We're Almost Done With Diapers

Yesterday Samuel ran to me, as he has been doing lately, and proclaimed, "I nee a di-pah!" Translation for those that do not speak toddler: I need a diaper! After taking his wet diaper off, he quickly jumped up and ran to the bathroom squealing, "Potty! Potty! Potty!" Ugh.. here we go. I sat him on the potty, waited for an eternity, and finally convinced him get a new diaper on since he was NOT going potty.

This is the age my big kids also took an interest in the potty. Who knows when he'll actually potty train, but I can't help but be a bit surprised at his sudden interest in doing what everyone else in the house does, with no coaxing from any of us.

Anywho... during the whole di-pah and Potty! Potty! Potty! incident, Clayton says,

"Wow.. we're almost done with diapers." I sat in silence... mainly because diapering a squirming 20 month old is similar to hog-tying a calf... but also because I had a twinge of pain. In my own head I silently repeated that phrase to myself... "we're almost done with diapers..."

What a strange thing for me to say! It is so odd how you can almost grieve the loss of this phase of life when it's over. It's like you're stuck between being excited about how much easier life is with bigger kids, and being so sad about the knowledge that you'll never have a wiggly, sweet smelling, diaper wearing, baby again.

I suppose Samuel's babyhood just flew by a whole lot too quickly for my liking. I have tried to savor each moment with him... but when I realized that my baby boy is turning two in just 3 months... I was just stunned! How did that happen?! Can someone show me where the rewind button is, please?

I am thankful that he at least has kept all of that beautiful curly hair...

New Puppies Needing Homes

Oh, the never-ending problem. Too many dogs, not enough people adopting. *sigh*

Clayton went to the pound this morning and, to my shock, came home with FOUR Beagle mix puppies. They were so disgusting! If you've never taken a puppy directly from the pound, then you can't imagine the stink that comes off of them. They are literally soaked in urine and feces... being so little they aren't with it enough to only use the bathroom in one corner of the kennel - so they pee and poop everywhere, then walk through it, lay in it, etc... 24/7. (well, until it's cleaned out!) Thankfully Clayton called to warn me to fill the tub and get ready for an afternoon of bath times!

I was stunned when he brought in the four nasty, but gorgeous, puppies. There are 3 males and one female - all totally sweet! They love to be held and cuddled and are quite calm! (shocking!) They are probably 3 months old or so. You'd have to see them in real life to grasp just how darn cute they are... really.. beautiful!

We are totally OVERRUN at the pound right now. We're having to euthanize dogs for the first time in quite a while simply due to overcrowding. These GREAT dogs are dying simply because no one wants them. It is depressing and I am desperate to get ANY of our homeless dogs homes. If you've thought at all about getting a dog, PLEASE let me know. PLEASE do not buy from a breeder... let me help you find the perfect dog for your family. You can save a life! As the awesome organization Dogs Deserve Better says, "Don't breed or buy while shelter dogs die!" I couldn't say it better myself!

Check out some of our available dogs at http://www.searkdogadoption.weebly.com/ - more will be added this week! Some on the site will be removed - I believe several were euthanized. I'll be visiting the pound tomorrow morning (Tuesday morning) around 10:30am if anyone wants to come and see the dogs we have for themselves!

Welcome to Our Home!

This is the welcome poor Clark, pictured between the two psycho boys, got when he arrived at our home for the first time last night. As soon as he told Michael, (pictured on the right) he was going to come by, the plot to make him scream like a girl was on! Clayton (pictured left) ran to get these lovely masks that he keeps just for such occasions. (masks that I have repeatedly tried to do away with)

The two boogilies hid outside in the dark for Clark to drive up, and as he was knocking on the front door, I heard all kinds of commotion outside! Our neighbors must think we're completely nuts over here! I opened the door to find Clark completely stunned. I wasn't sure if he was even scared... he says he was. He hid it well.

Clayton and Michael were super proud of themselves... if only I had a working video camera to capture all of their nonsense.

Let this serve as a warning for those that are planning a first time trip to our home. Come in the daytime...


What's amazing is that Michael and Clark both left for a mission trip to Poland today. Through playing football and being their typical amazing selves, I have no doubt they, along with Jeremy, are going to start a movement towards Christ! I am so proud to get to routinely hang out with such outstanding people!

