We arrived home 2 weeks ago Sunday - it was sure good to sleep in our own bed. Our dog sitters had done an excellent job of keeping the dogs alive and the house was relatively clean when we arrived. It's kind of funny that as I get older I get more and more like my mother. Whenever my mom would come home from a vacation she would insist on cleaning the house if I had been staying there. I told her I had cleaned it but she cleaned it anyway. I found myself doing exactly the same thing - I cleaned house when I got home. I'm not sure if it was therapy after being gone a month or if it really needed it. Needless to say the house is now clean. :)
The first day we were home Balin headed off to work and the kids and I blissfully played with our long, lost toys; kids had legos and Dora dolls and I had my vacuum. That night we invited my parents over to have dinner with us - yummy paninni sandwiches and sweet potatoe fries. While I was slicing the sweet potatoes I got distracted and unfortunately sliced off a good portion of my thumb, right into the potatoes. Yeah - it was bad. I started screaming, Sam started screaming and Balin started moving in slow motion. Of course I then started barking orders at him, which he did but so slowly. It turns out Balin doesn't like blood - at all. I went to our bedroom to scream in private while Balin fainted and fell to the floor twice. Poor guy - that's a long fall at 6'4". He recovered himself long enough for me to look him in the eye and say, "Call my mommy NOW!". Which he did. When my mom showed up I knew I was in good hands. She carried with her the biggest first aid kit I've ever seen. She whipped out ointment, a non-sticking bandage (I know this because the next bandage I had stuck to the wound...not fun) and took charge of the situation. She took one look at the squirting thumb and said "we gotta go to urgent care". $400, a shot of morphine and a prescription for Percoset later I was back home in bed. Balin had ordered pizza, cleaned up the kitchen (including throwing my thumb tip away, which made him almost faint again) and calmed the kids.
The kids' response to my injury was very interesting. Sam looked at me with deep concern in his eyes and asked, "are you okay mom?". I assured him I was, tucked him into bed and kissed him goodnight. Perrin on the other hand had gotten a new mom while I was in urgent care. She told me that her mom is broken and she needed a new one, so she got one. She didn't hug me or let me tuck her in, she just looked at me suspiciously. It only took a few days for her to realize that her original mommy wasn't broken and she didn't need to get a new one. Whew!
One of the benefits to cutting my thumb while my mom is around is I got a whole day without kids. She took the kids for the day so that I could rest. I had a great day Tuesday. I gathered all my unread magazine's, got some tea, took lots of Percoset and stayed in bed. It was almost better than vacation. :) My thumb is doing better, it doesn't throb unless somebody sits on it or kicks it when they're throwing a fit (Perrin) which makes me scream. My screaming is an effective way for Perrin to stop throwing a fit...I'll have to try it more often.
Later that week we got a HUGE snowstorm that dropped 6-8" of snow all over Prescott. It was awesome! The kids and I donned our snow clothes and headed to Grandma's house for pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Poor Sam is woefully lacking in warm clothes so he had a rough time of it. Thankfully it doesn't snow often. We decided to ask Dad for a ride home and boy did we have a good time. He took us out on the Ranger, which is a 6 person ATV. It was awesome. He went in and got his buffalo hide and we looked like we were sleigh riding in the heart of Russia. We went and picked up Jack, Peter and Jeremy and dropped them off at some sledding hills and then dropped Balin off at work. Unfortunately I didn't bring the camera that day as it was truly gorgeous out. All the trees, roads and houses were covered in snow and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We're supposed to get snow this weekend as a big storm is coming in so I'll get out and take pictures.
This weekend is what is turning into the annual Strickler boy weekend at the Tuscon Rock and Gem show. This year Sam, who's in his 3rd year at the show, Balin, Grandpa of the Woods, and Balin's two brothers came to the show. Sam was so excited to have 3 grandparents (my parents are there too), two uncles and his daddy all to himself. From the sounds of it he's enjoying himself immensely and doesn't miss his mommy at all.
