No, we haven't gotten another dog. We had to hunt down the one we have, yet again. But, this is where being around military types all the time and having a husband that likes war movies comes in handy. (My standing as RISK champion probably didn't hurt).
So, our Boxer Scout, loves to take runs through our neighborhood. Mind you, these are runs he takes sans leash and they occur just about every other day. So depending on the time of day he takes off, someone either has to go out and catch him, or we just leave all the doors open and wait for him to get bored and come in. (This has resulted in 1 runin with the MP's, fortunately no charges resulted)
Daytime, requires a chase. So, as Mike left for work, I followed the kids out to track down our hound. The kids usually just chase him until they catch him (this has been known to take hours unless some kind stranger snags him) today I decided we'd out smart not out run the dog. As I am incapable of outrunning a slug. So, as the kids played dodge with him in the field I casually strolled on ahead of the dog. When the dog came up between two trees, I was in front of him and J and S were moving in behind. Unfortunately, J didn't wait for everyone to get into position and the devil dog took off through a hole. I had to call the kids down to explain the procedure for "tightening the net". "Don't chase the dog, Go to where he's thinking about going." I explained we needed to spread out and surround, then slowly move closer in to cut off his escape routes. Then we'd have a better chance of catching him. While we discussed our options Scout decided to cross the main road. This was of great benefit to him, because he now was on a narrower strip of land with a fence behind him. So, we all went to the road and spread out before we crossed. At the signal we all quickly crossed the road and stopped as soon as we got across. I think the heat was also working in our favor as the Dog remained in the shade.
While staying a good distance from the dog I went below, K&A went above and S & J stayed between Scout and the road. Then we put our plan into action. Slowly, we all stepped closer to the dog. Remaining casual and not calling his name. (he runs at the sound of his name when off leash) Soon, we were all within arms reach and Scout was obviously concerned. He tried to get by S (smart dog, choose the kid in the cast) But S wouldn't have it and grabbed him quick! We got him harnessed and leashed with one swat for his disobedience (Mike has been working on training him to NOT go out the front door) and led the way home. As soon as we walked in the front door he pulled me through the house trying to get to his kennel. Tucking tail as soon as he was in. LOL, guess at least understands that leading us on chases is naughty. Now if we can just get him to stop doing it.
Any suggestions we'd be glad to receive them. We've actually considered getting a second dog, just to keep him busy in the yard. Because when we dog sat, he didn't run. LOL a pet for the pet. What am I coming to?
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
no madness to write of
this is strange, a 4 day weekend and we have nothing to do. And by nothing I mean no obligations to outside organizations. Nothing but choosing what to do for ourselves. It's been so long since we've seen a wide open window of time. So, Mike spent some time straightening up the garage and now watching Uof L play for the conference title in Baseball, the kids are all out playing with friends. It's so nice to live on a street full of children. And I've been ADD cleaning. What's ADD cleaning you ask? It's where I start in one room, say my bed room, on a cleaning/organizing project. I strip the bed and take the sheets to the laundry to start washing them. then notice the shelf i've been thinking of setting up in my craft room. So I start to do that, after a bit of mess, I realize it's too big for the space I've chosen. So, I decide to set it up in the laundry room, but that requires moving a picture. Back to the craft room to move pictures and clean up the mess I made trying to put up the shelves. Then into the laundry to set up the shelf in that spot. Now I notice that the dryer is covered in stuff that doesn't belong there and start cleaning that up. Then Mike asks for help outside, so I leave opening a few windows on my way. I start helping him, and notice a jacket that belongs to the neighbor. I take that to her and visit for a moment before returning. Where I decide to get a drink and check email.
Note, my bedroom is still a mess and the washer is now a mess from moving stuff on the dryer. But, I did manage to get my sheets into the wash and they are now ready to be dried.
And that's how I ADD clean and why my husband is a better cleaner than me :).
I did get a phone call from a friend, who foster parents on post, and we will be providing foster respite care for her for 1 week while she vacations with her husband during his R & R. we'll have a baby in the house again. I've already told K who is quite happy with the idea. It should be nice practice to having more kids in the house.
OOH, I do have to share with you all, I made bread this week with my new mixer. I pulled out the recipe a lady had taught me several years ago. My first attempt flopped. I killed the yeast, I think my water was too hot. My second attempt fared much better, however it still didn't work quite right. It was supposed to rise in 25 minutes, instead it took several hours. But, it rose and my family is enjoying it very much. So, I'm going to Whole Foods Monday to get more flour and some different yeast. But, I'll be making our own bread from now on. Eventually, I hope to start grinding our wheat as well, but that will have to wait until next year.
