Hanging out with the Dogs

Our dogs are pretty entertaining. We love them very much, and they get treated pretty darn well at our house. Here are a few pics Doug took of me and the dogs.

Me with both Sam and Ranger

Me and Sam

Ranger the scaredy cat - hiding under the table

I know this is not dogs, but I just had to share.  Ryan was at a friends
house all day.  They went to this really neat place called Jump Street.
And no, Johnny Depp is not there.  It's filled with trampolines.  This
is what Ryan's feet looked like when he got home.  So lovely!

I shot this earlier in the day when Doug was giving the dogs a treat.  They are so opposite in all of their behaviors it's too funny.  One of them jumps like crazy and the other one just thinks he is jumping super high, even if his feet barely leave the floor.  I was trying hard not to laugh while I was filming this.  And, if you receive emails on this post, you will need to view the video on the site.



Yummy Fund Raiser

So, Ryan's school was out for a week last week for Fall Break.  They come back to school for three full days and then have two half days.  I don't get it.  Seems kinda silly to me, but I'm sure if I was a kid, I would think that whole week back should be half days.  On the first half day, his school had a fund raiser.  I really love their fundraisers.  They are so easy.  You show up to the specified restaurant and eat a meal.  The only hard part is remembering to give them the flyer when you order so the restaurant knows to give the credit to the school.  So tricky.  My parents and brother Kelly met us there for lunch.  And it was great to sit and visit with them.

The fund raiser was at one of my favorite restaurants.  Jason's Deli.  They are so good and fresh.  Love their food.  And you get free ice cream with every paid meal.  Yum!

Ryan got a big bowl of Broccoli Cheese Soup

My Yummy Sandwich - Turkey Cranberry Ciabota

I must be rubbing off on Doug.  He took this picture of my
strawberries when I was done eating them.

Of All The Things . . .

When I became a parent there were many things I thought about raising a child.  Things that you wanted to do and things that you did not want to do.  I never really thought about all the things that I would be passing on to him.  And many of them are things that I would not have picked to give to him.  For instance,  when Ryan was born, the first thing one of the nurses said was - who's got the cleft chin?  And I immediately thought oh no, of all the things to pass on, that definitely would not have been my choice.

I do have to admit that my Krispy Kreme baby is very cute with his cleft chin.

Other items I seem to have passed on:
Allergies - check
Attitude - check
Stubbornness - check (although in all fairness, he got that from both of us!)
Eye color - check
Paleness of skin - check
Love for reading - check
Kindness to animals - check

And so, today we had an appointment for Ryan to see the podiatrist.  We (Ryan & I) have been to this office several times over the past few years.  The first time we were there was for a foot injury that Ryan had.  The x-rays showed an area of concern at his pediatrician office and so he wanted us to see a podiatrist.  The foot injury was fine, but there was some concern that Ryan's feet pronate (that means roll in).  In the course of that conversation, it became very apparent to me that I needed to make an appointment for myself to come in because I had the things that the doctor was talking about in Ryan.  And the very reason why I had terrible shin splints.  A fitting for orthotics and a few years of wearing them, and my shins are wonderful. 

Skip to today.  Ryan's feet are much like mine.  They roll.  So, hopefully a fitting for orthotics and we will be good to go.

While we were there, the doctor drew on Ryan's foot so that us parents, with the untrained eye for how the foot should be when walking, could see where the problem was.  Ryan actually giggled a little while being drawn on.

Pumpkin and Chili Festival

On Friday night, we attended a local Pumpkin and Chili Festival with my niece and her family.  This is our third year going with them and we had so much fun this year - I think it was the best time yet!  I took tons of photos - over 100, so get ready for some viewing. (And for those of you that get this in email form, you may want to go to the sight to view it - it looks so much better there.)

Me, Ryan and Doug
At the beginning of the day ready to have some fun.

Ben, Baylee, Payton and Brittany

Baylee and Ryan got their faces painted.

Ryan's ghost

Baylee's pumpkin

Ryan and I waiting to get on the hayride to the corn maze.
This year we decided to go to the corn maze before it got dark,
with the hopes that we might actually make it through the maze
this time.

On the way to the maze, the hayride driver stopped and let everyone feed
some reindeer that are at the farm.

Baylee getting some more hay to feed the reindeer.

Baylee, Ben and Payton hiding in the corn
maze.  I think they were going to try to scare
Brittany and I.

By the time we made it through the maze, it was starting to get dark.
It was perfect timing.

After the maze, we all decided that food sounded pretty good.  And, we
were hoping that they would have some fresh corn, after looking at all
that corn ready to be picked in the maze.  We got chili, pulled pork, hot dog
and fresh corn - for all three of us to share.  It was yummy!

Then it was time to hit the rides.  Ryan and Baylee went on the bumble bee
ride together several times.  It was fun to watch Ryan help Baylee get in
and out of the ride.

They have these totally cool pedal yourself go cart things.  On one course,
they are big enough for four people to go on.  And on the other it's
for one person.  This was on the four person.  The two people in back
do all the pedaling.  Ryan decided he wanted to be pedaled around by
Doug and I.

