Happy Birthday Cassie!!!

My little girl is now 3....... She still poops her pants in the closet,but otherwise she is really growing up.
We went to the All Aboard Cafe .... aka the Choo choo resturant. Then came home and opened present and had cake. I baked the cake myself, and it took me 2 hours to decorate it. I only spent $38 at Wiltons on the stuff to make it. What was I thinking? My hands will never be the same again. All this and my daughter said it was icky cake. Oh well,,,,,, I liked it.

We have been holding our breath and counting our blessings for months, but my sweet hubby got laid off a week ago. You know what they say....."When everyone else gets laid off it is a recession, but when you get laid off it is a depression."
It has been nice having him around for a the last week, and he is getting lots of things done around here. Check back with me in a week or two. He is disrupting our routine, and question every thing we do. Today he was trying to be nice and make Cassie a sandwich while I was doing something. Cassie came crying to me. She was crying to hard, and I couldn't understand her, so I followed her back upstairs. What was so upsetting that this little girl was having a break down? Daddy cut her sandwich the wrong way. Oh,,,, and the crust was still on it. See if he tries to make her a sandwich again.
We were hoping to use some of this time that Dale is laid off to go visit my family in South Dakota, but my car has decided it is getting tired and doesn't really want to take us that far. The transmission is acting funny and since it is a Lexus it will cost an arm and a leg to fix it. Dale is cursing because I didn't by American. He is good with cars but he just doesn't understand these foreign cars. Wish us luck and maybe we will get things fixed in time to visit my family. Dale thinks this could be a long lay off since so many guys are already out of work. Come on stimulus...... lets get things stimulated. My transmission would be a good place to start. Okay, maybe that is not what the stimulus is for.

And you thought you were having a bad day!!!

This is how my poor puppy looks this week. We call him cone head now..... I know, not funny. He is starting to have second thoughts about if he really likes this family. We took him in on Monday to have him neutered and then they had to pull 4 baby teeth. I have never heard of taking a dog to have baby teeth pulled, but I trusted their advice and had them do it. He is eating much better now. That could be because he likes his food softened with warm water, or he is afraid we are going to starve him again....... He did not get to eat anything for over a day because of his surgery and teeth being pulled.
I feel so bad for him..... he is so low to the ground, he keeps getting his cone caught on the carpet and things. Watching him get in and out of his crate is also good for a laugh or two.
He seems to be doing better now, and we are trying to give him some time without his cone...... Now Cassie is wearing it like a hat. I think she thinks it is something special her puppy got from the vet. Who knows.

Happy Valentines Day

Valentines Day has always been a very big deal for my family. Most likely because my parents anniversary is today. My sister and I grew up thinking of this as the biggest day after Christmas, Birthdays, and Halloween. It probably beat Halloween except for the dressing up part. Mom only occasionally dressed us up as cupid and made us run around and shoot arrows at dad. He was very good at avoiding the arrows and we were good at shooting the walls. (Okay the last part might have been a slight exaggeration, but only because mom didn't think of it.)
Other kids would anticipate the party at school, but me and my sister knew the really fun stuff would be at home.
I have tried to keep the Valentine excitement going for my family over the years, but I have not done the job my mother did. My kids will always look forward to the treats they will get, and I love doing it, but some how over the years things have tapered off. Maybe it will be renewed with Cassie, but I still have to convince my sweet hubby what a big day this is. I did get flowers...... I picked them out when we bought groceries last night. I am making a special dinner, so that should be nice. I just need to find how to bring out that specialness again. Cassie did start her day off with a dry pull up and chocolate, so that should make for a special day........ Oh!!! and I had a chocolate donut...... there you go..... special day on the way!!!!

I am so ready for summer!!!!

Really, it is spring that I am ready for...... but summer would be nice too. It has been cold for so long. We were teased by a couple of nice days, and now we are cold again.
I am looking forward to planting flowers and going to the lake. Cassie is going to love the lake...... that is if she will get in. Last year she wouldn't even put her feet in. She was afraid the fish would eat her. We didn't see any fish, but she was sure they were there and going to eat her toes.
I should have been thinking about the lake sooner. I really need to get with it if I am going to wear a swim suit or shorts this summer. Heck, I need to get with it to wear Capris.
I love being by the water..... I love being outside. That might be where Cassie gets it. I really hope I can talk my parents into coming out in May and stay for a long visit. This way it would save them from having to do all there garden work and they would help me with mine.:) Mom said I had to promise to not be so grumpy this time. Hmmmmmmmmm, maybe I should up my meds.
Before long I will probably be blogging how hot it is and how I can't wait for it to cool down. I really need more 70 - 75 degree days. We do not see those enough. We are always hotter or colder. I guess I need to move to San Diego. Because the cost of living is so cheap there....... NOT!!!!
Oh well,,,,, here's looking forward to warmer days, and some special days at the lake.

My Quiet Area.....

