Teasing Elliot

 Evenings at our house are CRAZY!  The kids come home from school and the house explodes.  Papers come at me from every direction.  On this particular night, we were all a little tired and ready to be done with homework.  Elliot was ready for us to be done too.  

Anna put some fairy wings on him and we all thought it was hysterical.  The poor thing.

Elliot decided to sit on Anna's lap.  She was trying to do her homework and kept pushing him away.  He decided to make it so she couldn't work.

A few things to point out in this picture.

I'm wearing green scrubs and I'm not a nurse.  They are the best thing to wear doing housework and gardening.  

I had just finished folding laundry and it was still on the table and hanging up.  Backpacks consume my house.

Izzie

Our sweet dear Izzie is gone.  I think I can finally talk about it without falling apart.

I think she was just about the best dog out there, except for the fact that she would run away.  Now I'm glad she did.  Izzie came alive when we moved to Washington.  She was in her element. The pond was her playground.  The ducks her toys, as much as I hated it.  To this day, I don't know how she would catch them.

Having dogs in our family, I know that we are going to go through the death process at some point with them.  It's so hard on my family, but the time we had with this loyal, quiet, reflective being.....

So worth it.

Look at her eyes.  She would look at you and know.

Know if we hurt.

Know if we were happy.

Know if we were scared.

We will miss you.

What I do for my daughters

 Troy and I had as what my Mom would term "A Great Adventure.".  We took 4 teenage girls across the border to a Fan Meet Up.  One of there favorite bands is Five Seconds Of Summer, or 5SOS.  The fan club is trying to get the boys to play in concert in Vancouver BC. 

On the way there we HAD to stop and have lunch at one of Niall Horan's favorite places to eat, Nando's.  

We did it all for Niall.

 I have to say, it was really good.  They had some lovely vegetarian dishes.  When I got home, I looked up the closest Nando's to us.  13 freekin miles.  Just happens to be in a different country.  Just so happens Troy has to drive by there on the way home from work.  I'm thinking take out?

 We then took the girls to a mall in Coquitlam and let them loose.

 These are the boys that the girls all love.  Don't worry all you 1D fans out there.  Both bands are good friends.  I seriously can't believe I spent my day walking around a mall (I hate shopping), making my bunion hurt like hell, just for these boys.  I must really love my girls.

More than that, Troy deserves a gold medal for putting up with a bunch of women all day!

Birds and Bird dogs

The other day as I was driving around Custer, trying to find a naughty dog, I came across a tree full of birds.  I know, shocking that I would notice them.  I didn't have my camera with me so I ran home and grabbed it.  When I say "ran", that wasn't literal.  Haha, me running?

 I could kick myself for not having my binoculars.  That sounded way too nerdy.  I couldn't tell what the brown birds were.  They are as big as the bald eagle.  I was able to walk right under the tree and watch them.  As soon as they all started to make noise, I hightailed it to the van.  I didn't want to end up like Troy.  I'll have to tell the story about how he was attacked by a hawk sometime.  So funny!

 This tree off in the distance had even more in it.

I should just go and ask one of the local farmers.  It was fun for me to spot so many at the same time.  My kids get so annoyed with me when I have to pull over for photo's or to figure out a bird.  Troy completely tolerates it.  He deals with it stoically, like a brave, fierce warrior going into battle.  A warrior who rolls his eyes.  As for Elliot?  He ended up coming home later on acting like nothing happened.  He was out messing around with his friend Buddy.  Elliot talked Buddy into busting out of his invisible eclectic fence.  Needless to say our neighbors weren't very happy with Elliot. The ponds are full of ducks right now.  What do we expect a German Short hair and a Yellow Lab to do for fun? 

Animal house

 Izzie photo bombed Elliot!  To say I love animals is an understatement.  These two here are such loves.  Izzie is having a hard time getting up and around these days.  You can see from the pick how much it hurts her.  Most of the time we have to help her up and move around.  Then she surprises us and runs around.

This winter has been especially hard for her.  Lots of heating pads for her!  She loves them.

 It's amazing to see how much Elliot has changed since we got him.  His coat is shinny, he's fattened up.  I love making them happy. Troy lovingly calls them Damn Dogs.  He calls the cats, Damn cats.  Guess what he calls the Guinea Pigs.  You got it!  Damn Guinea Pigs.

We really do have amazing animals.  The pond was full of ducks and they were making a lot of noise.  The dogs were very intently watching them.

Keeping Olivia busy

 During our snow days, I ended up sick in bed for a couple of days.  One of those days I didn't want to be talked to, looked at, touched, breathed on, talked about or thought of.  Yes, my body hurt THAT BAD!

Our Little Miss Muffet doesn't understand any of those concepts.  I handed her my camera and told her to play designer for her dolls.  She spent hours dressing and playing with them.  

 As you can see, she posed them and took pictures.  Do these pictures represent what happens in my own house?

 Does it?

 Joking.  You will never catch Troy on the couch while I do this dishes.  It's usually the other way round.  He tells me he feels guilty if I'm working and he's sitting.  He has way more empathy than I do.  I just let them work while I get rest!  

Love my Miss Muffet!

I did get a good laugh and precious moments to myself.  Now I have another way to keep her busy!

Snow storm and sniffles

 Before this HUGE snow storm hit us, I had just been telling someone how happy I was that I didn't live out East.  I think I may have jinxed myself there.  Our little Corner of Northwest Washington got hit hard.  The kids loved it.  Olivia had just gotten over her sniffles.  The day after this photo of Soren, he got sick.  We all got sick.  

 So here we were, most of my family sick and snowed in.  Snow days for school.

 The snow got so heavy on the trees, branches broke off.

It is lovely to look at and take pictures of.  Not fun to be out in it when you have a fever and cough.  I REALLY need spring.