Nose

This would be why we call him "Nose."

And he's happy to meet you.

Over The River.

Sometimes you get a phone call from Granny Suzzan to meet her in the canyon for a picnic.  You bring the drinks, she'll bring the food.

Sometimes you agree and load up your Circus and drive up to the canyon, and then walk up to the designated spot because the road is still closed to cars, but open for cyclists and hikers.

Sometimes you find the perfect spot on the other side of the low river and sometimes, instead of walking a little farther up the road to find the bridge, you just make your Circus cross the river.

Because it's funner that way.

Sometimes this works out better than you had planned, because now the puppy boys don't realize they can get across the river to chase other dogs and cyclists.

The Circus brought books and walkie talkies and the explored the area and enjoyed being in the canyon.

Sometimes you wait for an hour for Granny to show up with the food and she never does.  So you pack up your cooler of now empty drinks and head back to the car.

But this time you use the bridge.

Crazy Granny.

Next time we'll bring the food.

Small Things from the Weekend

We tend to go a little stir crazy around our house when we don't have something to do.  Sitting around and watching movies is all good and fun, but after one movie we're ready to get up and get going.  And after one day at the house, we need some place to go to stretch our legs out a bit.

I guess we're high maintenance?

But man alive do we get to see a lot of things and do a lot of things.  I only wish our bank account could keep up with the pace of life we want to be living.

As it goes we had to spend this weekend at home.

Sort of.

Busy Weekend: Draper Temple, Family Pics, State Fair, Dinner With Ert

This weekend we...

taught Milo how to play soccer:



I talked Casidee and Jayme into running a mile and doing bodyrock with me...

I like having them with me to do this because they push me to get it done and to push myself while doing it... but boy do they ever have more stamina than I do.

Cas and I joined the youth of our church on a temple outing to the Draper Temple.  I sure love being in the temple with that girl.

We headed over to Fotofly for some family pictures.  Let me tell you, we were laughing so hard through that session.  I can't wait to swing back over there to see the pictures and pick them up.

We hit the State Fair.

 Where we saw Babe the Big Blue Ox in real life.
Seriously, this bull was humongous, it's shoulders were as tall as West's head and it's hooves were as thick as my thigh.

Billy Goat's Gruff?

 This goat made me think of Billy Goat's Gruff... and that made me think of the time that we had Thanksgiving dinner at my Grandma E's house and my brother Bill would get under the table (we were littler) and my cousins would laugh and say there was a billy goat under the table...

We loved all the science stations they had set up throughout the venue.
The Man showed the kids the trick to balancing all the nails on top of just one:

 The favorite for The Circus was the Lemur tent:

We hit Leatherby's where I ran into some old friends that I haven't seen in forever.
Man alive, I miss old friends.
Also, at Leatherby's, we discovered they have a "sampler" on their menu.  Have you ever done this?  You get five scoops of ice cream, but you only get to pick two flavors.  The other three flavors will be a surprise.
It was pretty fun to figure out what flavors they'd given when our ice cream arrived.

We joined Aunt Lindee at The Old Spaghetti Factory at Trolley Square to celebrate her graduating post and landing a job on a police force.

We sure are proud of you Aunt Officer Lindee!

We love that place because the atmosphere is fun and the prices aren't crazy.  We can feel like we're taking our circus to a nice dinner without breaking our checking account.

Cas is taking Chinese in school this year.
She wrote her name on her leftover box in Chinese, and when she showed it to Sean he exclaimed, "that looks like cool Vampire writing!"
"Sean, it's not vampire writing, it's Chinese..."

To West.
-The Parking Garage.

This weekend we also discovered the TV show "Once Upon a Time" on Netflix. 
In love!
And it's kid friendly which scores high points in my book. 
We're catching up on the first season so we'll be ready for the second season to start on September 30th.  So excited!

That was our busy weekend.
Hope yours was just as good.

The Day I Ended Up Wet, On My Back, And Covered In Dog Fur

The other night we had a situation with our dog, Milo, that required us using the hose on his backside.

Milo hates baths and that's in a tub with warm water no less, so take him out into the backyard with the cold hose...

The Man gave me the option.  Hold Milo, or do the job with the hose.

Since the hose job had the possibilities of being "yucky," I decided that I could hold Milo.

