Dave and I both want a dog and tonight we might make our wish come true. As with everything Dave is calm and collected and I am nervous and indecisive. Sometimes dreaming is better than reality...I am hoping not in this case. I finally came to the conclusion that if even if we bring the dog home it is not permanent like becoming a parent. We can bring the dog back if it absolutely doesn't work, although I am not the type of person that likes giving up too easily. I know owning a dog takes time and energy. I just hope I have enough to give to this little puppy.



Growing up I had three dogs, two of which we had for 6 years or more. Daisy was a my first experience with a dog. She was a Spaniel mix. I loved her very much and I was only 6 or 7 when she passed away. My next dog was Puppy and was a Pekingese. We had him for a very short time and I never had a good bond with this dog. It was this experince that made me realize that I am not a small dog kind of person. My mother remarried when I was a freshman in highschool and into my life came Prince, a sweet and loving Old English Sheep Dog. Prince, by far was my favorite dog, even though he was actually my stepfather's pet. At first I might have been more excited about getting a new dog than my mom remarrying. Don, my stepfather was a sweet man, I was just more interested in animals. I gave Prince many baths. He would not step in and out of the bathtub, so I remember lifting this horse of a dog in and out of dirty dog water many times. He often slept at the foot of my bed. Prince knew when to be calm, but also loved playing fetch in our backyard...a perfect dog.



In the next few hours we will decide between Charile and Benjamin, since both dogs are on hold until 6 p.m. tonight. Both seem like they will be medium sized adult dogs, but Charlie does seem bigger. Charlie seemed calmer, but also more nervous. Benjamin interacted more with Calvin and Elliot and was happy to have attention from anyone, even our kids. After Elliot wakes up from his nap the kids and I are going to visit Charlie again to see if we can get him to open up a little more. I hope to bring him outside and see him play and loosen up a bit.

Why do I always feel overwhelmed?

I don't know if it is my personality or how I deal with stress, but I always feel overwhelmed. Sometimes Dave says "Rochelle, calm down," as he hugs me and rubs my back. Of course I could never be as calm as him. I usually feel as if my life is a hurricane and once in a while I can calm it down to a heavy rain storm. I do have those quiet moments to read a book or draw a picture but it seems too rare. I am not sure why I expect my life to be calm and quiet, since I have two exhurberant boys. Maybe that is what needs to change, my expectations. The Lord gave me two healthy boys. I should be grateful and try to embrace what I have. Prayer for today: "Lord, instead of murmuring swear words when I am frustrated with my children or my life, instead help me turn to you for peace and remember that I can do all things through Him who gives me strength."

picture boards and super hero mask

I now have have the boards on the wall of our office displaying pictures of our family and friends. It makes me happy to look at them.

Calvin wears his mask daily. It makes him happy to be a super hero with cool garb.

Sick Day

Sometimes sick days are good, because we are forced to stay home and figure out something fun to do (for the non sick children). I must say that I do not enjoy being vomited on twice in one day, but weirdly enough I have almost gotton used to having some form of child dirt on my shirt. Yesterday I was lucky to have my tie die shirt on when Elliot decided to reject his carrots by spitting them in a five foot radius around him. I thought, yes, the orange carrot color blends nicely into the tie die orange. I don't have to change my shirt. Today the vomit was not the same color as my shirts, so I am wearing the third shirt of the day.

We have left over rolls of brown paper used for keeping the floors clean when our house was remodeled. The left over paper comes in handy for large pieces of drawing paper, wrapping paper and other craft projects. One day we traced Calvin's body and he drew in some of the detail, but I ended up getting more into than him. I am always trying to get Calvin into art and drawing, but really what he likes best are activities that involve moving. (Although, when it comes to a good book he becomes very focused and into the story.) Today we took a five foot piece of paper and placed it on the ground in the back yard. Calvin, Elliot and I all had a good time lying in the grass and drawing on our giant piece of paper. I ended up drawing a tree in our backyard, Calvin asked me to draw a rocket and Elliot got his daily fiber from the crayon wrappers and a little crayon wax to help it go down smoothly.

For the first time in months both of my children were napping at the same time. Calvin does not take naps anymore. (He sleeps in until 9 or 10 am fairly frequently though.) I chose to fix some fabric picture boards that I had made previously and wanted to make some changes to give them a more clean look. It was fun to start and complete a project without any interuptions. Yippy, I just love it when that happens.

Another recent fun project I did was make Calvin a super hero mask. It was quick and easy, but still, I had so much fun doing it. Now Calvin has a mask to wear along with whatever becomes his cape. He recently watched The Incredibles and is now very into super heroes.

Later I will post pictures of the fabric picture boards I made and of the "SUPER CALVIN" mask.

Texas vs South Dakota Snow

Last December was a bittersweet time for me I loved being in "real" winter without all the obligations of shoveling and scraping car windshields. It was like I was a kid again and had a chance to enjoy the best part of winter-sledding. I also had mixed feelings because my stepfather had just passed away and I was out sledding with my child. I just could not help it though, since I had not experinced the wonderful winter pleasures in seven years. Elliot had such a great time being pulled around in that infant sled, which by the way is so neat, because it has a belt to keep the child in place. Breathing in that cold air and getting my feet stuck in drifts of snow was just what I needed to relieve some stress and do some reminiscing both of my stepfather and of my childhood in a cold climate.

When I arrived back in Texas I was feeling almost spoiled that I had a chance to have fun in the snow and then come back to a warm Austin, TX winter. Just last week we had snow here in Austin and oh boy, did Cavlin and Elliot love it. A whole two inches that came and went in one day. It was fun, but nothing like the 25 inches Sioux Falls, SD piled up and will still be collecting for maybe a few more months.

This weeks fun kid activity.

My three year old started receiving the magazine Little Kids National Explorer. He enjoyed the first issue which included a science experiment with raisins. He loved measuring and pouring the correct amounts of water, vineager and baking soda into a cup. After adding a few raisins we waited for the raisins to "dance." Calvin and I watched those raisins very closely for what seemed like forever, but was probably only a few minutes. I was surprised to find that after ten minutes only 4 raisins slowly rose and then dropped to the bottom. He almost fell of his seat when the first raisin gave us a show. It was cute to see him say the word carbon dioxide. After the experiment he made truck shaped art by gluing raisin onto dots I made on paper. I think it turned out to be adorable and it kept my wiggly three year old sitting for a whole glorious half hour.

I enjoy looking, but can I keep up with writing?

Ok, I love looking at people's blogs for recipes, fun DIY projects, parenting, and being a part of a community. I am not sure that I want to add more work to my life, but I admit that I have become a bit obsessed with at least the receiving end of blogging. Maybe I will take the plunge and see if maybe I can do a little giving back. I started a blog a few years ago, but I decided to take a 3 year break, due to my very active life with two boys.

My goals for blogging are :
1-document fun projects I do with my children and see what others do
2-show ways I organize my home in a beautiful, yet practical way
3-stay connected with friends
4-remember the small things in life that matter to me personally and help me smile