Weight Watchers for dogs?

I had to take Hero to the vet today. To make a very long story short he has a nasty bacterial infection on his tail due to all the humidity and rain we've had lately. So, today I spent $250.00 on him, now before you go into shock keep in mind that included his vaccinations. However, it doesn't include the additional $100.00 it's going to cost me tomorrow to get all his hair shaved off and the $ I'm going shell out for heartworm meds and Frontline. And something tells me we may be signing him up for weight watchers. It's never a good sign when the vet comes in and says "so, what exactly does Hero eat at home?" I really like this vet, but she looked at me like I was lying through my teeth when I told her he only gets fed once a day and gets no table food. Then she asked "exactly how much are you feeding him once a day?". Like I put out a buffet for him or something. Anyway, I wasn't sure exactly how much Ed feeds him, so I was sent home with strict instructions to measure how much food he's getting at night. I measured it tonight - 5 cups. That doesn't seem like much for a dog his size (he weighs 110 lbs), but I'll report back after I chat with the vet tomorrow.

To top off the day, my husband is in a mood tonight (love you honey, but you are) and I don't think he's happy about the money I'm shelling out for the dog. You see, Ed grew up around a farm where all the money you invest in an animal is in the bullet to put them down when they are sick. This is one of the very few things we disagree on as I am very fond of my animals. I have faith I will one day win him over to my side though - especially after the $ we spent on having my rabbit's eye removed. Yes, we used to have a one-eyed bunny. It's another long story, but Baxter lived a long happy life (8 years) after we had his diseased eye removed and to me that was worth the expense. I think Ed was just humoring me, but whatever works:)
OK, sorry for the rambling post. I think I'm a little tired!

Holy Mini Spooners!!

We went to the grocery store for ketchup today. It might sound strange to go to the store just for ketchup, but around here it's one of our major food groups and we are out! I also hadn't been out of the house yet today and had no outings planned, so I was in desperate need of fountain diet coke, which they conveniently have at HyVee. So I guess I should say we went to the grocery store for ketchup and liquid sanity for me. Anyhow, enough with the rambling. Ed has eaten the same cereal almost ever since I've known him (almost 12 yrs!). Frosted Mini Spooners (the generic of Frosted Mini wheats) are his breakfast of choice. Anyhow, imagine my surprise when we walked down the cereal aisle and found large boxes of Frosted Mini Spooners on sale for $0.99 a box!! Like a dutiful wife and mother, I checked the expiration date and they don't expire until sometime in 2008, so I figured it was safe to stock up. We bought all they had - I think about 15 boxes with a few CoCo Roos and Cinnamon Toasters thrown in for good measure. I even stopped a very nice man who was kind enough to get the boxes I couldn't reach off the top shelves. He looked at me like I was nuts, but he gave me the rest of the boxes on the shelf! We loaded up our cereal and came home. The kids loved stacking up the boxes - so far they have made a castle, a boat and a swimming pool (hence the pic of them in their undergarments). The swimming pool creation happened while I disappeared to switch the laundry - I came in and found them both naked in the middle of the boxes. I asked why they took off their clothes and was told "This is a swimming pool and Mom, you know you can't swim in your clothes". Hummmm, I suppose I can't argue with that logic, and it's keeping them busy since it's once again raining outside. I should probably stop typing now and go find somewhere to put all of the cereal before Ed comes home!

Rocks!

Ed has been working to make a "rock pit" in our back yard. The kids love to dig and sand makes such as mess that we decided to build and area around all the play equipment in the backyard and fill it in with rocks. Ed has been putting landscaping bricks in for about a month (the weather hasn't cooperated much) and finally today we had the rocks delivered. We spent all day transporting rocks from the driveway to the backyard (and when I say "we" I mean Ed, but I did rake them out after he dumped them). The result is a huge rocky area where the kids can dig and move rocks around until their little hearts are content. The pic of Abby has nothing to do with the rocks, but she LOVES Hero and most times he won't tolerate her laying on him. He was so exhausted tonight from following Ed around all day that he let Abby crawl over him! Hero isn't the only one who is tired, it's 9:15 and everyone but me is already in bed asleep. I'm headed there soon myself - need a good night sleep for WalkAmerica tomorrow:)

So that explains it........

Ethan had his follow-up ENT appointment today. To make a long story short, we went for his 5-yr check-up in November and found that Ethan is having hearing loss because his tonsils and adenoids are so large they are pushing on his Eustachian tubes. We went to the same ENT who put in Abby's tubes about 6 weeks ago and he recommended taking out Ethan's tonsils and adenoids and putting tubes in his ears. Since it wasn't life-threatening, we decided to wait another 6 weeks and see if anything changed before committing to surgery. Well, when we went today we found his ears are still filled with fluid and he has a sinus infection. As the Dr. put it, Ethan is basically hearing like he's submerged in the deep end of a swimming pool. Combined with the sinus infection I think this might explain the mood he's been in all week. So, we scheduled his surgery for May 23rd and I decided to try and be easier on Ethan - atleast until the antibiotic kicks in and takes care of his sinus infection.

I had a meeting over lunch today, so Ethan went to work with Ed for a while to give us both a break. Of course he was very well behaved while at work with Daddy. On my way to pick him up after my meeting Abby fell asleep in the van, so I knew I would never get her to take a nap when we got home. I resigned myself to not having my "mommy time" today and instead took them both to Target to pick up Ethan's antibiotic. We got there at 1:30 only to find the pharmacy closed from 1:30-2:00 for lunch. Ugh. I just can't catch a break this week. I did need a few other things, so decided to go ahead and do our shopping. One of the things on my list was a pair of shorts to wear for Walk America on Sunday. So, I picked out a couple and made the mistake of taking both children into the dressing room with me. I took off my pants to try on the shorts only to hear Ethan chanting "I see your underwear, I see your underwear". Not to be outdone by her brother, Abby started exclaiming in her very loud 2-yr-old voice "I see your underwear, I see your underwear". So I made yet another mistake and took off my shirt to try on a T-shirt with the shorts, at which point Ethan started chanting "I see your boobies, I see your boobies" - and of course Abby joined right in. I actually heard the dressing room attendant laugh out loud. I promptly got dressed and hauled them out of the dressing room. I offered to give her both children for the weekend, but sadly she declined. So, we finished our shopping and came home.

