over the weekend. Really, she's a peach and I LOVE spending time alone with her! Really!!

* I was NOT extremely nervous about dropping Tink off for dance class and not being allowed to stay and watch, in preparation for the recital. She kissed me goodbye and walked off like it was no big deal.

* I did NOT take advantage of being home from work with a sick kid and use the time when I wasn't cuddling with her to scrub my floors and do some other cleaning.


NOPE NOT ME!!!!

Check out My Charming Kids to see what other people didn't do this week.

taking out the trash

I asked Hubbs to take the trash out last night (for the third day in a row.) "Before bed" he promised.

I got up this morning to find the trash can still overflowing.

Hubbs had left for work hours before. What do I do now? Do I take it out myself!?

Noooo.

Instead I left Hubbs a note taped to the fridge.


Dear Hubbs,

Thanks for taking out the trash last night, if you hadn't I'm sure it would be smelly by now.

Much Love!!!
D


Hopefully he takes care of it before I get home.




Update: Hubbs found the note and then took out the trash before I got home. He was not amused. I fained innocence and swore I thought the trash really had been taken out.

If only he knew...

Hubbs sometimes tells me I am crazy. He is just kidding of course. Sorta. These statements usually come after I have yelled at him for something he has not done correctly or not done at all.

Like folding the towels. He totally folds them wrong. It drives me crazy. How hard is it to fold them my way? Length wise in half, half again then across in thirds. Perfect. They line up so nicely in the closet.

If only he knew some of the things that go on in my head every day.

For instance:

I eat my fries in pairs of the same size.

I eat m&m's in pairs by color or color combinations. The same goes for Trix cereal, certain color combinations must be eaten first.

When eating I find myself counting how many times I have chewed each bite.

My clothes are lined up according to color in my closet. (Hubbs hasn't realized this or at least has never mentioned it.)

Everything in my house has a place. If one or two things are out of place I give up and let the entire house become a wreck before I get frustrated and go crazy cleaning everything. The same goes for my office at work.

I REALLY bothers me when other people touch MY things.

I have to be in control of the buggy or stroller when out shopping. I also prefer to be driving when in the vehicle.

After Tink is finished playing with her doll houses I rearrange the furniture to make it look just right (I wait until no one is in the room to do this.)

If Hubbs does the dishes it bothers me that he doesn't do them in the same order I do them in (glasses, silverware, bowls, plates, pots and pans.)

When I'm out shopping with my mom and Tink and they go off together to shop in another area of the store I start to panic and have a hard time focusing on people's faces to find them again.


I try desperately not to let anyone know what is happening inside my head. I am afraid they will think I am crazy. Maybe I am, I'm not sure.

A lazy Monday

JP visiting with his Grandma. She turned 92 this year and can out work me any day of the week. I love this lady!
Tink riding her scooter while we visit with Grandma. She's actually quite good on her scooter and not a bit afraid while she zips up and down the street.

Circus 2009

Hubs and I along with Mr. & Mrs. Moore took Tink and Boo to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus. The circus was in Charleston, which is about 2 hours away, so we had to get up nice and early so we could make it in time for the preshow.

During the preshow you are invited down onto the floor to interact with the acrobats, clowns and other circus performers. We had clowns juggling all around us, stilt walkers walking over us and acrobats over our heads.

Tink was just a tad excited for the show to begin.


The opening number.



I LOVE me some elephants!

Aren't they adorable?

Tink just couldn't make it through the entire show. She cuddled up on my lap and fell asleep. When the show was over we walked across the street to the mall and had lunch and did a little shopping. Then it was back into the car for the ride home.
Can't have a car trip without silly car pics from the ride home!

What a great day, spent with great friends!!!