I Love Boys

These boys . . .

We’ll ignore the constipated look on Byron’s face . . . he was mad cuz I made him stop bouncing incessantly  and sit down for the photo . . . at least he obeyed, which is more than I can say for Samuel.

I am amazed God trusted me with these two beautiful human beings . . . I, at times, want to slow the clock a bit.

I, at times want to just take a nap.

But I know how blessed I am . . . no matter the outcome of life circumstances . . . I know I am blessed.  Thank you, Jesus, for my boys!

Ok, Byron still looks concerned he’s being told not to move . . . but a tad less constipated. Still couldn’t get uncooperative dog and child to look at the camera.

Blessings!

Wonder Dog

Sometimes my dog irritates the living day lights out of me.

Sometimes I can’t imagine how life functioned for me before his constant stares and chronic happiness.

Sometimes I run 5 miles and wonder why he never slows, never breaths hard and I’m dieing . . . even though he hasn’t had a lick of exercise in a month . . . except for the potty outings . . . gotta love winter time.

Sometimes I thank God, literally, for a dog that doesn’t nip, isn’t possessive, territorial, was created without a mean bone in his body, doesn’t get into the trash, and all the above.

Just paying homage to wonder-dog, Byron.  He has truly grown on me . . . since the first few years of puppy-hood and teen-dog-hood.  He’s four years old now.

Loverly Sunday

My boys enjoying the great . . . and pretty cold . . . out of doors, the other day.  I’m sure glad we have several playgrounds around our complex!

I might completely bore you with photos now that I figured out a different way of uploading these pics . . . my computer wouldn’t do it with the flash uploader.  Crazy, old and diseased computer of mine.   This photo cracks me up . . . like a little old man and his dog, hanging out in some park . . . all ya need is some pigeons with Tobias throwing crumbs to the hords of  hungry birds.   Like the guy feeding the sea gulls in the middle of the grocery store parking lot yesterday.  Mass sea gull invasion . . . whilst people are trying to park and maneuvre around them.  Weird.

Such a cute dog, I will take the liberty to say . . . and he turned out to be such a great dog!  We had our moments of complete frustration . . . hint: puppy years . . . and he’s still very active but well behaved (with very little work from yours truly). I understand that not very many Jack Russells are like this.  Just to warn you.

Ah, here’s his favorite activity of all time.  Located at the expansive 25 acre dog park . . . Frisbee.  Yay!

Sorry for the grainy photo . . . his other favorite activity of all time.  Anything that can be chased, will be chased!

Oh yeah, another favorite activity . . . of course, this is after the chasing and the running and the frisbee fetch.  The boys look so solemn . . . not sure what had their attention at the time.

It was quite the sunset that day.  Last week sometime.  We’re all enjoying the dog park and the relatively warm evening.

I will end with this one.  I actually haven’t taken very many photos lately . . . as compared to normal. I love my little men . . . and my hubby!  So blessed, I am!  Not that we don’t have challenges and spats . . . but I know I’m cared for deeply and my boys are healthy and happy.  I’m grateful to God for this!!

God Bless!

ps . . . gotta go watch some tots.  Busy busy busy, they are! No wonder they need naps daily, plus a full nights sleep!

And I kinda like this statement . . . but I don’t have to go back again to do these things . . . perhaps I should attempt doing these things now, while they are still young.

If I had my child to raise all over again,
I’d build self-esteem first, and the house later.
I’d finger-paint more, and point the finger less.
I would do less correcting and more connecting.
I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I’d take more hikes and fly more kites.
I’d stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
I’d do more hugging and less tugging.
– Diane Loomans, from “If I Had My Child To Raise Over Again”

messy but oh so cute!

Oh Puppy Days

I ran across these photos . . . that I was unaware that we had on disk, thanks to some lovely friends of ours that let us borrow their camera prior to buying our own.

Byron turned 4 years old last month. I forget he was a pup at one time.

Too cute!

Have a wonderful day!
God Bless!

Oh, Alright . . . I Love This Guy Too.

Byron read my post yesterday and cried into his wee, Jack Russell pillow until falling into fitful sleep.

He told me all about it on our jog this morning . . . how left out he felt.

I apologized profusely, of course.

Byron has survived the making of Mother Tucker (prego years) and has integrated into our family quite nicely.  In fact he fits right in . . . quirky, loves to go and just plain obnoxious . . .

And sometimes stinky.

