All Grown Up

I knew the time would come when I would have to face the fact that my little baby was all grown up. You can deny it as long as possible, but it is inevitable.

You can't always keep them young, carefree and untamed.
Soon they must step out of their cocoon and emerge a beautiful, grown up, butterfly....
Sniff.. sniff...

I'm talking about Sophie....that cute little rag-a-muffin, puff ball of a puppy
(who, by the way, ate two pair of my favorite shoes this week so she's not on my good side right now)

Her unruly hair and matted fur had an endearing quality about it, but I knew it couldn't last forever. Someday she would have to come out of her shell and become the beautiful Cocker Spaniel I know she can be.

So here she is before the transformation.....

And here she is after......

Yeah, I know... we're still trying to adjust to her new look too.

I let out a little scream when I first saw her. There was a huge bear rug looking pile of fur on the floor that the groomer said was Sophie's. Miranda thinks they switched dogs on us and Parker says he likes it, but probably just so I won't cry. Hopefully Ryan won't go into shock when he comes home.

But look at the bright side... now that she looks grown up... maybe she'll start acting grown up and stop eating my shoes!!!

First Day Review

This morning went pretty smoothly...
Both kids woke up without any bribing or dog licking.
They both packed their lunches last night so everything was ready to go.
Miranda was the first to leave at 5:50am for Seminary then off to High School at 6:45am. (I was even able to get 3 miles in while she was in Seminary)


Despite the crowded hallways and boring classes (you know... typical first day stuff)
She had a pretty great first day.

Parker was next to go... His alarm was me calling at 6:45 while I dropped off Miranda. Then off to school at 7:35am.


Parker also had a pretty boring, typical first day. He quite liked PE because they just sat and talked the whole hour. He said the whole switching classes seemed pretty normal.
No homework for either of them today.

Now hopefully tomorrow will run just as smoothly as today... With Ryan out of town I'm a one man show so things should run real smooth once we all get on schedule next week.
I even survived waking up at 5 am and got a lot accomplished at home today. I'm sure everyone will be ready to turn in early tonight and start all over again tomorrow :)

School Schedule

There's nothing like the sight of a new backpack filled with freshly sharpened pencils, new pink erasers, clean & crisp lined paper and a fresh package of brown lunchbags. I mean this is a BIG deal... (I even changed my blog design and playlist to celebrate)

Yep.. school is starting tomorrow. The kids have a love/hate relationship with the start of a new school year. As much as they complain, I know secretly they are excited.

I will miss the relaxed schedule of the summer, but there's something to be said for the back to school routine. I'm not really looking forward to waking up at 5 am, but I'm sure after a few weeks my body will adjust and I'll look forward to going to bed at 9pm and wake before the sunrise. (really... did I just say that out loud?)

Come back tomorrow for a peek at our annual first day of school photo shoot!
(hopefully the kids will cooperate)
So I'm off to bed (yep it's 9:30pm) 5 am is going to come awful early tomorrow!

Scout Over-nighter

Parker went on his first Scout hike/over nighter last night. Ryan was able to help him get all his gear together before he left on Monday, so I just had to finalize the food and accessories details.

After meeting up at the church... they were offParker was pretty excited to be going on this new adventure. (To be honest, I was nervous as could be)I received a call around 10:00am this morning to come pick him up at the church. He had a fabulous time and survived the 7 mile hike - (I knew it all along).
He's getting pretty excited to turn 12 and become a Deacon. I'm sure this is just the start of many outings and scouting adventures.

Candyland

The kids and I were hanging out downstairs when I heard the dogs making "playing" noises upstairs. That's Odd I thought... why are they rough housing upstairs?

I decided it would be a good idea to check things out... you know, to make sure all shoes were intact.

I called their name as I headed upstairs and Gus came first - head down, looking guilty and heading straight outside.
Sophie was next, bounding energetically, happy as can be as she followed me upstairs and straight into Miranda's bedroom....
When I entered behind her I found this...They had found Miranda's chocolate stash from her birthday and Seussical and had eaten EVERY last bit of it! Snickers, Reeces Peanut Butter cups, mini and cups, Big Hunk and a box of Sees chocolates. Gus has eaten his fair share of chocolate before and survived to tell the story, but this was a new adventure for Sophie and I wasn't sure how her little body would react to all the sweet chocolately goodness. Although I'm sure Gus didn't let her have too much.

I let her stay outside for an hour to make sure it wouldn't come back to haunt her.
When she came back inside she bounded upstairs and stood at Miranda's door waiting for someone to let her back in to the Candyland room.

This morning neither dog is showing signs of chocolate overdose, although Sophie did seem more energetic than usual last night and I found clean candy wrappers on the lawn this morning.

Mystery Outing

I rarely get to surprise my kids with anything. They are just too smart and usually figure it out. With summer almost over I tried to think of something fun and different we could do today to get everyone out of the house. I remembered hearing about an indoors mini golf place and decided that would be perfect... (and out of the summer heat).

So last night I just told the kids that we were going somewhere and it was a surprise. They couldn't stand not knowing so they played 20 questions to try and figure it out. They made me promise that if they guessed it I would tell them (hummm, think they don't trust me?)

No one figured it out last night, so I thought I was in the clear and it would be a great surprise. But this morning they continued asking more questions.

Ultimately, Parker guessed it.... Mini Golf. I told them it was right, but they didn't believe me.
I thought there would be no way they would guess because we hadn't gone for such a long time. and there really isn't any in Las Vegas before now.