I've always claimed that our dog Strider is the Clydsedale horse of dogs.  Apparently, Milo is also, he just doesn't care to exert it as much as his brother.

Milo did not want anything to do with that hose.  The Man had tried to do this job before I got home to no avail.  When we went into the backyard, Milo knew what was coming.

He tried to run and The Man held him in his arms while I got into place.  I watched The Man applying all sorts of muscle power against the struggling dog and knew that I needed to put a lot of weight into this.

I got down on my knees, pulled Milo close to my chest, and wrapped my arms around his torso and in front of his chest while I bent over, laying my body weight on him, enough to hold him there without crushing the ever living daylights out of him.

He struggled, but my hold stayed.

So The Man turned the hose on and began to spray.  As soon as that cold water hit Milo's backside that dog doubled his efforts of force.  I ended up covered in water and somehow on my back, arms above my head as I valiantly tried to keep my hold on the run away dog.  He was running on my hair and my face was being licked by Strider who seemed pleased as punch that it wasn't him who was involved in all of the hassle.

After all of that, the job still needed to be done.

So West held Milo.

And I got the yucky job.

And I got the yucky job done.

In wet clothes, covered in fur and dog saliva.

It was my turn to need a shower after that business.

****

Complete change of course, in case that story wasn't enough for you,  here's a beautiful thought for the day:

The Puppy Boys

I was feeling in a funk today.  I hate dressing up for work.  So in my funk I decided I would wear jeans with my heels.  I always follow the dress code, so I figured no one would care too much the one day I didn't.  Plus, at our office, the investigators have a lenient dress code and the lawyers only really dress up nice when there's court so it's not like my wearing jeans was really going to stand out.  Though usually everyone wears at least cargo pants over jeans.

Turns out I wasn't the only one feeling that funk.  Most of the office showed up in jeans today.

Including my boss, so I think that most definitely put me in the clear.

Also, the point where our entire office sat around and told Chuck Norris jokes in the conference room for a good half hour is just proof that my funk isn't just my funk. 

There's funk in the air.

Though I do love starting out the day with an email that I've won something.
It's the best.

This morning I found out that I won the 14 day fresh start nutrition program. 

I seriously can not wait for that.

A huge thank you to Jennifer at  A Mothers Fitness2love.  Huge thank you.
I can't wait to start this program.

Strider

Milo

Our puppy boys.

I like to keep track of the things the kids do and say because it's fun to see how they grow, progress, change.

I thought maybe I should do that with our puppy boys.

Right now they are a year and a half.
We have them sectioned off to only being in the kitchen and the dining room (hence the baby gate behind Milo in that picture) where they have a doggy door to let them come and go to and from the backyard as they please.

They hate that babygate.  It's strapped to the stair rail and pressed against the wall with a chair.  They're learning that if they  jump hard enough, especially Strider, who is the Clydesdale of dogs, they can knock that chair enough to move the gate and get free.

They only do this when we're not home.

This means that any loose article will be shredded when we get home.

Shoes
flip flops
books
stuffed animals
stuffed penguins
camera cases
underwear
socks
my Victoria's Secret bra (that wasn't lying around, they broke into our bedroom to get that one)
homework
bathroom garbage can's contents

The dog ate my homework is a valid thing in our house.

Barbies
pencils
bottles of glitter
entire rolls of toilet paper
library books
Grandma KC's sewing supplies
paint brushes
rolls of painting plastic
masking tape
the couch...

If it weren't for this chewing habit they'd have free roam of the house.

Strider has a stomach of steel.
He ate rat poison and it didn't even phase him. (No, we didn't let him digest it.  We took him to the vet where he was purged and filled with charcoal to absorb the residue).
(Then he came home and ate his dinner like nothing had happened).

Strider also chews on his brother.

You can't usually pet Milo because 9 times out of 10, Milo's fur is going to be soaking wet from Strider chomping on him.

Poor picked on little brother.

Strider is monster dog, double the weight of Milo.
Milo is super soft.
Strider, being the bigger of the two, is the one that will insist that he needs to be a lap dog.  The only problem with that is that he's just a little too big to fit on your lap.

