Just a Man and His Dog

This is a familiar scene.  Charlie boy loves his master.  He used to love me the most, but he started loving Mike more several years ago.  He considers him the alfa and takes any and all the love and affection he can get in return.

 He seeks Mike out and forces his way into whatever situation he can.  Mike doesn't love or need the attention and that's probably why Charlie tries even harder to please him.  It's a vicious cycle.  We all wish Charlie would attach himself to the kids instead, but he just doesn't.  

We all like to think of the irony of their relationship.  Charlie has imprinted on the one who wanted him the least.  Silly dog.

Grill Master?

 Nathan has been wanting to learn how to use the grill.  I guess he sees how much glory can come from standing out there for a few minutes.  Mom does all the work and the griller gets all the glory.  :)

Start to finish, he made some great hot dogs tonight!  Way to go Grill Boy!

A Teenager's Version of Pink Sparkly Shoes

 Allie has always liked shoes.  She has a mom that doesn't really care.  If I could, I'd wear the same pair of shoes for every occasion.

This year, she got these shoes for her birthday and was so excited.  It reminded me of when she was turning 3 and was thrilled to get a pair of pink sparkly shoes (from a fellow shoe lover of a neighbor).  She's had these shoes for a week now and it thrills me to see how happy she is about them.  I told her that it reminded me of the pink "flops" and as I told her, I realized that these shoes are her teenager version of the pink flops.  She just really likes shoes and it makes her really happy to have these ones.  :)

Backyard Shenanigans

Tonight the boys had a great time playing and being boys.  They jumped on the tramp and were wild monkeys.  Then they built a fire and fed it catalogues and all manner of sticks and twigs until it was a roaring blaze.  

 I don't have any pictures of the fire, so you'll just have to believe me when I say that it was a grand time for all of them.  They came in smelling like they'd been chimney sweeps on an 8 hour shift.  

Nothing that a shower couldn't fix.  It was a lovely evening.  

A Special Treat

I started a new job.  I worked a full day on Thursday and Charlie was a wreck.  He was lonely and when someone came home after a long and lonely day, he freaked out.  He's so dang funny.  

 I did feel bad for him though.  So when I was making dinner, I let him lick the cans of chicken.  I love how he brings them over to the rug so that they don't go scooting and sliding away when he's actively licking all the delicious stuff out of the can.

Tonight, Mike told me that my new job is going to be hardest on Charlie and it's so true.  He's been so spoiled.  :)

Cold Snap(s)

This year Allie sold hanging flower baskets for her fundraiser for drill.  I bought one and thought I'd have to baby it for a week or so until the weather warmed up.

This is how things have looked for weeks and weeks now!  
I keep bringing it in for the cold nights and it just keeps getting colder.  It snowed today!  Ugh.  This is crazy.  I'm actually really fine with the cold, but I'm tired of babying this plant.  :) 

Sunday Pics

I took Carson's Sr. pics today.  Toward the end, we drove up a hill up Birch to take some pics of the sunset.  Allie and Mike were up there watching the sun go down with Charlie.  It was really cute to see Charlie run to me when he recognized it was me.

It was really fun to drive the Bronco up the trail.  It's not at all rugged, but it was the most I've done with it so far.  :)  

It's been really fun now that the sun shines more and more.  We took the windows out and put the top down.  

It's going to be pretty cool this summer.

 

Pogo Sticks and Fireworks

We had a busy day today.  We did some chores around the house.  Mike and the kids filled in the spot where we used to have a tree with some sod.  I tried to clear out some toys that have been overflowing in Nathan's room.  

Then we went to Julia's baptism.  I didn't take any pictures.  I'm a slacker.  But it was a really nice day and fun to be able to attend.

Nate and I had to leave early because he had his last game.  We rushed to it and they won.  Beating Jackson Hole 10-2.  Nate was pretty bummed because he didn't get much playing time. Maybe he'll get some time in the playoffs.

Nate got invited to a late night with some friends.  I took a picture before driving away because I thought it was so cute that he's hanging out with girls.  He has a fun little group of friends.

When the sun went down, we went to the ball park to watch fireworks for Health Days.

We went in the Bronco.  It had the top off so we just sat in it and watched in comfort.

Jake was there somewhere with friends.  It was a really nice night.  Perfect and beautiful and so much fun.
 

Playing Catch Up

I don't want you to think that I've already started to slack on my renewed efforts to keep up the blog.  I've been getting on the computer each day for at least a half hour to get things going.  It's mostly been organizing pictures.  Now that I take pictures on my phone sometimes, it makes things a little harder.  My phone doesn't connect to the computer happily so I have to email the pics to myself.  Today I figured out I could upload them to google drive and then get them from there.  So that's good!

As for daily happenings, Mike was on a work trip to Idaho the last two nights.  So when he came home last night, we went out to dinner.  Left the kids to fend for themselves and they must have done fine. We washed the Bronco and had a lovely little date.

Nathan has a cold and missed school yesterday.  It's the kind of cold that makes you feel pretty crummy in the mornings but pretty good all day long.  So he just had a lovely day off of school.

Jake got a job at the Gristmill down the street.  He started on Tuesday and has worked every night this week.  He works tonight too.  It's good to give him something to do, but it seems weird to not see his face as often.  I love that he can do it without pain.  His back recovery really is a miracle.  

I took Allie to a Sky View soccer game last  night.  She is really wishing she had her license.  She's always wanting to be places and hates to have to ask me for rides.  I like the time in the car with her and I know I'm going to miss it when she gains more freedom.  So she's stuck with me for a few more months.

The littles got invited to go swimming at the pool yesterday.  It was closed, so they came back and hot tubbed at a neighbor's house for a little while.  They had a good time and came home, dropped their wet towels on the tile and took baths.  There, they left their sopping wet swimsuits on the floor along with half the tub water.  I reminded Jason to put his clothes in the hamper (forgetting that his clothes were sopping wet swim trunks) and he was obedient.  Now there are lots of soggy wet clothes in the hamper. :)

I get after them all the time, but things don't seem to sink in.  I wish they'd be a little less messy.  

Aw well...life is still good.  :)

Conversation about "Yo Momma"

 Allie told me about a conversation she had with Jason...

Allie: What is your best yo momma joke?

Jason: Yo momma so hairy that when she shaves, it just grows back.

Allie: (laughing her head off) :)

She wrote it down in her notes so she wouldn't forget, so I helped give it a permanent place on the blog.