In a Nut Shell

Big news at the school: that's Ichiro in the green cap! Not sure how we ended up having some Mariners come to do an assembly, but we did...and it was amazing to see how the students reacted...I think a few of them needed to change their pants when it was all over.
On Tuesday we took Tank to the dog park after a long day of kennel time...Hazel found a heart in the pavement.
On Wednesday after school the kids and I returned to teach Hazel how to ride a two wheeler.
I think she's got the coasting pretty good...it's the stopping that gets her all worked up.
and brings a few tears.

August got his eyes checked for the first time. He's got better than 20/20 vision...phew!
And well, the weather has been HOT and August is a little heater as it is and you see...I felt bad because he was just sitting out back and his hair was wet with sweat...so I cut it. And he hates it. But it should be noted that he agreed to the cut, I think he just hasn't seen his hair this short in a long while.
We had a little visitor today. Tanks mom, Irving came by to hang out in the sun. How huge is my dog? That's his MOM people! He came out of her!
Trey has been out of town on a work retreat. He comes home tonight and then leaves again on Wednesday morning to take August to 3rd grade camp, they come home on Friday and then Trey and I leave on Saturday to go to Sasquatch. I can not wait.

Spring Break

Man, oh man! Spring break is over and we don't have even a hint of a tan to show for it!
I think we successfully stayed busy but we really didn't do much. There was the trip to our old stomping ground with Francis and Rachel. We brought Tank who showed off his sense of smell by tracking a super fast squirrel:
And the rest of the days were filled with weeding and watching TV and playing with the dog and seeing the Dr...
But today we met up with friends for cupcakes. Holy Cow! They were good...you should check out these gals blogs to see what they had to say about them...I'm sure they'll blog about them in the next few days.
One day during the break I walked around the yard and found that we were growing random daffodils all over the yard. What's a girl to do with all that lovely yellow? Well, I'll tell you: I ran into the house and grabbed my kitchen scissors and went a cutting!It's amazing how just having these in the kitchen brightens my day.

Great Pyrenees Gus

Look at the size of this dog!  The breed is called the Great Pyrenees and his name is Gus.  Gus is the Many's second dog of this breed.  Their last one lived a good long life and was a great protector so when he died Wick and Chee Chee went to the pound and informed them that IF another one HAPPENS to walk through their doors they would be interested...guess what?  
They got Gus.  He's 3 and is just the sweetest dog ever!  On the evening of our arrival Gus wagged his tail and followed us around and finally just plopped down and fell asleep on the floor.  

The next morning I took Hazel out back to look at the shrinking lake and was followed by Gus and their other dog Tassa.  I was shocked when the two very mellow dogs immediately started jumping and running and playing around...
Then you add Wick into the mix and things got crazy.  Gus can JUMP!  He was leaping and bounding all over that back yard!  I was shocked to see such a huge beast bouncing around with ease.  

We're overwhelmed with our little Tank at home.  

Our hope is that once he's out of this puppy stage he'll be a great dog. 

But when Tank dies (in 15 years!!!) I'm sure we'll start looking for a Great Pyrenees.  They truly are amazing dogs.

A Good Day for a Hot Toddy

I feel like I'm just now playing catch-up. For so long we were anticipating Kat's wedding and all the company that would bring. Once that event was over we had to hurry up and plan our annual kid Halloween party, which we had last night and yes...there was a fire! So much excitement in the Many house...I'm sure our neighbors were real impressed! ( the fire was small, I lit some candles around the house and someone placed the paper towels a wee bit too close...there was very little smoke and the soot came right off the white back splash with some simple green.)
Now were revving up for our trip out to Alabama and Louisiana. We're fitting two visits into this one trip. Trey's dad and step mom live in Alabama and we don't see them nearly enough so when Trey's mom asked if we wanted to go to Louisiana to help her celebrate her 60th birthday we knew we had to fit them both in. The kids are so excited. I told them of our plans on the way home from school today and H announced that she just could not wait to see grandpa Joseph Many and Chee Chee. They've got cat and it really doesn't concern H too much that she's allergic. A visit gives her ample opportunity to get fed some southern food and get cat hair all over her.

