Day 66. At Home Haircuts.

I will begin by telling you that I have given MANY haircuts in my time. I never said "professional" haircuts, mind you. But I can get by on a basic, little boy's haircut. I can trim bangs just fine, and I often cut my husband's hair! I've learned a few tricks that get me through, and it comes in handy at times.  Today, I decided to try cutting my little dog's hair.  This was a different situation indeed.  This picture was taken on Sunday.  Although a bit blurry, you get the idea.

This picture was taken today... of what I cut off the defenseless, little animal. 
 

And this is the finished product.

The pictures are actually quite forgiving.  I assure you this was not my best "stylist" moment.

I learned a few things, though.  Some "do"s and "don't"s in cutting a dog's hair:

1.  DO set aside at least an hour before attempting this for the first time.  Holy cow!
2.  DO close AND lock the door if your 5 year old child is running around the house, and decides to give the dog a chance to break free!
3.  Do NOT try using clippers BEFORE using scissors to cut off all of excess hair that has grown since the previous fall.
4.  Do NOT cut your dog with the scissors, because you're getting completely overwhelmed by how much hair you continue to cut, and it looks like you're getting NOWHERE, so you start going too quickly!

And lastly,

5. DO come to the realization that there is a reason we pay dog groomers to do this tedious chore, and fork out the $40 bucks to save yourself a lot of time and effort, along with saving your poor, little doggie the stress and pain!  She was actually quite patient, and sat so still while I chopped away.  She's a good, little dog.

As if she doesn't already have insecurity issues when THIS is her beautiful, baby sister.  The poor girl just can't get a break, and then I go and give her the worst haircut a dog has EVER seen?!  I am a bad doggie-mommy!  :(

Day 65. Going for a Walk.

This is day 65, but I admit I'm borrowing a photo from a couple of days ago.  I took it over the weekend.  Saturday, the weather was beautiful.  When I say "beautiful," I mean a perfect 68 degrees.  Anything above that, I start to feel too warm.  I don't care for summer very much.  Allergies.  Blazing, humid heat.  Ick.  But Saturday was far from that, and I embarked upon a daring journey.  I ventured out into our subdivision (which does not have sidewalks, I should mention) with all three of my children, and BOTH of our dogs, to go for a WALK.  The two younger children were riding scooters, one of whom also brought along his ipod for entertainment.  Are you getting an accurate picture yet?  We were a sight, I assure you.  We had to stop about three dozen times, I'm guessing.  My youngest was convinced he might accidently run over one of the stranded worms that had washed up onto the road from the previous night's rainfall.  My middle child continued to pause mid-scooter-stride to play with his ipod, which would include any or all of the following:  fiddling with the earbuds, clicking through the songs he didn't like, or ensuring that it had remained securely fastened to his belt buckle.  My oldest couldn't decide which dog he wanted to walk, so he enjoyed trading off with me every time the whim struck him.  Never mind the constant reminders to stay to the side of the road when a car might happen to pass, or the fact that I practically had to YELL my reminder so that my voice was sure to be heard over the ipod. 

But when child #2 and #3 randomly stop to pick a beautiful dandelion for their mother, I have to just smile at the chaos that has surrounded the moment.  After all, what could we have possibly had better to do that day than to go for a leisurely walk?  :)

Day 64. Happy Easter!

Have you ever heard anyone say, "Without Christmas, we couldn't celebrate Easter,"?  My mother in law gave me this resurrection scene as a gift a couple of years ago.  I just love it.  I have several nativity scenes that I place throughout the house around Christmas time.  My kids love to talk about how Baby Jesus came to save the world.  But it's just important that they see a picture of Jesus growing up into a man, to fulfill God's plan!  This is why, of course, we celebrate EASTER!  We had a great weekend.  Easter baskets filled with goodies.  We enjoyed a beautiful church service.  Family came over.  We ate a yummy lunch.  All of my kids and their cousin ran around the back yard, hunting eggs.  My husband and brothers, tossed a football around.  My parents sat in lawn chairs, soaking in the event.  And we topped it off by sharing delicious, homemade desserts courtesy of my sister!  It was all perfectly lovely.  MOST IMPORTANTLY, we celebrated that Jesus is ALIVE.  He loves us!  And He wants us to spend eternity with Him!  What a glorious holiday!

