A Puppy's Tail

Yes, I'm a dog person. I don't have anything against cats as a species, but when it comes to a companion, yep, it's a dog.

Max is my furry little companion animal. Honey is pretty sure I'd give him away before I'd give my dog away. Ummm...no comment.

Max was a puppy mill rescue, he was suppose to be put down but was saved along with 15 other puppies. It's been six years since Max adopted us. I found the rescue through Petfinder.com. I took both kids to visit two puppies the rescuers thought would work for our family. I told Honey we were just going to look, of course he knew better, I was bringing home a puppy.

When we arrived this little white fuzzy bundle of excitement met us at the door I couldn't get the Bean down to the floor fast enough for the loving to begin. Stumpy, as he was called, was all over us, jumping, wagging, wiggling, giggling (the Bean) and kissing. The puppy wasn't afraid of Bean grabbing at him or the noise a 2 1/2 year old can make. We visited with the other puppy too, he was a little smaller and a bit timid. I'm sure he would have worked for our family when he got comfortable with us, but Stumpy was a better match for our busy young family. So Maxwell Edison became part of our family.

Max had a few fears to over come, going through doors, walking in the grass and he was afraid of people in baseball caps. With patients, time and gentle guidance he's gotten over most of his fears one step at a time. I know, just like Max, with patients and time I can get over my fears and short comings too. It just takes one step of faith at a time.

The "J" List

The "J" list is like Oprah's "O List" only cheaper, much much cheaper! It's some of my new or new to me favorite things!

On the left is "The Green Album" cd! It's Muppet songs, sung by current popular artists! How can you not have a good day when you start it listening to Mahna Mahna? Bean thinks we should listen to it every day on the way to school and Sissy already has it on her iPod! (It's not on mom's iPod but that's a post for another day.) There's also a "Kermit Unpigged" cd!

The odd pink thing is a poo bag holder. I saw a diaper bag dispenser (just like this one just labeled differently) on Another Ten Miles blog. Heather pictured it on her "Baby Must Haves" post. I saw that and thought perfect "in the car" trash bags! They're small, contained and refillable! No more hunting under the seat for a stuff mart bag! Woo hoo! I found the pet version in pink at Target! Thanks Heather!

Turtle Wax Bug and Tar remover! We have big bugs and they leave big squish marks on the car. No more squish spots!

Greeting cards from the Dollar store! My friend Laurie told me about them! I'm very excited! I spent $14 on 3 greeting cards! That's crazy! I really want to be able to make card and have them ready on time (ha) but just in case that doesn't work out...Dollar store here I come!

Money (Not) Saving Monday

I don't know how I could have forgotten this but I did. To save money Do Not Take BOTH Children shopping! It must have been the movie popcorn induced haze that lead me to take the kids (mistake #1) to the book store. Bean had a gift card from his birthday, Sissy didn't have any money, we know where this is going. Bean picked out his books, so did Sissy. Yes you guessed it mom was expected to pay for hers. I couldn't buy her a book without getting one for him. I know some moms can,k I'm not that good at turning off the mommy guilt. After that we went (mistake #2) to the shoe store, just to pick up a pair I saw last time we were there. While we're here we'll look at shoes to go with the (gulp) prom dress. Bean wanted to go look at the shoes in his size (mistake #3) I let him. A minute later he comes running back to me bare foot, saying "Mom you should see all the cool shoes in my size!" Twenty minutes later, 3 pairs of shoes and earrings to go with the prom dress we head home. Lesson learned.

Is It Spring Yet?

Just like every where else it's snowy and cold and snowy here. Did I mention cold? I'm tired of it! I would really like to hibernate, snuggle up in my cave and just not go out. With two kids and Honey that's not possible. But I can do the next best thing curl up in my chair, with a blanket, a cup of (insert hot beverage here) and a book (sigh). Katrina at Callapidder Days hosts a fall and spring reading challenge, they are a lot of fun. (I wonder if book sales go up after Katrina starts her challenge?). I know I've found several books to add to my list. I'm looking to Katrina for inspiration for my own "Spring Can't Get Here Soon Enough" reading list. The picture was taken by my very long time friend Monica. It's beautiful!

I trudged through finally just finished American Wife: A Novel by Curtis Sittenfeld. I wouldn't say I disliked the book but, well it wasn't my favorite. I'm going to leave it at that. Now I'm ready to pick some new books, hopefully I'll enjoy my next selections. In no particular order here they are.

Finished A Vintage Affair: A Novel by Isabel Wolff

Lady in Waiting: A Novel by Susan Meissner For a good review check out what Suzanne at Living to Tell the Story has to say about this book.

Finished The Winter of Our Disconnect by Susan Maushart This is a book about a mom who unplugs her family,it's Non-Fiction, in our house totally fiction!

Finished The Face: A Novel by Dean Koontz

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel by Jamie Ford

I'm excited to get started on my list. Maybe the weather will cooperate enough to keep my kids in school so I can do some reading. With them trapped stuck spending quality time at home with me it's hard to complete a thought let alone get into a book.

Leave me a comment and tell me what you're reading or how you're surviving until spring. I love comments. Happy Reading!

March Madness

I can't believe it is already March. What happened to January and February? The last two months have flown by in a blaze of colds, doctor appointments and activities. For the last six weeks someone here hasn't been feeling well and for about 3 weeks it was me. Lauren also had to have a glad removed. It was minor surgery and she came through like a champ! Right now Caleb is sick, looks like we'll be on the "sick side" of the pediatrician's office tomorrow.

On other news, Lauren got a First on her band solo at contest on Saturday. Yay! Way to go baby girl! We also got her classes picked for (yikes) High School. She will have a meeting next month to see what classes she got and make changes but we are on our way to High School. Yes, driver's ed. was on her list, and for good or bad because of her birthday I'm pretty sure she will get it.

Caleb is busy doing boy things, he has discovered gross disgusting sounds and thinks peeing is hysterical. He's going to play T-ball this spring. Lucky for me the games are only 3 innings.

Philip has been busy with his classes. He is still only taking one at a time but there is a light at the end of the tunnel – he will finish in December. His knee is getting better, he can run a little on it now and goes back to the doctor in April.

I finally finished reading Lisey's Story. It seamed to take forever to read it because I wasn't feeling good I had a hard time getting into it, but once I did it was a good book. It was the first Stephen King book I've read, I can't say I'll be reading all his books but I wanted something different and a bit more challenging and it was. So, now I'm headed back to Cedar Cove (book 5) to see what they are up to. I'm also learning the purl stitch so I can knit mittens, with any luck I'll have a pair done for my Dad before next winter.

That's all the news from here at the ranch. Until next time (maybe sooner than 6 weeks) have a great day and thanks for visiting!