Ryan, Ben and Doug getting ready to race on the Individual Course.

While the boys were racing, Baylee entertained
herself waiting for them.

Doug at the end of the race.  Those carts are so fun, but they are quite the
workout.

Ryan and I went on the swings a few times and the roller coaster.

Here was a fun tennis ball launcher where you
try to hit some targets.  Ryan hit several of them.
It wasn't very crowded on the night we went so
no lines to wait in.  That was very nice.

At the end of the evening, they even had some fireworks.

And we couldn't leave without getting a
pumpkin.  Ryan picked this one out.

And the Storm Came Rolling In

When I hear the weather men predict rain, I only believe them about 10% of the time.  And here, where we live, it can rain five miles from our house and we will have nothing but sunshine.  Even when we see those big dark rain clouds overhead, there is still no guarantee that we are gonna see anything from it.

So, last Tuesday when the rain came along, it was a little surprising.  And then when the hail was pounding down on our  house it was a little scary (please don't break any windows or roof tiles) and amazing.  Doug and I watched the entire storm from the front and back of the house.  We kept going back and forth between the two to watch.

Some of the things I remember from that day - our pool had waves in it.  Like totally visible waves jumping up out of the pool.  In a matter of moments, I was suddenly able to see sky through the tree where it had just been full of leaves.  I mean literally, I couldn't even see branches in it before.  I could barely see anything beyond the sidewalk in the front yard, or I should say, where the sidewalk is supposed to be in the front yard.  I could not even see the sidewalk.  There was so much water in the street that the sidewalk and a portion of the front yard were covered in swirling water. 

And then, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours later when we went to pick Ryan up from school, this is what our neighborhood looked like:

An uprooted tree in the neighborhood.  There were more of these than I could count.  Luckily, this one missed the house it fell next to.

A branch that was snapped off a tree and was laying on a fence.

At least 3 hours later, here is a pile of hail up against our house.

Doug had just started getting the lawn ready for winter seeding and fertilizing.  Underneath this tree it was nothing but brown dirt.  And then along came all the leaves.  If you look at the left side, you cannot even see the pool kool deck, it was completely covered with leaves.

A coworker of Doug's came to pick him up for work a couple of days later.  He lives about a 15 minute drive from here.  He told Doug our neighborhood looked like a war zone.  They got hardly anything at all - just some rain and no hail.

Planetarium Egyptian Style

Last weekend, we went to the planetarium again with Ben, Brittany, Baylee and Payton.  It was so good to see them.  We were trying to remember the last time we had been together and were having a hard time coming up with the answer.  So, we are getting together with them again on Friday night - for more family fun times!

This month at the planetarium it was Egyptian constellations.  I guess I never really stopped to think that Egyptians had different constellations and different stories to go along with them.  Strange. 

Well, it was perfect timing because Ryan just got finished studying Egypt in school. 

We went and got our tickets for the show and had an hour and a half wait so we decided to try to find a Cold Stone Creamery for a little ice cream treat.  I got the Peanut Butter and chocolate combination.  It was yummy!  And Ryan got just plain old mint ice cream with nothing added to it.  It was yummy too - he let me have a little taste.  I'm not sure what everyone else got - sorry guys!

Then we headed over to wait in line for the show.  It was an interesting show.  I didn't get very many pictures this time.  Sorry.  But, you can't take them inside once the show starts, so there wasn't a lot to photograph.

Enjoying Cold Stone Creamery

Doug inside the planetarium just before the show.

To My Surprise

Last weekend, I was finishing up  my work for the day and heard noises coming from our bedroom.  I wandered to be greeted by this beautiful sight.

Clothes on the floor just outside of our closet.

Doug cleaning out his portion of the closet.

You see, Doug lost a bunch of weight over the past couple of years and has kept it off.  It is about time he cleans out some of those things that he cannot (and should not) wear anymore.  Woohoo! 

I do love a clean closet.  If you notice, he's actually sitting on the floor in front of my clothes that are hanging up.  Notice all the hangers are the same color?  That's right, each one of us has our own color hangers.  It makes your closet look so organized!  Try it.  My clothes are even worse, they are hanging grouped together by color.  Yes, I can say OCD!

Even Ranger was a little concerned about the activities going on in the closet.  Really, I think he was hoping he might get those big fluffy socks on top to run around the house with!

October Calendar Pages

This is one of my favorite months of the year.  We have so many fun Halloween activities that we do all month long, that I really look forward to all the fun.

2007

Don't you just love the sword in the pumpkin?  That is courtesy of my nephew Parker.

2008
This was the last year that we went to Young's Farm in Dewey.  We loved going there every year and were very sad that they were closing.  Here are pictures of our trips there over the years.



2009
Our first year going to Schnepf's Farm for their festival.  We had such a great time we went again the next year and have already scheduled a trip this year with my niece and her family.



2010
Last year we got to do a lot of non-Halloween activities, including a free day at Arizona Science Center and Star Wars in Concert.  It was also our second year going to Schnepf Farms.