Day 63. A Boy's Room.

I was putting my oldest to bed the other night, and I was moved.  :)  I never know what will strike me, nor when.  He was a bit annoyed as I clicked away... AT BED TIME.  But he liked the idea of my taking photos of his cars.  He's very proud of them, you know!  He's also proud of this bed.  He has all of these cars lined up on the rail of the top bunk of his bed... his bed was around LONG before he was even a glimmer in his father's eye.  My dad built this bed when I was just a little girl.  My siblings were moving away, one by one, and by the time they no longer needed it, I had my first little one in need of a "big boy" bed.  So, I was the lucky recipient.  I love it.  Built with my dad's own, two hands.  Complete with drawings and signatures from my brother and his friends, hidden strategically on the underside of the top bunk.  Haha!  Fun memories.

More cars.

Lovely, isn't it?  It's a remote control tarantula.  He likes to place this in unexpected areas of the house, to watch his mother dance around and scream like an idiot.

Magazine subscription from his uncle and aunt.  He thinks this is WAAAAY cool.  He has gotten two, so far, and no one is allowed to touch them.  They're tucked away neatly in a special hiding place.

This is in my other kiddos' room.  After my impromptu photo session, I decided it was time to get back to business, and finish tucking everyone in.  This is what greeted me upon entering this room.  I didn't dare go any further with my camera, because at that point, you couldn't really see their floor due to the mess of toys and stuffed animals strewn about.  Oh well, I suppose I should let them be kids, right?  The "hanging upside down" Superman was courtesy of my youngest.  He thought it would be fun to leave him that way, so he could see him when he woke up the next morning... and that's exactly where he stayed.  :)

Day 062. Pretty!

I love these beautiful flowers.  My hubby surprised me with them this week, and we'll plant them after the weekend is over (and I've finished using them as the centerpiece on my kitchen table).  I hope we can find a place where they'll thrive and bloom bountifully!  :)

This is my purple bud tree.  Yes, I know it's actually a redbud.  Whatever.  When it blooms purple (and it DOES), it should be called a purple bud tree.  And that's that.

More purple buds.  Or maybe magenta buds?

These are homemade bird feeders.  My youngest made them as a craft at school back around Christmas time, and I waited to put them out in the spring.  He was so excited to hang them on the purple bud branch outside.  He said it would make the birds love us!  :)

Holly bushes.  These pretty, little berries will be all red soon!  :)

I'm supposed to be cleaning house right now.  In fact, the next  chore on my list is this very table.  These are the kinds of things that collect on my dining room table.  This is a picture of yours truly.  The artist is my second child, and I absolutely adore this portrayal.  :)  He thought of everything from my short, brown hair, to accesorizing with a neclace and earrings.  :)  So sweet.

One more thing on my dining room table.  My youngest son's shoe size.  Everyone needs to know their shoe size, you know!  :)  I should really get back to cleaning now!!!!  That table is certainly not about to clean itself off!

Day 61. Pretty Toes!

Who doesn't like a pretty set of polished toenails?  NOT ME!  :)  This is a spring MUST before I break out the flip-flops and sandals.  :)

Day 60. Purina Farms.

We went to Purina Farms with our friends yesterday.  Here are just a couple of the snapshots I took while I was there. 

I love their dog show.  It's just so cute.  I've seen it one other time, when I went last year with one of my kiddos on a field trip.  These dogs are just amazing!  This was my favorite shot of the show.  This dog's name was Korona!  :)

This was in the Easter area.  I didn't realize they do something special for Easter.  The kids loved it.  I think the idea of an Easter tree is really cool.  Maybe I'll do this in my home one day.

This was my favorite animal of the day.  It was a "new guinea" something-or-other.  I liked her, because she has polka dots, and I LOVE polka dots!  :)  I should have known God came up with the idea first!  :)