Puppy College

Well the day we worked so hard for but hoped wouldn't really come, came. Friday we returned Dejay to Guide Dogs for the Blind. Today has been a quieter without or puppy. Sydney went with me to drop him off and on the way home we were feeling a little guilty that we weren't more upset and weepy. We decided that the predominant emotion was pride. Our family worked really hard to train Dejay and he was a great experience for all of us. We are proud of him and excited to see what he can do.

I will admit to being lonely today for my constant companion, and I haven't had the heart to put away all his things yet. So tonight when I got and email from the Puppy truck drivers, we were all excited to hear how Dejay's first day away went. Here is the message we got: (FYI the kids all tied a piece of ribbon on his collar as they said good-bye... The principal at the elementary school gave him a new bone as a going away gift, and he took it with him on the puppy truck)

Hello Megan and family,

Thought I would drop you a note to let you know DeJay and his seven canine partners arrived on the San Rafael campus with us safe and sound at about 4:30pm today. About a half an hour after we left the pickup spot in Goodyear all the dogs were asleep, except for DeJay. He seemed a little "antsy" so we brought him up front on a tie down and he immediately settled down, allowed us to pet him, and took turns falling asleep with his head on either my or Lee's lap.

We read DeJay's paperwork and we realized that with seven children in the house he probably wasn't used to being alone. He became our "co-pilot" for most of the trip to California and back up to campus. He sure loves his ring bone and would grab it to bring with him each time we took him out for a walk or to be a co-pilot. We are saving his bone for the trip Tuesday to Oregon. His collar with the seven ribbons is one of the most festive ones we have seen and he wears it proudly. He truly is a nice dog and we enjoyed transporting him and look forward to seeing him again next week. Thank you for doing such a good job raising him.

Puppy Truck Drivers Joe and Lee

Expect the Unexpected

Life has been really chaotic around here lately, and today is no exception. Our experience at Costco was great today.
Hazel and I went to Costco at noon today. It was so busy that even the tire technicians were running checkstands. Hazel had to go to the bathroom. After visiting the bathroom we were trying to cut across the surge of customers leaving the checkstands and stay out of the way of the food court line, suddenly Hazel stopped. I stop with DeJay in tow, and try to drag Hazel out of the traffic. Everyone is stopped around us and she declares loudly "something is wrong with my pants". I look down at her in disbelief as she pulls a pair of flowered panties out of her pant leg. "Oh, here's the problem!"

Fish Tank Stand

Kenneth and I have finally finished our Fish tank collaboration project. He made the stand and I made the stained glass panels for the doors. It is hard to tell but there is a light inside the cabinet which illuminates the glass in the doors and also makes it easy to see the music books inside. Each kid has their own slot to keep their piano and instrument music in.

Here is me and the door.

Here is a shot of just the glowing doors.

The stand without the lights on...

The stand and doors in all it's glory.

Veteran's Day

Today was a busy day. Christian and Truman and I went out at dawn to put out flags (our boy scout fundraiser, for $35 a year the scouts in our ward will post a flag in your yard on all major holidays). The van started steaming profusely (unfortunately not the first time this week), I opened the hood and finally caught a glimpse of the offending hose. I dropped the boys off at home and drove over to Auto Zone and opened the hood. I showed the girl the hose spraying coolant all over and told her I would like a new one. We looked for a long time for the right part and finally discovered that I just needed a 6 inch piece of 3/4 inch hose. They didn't even charge me for it! I came home and spent 2 hours replacing the hose. Our neighbor came by and helped me tighten the last clamp and put the air filter back on. I washed up and the kids and I went up to watch the Veteran's Day Parade. Christian and the Marching band were in the parade. It is always fun to see my kids perform. We came home and had lunch. Then we headed to the pool for an hour. THen everyone got to work practicing and cleaning (my in-laws are coming tomorrow.)

The Fat Man Game (and a lady)

When Christian and Truman were little they made up a game where they wad up all the newspaper that needs to be recycled and carry it to the recycle bin inside their shirts. I asked Christian and nate to take out the news paper and the next thing I knew... Christian and Truman were teaching Nate and Hazel to play the "Fat Man Game". I love those moments when there is peace and happiness (and recycling)!