I even pick up his poop . . . just like I clean the boy’s poop (kinda, except Byron goes in the grass, boys go in their pants, preferably diapers) . . . my life is a jolly ball of poop.

Byron likes 4 basic things.

*Food . . . this consists of dog food, people food, sticks, plastic/rubber toys, and cat poop.  I also had to help him pass a towel once. Yes, poop the towel. It was gross.

*Water . . . he is a hog for water, a term we use for horses that drink too much at one time, therefor getting sick.

*Dog Parks . . . I’m not quite sure what we would do without our local dog parks.

*Our Daily Walk/Jog . . . this is just mandatory for all involved.

Byron is not very cuddly, though he does love us so, he would would rather play . . . all the time, non-stop.

You know, there is a 5th thing that Byron would self-combust if he didn’t have regularly . . . a tree trunk, fire hydrant or anything that calls out “I need to be peed on”.

Byron completes us, as a family.

God Bless!

ps . . . good thing he’s cute cuz he sheds like mad! I need a new vacuum cleaner!!

title-less

Man, I gotta get my camera back from the hubby! I have nothing to really share . . . just wasting time.

I cleaned and cleaned today. Amazing how I don’t realize how in-need (thought I’d use that description, instead of DIRTY) of cleaning things are until ya get behind the bookshelf and the giant couch and move the furniture around. Ugh. And I’m not even gonna talk about the bathrooms right now. Lets just say I’m not done. We move the beginning of next week and I only slightly feel ready. I wanna shampoo the carpets and J is gonna paint the inside . . . lighten the load on the maintenance men here and help us to retain some of our deposit.

Then the kiddos . . . and the dog . . . were going a bit stir crazy so we headed out to the dog park. We got there just early enough to play, wonder the dog park field and play frisbee with Byron before the crowd showed up with all their massive dogs. I’ve always had big dogs, my whole life, but now I’ve been years without a big dog . . . and sporting a compact critter . . . well, they seem bigger and more cumbersome. Not more work, cuz Byron is a lot of work and slightly high maintenance, mostly due to his energy level and being quite the hair sprinkler. One the big dogs jumped up and his big dog nails scratched Toby’s ear. You’d think life ended, though there wasn’t blood or anything major . . . just scared. The guy kinda felt bad but I’m the one there, with my kids, in the dog park . . . my risk. Once the crowd grew to about half a dozen big dogs, well, we headed out. Byron was tired out anyway.

Samuel is two in 9 days! 9 days! I’m so at a loss for words! About the time he hit 4 months, I was ready for him to be a year old . . . a bit more mobile and all weaned. That year seemed to zip by, but I remember chunks. Where did this last year go. That, my friend, is what a blog is good for! I have been keeping this thing for awhile now and it is so very cool to go back through . . . especially to read the description and the stories behind the photos. A bit of a motivation to keep with this blogging venture. A lot of times I feel like I have very little to say . . . since my life is relatively limited right now, but I’m not gonna miraculously remember all of this . . . I’m just not. Good to write it down.

This makes up for the sore lack of a baby book, right? When they’re 18 and movin’ out . . . hopefully for college . . . I can download the whole thing on thumb drive (or whatever they have in 15 years for storing info) and give it to them. Well . . . it will be interesting, right? I would have looooved something like this from my momma! To see her daily happenings, thoughts, and all the filler for my patchy recollections of childhood and teenage angst. What an insight and jewel I’d have now that I’m on a similar venture in life. My mom tries to remember and articulate it now but the words of the moment, that would’ve been cool!

Alright, thats really my whole thought on that subject.

So both boys are getting big big big. Tobias is 3 years and 5 months . . . Samuel 2 years in 9 days! Crrazzy! Wonder what it will feel like in 10 more years . . . looking back.

I’m going to end this now. Its evening, time is winding down to bed time and I wanna go hold the very figures this blog was created for . . . well, at least watch them play and run amok.

God Bless!

Tobias . . . he’s approximately 5 months old here. Chubby Bubby!!

Samuel and the daddio. Samuel . . . around 3 months here.

Getting bigger . . . not giant, just bigger. Well, the giant one is my hubba hubba hubby . . . me likey that one too.

Say Something!

Ok, I’m normally not very negative on here . . . whiny, but not negative . . .  and that post I did on the state fair is bugging me every time I log in here . . . which is a couple of times a day if I’m home enough.

So I’m gonna write something else, say something, so thats not the first thing I see on my blog.