Strider is protective.
One time when I snuck into the backyard (so the dogs wouldn't know I was there and jump all over me) to lay out, Strider eventually noticed me out there.  I watched him and you could tell he wasn't sure who I was.  He froze and stared at me.  When I looked back he was belly crawling toward me, ready to jump.  I had to say his name so he would realize it was me and not attack me. It just struck me as funny that he would take the time to sneak up on me to pounce, rather than go into a barking fit.

Strider also likes to sit with one of his stuffed animals in his mouth to sleep.  Kind of like sucking his thumb, but since he doesn't have thumbs...

Milo is the pretty boy.  It looks like he wears guy liner.
He's pretty chill against Strider's antics.
The instant you reach to pet him on the head, he's on his back, legs in the air, wanting a belly rub.
He's stubborn though.  He knows the command sit.  But if you hold out a treat and tell him to sit, it's like a battle of wills.  He's certain that if he just holds out a little longer, you'll break and give it to him.  Sitting is so beneath him.
He eventually sits though.  The promise of a treat becomes more than he can bare.

Their favorite toy is the laundry soap cup.  They'll chase that cup across the kitchen tile forever.

When they were new puppies they  tried to herd the kids.  The kids would take off running and the puppies would start nipping at ankles to get them to stay together.  They've finally figured out that kids can't be herded.

They still bite ankles thought.  Especially Milo.  He seems to think that the way to say good morning is to either nip the top of your bare foot or your ankle.

They hover when I cook. 
They know I'll drop something or spill something eventually.

They also hover when dinner is done and the kids are scraping plates into the garbage for the same reasons.

They're getting pretty decent at staying in the yard when we take them out front.
Except they seem to hate people on skateboards?
Except Cas.  They don't seem to mind Cas being on  a skateboard.

They're fun dogs.  I enjoy them. 
I just wish I knew how to get them to chew on all the toys and bones we give them and to leave all the other stuff alone.
How do you teach a dog that?
Especially if your not there when they're doing it.
Any tips on that one?

summer in the frontyard

Pure awesomeness.

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Have you ever had a really bad day?
I mean really bad?

Usually a day could be perfectly fine and then one little thing just ruins my mood and I spend the rest of the day trying to shrug it off.

What if your little thing that ruins your day goes viral?

And people start using your name as a phrase for messing up.
"He fecked it."

Still, it was amazing to watch, wasn't it?  Like a train wreck that you just can't look away from, hand covering gawking mouth with bulging eyes and you're torn between laughing hysterically and sitting in shock for the poor dashed Olympian dreams.

Have I ever had a moment like that?
If I have it's completely blocked from memory and I should probably keep it that way.

That was a tangent.  I opened up the internet today and I saw references to it on msn.  Obviously it just rolled downhill from there for me.

So on to what I was really going to post about today.

I love summer.

I base the success of my year pretty much on how good my summer was.

I think my favorite parts of summer are the parts where I'm hanging out with my circus in the frontyard.



The new thing is to tie a jump rope around Strider, who is the Clydsedale horse of Corgi's and have him pull you on Cali's little bike.

He loves it, so much in fact that the force of his pull snapped the jump rope in half.

At least once a week we get a knock on our door.
"Can you play night games?"

And it's randomly different groups of boys who come around and ask.
Last night the boys who wanted to play night games had played before, but they've never been the ones to show up and ask.
I can only imagine that seeing a yard full of girls can be intimidating for young boys.

They hung around the outskirts of the yard for a few minutes, not saying anything.  Not crossing past the fence that marked the line of our yard.

"You do it."
"No, you do it."

The girls were clueless.
They paid them no mind.

Until finally one stumbled past the fence, just barely, and without any preamble or howdy-do blurts out something along the lines of, "yo, night games?"

They always say they're going to go play at this house or that house but lately they've ended up in our yard.

Screaming and yelling.

I love it.

Terrible pictures but it was getting dark and I was trying not to be the embarrassing mom :).

One time, a group of boys showed up at our door and asked for Brynn.
And it was just Brynn, hanging out with a bunch of boys.

I find it amazes me, but then I stop to think about it.
So many of my best friends were boys.

I had my girl friends, but I found I was always much more comfortable hanging out with the guys.
So there we have it. 
I "complained" about it on facebook.  That Brynn was the only girl in a group of boys and one of my guy friends commented, "just like her mom.  And you turned out pretty well."