We took the dog to the dog park today despite the grey sky and chilly breeze. Tank does so much better when he's tired. I like him so much when he's sleeping. After the park we came home to clean up the mess accumulated from the Halloween party. A did his home work while H set her small stuffed animals up all over the living room. I searched the Internet for a recipe for hot toddy's and found this yummy one:

1/4 c boiling water
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz pear brandy (or apple brandy)
1/2 oz honey

all you do is put the honey in the boiling water and mix it till it dissolves, then mix the rest into that and put a cinnamon stick in it. I doubled it cause it's that good.
I'm sipping it right now and it's warming me up in this cold, cold house on this cold, cold night.

Family Reunion

For Tank!

Tank wasn't sure where we were going...he was just excited to be included:
Once we got to his mom's yard he was a bit shy but then his brother woke up all was well with the world. Tank is twice as big as his litter mates...he's a stinking giant!

coffee, waffles and bull penis

i felt like such an adult this morning.
Tank woke me up at 5 and then 6:30. before we got this dog i was able to sleep in until 8 during the week, 8 being the latest possible hour yet still getting the kids to school by 9. now, with this dog, i am finally an adult. he wakes me up and forces me to make myself some coffee (like most adults do) so i can face the next few hours of him chewing the crap out of his bull penis. yes, you heard me, bull p-e-n-i-s!
i was not aware of all the animal body parts they smoke for mans best friend. we've given Tank lamb lung, buffalo bone and yes, bull penis. i must say, the absolute worst way to start the day is to drink coffee and eat waffles while smelling smoked bull penis...not good.

week one

well, we lasted a week with the puppy. it's like skipping the infant stage of parenthood and jumping right into toddler life. for those of you who have not had kids that means that the puppy can not be left alone...ever...even for a second...cause you just don't know what he'll do...like chew the couch...or...poop on the rug...or...attack one of hazel's limbs...it's been fun.

i took a trip to ikea during spring break. didn't really need anything, just wanted to put the kids in the play area for an hour so i could walk around by myself...well...tank and i walked around together. he was purdy cute in the cart:

i continued working on my coffee making skills to impress my friends and family. i may have gotten the foam issues resolved:
look at that foam would ya! almost as good as uptown! ok...not even close...a girl's gotta dream right? mmmmm, that uptown coffee looks soo good, i might have to go git me some one day this week...anyone wanna join me? during school...no kids...any takers?

guess what? my camera broke (my birthday is coming up) yup, it was in my purse so i could catch all the funny things the kids and dog do during our day (my birthday is coming up) and somehow it done broke. so. no pictures for a while. (my birthday is coming up) i may start to recycle old ones that haven't been used (my birthday is coming up) but i'll let you know if they're old ones so you don't think my children are shrinking. (my birthday is coming up).
that's all for now.
birthday

drum roll please...

the puppy has been named.
we are calling him TANK.
rhymes with HANK (thank you zane).
we bought the crate today as well as some puppy food. he'll come live with us the week after easter. we're all very excited.

Name that Dog!!!

we had the dog for about 8 hours today. i think he did pretty well, even peed outside 3 times!! we won't get him until he's 8 weeks old which will be right after our trip to California to see Zane and Audrey.
none of us can agree on a name. any help in naming this sweet boy would be very welcomed. the breeders named him valentine because he was born on the 13th of feb., hazel originally thought we should name him gnarly but has since changed her mind. trey likes gnarly but i think he should be called blueberry because of his nose. august likes "the day before valentine's day" but i'm working on convincing him that that's way too long of a name.
what do you think?
let the naming begin...

Dog Sitting

my sister has this great dog named Royal and we get to watch him overnight tonight. everyone is excited about it:

trey tried to take a little nap this afternoon but Royal just couldn't stand it. He kept on jumping on him, then jumping off him, then stretching on him, then sniffing him...it was quite fun to watch.
Royal couldn't decide what to do for the first few hours he was with us...he sniffed around everything, running from one area to the next. He finally decided to chill out for a bit on the couch at Trey's feet but then Hazel couldn't let them just rest, she had to get in on the action which just messed the whole thing up.

we went to the disney store today to buy one of my favorite movies which happened to be re-released yesterday. i don't know why i love Peter Pan as much as i do but i just can't get enough of it. we also have the live action one that came out a few years ago...that one is closer to the book and wonderful. the kids and Royal and i spent the evening watching the disney version. Royal snored through most of it but i'm not gonna complain...the dog kept me very warm as he curled up into a ball next to me.
i think it's high time for this family to get a dog of our own.