Yesterday my sisters, Kelli and Tiffany . . . along with their tots, Braxton (Kelli’s 2 year old) and Aidrik (Tiff’s 1 year old) . . . came to visit me.  They hung out and ate dinner with us and just generally caught up with me and mine, since we don’t see each other very often, at all, anymore. I loved having them!! I miss living in close proximity!!

Justin was home today.  Though he had worked overnight, so he had to sleep while the boys and I went to church this morning.  Church was good and then we took some well deserved naps, yours truly included.  This afternoon we had errands and stuff we needed for the house so we managed to get to the store and Petco for dog food. Poor dog, he’s always out of dog food for like a week before we remember to get more. He doesn’t starve, believe me you! The dog eats more than my kids, I think.  Just unhealthy people food. He starts to itch really bad, I’m sure its food allergies, and thats usually when it dawns on me he’s been living on people food for a good week.  The itchiness goes away when his diet is primarily dog food.

I know you wanted and needed all the above information . . . especially about my dog and his negligent owners.

That about wraps it up.  I’ve been a bit of a slacker in the exercise department . . . but so goes life (as my friend, Sarah, pointed out) and there’s grace for that.

God is always good to us and I’m grateful tonight for his covering and grace in our lives . . . our health and well-being, as well.

God bless!

Samuel, he’s busy picking flowers . . .

Cool Down

The last few days have been much cooler than the few weeks prior. I walked this morning at 10:30am and it was still 65 degrees. Patchy sunshine, but still very cool. I enjoyed it. For one that enjoys the heat . . . mid-eighties to low-nineties is awesome . . . I do have to admit I relished the cool weather break.

I’ve had a bit of an attitude . . . one that was contained to my inner workings, but still present and nagging. I’m fine with not being the center of Justin’s world for a few short days and then, if I’m not reaffirmed and assured that, yes, I am the one and only for him (a tad dramatic) . . . well, my self-pity button gets pushed and I battle it or give into it. More lately, I’ve been battling it and I find that if I’m persistent that it does subside and our relationship is better for it.

And, get this, Justin has been gone for the better part of two weeks catching up with school . . . since, financially, we couldn’t get books until a month into the summer term. Now he has to cram for his online class and make up 4 tests and many many chapters of reading and an essay. On top of that he’s holding down his responsibilities . . . many of them new . . . at the fire house and . . . and, he’s working for Brooke’s Fire Department, pretty much everyday; doing odds and ends for them around the property. I have no idea, to this day, how he does this or where he gets the energy to even move one foot in front of the other at times, much less function on thought processing level after little to no sleep.

So, that, the above paragraph, that is what I’m getting jealous over. Cuz, face it, that’s what I’m battling. I’m jealous of his time and focus, etc. How frickin’ selfish can I possibly get? He does all this with an award-winning attitude.

So, I’m a bit repentant tonight. I’ve been convicted. He’s busy (understatement of the year) bettering our family with a future and I’m grumbling cuz he’s not here to help me pack and deal with discipline issues regarding two small toddlers . . . much less the personal one on one time I so miss with my best bud. Oh my. God help me understand what he’s dealing with . . . not just myself.

I went to my neighbor’s (who is also a good friend) church with her this past Sunday. People’s Church in Salem . . . its an Assemblies of God church . . . if that means anything really. The worship was very good and the word was right on. And then, yesterday, a friendly couple from the church stopped by with a loaf of bread from Great Harvest Bread Company, here in Salem . . . Apple Cinnamon. Oh my goodness gracious, grate balls of chicken crap!!! That has to be the best loaf of bread I have ever eaten in less than 24 hours . . . yes the kiddos helped a little but, mostly, it was my eating. Yeah . . . not something I can purchase every week cuz I would be 500 lbs by December but . . . once a month, maybe? This was accompanied with a nicely put together folder about their church and outreach programs and card thanking me for joining them Sunday. Very thoughtful . . . I didn’t feel like there was pressure to come back, just a thoughtful thank you.

It never ceases to amaze me that I take Byron, daily, on a 3 mile, plus, walk/jog . . . let him off leash for a minimum of 20 minutes to run about in a baseball field . . . take him out later in the afternoon while the boys run around the property (sometimes Byron too, though I’m not suppose to let him off leash . . . shhh, don’t tell on me) . . . and he is still playful and high energy when the day starts to draw to a close. These dogs, meaning the Jack Russell extraordinairs should all be on ranches and farms . . . or at least with property of some sort to run amok from the moment they wake until they crash at night. Thats all I have to say about that. And, no, we’re not getting rid of him . . . he’ll just have to deal with walks and baseball fields . . . and the occasional dog park excursion.