Our garden is taking off, thanks to this cool spring, my lettuce is growing nicely, I haven't harvested any yet, but I probably will tonight for dinner. Our strawberry's are also starting to ripen. We left the plants from last summer and they have just about taken over the planter box. We've put in our salsa garden with jalapenos tomatoes, and onions. We've also put in Cantaloupe, Green Peppers, zucchini, snow peas, green beans, and something else we can't remember. If you want to have a garden and don't have a lot of space or don't want to dig up your yard, I really recommend "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew.
Come visit and I might share a salad, bread and salsa with you :).
Note, my bedroom is still a mess and the washer is now a mess from moving stuff on the dryer. But, I did manage to get my sheets into the wash and they are now ready to be dried.
And that's how I ADD clean and why my husband is a better cleaner than me :).
I did get a phone call from a friend, who foster parents on post, and we will be providing foster respite care for her for 1 week while she vacations with her husband during his R & R. we'll have a baby in the house again. I've already told K who is quite happy with the idea. It should be nice practice to having more kids in the house.
OOH, I do have to share with you all, I made bread this week with my new mixer. I pulled out the recipe a lady had taught me several years ago. My first attempt flopped. I killed the yeast, I think my water was too hot. My second attempt fared much better, however it still didn't work quite right. It was supposed to rise in 25 minutes, instead it took several hours. But, it rose and my family is enjoying it very much. So, I'm going to Whole Foods Monday to get more flour and some different yeast. But, I'll be making our own bread from now on. Eventually, I hope to start grinding our wheat as well, but that will have to wait until next year.
Our garden is taking off, thanks to this cool spring, my lettuce is growing nicely, I haven't harvested any yet, but I probably will tonight for dinner. Our strawberry's are also starting to ripen. We left the plants from last summer and they have just about taken over the planter box. We've put in our salsa garden with jalapenos tomatoes, and onions. We've also put in Cantaloupe, Green Peppers, zucchini, snow peas, green beans, and something else we can't remember. If you want to have a garden and don't have a lot of space or don't want to dig up your yard, I really recommend "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew.
Come visit and I might share a salad, bread and salsa with you :).
Monday, May 19, 2008
Almost made it 10 years
Without a broken bone, but S had to be the first and he's enjoyed the attention.
Another busy week past. Last week was the final program for PWOC. The women's group I have been priviledged to have served as president over the past year. So, Wednesday I was planning to set up and finalize the program. The day started with all of us oversleeping due to a power outage. So instead of taking Mike to work at 7:30 as we had planned so that I could be at my "woman doctor" at 8:30, I had to wait for him to come back since Mike had an early meeting. It's always beautiful starting the day trying to hurry 4 kids while I am also getting ready. So, after getting kids up and ready Mike was able to pick us up at 8:23 to take us back to the hospital.
During the morning chaos I also made an appointment for S. He woke up still complaining about his arm hurting after taking a fall the evening before and said his throat hurt. Since I had multiple concerns I was refered off post, which means: Show up and wait. So at 10:30 I was waiting at the immediate care . At 10:45 we were in a room. At 11:45 I still hadn't seen a doctor and was going crazy trying to keep all 4 kids whispering in the small exam room we were occupying. After seeing the NursePractitioner in training, the doc came in and wanted x-rays. Thus confirming that Shep had fractured his left arm above the wrist. A "buckle fracture" he called it and refered us to an orthopedist in E-town to have it cast with the nurse admonishing me to call immediately to get in "this week". So, at 1:00 we were finally leaving, however, I was supposed to be meeting ladies to set up at 1. Fortunately, I'd gotten hold of one of the ladies and she emailed everyone informing them there would be a 1 hour delay. So, while I tried to get the rest of my shopping done so I could get a package in the mail for my little brother who needed warm underwear in Argentina, Mike began calling to confirm Tricare would pay the orthopedist and to make the appt. After being assured they would pay, he made an appt for the earliest time he could get, Friday (mind you, this was all Wednesday) So, disatisfied with the wait, he called a fellow NCO and was able to get S into the hospital that afternoon. So, I dropped S off and headed to set up tables. Fortunately a few ladies had gotten the message and were there to help. But, I hadn't been able to focus that morning and didn't have half of the stuff for the tables :(
We picked up Mike and S from teh hospital and headed to E-town. S's Codeine was kicked in and he was feeling pretty tired, but we had to get stuff done for the final program. We did take him for Spaghetti and got lucky to pick a restaurant that has Kids eat Free! I stayed up til 2 paying for my procrastination.
The program went wonderfully on Thursday and I crashed afterwards, however I was able to help Mike get some housework done. We tried to get some cleaning done for the AWANA gathering at our house Saturday. Then Friday I went with some ladies to help clean a house, while Mike stayed home to continue getting ready for the gathering.