Finally

Our HOA decided to remodel our pool this summer and it closed the week after school got out and just opened again last week. Today was warm weather (90s) and so Kenneth and the Kids went to play at the pool. The splash Pad toys are a new addition.

Time is a funny thing

Last night Christian and Truman had their first band concert of the year. I hope that they did good. Kenneth and I were absent from this event because we were on a "Hot Date". We went to a nice Japanese restaurant and the over to the U2 concert. It was a fun concert!

I did have a good laugh at myself, because I spent more time than usual deciding what to wear. I just don't know what people wear to concerts these days. In the end I decided that I can only wear things I own and opted for a good mix of cute and comfortable. As we were walking into the stadium I looked around to see how everyone dresses for concerts these days and saw a lot of 30ish and 40ish people who were wearing a good mix of cute and comfortable. I also was surprised to see that U2 is not still in their 30s.

Pay Back

Last night upon returning from an event at the elementary school, we found our Halloween decorations "embellished". All I can say is that I deserved much worse!

Intro to Tech

Christian and Truman have been building these CO2 cars at school this semester. Friday they got to race them, Kenneth and Hazel went up to watch. Kenneth even helped a bit. Truman's car was really fast.

ASU Band Day

Dobson High School Marching Band performed at the ASU Band Day competition. I thought the band was not at it's best but it always fun to see your kidsd do something they love.

Here is a snapshot of the field show. Christian is in the "front ensemble" or "pit". They are the percussionists on the track.

Here is the Pit on the jumbotron, Christian is the third from the right.

Foundation for Blind Children

Our puppy raising club helped put on a "Olympic" event for a school for blind children. Kenneth Rebekah and Nate ran a beanbag toss event. They had a beeper that was in the bucket and the kids (if the kids were not blind they put a blindfold on them) tossed bean bags into the bucket. I think Rebekah was passing out the bean bags and Nate collected them up again. Sydney and Abby were asked to help face paint, there turned out to be so many volunteers that Syd and Abby had nothing to do, so they braided some fleece for a tug toy that the club sells for puppies to play with. Hazel parked herself at the face painting booth and took over the tattoo job, she convinced quite a few grown-ups to get a fake tattoo. Truman and I ran a booth where the kids ate a doughnut off a string without using their hands. And Nate got to try out "Test-drive" a guide dog.

It was a fun event, the kids (as always) worked really hard, and I think we all left with a better appreciation for our sight.

Teenagers!

I have been told that Dejay is a Puppy teenager. Here are my two teenagers doing what teenagers do best, sleep (after they ate). Christian came home from a band event so exhausted that he just laid down in the middle of everything and went to sleep.

A Mystery

Last week, Dejay did his first real damage. He chewed off the straps on my bike helmet and pulled a chunk of Styrofoam out of the back of it. It was irritating. I was surprised today when I was cleaning off the back porch to find a brand new helmet on my handle bars. The kids all swear that they know nothing, as does Kenneth. So to my benefactor "Thank you!"

Halloween Dry Run

We have a Guide Dog Raiser Halloween Party this week so we broke out the costume bins again. Hazel was looking really "Craby". Then we made Dejay try on costumes. In the end he went to the party in the ballerina costume.

Say No to CUTCO!

I think that CUTCO knives are cool. They are really expensive. I always think to myself (about knife buying) "maybe someday I will be able to afford nice knives, maybe even CUTCO knives". The dream has ended...
Yesterday I got a call that one of my friends had given her my name, that I might be interested. Can she please come over on Wednesday and do the demonstration? She gets "credit" just for coming over and showing me the knives. I have sat through many presentations of this sort. She came over this afternoon and was really nice at the beginning. At the end when she wanted to look throught the catalog with me I told her that her presentation was interesting but I am not able to afford her knives, not even making payments. She was still nice. Then she asked me for a list of my friends that she could call. I told her I didn't have any friends to refer her to. ( I don't actually know many people who have that much money) She got frustrated and said "What do you only know people who have been laid off?". So I fessed up, and told her that I am uncomfortable giving out my friends names for marketing. That made her angry and she said "WELL, I guess I didn't know you WEREN'T interested!", and huffed off.

So, the moral of the story is that I am going to drool over some other expensive knife and I knew better than to say yes.