After Ed got home we went to dinner and then to Sam's where both kids talked me into cherry icees. We got home and I was just about done with both of them, and was trying to remind myself that Ethan doesn't feel well and I should be more understanding. So, I started the bath water and told them it was bath time. They were excited, both stripped out of their clothes quickly and started running towards the bathroom. In his rush to the tub, Ethan decided to give Abby a big shove right into the corner on the wall. She hit her head pretty hard, and given that she'd had basically no nap and it was almost bedtime, she completely melted down. I mean screaming, crying inconsolable melt down. Have I mentioned that she has a very sensitive gag reflex? Remember the cherry icee? Yep, you guessed it. All the crying and screaming caused her to gag and throw up cherry icee all over the floor. All of my attempts to remind myself that Ethan didn't feel well went right out the window. He took a bath and went to bed with no snack, no movie and no books. Of course we had to run the steam cleaner first to remove the very red cherry icee from the carpet, but as soon as that was done we put him in bed. All I can say is the antibiotics better start working very soon.

Last Chance!!

Ethan and I are walking in the March of Dimes WalkAmerica on behalf of the MOMS Club of KC on Sunday. I thought this would be a great way to earn money for a good cause and teach Ethan about helping others. If you'd like to sponsor us, please click here. It's easy and tax deductible, so donate away!! Ethan is very excited about earning money to "help the babies"!

Rainy Day

There are children who play by themselves and are able to entertain themselves for at least short periods of time. I know they exist, my nephew Dalton is one of them. Ethan is not. Today was a very long day. He was up at the crack of dawn and turned on the TV at full volume. I could hear it even with the pillow over my head. Finally Ed got up and made him turn it down, which is a good thing because it would not have been good if I had to venture out into the living room that early in the morning. However, my reprieve was short-lived. Once Ed left for work Ethan started harassing me. "Mom, when are you going to get up?", "Mom, what are we going to do today?", "Mom, it's raining outside", "Mom, can I have some cereal". So, finally I got up and fed the little critter some cereal then escaped to the shower before Abby woke up. Keep in mind our shower is clear glass on 2 sides. I hate it - it's like showering in a fish tank. When we bought the house I was so enamoured with the big jetted tub that I didn't even notice the all-glass shower. Next time we are house shopping I will check out the shower. Anyhow, I was enjoying my nice, quiet shower until I opened my eyes after washing my hair to find Ethan standing on the tub with his hands cupped around his face, nose stuck all the way up against the glass staring at me. He scared me to death. He can be quiet when he wants to, I didn't even hear him come in. Then it started again "Mom, when are you going to be done in the shower", "Mom, what are we going to do today?", "Mom, it's raining outside". Good Lord. I wasn't sure exactly what we were going to do yet, but an X-Large diet coke from McDonald's was going to be our first stop!

We were supposed to go to a children's farm with the MOMS Club, but due to the weather that was out. So we headed to the library for story time only to find story time is over until summer. I love the library, but I hate searching for books with 2 kids. Abby's favorite past time at the library is pulling every book she sees off the shelf. That's a lot of books! So, we got some books, made a mess and then headed to McDonalds. I gorged myself on diet coke while they played in the play place. When we got home, it started again. "Mom, what are we going to do now?", "Mom, it's raining outside", etc. etc. The kid should be a freakin weatherman. Anyway, I put Abby down for a nap at which time I declared it "Mommy time". I try to do this each day when Ethan is home because if I don't one of us will not make it until Ed gets home in the evening. I told Ethan I was going to watch my "Mommy show" (General Hospital) and he needed to leave me alone until it was over (an hour - yeah, right). So, every 5 minutes he proceeded to come in and ask when "Mommy time" was over. Then, miraculously he disappeared for about 15 minutes. When I was done with "Mommy time", I walked into the kitchen and found what you see in the picture on the left above. He had dumped a bunch of rocks all over paper plates and in cups. Hummmm.

Then it started again. "Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom........." So, we made blueberry muffins (pic above on the right). Then he pestered me until Ed got home and I left for aerobics. I feel better now that I've worked out, but I'm not sure how many more rainy days I can handle. Luckily he has school tomorrow and I'll get a break. I'm counting down the days until summer school starts in June:)

Kidsongs

Last year for Christmas Ethan and Abby's cousins sent them a Kidsongs DVD. When they opened it they were thrilled and let me tell you we've watched it OVER and OVER. It has to be the cheesiest movie - kind of a Barney knockoff, but the kids love it. I'm pretty good about tuning out what they are watching on TV, so it doesn't bother me too much. Today we were at WalMart and guess what we found in the $1.00 DVD section? 2 other Kidsongs videos - I Love Dogs and I Love Trucks. Since it is supposed to rain for the foreseeable future, I decided it would be worth the $2.00 investment in attempts to save my sanity. Abby insisted we watch them as soon as we got home. She pulled up her box, got in and sat there for the entire 30 minutes! I managed to start laundry, put away groceries and load the dishwasher!! So, as cheesy as they are, I have to say they were worth the $2.00.

I picked Ethan up from school and he came home, got in the same box and watched both videos start to finish. Who needs furniture when when you have moving boxes??