I think thats all I can conger up to blab about tonight. God’s grace is so abundantly available through this time in our lives . . . I really have no room or reason to whine.

God Bless!

Short Lived

I have found the perfect park. It has two play areas; one in the sun (see above photo) and one that is covered and shaded at all times. There are grassy baseball fields and dandelions galore (a Toby favorite). Also there is a chain link fence around the entirety of the field . . . on the other side of the fence is wet lands that cannot be developed; no houses overlooking. Its 1.5 miles from my house . . . making it a 3 mile round trip walk/jog; its turning out to be a perfect distance. Also, and most importantly, it is rarely inhabited by other humans . . . important for my pre-coffee antisocial disorder. And because its rarely peopled, Byron-Jack-Russell-Extraordinair is allowed off leash for duration of our stay . . . duration ranging from 20 minutes to an hour.

Taking advantage of the fields of glory here . . . loverly fields to romp and wear out small children and the dog alike.

Byron has gotten away from T here (note the dragging leash) . . . In the shaded area behind T is the second, and covered, playground.  Very nicely done, I must say!

BUT . . . and its a really big BUT . . . all the above also belongs to an elementary school. And you know what that means . . . eventually school will be back in session . . . and we will be out of luck.

This reminder came crowding into my over-crowded brain this morning when we rolled up with our spiffy double jogger and there were delivery trucks and maintenance trucks prepping the school. I have a month to enjoy my little paradise and then it will snatched back from me with no mercy. Of course I could show up and join the chitlins attending for recess. I have a feeling that won’t go over so well with the school staff though.

So, my little playground radar is up and searching for a new playground . . . whilst the weather is permissible . . . which usually extends into October.

God Bless!

They are getting along pretty good lately.  They have their unloving moments but, they are brothers . . .

AACCKK!!  I do exist at 9am.  Believe it or not, I venture out into the world of exercise (I apologize to no one) looking like this . . . pre-hairdo, pre-makeup (though thats nothing new),  and pretty frickin’ cranky most of the time (I blame my lack of caffeinated beverages . . . preferably coffee).  But the sun is so nice!!

Sunshine and Walks

I am officially in love with summer. I used to love spring and fall the mostest. But no more.  I love the summer.

No excuses to sit around, couped up in the house.  Nope.  All outdoors now . . . or at least knowing its option to drop in at the playground anytime without the worry or threat of rain.  Yeah man!

Lately, as in the last month and a half, I’ve been loading the tots in the double jogger and heading out to a playground I stumbled onto.  Located behind an elementary school a mile and a half from my front door.  Perfect for the amount of walk/jogging and half way the kiddos (and Byron, Jack Russell Extraordinair) get to play and run in the adjoining fields. Its quiet and people are rarely there, especially during our morning romp, so Byron is off leash.

Byron is a Jack Russell . . . all 20 lbs of him.  He’s not a big dog, by any stretch of the imagination.  He is also the most goofy friendly dog I have ever met! Especially towards other dogs.  But apparently the gentleman that came out of nowhere this morning with his own, large sized, dog off leash thought Byron was a cannibal and out to get his dog.  I have never seen anyone react to Byron in a negative way but I’m pretty sure if I didn’t intervene the guy would’ve taken my dog out . . . as in kicked him or something.  He was mad and glaring at me and cussing at his own dog (and/or me) and hitting his own dog.  I was shocked! Byron kinda looked at him and trotted back to me.  I didn’t say a frickin’ word, I just hitched By back on the leash and scampered back to my kids . . . who, thankfully, stayed in the playground area some distance away.

I understand there is a leash law.  I do.  And if I thought my dog was going to even annoy someone else, he would stay on leash, fo’ shizzle.  But, Byron will probably be off leash again, at the same park, tomorrow.  One dude in nearly 2 months . . . I think the odds are good we’ll be ok.

So, weird experience for the day.  Hopefully the only one.

Oh, another thing.  If Samuel falls down one more time and hurts himself today . . . I might have to look for professional help . . . for him.  Poor kid.

He’s fierce . . . He’s crazy . . . He’ll lick ya to death . . . its Byron Jack Russell Extraordinair!