Where have I been?

I know I've been a lousy blog poster lately.... sorry for my few loyal followers.
But I really do have a pretty good excuse..... I've been.....
*Making 50 Strawberry pies... I Forgot to take pics of all of them so here's one I made just for myself... yummy!

*Chocolate Dipping 300 strawberries
(oops forgot to take a picture because my camera battery was dead and they got delivered before I remembered)
*Baking 30 dozen Cinnamon RollsAll of these treats were for Girls Camp Fundraiser.... then I got to help wrap, package and deliver them along with cookies, brownies etc... (thankfully I didn't have to make all of those!)

*Preparing and singing for a Stake Relief Society Program....

*Fulfilling PTA duties like Board Meetings, Kindergarten Field Day and 5th Grade Track Meet.*Running kids to Voice, Saxophone, and Broadway classes

*Making last minute arrangements for Secretaries Day.... Not to mention all the usual motherly duties that everyone has as well as going into the office.

Blah Blah Blah... enough with the excuses... everyone is busy... There's always time to blog right?!
Anyway... I'm back!!

Keep reading down my blog to see my updates in dated order...
I promise I'll do better!!

Here Comes the Sun

Here in Vegas we have had a few days of 90+ degree weather. Parker has been begging me to go swimming and my rule is the pool has to be 70 degrees. So today it was extra hot and Parker and Brecken checked the pool temp.... 81 degrees!

They changed faster than I could scoop out the leaves and jumped straight in!

Gus was so happy... he just loves it when the kids swim.. he just does laps around the pool hoping for someone to squirt him or toss him a basketball. Sophie hung out poolside too. The weather is supposed to cool down to 70's for the weekend, so the kids might have to wait to swim again for a while.
Although, if we don't get our AC fixed soon I may end up sleeping in the pool!
Yeah, it broke last fall and we were going to fix it over the winter, but guess what....
Anyway... the boys had a great time in the pool today... I'm soooo looking forward to the lazy summer days ahead!

Muddy paw blues

I've discovered that longer haired dogs get dirty much faster and easier than the short haired breeds. Even at such a young age, Sophie needs a bath at least once a week, but sometimes more. Gus, on the other hand. gets a bath whenever he jumps in the pool or runs through a swamp while hunting.
We have the perfect large sink in our laundry room that's nice and deep so Sophie can't escape.
She's had a few baths since bringing her home and she still whines when she knows what's about to happen.

We had just given her a bath on Sunday night when Parker brings her in on Monday afternoon with paws covered with mud. Parker took her straight to the sink and she tried to escape getting mud everywhereHere's a little video Parker took while I gave her a bath...

I just can't help but laugh when she's soaking wet looking like a drowned rat.... but she's still cute!After her bath she likes to cuddle in the towel while she dries and usually falls asleep.Poor Sophie.... guess she'll have to learn that if she's going to get muddy paws she's going to have a bath! Go ahead.... say it..... awwwwww how cute! (he he, I knew you wanted to)

It's Sophie

Yes, Puppy finally has a name. Although Miranda still calls her Puppy. Sophie is nearly 3 month's old and we're getting to know her personality a little better too. She loves to be outside. We still don't trust her not to escape out the gate so we don't let her roam free just yet. She already fell into the pool once after she watched Gus get a drink she decided to check things out for herself.

The kids have nicknamed her "Puppy from Heck" as they aren't too fond of the playful biting she does to their feet. They aren't always thrilled to have "puppy duty" while Ryan and I are away but they're getting better.

I've been taking Sophie along with me to the office a couple days a week. I just hate to leave her in the kennel for more than 2-3 hours at a time. And until she gets better potty trained she'll have to be kenneled while we're gone. She gets ooohs and aaahs everywhere we take her. Who couldn't love that face!Whenever I try and get close to the ground to get a better shot of Sophie, this is the kid of photo's I usually get .... guess I need to hold on to my camera strap next time.
Gus and Sophie are getting along pretty well. They "play" together quite a bit, although I don't go too far because sometimes Gus forgets he's 10x bigger than her and will lay on top of her. Sophie holds her own against him though. Whenever Gus stays still long enough she grabs onto the back of his leg while he ignores her and pulls her around.
In this video Gus is playing with one of Sophie's toys and she wants it back!


Both Sophie and Gus are confused about which food they should eat. Sophie had started eating Gus' adult high energy food and Gus devours the puppy food whenever I fill the bowl. Maybe that's why Sophie has been supercharged lately!
So that's my puppy update.... stay tuned for more Sophie adventures!

Easter in Death Valley

We decided to go a little non-traditional for Easter this year. We planned a trip with the Websters to Death Valley. So the RV reservations were made and off we went. We'd never been to Death Valley before so we weren't too sure what to expect. The RV resort was nice, but could have used a little more grass around the trailer parking. It had a pool, restaurants and horseback riding.

We arrived late afternoon on Thursday so just lounged around relaxing from the 3 hour drive.
Friday morning we ventured on an hour drive to see Scotty's Castle. It's a beautiful little thing built in the 1920's. We walked around the grounds waiting for our tour to start.

Inside the castle everything was original and just beautiful woodwork everywhere.
Saturday morning we took off to see more sights of Death Valley. We went on the Artist's Loop and saw these beautiful natural colored hills.


Ryan and Parker just had to do a little closer investigation into the hillsSaturday afternoon the kids colored eggs with the Webster girls while Ryan and I packed up.
We had a great time and are already planning where to go next Easter in the trailers with the Websters.

Field Day

Friday at Parker's School was Field Day. The PE teacher puts different events together for all the students to rotate through. Every year the PTA provides drinks at the drink station and popcicle treats at the end. Unfortunately it turned out to be extremely cold and windy so our popcicles weren't as refreshing as they normally would have been.

Of course the kids still had a great time.
I was able to sneak away from the PTA station to see Parker compete in the basketball relay.
The highlight of the day was seeing Principal Smallwood duck-taped to the wall because the students were able to read a certain number of pages during Nevada Reading Week. Miranda also had "Field Day" today at her middle school, however, hers was a little different as some students were going to watch a movie, some would socalize in the cafeteria while others would play games in a classroom. Seriously, that's just a bit wierd don't you think?

After a little begging, pleading, and puppy dog eyes from Miranda I agreed to take her out of school early so she would miss this wonderful "field day" event. Hey, do you blame me? I'd want to leave too.

Both kids are so excited to enjoy Spring Break week. Hopefully it will warm up a bit so we can truly enjoy it!

Still Puppy

So our new puppy still remains nameless. I swear, getting 4 people to agree is not an easy thing to do. I may have to exercise mother's prerogative and make the final decision.
I just was hoping we could all agree.
Parker likes Lily and Macy
Miranda likes Sophie and Alice
Ryan likes Daisy and London
I'm still partial to Daisy but like Sophie too. (don't you think she looks like a little Daisy)
Puppy is getting along great with our family. She's been to work with me a couple times and has had a few trips in the car.

Gus is doing better with her around. He's not as nervous and can relax and has stoped sniffing her so often. This morning I even caught them, with their respective chew toys, playing next to each other.
She wants so badly to play with him, but he's not quite ready for that yet.
Puppy is getting used to her kennel and will go in it during the day to play or rest when we leave the door open. She's even started going outside for potty breaks on her own when I have the door propped open.
I promise we will decide on a name soon. Even if I do have to lay down the "mother law"