Meanwhile, Perrin and I are enjoying ourselves. Yesterday my sister took Perrin and Sophie to story time at the library and then out to lunch. I had a wonderful morning at home cleaning, doing laundry, reading seed catalogs and putzin' around. I got around to taking my daily walk around 4, when it was somewhat warm out. There is still about 3" of snow on the ground so it's pretty nippy outside. When we went to go on our walk with Stanley and Buddy, Buddy was draggin his heals, so I left him. We just got our front yard fenced so I left him inside the fence and went for my walk. We came back 30 minutes later to no Buddy. He escaped. I was torn between being worried and annoyed. The worry won out and Perrin and I headed out in the car 3 times looking for him. I figured someone probably picked him up and he was warm and happy in someone's bed. When I called Balin to tell him Sam overheard and said, "it's okay mom, we can get a new dog and name him Stretch." I don't think Sam's emotionally attached to Buddy.
This morning I noticed a car driving really slow near our house and figured they had found Buddy. I was right - they were looking for his owners. Perrin and I went and picked up Buddy, who was found at the gate of my sister's house trying to get in. In response to Buddy's escape, Perrin and I ran to Petco to get a dog name tag for Stanley and Buddy. Well.....today was adoption Saturday at Petco. Having Sam's response to Buddy's disappearance fresh in my mind, I looked at these cute dogs in a new light. Granted I also had Balin's response to the often asked, "Can we get another dog?" fresh in my mind. (It usually wasn't the kids who asked for the dog.) So when I went up to purchase the dog tags, I got three. I made one for Stanley, Buddy and Stretch. Now I just had to find the perfect Stretch. My requirements were; not to small to escape through the fence, not too big and hairy, young so that Stanley would have a playmate but not so young to be puppy-annoying. I looked at a jack russel mix but he was too small and would be able to get through the fence. I walked over to another set of pups and saw the perfect Stretch. She looked like a yellow lab puppy but was a year old. She had the cutest little puppy eyes and when I opened the cage she hopped right into my arms. She actually looks like a cross between a yellow lab and a Dachshund.
The first day we were home Balin headed off to work and the kids and I blissfully played with our long, lost toys; kids had legos and Dora dolls and I had my vacuum. That night we invited my parents over to have dinner with us - yummy paninni sandwiches and sweet potatoe fries. While I was slicing the sweet potatoes I got distracted and unfortunately sliced off a good portion of my thumb, right into the potatoes. Yeah - it was bad. I started screaming, Sam started screaming and Balin started moving in slow motion. Of course I then started barking orders at him, which he did but so slowly. It turns out Balin doesn't like blood - at all. I went to our bedroom to scream in private while Balin fainted and fell to the floor twice. Poor guy - that's a long fall at 6'4". He recovered himself long enough for me to look him in the eye and say, "Call my mommy NOW!". Which he did. When my mom showed up I knew I was in good hands. She carried with her the biggest first aid kit I've ever seen. She whipped out ointment, a non-sticking bandage (I know this because the next bandage I had stuck to the wound...not fun) and took charge of the situation. She took one look at the squirting thumb and said "we gotta go to urgent care". $400, a shot of morphine and a prescription for Percoset later I was back home in bed. Balin had ordered pizza, cleaned up the kitchen (including throwing my thumb tip away, which made him almost faint again) and calmed the kids.
The kids' response to my injury was very interesting. Sam looked at me with deep concern in his eyes and asked, "are you okay mom?". I assured him I was, tucked him into bed and kissed him goodnight. Perrin on the other hand had gotten a new mom while I was in urgent care. She told me that her mom is broken and she needed a new one, so she got one. She didn't hug me or let me tuck her in, she just looked at me suspiciously. It only took a few days for her to realize that her original mommy wasn't broken and she didn't need to get a new one. Whew!
One of the benefits to cutting my thumb while my mom is around is I got a whole day without kids. She took the kids for the day so that I could rest. I had a great day Tuesday. I gathered all my unread magazine's, got some tea, took lots of Percoset and stayed in bed. It was almost better than vacation. :) My thumb is doing better, it doesn't throb unless somebody sits on it or kicks it when they're throwing a fit (Perrin) which makes me scream. My screaming is an effective way for Perrin to stop throwing a fit...I'll have to try it more often.
