Friday 20 February 2015

Dishes fun

I came home from Littlest's skating lesson Wednesday morning and started to get some lunch together.  I let Rosie out of her kennel and she was busy running around the kitchen.  Then I happened to notice a small puddle on the floor.  My first thought was, 'No Rosie, you've been so good.  It's been over a week since you had an accident.'  I grabbed some paper towel and started to wipe it up.  That's when I noticed the remarkably clear nature of this puddle.  It didn't look like pee.  Then I noticed a dark, wet grout line leading under the dishwasher (which I had started before we left that morning).  Great.  I took the bottom panel off and realized it was leaking on the clean water intake line somewhere, so I turned the tap off and stopped the drip before any damage was caused.  Later that afternoon, I pulled the dishwasher out to see if I could pinpoint the leak.  It was a bit hard to get at and required a flashlight to see properly.  After a few moments of laying on the ground with Littlest shining the flashlight everywhere except where it needed to be and Rosie crawling all over my face, I got up and pushed the dishwasher back into its hole.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to work on it alone this weekend.

In the meantime, the dishes still need to be done.  After supper on the first night, I informed Biggest and Middlest that they would be learning to do dishes.  They were all over it.  I got them set up and they had fun.  I heard such things as, 'This is awesome!' and 'Can we do this every day?' and 'This is fun.'  If this keeps up, we may never need to fix the dishwasher.  I'm guessing it won't though, but now it has been recorded so that I can show them this later and remind them of their youthful enthusiasm.  Silly girls.
hard at work

Last night, it was the same story.  Still having fun and asking to do it again.  I wonder how many days of this we have left.
dish pan hands

Sttrreettcchh

Still smiling
I'll keep you posted.  Any wagers as to how many days till we start getting complaints?  Later.

Saturday 14 February 2015

19 ways puppies are like babies

Everything on the Internet these days seems to be lists. 27 reasons for this, 13 ways to do that, 41 uses for those. So now that we have had our puppy Rosie for two weeks, I am beginning to realize that she is just like another child in the house. So here is my list. 

19 ways puppies are like babies:
1.  If it's on the floor, it's in their mouths. 
2.  If they can chew on it, they will. 
3.  They need constant supervision. 
4.  They will deprive you of sleep. 
5.  They will have you up at least once every night. At least once every single night. 
6.  They will deprive you of sleep. 
7.  They sleep in enclosures that they can't get out of. 
8.  They will get your attention when they are ready to be out of said enclosure. 
9.  You think a little nibble on your finger is cute and then OUCH! 
10. They are noisy eaters and drinkers. 
11. They are messy eaters and drinkers. 
12. You need to get as much done as you can while they are napping. 
13. You need to nap while they are napping. 
14. You will need to gate off sections of your house. 
15. They are always glad to see you. 
16. They are adorable when they're sleeping. (Why are you watching them sleep?  See #12 and #13)
17. Potty training. 
18. You will get exercise chasing after them. 
19. It is love at first sight. 

Later. 

Tuesday 10 February 2015

Five years old! That's a whole hand!

I'm a few days late, but Littlest turned 5 this past Saturday.  Where do five years go?  Crazy.  I guess I started blogging shortly after she was born so I guess I could look back at where the years went.  At any rate, here are some of the highlights from the day:

Opening presents

Making fruit loop necklaces.

It's gonna be tasty.

One for the necklace...one for me.

Colorful plates.

Blowing out the candles!

Birthday night 'sleepover' with Middlest.

It took a long time before any sleeping happened, but you only turn 5 once.

As you can see, it was a great day and fun was had by all.  We rented the preschool for a couple hours and had some of her friends there for a party.  It is always easier to avoid having that many kids in the house.

At bedtime, I moved Middlest's mattress into Littlest's room so they could have a sleepover. I pulled Littlest's mattress onto the floor so they were on the same level and then the talking and giggling and talking and giggling ensued. Eventually there was some sleeping and they had fun.  Eventually everyone else got some sleep too. Later. 

Wednesday 4 February 2015

No bull, we got a puppy

Our family added a new addition this past Saturday.  She is of the furry, four legged variety and we are all pretty taken with her.  I'll have to admit, I've been fighting this for quite a while.  But now that our little bundle is here, I am enjoying our decision.  For the most part anyway.  I don't know why we decided to enter the potty training realm again or why I'm getting up a couple of times in the night to let the dog out to pee, but this will pass and soon there will be less accidents on the kitchen floor and more dead spots on the lawn.  

So without further ado, here is Rosie:


It probably won't be long till she can't walk under the kitchen chairs anymore (half Burnese Mountain dog, half Lab/Pyrenees X Shepherd):


How could anyone not love her?


The two new friends hanging out:


The girls are all pretty skitterish when Rosie is in full-out puppy mode.  I'm trying to teach them that they are in charge and not the dog.  Littlest hears everything I tell her and then repeats it when she is talking to Rosie.  'Down Rosie!  I'm the boss of you!' and 'No Rosie, I'm not your chew toy!' are fairly common expressions now.  Littlest coined one of her own too when Rosie decides that she should bark:  'No Rosie, inside bark!'

As with all puppies, Rosie loves to chew.  On anything and everything.  I was in Pet Planet yesterday getting some new food and I asked about the rawhide looking chew things they had and if they were good for new puppies.  We always had dogs on the farm, but they pretty much fed themselves and definitely didn't get bones and chew toys bought for them, so this part is new to me.  The salesperson suggested this corkscrew shaped one, so I went with it.  Needless to say Rosie loved it.  I brought it home and she worked on it for half an hour straight.  I texted Julie a picture of Rosie working it over and she laughed and asked what they were made of.  I said I didn't know.  She suggested something and I told her she was crazy (but she was right).  I looked at the tag and it said 'bully stick.'  So I googled that.  Well, there's an eye opener.  If you had told me that I would be spending $8 on a dried piece of bull penis, I would have told you that you were nuts.  It really is a crazy world.  But she loves it and it is probably saving some children's toes and shoes, so will I buy another?  Probably.  I can't believe I just said that.


Later.

Sunday 1 February 2015

Life lesson #1

This is the first in (hopefully) a series of life lessons to be posted this year. 

Life lesson #1:  depth perception is impaired when looking through a paper towel roll 'telescope' 


Later.