So we spent a fun hour at King Putt - an indoor, black light, mini golf course. It was so fun. When we arrived a group was just ahead of us so the kids played a game of Air Hockey to give them a head start.
There was 18 holes (duh), and each had their own obstacles.... It was pretty fun to golf in the dark. I didn't want to use the flash and ruin the atmosphere so enjoy the silhouettes of the kids
Parker made a hole in one on the Parrot holeVery tricky getting the ball into the gator's mouth
Under the Sea.... Nope, Ariel wasn't there
Loop-de-loop hole #13 ( I made it first try)
Notice the ball in action at the bottom of the photo... Posing with King Putt himself!
Almost at the end...
We had such a fun time and guess what.... I won!
(No... I didn't cheat)

It's sometimes hard to find something fun to do with 2 teenagers that they won't think is too childish. But we'll definitely go back and visit King Putt!
Now... what to do tomorrow?

Night Owl vs. Early Bird

This is me.... a Night Owl!

I don't get it.. I'm tired, the bed is totally calling my name, yet here I am.... AWAKE! Why do I fight it?

Tonight I had an excuse because I stayed up to wait for Ryan to call and let me know he arrived safely in Edmonton. I swore I was going to go to bed just as soon as he called, (he called at 10:45pm) but then I started cleaning my craft room, and talking to my sister, and writing a poem for Bad Poetry Day tomorrow (don't ask) and then I sat down to blog about being awake. (seriously... what is wrong with this situation?)

I know exactly who to blame for my condition ... it's from my mom's side of the family. I come from a long line of Night Owls. My mom is one, all her siblings are Night owls, ....my grandma wrote the book on being a Night Owl! Growing up I was always around night owls!

Poor Ryan is so NOT a Night Owl. We are so opposite in that area... he's definitely an Early Bird.

He tries to stay awake just so I don't feel bad that he went to bed, but then he ends up falling asleep on the chair. I want to get up early, but my body just rebels against me.

So here I am struggling between being a Night Owl or an Early Bird.

Sometimes I'm productive and get a lot accomplished at night, but other times I'm just veggin' on the computer. I also go in spurts. I'm much better at going to bed during the school year, but you can just forget about going to bed in the Summer.

Next week school will start and I'll be waking up at 5am to help get Miranda ready for school and seminary. I hope I will overcome my urge to be a night owl soon and make a smooth transition into being an Early Bird.

If I'm a little grouchy or always napping, you'll know I tried to combine the two species, and I can tell you from experience... that just NEVER works out!

Bow - Dazzler

What's a puppy owner to do when you can't tame her fly-away crazy fur???

Put a BOW on it!!





Unfortunately it only lasted about an hour until she discovered it.
Maybe it was the color.... I'll try pink next time!

The Good, the Bad and the Adorable

First the Good....
I used to think our dog Gus was high maintenance .... that is until we got a new puppy...
Now I'm grateful for the more mature ways of a 6 yr old dog. He still has a lot of energy, but he's able to channel it into his outside running.

He's also found a new sleeping place.... in Sophie's new bed...

When he's wrapped up in his little sleeping spot he is oblivious of what is going on around himRyan is glad that Gus is secure enough in his manhood to sleep in a tiny, fluffy, pink bed.

Now the Bad...
Aaaaargh... I can't tell you how frustrating it is to find little messes everywhere around the house (ok, those who have a toddler might be able to understand)

A napkin here....
Dog toys here....and there... Shredded paper everywhere!!! And , you guessed it.... chewed shoes
(don't worry, no heels were harmed when taking this photo)
She has ruined 3 pair of my shoes and one of Ryan's (so far) So just a hint when you come to visit us... DON'T leave your shoes by the door!

And now for the Adorable....Awwwww.... Makes you just want to ignore the other messes doesn't it...
Even though she is in desperate need of a beauty salon visit (had to wait until 6 months old) she's pretty darn cute....
She's just a fluffy little power ball! Ok, so I guess we'll keep her... who could resist that face?
But when the kids go back to school, Sophie may join them..... in obedience school!!!

A sad goodbye

Parker's best friend, Brecken, moved to Arizona this past week. Parker knew it was coming, but still had a hard time saying goodbye.
Ever since he moved in 4 years ago these two boys have been like two "nerds on a computer".
They have so much in common... it's scary!
Miranda even got along well with Brecken so it was always fun to have him hanging around because both kids were entertained.

He's been like a second son in our family and we will miss him and his family a lot.

Just wanted to post a few fun times the boys have had together. I know they will keep in touch with all the technology hook ups they have. But it's just not the same as having him here.

Three minutes of fame

A few weeks ago a few cast members from Seussical met at the studio to do a photo op for an article in the RJ about Broadway Bound.

We arrived in full "Cat in the Hat" makeup like it was a dress rehearsal. Once there the newspaper people wanted to interview one of the kids from the show. Miranda was chosen to represent the students of "Broadway Bound".

She was a bit nervous, but you can't tell at all!

Check out the video interview HERE !

You can also read the newspaper article HERE
It was in the Review Journal in the Summerlin View on Tuesday, July 28th.

I'm so proud of her and her 3 minutes of fame!

It's good to have friends

Our good friends invited us to tag along with them to spend the evening on their boat at Lake Mead.
At first we weren't sure if Ryan would be able to get away, but we made it!

It was a relaxing boat ride to their favorite "secret" spot.
We swam around and enjoyed the refreshing murky water. I had forgotten how Lake Mead water was. Parker tried his hand at snorkeling and even spotted a few bluegill, catfish and misc lake fish despite the murkiness. Ryan and Byron decided it was a perfect spot for cliff jumping.
Byron shimmied all the way up the cliff...Ryan couldn't figure out how Byron got past the narrow part.... So that was far enough for him and off he went.....We took a break for dinner, and a little more lounging before dark. Byron even showed off his water skiing skills
(sorry about the blurr - I forgot to change the camera settings, but you get the idea)
My little buddy WyattThis is Ryan's imitation of the algae floating on the water. Thanks again By and Som for the fun time (and yummy food)