Wildest Swimsuits for Summer

I was surfing the Fox News Website to see what important things are happening in the world today when I ran across this hilarious set of pictures. Of all of the suits pictures, I thought my figure would look best in this. The bat wing style cape would have to camouflage my thighs, right? I would never be able to get my hair to do that though...

Absent Blogger

I have not been keeping up my blog very well over the past few weeks. I suppose life has been just really busy and my passion for writing was temporarily squelched due to being consumed with other things. The warmth of the sun today has jump started my writing desire, so I thought I'd give a little insight into the current life O' Mandy.

THE KIDS

All three kids are just fantastic. I was telling Clayton last week that I just love the place we are in with each of them. Madison is doing just awesome at everything in school, is advancing beautifully in dance, and will go for her first softball practice tonight with her new team. She is a sweet and caring girl, full of emotions from time to time, and has learned the art of REALLY being funny.

Carter is a big goof. All of the teachers at his preschool simply say "He's so happy and sweet!" That pretty much sums him up. A big boy full of love and joy. He's pretty much happy to be wherever he is. He had his first T-Ball practice yesterday evening and it went great! He's a natural ball player, just like his daddy. He was one of the few that didn't break down into tears over something or another... that's just not his style.

Samuel.. what can I say about Sam?! He is my love. He has my heart and I cannot get enough of him. He talks up a storm now - putting together little sentences such as, "I try it," "That's mine," and "I wanna go." He's the happiest little toddler! He knows how to throw a good fit when the mood strikes him, but 90% of the time, if he's with Mommy or Daddy, he's just as happy as he can be.

THE WORK

I've done very little writing lately. I'm hoping to get back in the mood for it soon because I miss 'wanting' to do it. Something will strike my fancy sooner or later I'm sure.

Dog business is doing great! I'm getting emails and calls weekly now and my client list is steadily growing. I've yet to work with dogs that we don't see results after the first session. I just trained 4 Daschunds the other day for a retired couple. They were the cutest little dogs, but full of barks and excitement! After the first 3 minutes of me arriving, they were calm and quiet. It was a really easy case, actually, but the owners were amazed. (that always makes me happy!) They want to be added to my "dog walking" list, too.. which I think is exactly what their little doggies need to be well behaved. EXERCISE.

Now that it's starting to warm up, the dog walking is much more enjoyable. Today I took a client's dog on a really long walk, with Samuel on my back in the Ergo, and it was just fantastic! We were both happily exhausted when it was over.

Dog boarding is something that recently has started - not in my original plans but it's a profitable business plan, helpful to my clients, and fun! Why not? I'll be keeping a Jack Russel for one of my clients for a little bit of spring break. He's so much fun.. I can't wait to spend a few days with him. My kids are going to go nuts over him!

Being the Children's Coordinator for Journey is such a blast. It's kind of like the dog stuff.. I often find it shocking that I get paid for such things! I've taken the road less traveled and stopped using the pre-packaged curriculum that the church has been buying so that I can tailor each lesson for OUR kids and where I know they are each week. It's amazing how much I've learned from preparing lessons. Digging deeper into scripture in order to teach it to children really helps me get more out of it. It's my coolest job, by far.

ME

I'm just feeling fine.. really really fine. :) I'm struggling a bit here and there being content with where we are right now (house wise) but after the sermon Jeff taught on Sunday, I'm seeing things in a different light. I'm just thankful. We have so much... we are so blessed. How can I be anything but thankful? God knows my desires - and I'll have to be content with that knowledge.

So, how are YOU in blogland? Hope to be seeing more of you!

Life's About to Get Topsy-Turvy!

This week both of the kids' coaches called to arrange some sort of schedule. As of this week we have:

Wednesday (tonight) - meeting with Carter's team at 6pm. (so excited!!)
Thursday - dance
Friday - Softball pract. assuming it won't rain. If it does rain, we'll meet at the park to at least see each other. (again, so excited!)

So far I know that Madison will be practising on Tuesdays and Fridays. That's great with my schedule. Now we just have to see what Carter's team does. Praying for Mondays! I've still not figured out how exactly I will manage to be in two places at the same time should the teams play on the same days/same times. I'm sure other mommies out there have made it happen!