Yesterday was a very challenging day with Cassie and Cisco. Mostly Cassie. Things were to cold, until I heated them..... and then they were to hot. She was going crazy throwing toys and chasing puppy and screaming, but when I told her it was time to pickup thing...... then she "couldn't" feel good. Then she felt to good to take a nap...... and during all of this she didn't want to play with her toys!!!! By the time daddy got home I was more than ready to let him take over.
She was so challenging that even daddy was loosing patients.(That hardly ever happens!) During dinner she decided to make "paw prints" with her ketchup. That really upset daddy. (Mommy thought it was kind of cute.)
So after this challenging day all I wanted to do is relax a little. I love to read to relax, so I went to my room and sit down in my chair with a throw and a good book. Of course Cassie kept coming in and wanted to sit with me. I told her this was mommies quiet area where mommy reads. She could only come to my quiet area if she was going to be quiet. And of course she insisted she would be quiet. Okay, maybe Cassie and I just have different idea of what quiet is. She went to her room and grabbed her blankie, woody doll, and some books. Then she crawled under the throw I had on my legs repeatedly. In and out.... In and out.... getting more books, rearranging everything. Then when the puppy would try to play, she would scold him and say, "This is my area!!!!" How could I be upset then? That was so cute.
So mommy has her quiet area..... and Cassie has her area. To bad they are in the same space. Oh well, this was still the highlight of my day.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Such an innocent question....... yet, as you get older it can weigh very heavy on your mind. Okay, probably not for every one. Some people decide at some point when they are younger and then start making progress towards that. Some have obstacles come up in their lives that make that choice a challenge. Some just go with the flow and never really decide.
I wonder how many people really become what they thought they wanted to be? I have thought for years that I still needed to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up..... but when I think of what I use to write in my School Days book (a little book my mother would put my school picture, report cards, and any other special papers in)...... a nurse, a teacher, and a interior decorator...... I just figured out that is what I grew up to be.
As a mother and a wife I am all of those things and more. So I really did grow up to be what I wanted to be!!!! And all this time I have been feeling like such a failure. All I have to do is look at my beautiful, healthy, compassionate, intelligent, resourceful, wonderful children, and I have to know I am a success!
Okay, one of them is still not potty trained, but we are getting there. Maybe we just need to put a potty in her closet?
Well, this just shows that when you take a different look at things, you just might be surprised at what you see.
It also shows that maybe I should have put more thought into what I wanted to be when I was younger and maybe I would not be going so crazy right now!!!! I am thinking a librarian in a nice quiet library is more my speed.

Could you potty in 5 degree weather?

I mean REALLY.... how could I expect this little white furry thing to go potty outside when it is only 5 degrees? We shouldn't even be outside in this weather, let alone walking around in snow expecting this little guy to tinkle. There is something just wrong with watching him shiver and shake while sniffing the ground. Much to his credit, he has been able to achieve this goal a couple of times. Problem is, now every time I even look like I might be going for the back door he tries to bolt! He is pretty bright.
I am typing this while Cassie is suppose to be taking a nap....... she just said,"Holy Moly, (yes she got that from me)......that made me feel better...... I toot so much mommy!!! I toot so much." She keeps repeating this over and over..... what am I suppose to do? Go congratulate her? She is such a card. I am guessing there will be no nap today.
We had our first visit to the vet today. I even took my camera so I could take pictures to put on here. Notice no picture from the vet....... yeah, I forgot I was going to do that until we got home. I was a pretty good trip. Cassie sang, Cisco (I think that is his name) rode very well in his cage, but mommies car was having issues. It would not shift into 4th gear again....... this is happening more and more. So we stopped in a parking lot to shut the car off and let it reset or what ever it does. Cassie starts looking around and says where is the doggy doctor? So I explained to her that mommies car was acting up , and we were giving it a chance to reconsider. So after applying the much needed lip gloss to both of us, filing a nail, and getting some gum, we were off and on our way...... and yes mommies car did reconsider acting up.
Okay,,,, somebody is still tooting to much so I better go see if this is an issue.

It's offical..... I have lost my mind!

If you did not read the post before this one, this one will not have the same meaning, but here I go.........
Either my sweet hubby is not as good at running interference or he secretly wanted his little angel to have a puppy. After my last post I spent a lot of time researching best puppies for kids and then the Bichon Frise it self. The more I read and after talking to obviously the wrong people. (my mother and my dog loving neighbor)I decided that we should make a trip back to visit the puppy. All my sweet hubby had to say was,"Go read you blog!!"
My mother has been secretly or not so secretly wanting a dog for a while now. I think she thinks we will want to get this new little cutie a new home and is just waiting to jump in and rescue him.
So on to our new little bouncing bundle of joy!!! He is a Bichon Frise...aka little white fluffy dog. His name is still up for grabs.... Dale calls him Buddy, Cassie calls him Doggy, and I keep trying new names to see if anything seems to grab me or him. So far I am leaning towards Cisco. He seems to like it best.
We are all very taken with him. The morning after we got him, when Cassie woke up and went to the kitchen and saw him she said with much delight," I have a dog!!!"
I figure that potty training her was not enough of a challenge for me, so I upped the ante.... I would say wish me luck, but I really did bring this one on myself.
Oh well, it will probably mean more to blog about. Or maybe Cassie's competitive nature will make her want to be potty trained before the puppy!
He is pretty cute, but my favorite shoes are still intact, so we will see how I feel about him later.
As a friend told me yesterday......I really should have upped my meds.