No more pets

Um....Mom?

Can we take this home?

NO!

The A girls

A1, A2, and A4...

All grown up.

I can't take credit for them. They're my step-daughters, I'm the evil stepmother (inside joke). But I love them, and I'm very proud of them. They are all beautiful young women, all successful in their chosen paths.

Seems like I just met them yesterday. They were young, single, in college or in high school.

Now, they are all grow up.

A1 and A2 are both married and have kids of their own.

And....A4 is getting married in just a few days time.

Aren't they a cute couple? She has met her Prince Charming.

And it's nice, because we like him, too.

He actually asked her father for his blessing before he proposed. Isn't that sweet? That was a year ago, New Year's Day.

3 days left.

Wonder what she's thinking about?

A Change of Scenery

From here.....

(Sighh....)

To here......

And here.....

To here...

Much, much better, don't you think?

Hummm...I wonder if Mom will let me take this as a souvenir

Mom??
NO! PUT IT BACK!

OK, Mom! I'll just take that home with us instead! Would that be OK?

Uh.. NO. THAT needs to stay right where it is.


BOYS.....they're just so....just soo... I don't know.....

AnotherTypical Day at the Zoo

In addition to homeschooling the kids, taking care of Prince Charming, and the zoo, and the garden, I work outside of the home part-time.

Friday was a work day.

I was in work mode. I was thinking of super-bugs like pseudomonas, mrsa, and diseases like HIV, tuberculosis...you know, fun stuff! Stuff that challenges my brain.

ring..ring...ring...

"Good-morning. Infection Control. This is Sherry. How may I help you?"

"Mom??"

This BETTER be good.

"MomVictoriahastapeonherhead."

What?

"Tape-on-her-head."

"Well, just pull it off."

"I can't. It's stuck."

"Well, take her into Grandma's room. Have her help you. I'm working right now. Bye."

ring...ring...ring...

"Good morning, Infection Control. This is Sherry. How may I help you?"

Prince Charming: "What's this about tape around Victoria's neck and Grandma calling 911?"

"WHAT?" That was NOT the same version I got.

I hung up and called home. I had pictured in my mind a little ball of duct-tape stuck to Victoria's head.

I wasn't thinking like this.......

Poor puppy.

Please. Do not call 911. (We'll be the laughing stock of the fire department).

Hello? My doggy has a role of duct tape around her neck. Ummm...could you come save her please? I could just see that 911 tape hitting the 6:00 news.

I hung up and called A2, who as luck would have it was out and about. A2 used to work at a real zoo, with real animals. Without hesitation she went into rescue mode and went to the house. (Thank you...thank you...thank you....)

Meanwhile, Grandma made her own call to the next door neighbor. The new neighbor. The one that hasn't even officially moved in yet. (They've been renovating the house next door for about 6 months now). The one who still lives across town. The wife called her husband, who was out and about and without hesitation went into rescue mode and went to our house. (Thank you...thank you....thank you.... oh, and by the way...Welcome to the neighborhood! He has now seen my house a pit, my mother and my children in their pajamas, and my dog with duct tape around her neck - yee haw).

The tools.
The spoils.
The Victory.


The Rescuer (one of them).


All's well that ends well.


Right Victoria? Now, stay away from duct tape and be good!

My First Garden Blogger's Bloom Day Post

Being younger than my sister Carol has its advantages and disadvantages. One of the disadvantages is that by the time I was born, all the available green thumb genes in the family had been dispersed, and there were none left for me.

But the advantage is that my sister freely shares her horticultural expertise and is quite generous in sharing her garden excesses. So, when my gardening instinct kicked in much later in life, I turned to Carol to guide me and help me get started. And despite my brown thumb, I have found that I really do enjoy digging in the dirt and gardening.

In fact, one of the reasons I wanted to start a blog was so that I could share in Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.

Seriously.

So here it is. My very first Garden Blogger's Bloom Day Post. I'm so proud (excuse me while I wipe that tear away, ok?)

Yesterday evening, the 13th, was a beautiful evening and I was very excited to set off with my camera in search of all my beautiful blooms. I really haven't been out much this spring as we've had some other distractions of late in our household and I wasn't quite sure what all I'd find.

Ummmm......BLOOMS? Where are you???



Oh...here is one....

Three little crocus buds by the Scarlet Oak Tree in our front yard.

I'm sure I have other plants blooming. Surely I do.....

OK. More crocuses. But get a load of this!


WHITE......crocuses.....

Ok. So now I'm getting a little more desperate....

Isn't there ANYTHING else alive in my garden?

I'm looking.....here are some fish that made it through the winter.

HI FISHEYS! Here's your first meal of springtime.

Here is something alive under something green, although it's not a bloom, at least it's green.

It's an Alberta spruce.....Carol has posted about these particular alberta spruces. They attract big, ugly spiders for some reason....and apparently cats as well.

Is there anything green under here trying to peak it's way through?

Nope. Just a camouflaged cat waiting to pounce. But we spoiled her attack plans.


Sighh.....next month. Next month I'll have lots of blooms to share, I'm sure. And next fall, I'm going to plant more and more bulbs so I'll have lots of laughter coming up in my garden for March 2009 Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.

Doggy Update

I realized this morning it's been forever (like 2 days) since I posted anything about Victoria. So please indulge me....

Since her dramatic fall into the pond earlier this week, she has taken several additional dips. Turns out she likes the water.

We have learned that her voice gene comes from the Blue Tick in her. I've never heard her bark. But I haven't heard her howl either. She whines and makes weird sounds. I now understand all those talking animal videos that people send me.

Victoria has discovered the dishwasher. She has discovered that SOME people in the house do not rinse the dishes as they should.

She likes to chew. (What puppy doesn't?)

This morning Sophie finished the last book in her math series (Miquon, and yes Charmaine, I know....we weren't faithful in doing this daily so we finished about a year later than we should have..but I don't feel bad because we also do Primary Math...the Miquon was just "extra").

So, as part of her victory dance, she fed the book to Victoria. Well, not really FED it to her, she just let her chew on it.
The Shepherd in Victoria likes to herd. No surprise there. BUT, she only herds boys. Not girls. Weirdest thing. Maybe because she associates girls with snuggling.

Poor Esther. See her sitting on the chair with her back toward her mommy? I think she's mad at her. What do you think?

But Victoria is happy.

Doesn't this look like the life?

My Favorite Picture

I call this picture: Desperate Measures to Keep Kids Happy While Mom is at Work