I Love Girl Time

Having a little girl has been a really neat and amazing experience throughout the past 7.5 years. From drama madness to complete sweetness... I am so thankful to have my daughter. Now that she's growing into quite the little lady, we've made it to a new, really fun, time. The conversations we have now are much more meaningful, and she can really crack me up! Her friends are starting to have much more of an impact on her daily life and I find myself thanking God for her smart pickings!

Sundays after church have become prime social time for Miss Madison. Each week, without failing, she is either invited to go to someone's house or inviting her friends over to play. It has been a blast! Hearing the giggling and "deep thoughts" of a bunch of little girls is just priceless. It takes me back to the days I used to spend with my best girl friends. From bike riding to swiming and even riding horses, weekends with my friends were the best!

Clayton and I said a long time ago that we would make sure that we keep our house "the fun house" so that our kids would hopefully want to have friends over here to play. Our goal is for them to see that they can have a blast, and be safe, here at home as opposed to always going out looking for something to get into. We'll see if it works throughout the years... but for now, we're off to a good start!

I Finally Did It

I'm the last person on the planet to join Facebook.. but I finally did today. What drove me to such change? I discovered about 18, no exaggeration, friend invites from Facebook today in my email. I have no idea what happened there, but it was the push I needed.

I was frustrated almost immediately trying to figure a few things out, but it turned out to be pretty simple. I think the problem with it is that I'm going to be insanely addicted to it. It's easier than blogging, it's faster than email... it's just cool!

In the process of looking for a profile picture I quickly realized I have about three pictures of myself from the past 3 years or so. Not much to choose from.

Wow... I finally did it. I joined. At this rate I'll end up breaking down and joining Twitter, too! What is the world coming to?!

When's it going to get better?

So, the economy is still stinking up America - when is it going to get better? America voted for "change," but the only changes I've seen are more foreclosures, more lay-offs, and more people trying to dump the stocks they have left - and those that used to buy them hiding in fear from the sight of them. It's scary times, people. Those of you that are watching your retirement savings dwindle down each month, I truly hurt for you. I am thankful that we are so young that hopefully we'll see a huge upswing and our retirement accounts will be fine by the time we need them.

I enjoy looking at different realty websites in our area to see what's on the market, and at what price. No, we're not looking to move anytime soon, but a girl can dream! I'm amazed at how desperate people are becoming to sell their homes. So many gorgeous homes are screaming in red letters "PRICE REDUCED FOR A FAST SELL!" I'm sad to see how many foreclosures there are right here in my little city. Part of me thinks it would be a perfect time for us to start house hunting (more land, more house - The American Dream!) but the realistic part of me knows that first we'd need to sell our house. What makes me think we'll have more luck than anyone else in this county?

The good news for us is that the crazy economy has, thankfully, not effected us. With me now working we're doing fine, and Clayton has fantastic job security so we are SO blessed not to have to pray that he's not the next to get axed by the boss.

I have been wondering how the economy has affected others. When the gas prices were sky high, we were hurting. Now that they're lower, we're feeling much more comfortable. Food prices have not exactly come down to match the lower gas prices, so we're working to make a smart list each week before we shop to combat that. How have you felt the weight of the current economic times? Has it really had much of an impact on you? What about those close to you? Have you changed spending habits at all in the past two years?

All Better!

Our house is finally on the mend... as of today all three kids are illness free. HOORAY! Who knows what tomorrow will bring, but I'm celebrating the peace for the moment. As you can see Samuel's pink eye is also totally gone. Thankfully I had the eye drops left from the last time one of the trio got it so he started getting dosed immediately. It was pretty much gone the next evening.

Now I'm the only one needing to get better. My body just refuses to be normal... lots of pain and other girly issues we won't get into in blogland - but let's just say this week was extremely hard on me. Thankfully I'm going to my OB/GYN on the 10th and I hope he'll be able to help me. If I was older I'd just get a hysterectomy.. it's really that bad. However, at the ripe old age of 25, I'm not ready for that. I have a feeling hormone treatment of some kind is in my future - which will likely have a huge list of side effects that I will also hate. I guess I'll just have to pick the lesser of the two evils.

Enough whining... I really am thankful that Samuel is better. It was way too tough to hurt like I've been hurting AND have to carry a 26 pound load 24/7! Hopefully today will be the start of me feeling better.