Lessons learned in our frontyard this summer:
Strider is super dog strong.
Boys aren't so bad.
You get to play night games an hour longer when you're in your own frontyard.
Mom has issues riding Cali's bike.
Dinner tastes better when we're all sitting on the porch eating it together.
Bodyrock is easier to follow through with when you're doing it together in the frontyard amidst peals of laughter. I should get a video of the girls trying to do it.  Cali does one squat jump and she's all giggles.

And it doesn't matter if inside the house is just a little bit cooler, there's just something about hanging out in the yard together.

mini golf professionals... and a few things from the weekend

Grandpa Brent and Grandma Julie wanted some quality time with The Circus, and for some odd reason Grandma Julie felt that "put put" was the way to go.

All I can say is obviously she's never been to a mini golf course with our crew before (here and here).

We met up with them at Hollywood Connections and I think, after two times trying to golf there, I can say without a doubt that it's a terrible place to golf.

Even for professionals such as ourselves.  The ricochet factor is off the charts.

This is a picture of "all the kids" as Grandpa claimed. 

And in true Circus fashion, we couldn't keep our balls out of the water.  I blame it on the Hollywood Connections ricochet factor.

In Casidee's defense, she going after Jayme's ball :)

I loathe that orange octopus.  If you looked at the link for our other golfing at Hollywood Connection's adventure, you've seen the video of me vs. the octopus.  The octopus had more points on me, but I ultimately won.  After cheating.

A lot.

but here she's going after her own.

We, here at The Circus, are highly trained miniature golf professionals.  We smack our balls repeatedly until we get them to go in the direction we want, we (as The Man calls it) "walk the dog" (i.e. drag our ball along with our clubs), we use our feet to stop misbehaving balls, and we always use our hands to stop, roll, and drop our balls.  We never keep score.

Ever.

Grandma Julie fit right in.

Grandpa Brent got frustrated, but being the calm guy that he is, he tried not to show it much, except to tell the kids to just keep going.  I think he got tired of waiting :).  We ended up being strung out over two or three holes.

No matter our expertise, we had fun.  And it most definitely was quality time spent.

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma.

In other news our weekend went too fast.  I have no idea where it went.  But a few things happened that I want to take note of.

1. Our house is gleaming sparkling from top to bottom.  All three floors.  I plan on keeping it that way... though Cali about did me in this morning when she wet the bed.  Of all the nights to wet the bed, the night before the appraiser comes would not have been the night I would have chosen. I was frantically trying to get rid of the pee smell this morning.

Any bets on how long the house stays this clean? 

Appraisal is this afternoon and kids are at school.  It will last for as long as I needed it to at any rate.

2. Yoga with my Stacy friend was fantastic.  I'm sore.  Dear Yoga, it's been far too long. 

3.  I found a long lost friend.  A very dear friend that I'm never going to lose track of again.  I'll have to post on this later, I have some pictures I want to scan in and talk about time spent with my friend. 

4.  The dogs ate rat poison.

5. 

Okay, before I move on to five I should go back and elaborate on four.
The Man and I went to the bank and then to lunch on Saturday.  All about two hours of time.  When we got home we noticed something paperish was torn up in the hallway.  West sighs, "wonder what the dogs got this time."

I'm more inquisitive as to what they've torn up. It makes me so frustrated when they eat my stuff.  So I picked it up to see what I need to mourn the loss of this time, and found that it was a d-con mouse poison box.  We flipped into panic mode, grabbed the puppy boys and raced to the emergency vet clinic which is only five minutes from our house.  We had no way of knowing if both of them had eaten it or if only one had.

Apparently only Strider had.  The vet looks at Milo (after making both dogs vomit) and says, "it's okay boy, my brother gets me into trouble all of the time too."

Poor Milo.

Stupid Strider.

The dogs are fine.  It didn't even phase Strider, the dog apparently has an iron stomach.

In the end I ended up with a chocolate covered strawberry.  We had a half hour wait for the dogs so we walked to a chocolate shop nearby.  My man loves me and bought me a strawberry :).

Okay, back to number five.

5. The pink counters survived the weekend.  Argh I need more hours in a day.  Do you think we'll lose points or gain points in the appraisal for having a kitchen that resembles a Barbie house?