Later that week we got a HUGE snowstorm that dropped 6-8" of snow all over Prescott. It was awesome! The kids and I donned our snow clothes and headed to Grandma's house for pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Poor Sam is woefully lacking in warm clothes so he had a rough time of it. Thankfully it doesn't snow often. We decided to ask Dad for a ride home and boy did we have a good time. He took us out on the Ranger, which is a 6 person ATV. It was awesome. He went in and got his buffalo hide and we looked like we were sleigh riding in the heart of Russia. We went and picked up Jack, Peter and Jeremy and dropped them off at some sledding hills and then dropped Balin off at work. Unfortunately I didn't bring the camera that day as it was truly gorgeous out. All the trees, roads and houses were covered in snow and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We're supposed to get snow this weekend as a big storm is coming in so I'll get out and take pictures.
This weekend is what is turning into the annual Strickler boy weekend at the Tuscon Rock and Gem show. This year Sam, who's in his 3rd year at the show, Balin, Grandpa of the Woods, and Balin's two brothers came to the show. Sam was so excited to have 3 grandparents (my parents are there too), two uncles and his daddy all to himself. From the sounds of it he's enjoying himself immensely and doesn't miss his mommy at all.
Meanwhile, Perrin and I are enjoying ourselves. Yesterday my sister took Perrin and Sophie to story time at the library and then out to lunch. I had a wonderful morning at home cleaning, doing laundry, reading seed catalogs and putzin' around. I got around to taking my daily walk around 4, when it was somewhat warm out. There is still about 3" of snow on the ground so it's pretty nippy outside. When we went to go on our walk with Stanley and Buddy, Buddy was draggin his heals, so I left him. We just got our front yard fenced so I left him inside the fence and went for my walk. We came back 30 minutes later to no Buddy. He escaped. I was torn between being worried and annoyed. The worry won out and Perrin and I headed out in the car 3 times looking for him. I figured someone probably picked him up and he was warm and happy in someone's bed. When I called Balin to tell him Sam overheard and said, "it's okay mom, we can get a new dog and name him Stretch." I don't think Sam's emotionally attached to Buddy.
This morning I noticed a car driving really slow near our house and figured they had found Buddy. I was right - they were looking for his owners. Perrin and I went and picked up Buddy, who was found at the gate of my sister's house trying to get in. In response to Buddy's escape, Perrin and I ran to Petco to get a dog name tag for Stanley and Buddy. Well.....today was adoption Saturday at Petco. Having Sam's response to Buddy's disappearance fresh in my mind, I looked at these cute dogs in a new light. Granted I also had Balin's response to the often asked, "Can we get another dog?" fresh in my mind. (It usually wasn't the kids who asked for the dog.) So when I went up to purchase the dog tags, I got three. I made one for Stanley, Buddy and Stretch. Now I just had to find the perfect Stretch. My requirements were; not to small to escape through the fence, not too big and hairy, young so that Stanley would have a playmate but not so young to be puppy-annoying. I looked at a jack russel mix but he was too small and would be able to get through the fence. I walked over to another set of pups and saw the perfect Stretch. She looked like a yellow lab puppy but was a year old. She had the cutest little puppy eyes and when I opened the cage she hopped right into my arms. She actually looks like a cross between a yellow lab and a Dachshund.
Stretch - our new puppy who chews everything and anything. One way to clean out toys. :)
Coming home she sniffed around the house, went out the doggy door and played with Stanley. She follows Perrin around and lets her hug and kiss her, which brings a lot of smiles to Perrin. This afternoon, while I was closing my eyes on my bed, Perrin ran in shouting, "Stretch and Stanley are into the toilet paper and it's EVERYWHERE!". Hmmm....maybe a year old wasn't old enough. At least it's bringing the puppy out in Stanley. I called Balin to ask what he would do if I brought home a dog named Stretch and he just laughed. I love my husband. How many men would just laugh? We're going to let Sam learn about Stretch when he gets home and meets her. I hope he falls in love with her as both Perrin and I have.
I best close and make dinner for Perrin and I. After dinner, a girl movie with popcorn and then bed. Ahhh....this is the life. (Pictures coming soon!)
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