Happy Birthday Bear!

First and foremost, Happy Earth Day!  But even more important,  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BEAR!  He turns 9 today.

Well the weekend has come and gone. The boys are back in school today and Ruger did fantastic.  We walked the boys to school this morning, we encountered another dog, and Ruger did great. He is also warming up to Bear. I have pictures at the bottom of the post. I honestly believe that he was meant to be with us, he belongs with our family and I cannot begin to thank my friend Karin.  If it hasn't been for her, Ruger wouldn't have adopted us.

 On another note,  Joe graduates 6th grade this year.   All the parents were asked to write a note to their 6th grader for the memory book they will all get.   I thought long and hard about it, and this is what I came up with:


Joseph,

From the day you were born we knew you'd go far in life.   You are very intelligent, compassionate, and extremely musically gifted.  You are an amazing young man and we can't wait to see what path you follow in life.   Whatever you decide to do, remember to use your mind, follow your heart, keep your friends close, and always remember your family will always be there for you.

Love,
Mom, Dad, Deaglan, Padric, and Gunga

I think that sounds good.   Joe is very musically gifted.  He has an audition on May 11th at the Merit school of Music for their Conservatory program for the trombone.  

And my Bear.   I cannot believe how smart he is!  He's pulling almost straight A's.  I would say all A's because I don't count gym, music, and art.  He's a voracious reader.   Give it to him and he'll read it.

Last but definitely not least, my Monster. What can I say?  He's a very smart, active 6 year old.   Emphasis on active!

Check back soon for the latest news.

Finally, pics of the birthday boy!

We got a dog....... Or did the dog get us?

My friend Karin is a dog trainer.  She's fantastic but that's not the story.   She has 2 Malinois (a.k.a at least in my small circle of friends, melon walk, thank you speech to text).  This breed of dog is a high energy working dog.   I'm talking police and military working dogs.  Not very good in the pet department.   Then there's Ruger.  Don't get me wrong he's very driven but as far as working dogs go, I've been told, his drive isn't fantastic.  Ruger was a rescue.   I'm not kidding, he was rescued from gun point.  The "man" (I use that term loosely, keep reading and you'll understand) thought he'd be this bad ass dog because he's the same breed SEAL team 6 used to catch Bin Laden.  The guy didn't want to put the time and energy into training Ruger and left a very half trained working dog with his mother.   Neither of them had any experience with a working dog.   My guess is the guy couldn't figure out if was him not the dog and made up some B.S. story about the dog biting his mother's hand.  Who but the way, miraculously, had no bite marks on either of her hands when the dog was picked up the day after the "incident".  When Karin got to the house the dog had been abused and was literally at gun point! 

Now, the good part of the story.   Our part.  Karin come over on St. Patrick's Day and asked if we wanted to meet him.   Well he peed on the floor, he was scared, and I fell in love.  A month later, Karin had to rehab him a little, and he's home.   He and Joe are almost inseparable.  I don't know who adopted who, but every boy needs a dog and every Melon Walk needs 3.  The cats don't know what to think yet but, I think Seamus is coming around.  Dublin has at least been seen when Ruger is out on a walk or in his crate for the night.   Yes, he gets caged for the night and when we're not home.  Why?  Because I love my furniture and like my cats.   Wait.  Switch that.   

Day one: Huge Success! 

Keep scrolling for pics.  The last one is Seamus, just because. 

Mobile Test.

This posting is a test to see how well I can blog mobile. So there will be random pictures and I'm also testing to see how well the speech to text feature works so I can talk my blogs to you. 

now for some random photos.

this is a sock monkey. He used to be young. But then according to Padric, he got old and fat.

okay so once I add the pictures it automatically centers my text. And unless I complete a sentence and add a period it doesn't like to capitalize the first letter of the first word of what I speak. It also doesn't like to use the word period. 

time for another cute picture.

Oooo scratch that. How about a video of Seamus playing fetch!

well, that's not going to happen I think it might be too long but I will keep playing with it.

time to post office and see if it is a success or a failure. thank you for taking part in my little experiment.

Long Overdue!

OK.  I know I've been slacking in the blog department.  OK! OK! slacking is being too generous.  I dropped off the face of the earth.  I have to say that it's not just my fault.  My yahoo account was virused, so I stopped using it, then when I tried to blog here on blogger I couldn't link the two accounts and it just seemed like way too much work and I said "eh, fuck it".  I realized that I've been depriving all of my family the joy of laughing at *with* me as I try to raise these kids of mine.

It's been so long since I've blogged that I'm not going to catch anyone up.  If I know you, you know what kind of shenanigans the boys have been up to. If I don't know you, my boys are 11, 9, and 7.  Do I really need to explain?

There's been a lot going on with my knitting.  I've been posting most of that on Facebook and I've updated all my projects and stash on Ravelry as well.  I'm considering starting a blog for my knitting but I think Facebook and Ravelry will suffice for now.

Chris and I have decided to renovate the kitchen.  Yes, I will be blogging that.  I will make sure to post pictures of the before, after and everything in between.  We've ordered appliances, picked cabinets and counter tops.  We have a color palate but haven't decided on the flooring, back splash, or paint.  Then as if that wasn't enough chaos in our little house, we're getting a dog.

Yes, you heard me right, we're getting a dog.  If you've looked at my profile pic, you can see my buddy, Seamus.  He's 1 of 2 cats we have.  Both were rescues.  Dublin is a very handsome long hair that we have lovingly renamed "fuzzy death".  He hates me.  No, I mean it.  Every morning when I come downstairs he looks at me as if to say "why are you still breathing my air?"  He is Ed's cat.  He follows that man around from the time he gets home from work until he goes to bed at night.  Seamus (the one in my pic) is my cat.  He plays fetch.  No, really, he plays fetch.  I will post video soon.  He has a puppy kong.  If you throw it, he will fetch it, bring it back, and if he really likes you, he will drop it in your hand or lap.

But, I digress.  We are getting a dog.  He is an almost 2 year old Belgian Shepherd, also known as a Malinois.  They are good working dogs.  The only reason we are bringing him into the house, well besides the fact that I love him, is I have a friend who is a professional dog trainer and is going to work with us to keep him trained.  This breed is high energy and doesn't usually do well in a "pet" home.  Meaning, they don't like to just hang around the house and do nothing all day.  Don't get me wrong, he will hang out, but he will be much happier getting me off my fat ass and out for a walk or for some training work.  And yes, I will post pics of him when he comes home tomorrow night.  The boys don't know so, Shhhhhhhh! don't tell.

I do solemnly swear that I am up to no good...... oh wait that's how to open the Marauder's Map.  What I mean to say is that I promise to keep posting here.