I need to say what a great husband I have. He didn't get angry at all about being left with the majority of the work in preparing to have people over, not even when our cleaning job took 2 hours longer than we had prepared for. I hate to admit that he also did a better job than I would have done left to my own devices. Not only that I came home to a belated mother's day present, a Bosch Mixer I've had my eyes on for years!
Friday evening we'd promised the kids they could go to the chapel to watch "The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe" before seeing Prince Caspian on Saturday morning with the Chapel community. We had 2 hours to finish up the pesky last minute stuff before everyone arrived. Then we had tix to the Louisville Fire at 7. All in all a very busy day! Sunday felt much more relaxed, however I did have a candle party at 4, which went well and I had a chance to talk with the incoming Pres.
Whew, I'm tired all over again :) just writing about the week. But, after this weekend, everything should slow down for a few months. We'll see if it lasts.
Oh, S should get his cast off in 3 weeks. He got a white cast and had the Fire sign it after the game. He wouldn't let any of us touch it until then.
Another busy week past. Last week was the final program for PWOC. The women's group I have been priviledged to have served as president over the past year. So, Wednesday I was planning to set up and finalize the program. The day started with all of us oversleeping due to a power outage. So instead of taking Mike to work at 7:30 as we had planned so that I could be at my "woman doctor" at 8:30, I had to wait for him to come back since Mike had an early meeting. It's always beautiful starting the day trying to hurry 4 kids while I am also getting ready. So, after getting kids up and ready Mike was able to pick us up at 8:23 to take us back to the hospital.
During the morning chaos I also made an appointment for S. He woke up still complaining about his arm hurting after taking a fall the evening before and said his throat hurt. Since I had multiple concerns I was refered off post, which means: Show up and wait. So at 10:30 I was waiting at the immediate care . At 10:45 we were in a room. At 11:45 I still hadn't seen a doctor and was going crazy trying to keep all 4 kids whispering in the small exam room we were occupying. After seeing the NursePractitioner in training, the doc came in and wanted x-rays. Thus confirming that Shep had fractured his left arm above the wrist. A "buckle fracture" he called it and refered us to an orthopedist in E-town to have it cast with the nurse admonishing me to call immediately to get in "this week". So, at 1:00 we were finally leaving, however, I was supposed to be meeting ladies to set up at 1. Fortunately, I'd gotten hold of one of the ladies and she emailed everyone informing them there would be a 1 hour delay. So, while I tried to get the rest of my shopping done so I could get a package in the mail for my little brother who needed warm underwear in Argentina, Mike began calling to confirm Tricare would pay the orthopedist and to make the appt. After being assured they would pay, he made an appt for the earliest time he could get, Friday (mind you, this was all Wednesday) So, disatisfied with the wait, he called a fellow NCO and was able to get S into the hospital that afternoon. So, I dropped S off and headed to set up tables. Fortunately a few ladies had gotten the message and were there to help. But, I hadn't been able to focus that morning and didn't have half of the stuff for the tables :(
We picked up Mike and S from teh hospital and headed to E-town. S's Codeine was kicked in and he was feeling pretty tired, but we had to get stuff done for the final program. We did take him for Spaghetti and got lucky to pick a restaurant that has Kids eat Free! I stayed up til 2 paying for my procrastination.
The program went wonderfully on Thursday and I crashed afterwards, however I was able to help Mike get some housework done. We tried to get some cleaning done for the AWANA gathering at our house Saturday. Then Friday I went with some ladies to help clean a house, while Mike stayed home to continue getting ready for the gathering.
I need to say what a great husband I have. He didn't get angry at all about being left with the majority of the work in preparing to have people over, not even when our cleaning job took 2 hours longer than we had prepared for. I hate to admit that he also did a better job than I would have done left to my own devices. Not only that I came home to a belated mother's day present, a Bosch Mixer I've had my eyes on for years!
Friday evening we'd promised the kids they could go to the chapel to watch "The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe" before seeing Prince Caspian on Saturday morning with the Chapel community. We had 2 hours to finish up the pesky last minute stuff before everyone arrived. Then we had tix to the Louisville Fire at 7. All in all a very busy day! Sunday felt much more relaxed, however I did have a candle party at 4, which went well and I had a chance to talk with the incoming Pres.
Whew, I'm tired all over again :) just writing about the week. But, after this weekend, everything should slow down for a few months. We'll see if it lasts.
Oh, S should get his cast off in 3 weeks. He got a white cast and had the Fire sign it after the game. He wouldn't let any of us touch it until then.
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