10 Percent my butt...

I want to have a word with whatever genius came up with that... we've all heard it before, how we only utilize 10 percent of our brain capacity. Nice theory... too bad it's complete crap. If that were true, then explain to me where all that extra brain goes after we experience the miracle of motherhood? What happened to my ability to keep a running total of numbers in my head? Or remember what I was supposed to buy at the store without making a very detailed list of all three items? Or that I had a really important appointment at 1:00 the day before, that I just remembered today??? Where were you on that one, oh extra brain matter? If we only use 10 percent, then the rest of it is just there to take up space make us feel better about ourselves as a species, as it's totally useless for anything else. If any of you moms out there have figured out a way to gain some of your thinking ability back, please share. In the meantime, I will continue to try and re-master the ability to add & subtract small numbers without writing them down or using the calculator on the computer. Boy howdy...

Oh summer, how do I love thee?...

Ok, so it isn't summer yet, but I'll take what I can get - and it feels like summer, so I'm not going to bother with technicalities. It's not exactly a secret that this is my favorite time of year, as I open my big mouth about how much I hate cold weather to anyone who will listen, and also some who don't really want to.

After being out all morning planting the petunias that have been sitting in their little nursery containers for about a month now, I decided I'd take some pictures of a few of our other family members... and no, these are not all of them - just the ones that were feeling photogenic at the moment. Also, I had to get a picture of Max up here - he's been around longer than we've even been married, and we love him like crazy! Long story short - April, 10 years ago, we were hiking around in Nine-Mile canyon and ran into a couple that had been fostering one-year-old Max as a rescue - Stef & I paid his adoption fee and gave him to Todd for his 21st birthday. I don't care how much you love your dog, or how great you think your dog is, or especially how smart you think your dog is - Max is better. Seriously. He understands almost everything you tell him, and if he doesn't he will work until he figures it out. I've never seen a dog so willing to please and so very personable. Even Myrna, who is not a dog fan, loves Max. We all love Max. Max loves Max! (Yes, he does love himself - and he loves Todd too... more than the rest of us, but we don't mind) You get the point. He is getting up there in years, but still acts like a 2 year old - we hope he stays around for a long time... we will be very lonely without him. (And yes, he's tied up - temporarily. He has demolished his kennel for the 100th time, and we are still fixing it)

Here he is again - pulling his 'look how cute I am' pose (in between rolling over, dancing, speaking, and pulling out whatever other moves he can in the hopes I'll let him off his leash)

Last for today? This is Horace -he's a pygmy goat, and he's about 2 1/2 now. (There used to be a Jasper, but he died this spring... it was sad) Max wants to eat him - or at least chew on him a little. If he looks shrimpy, it's because he is. A two year old could man-handle him quite easily. He's a very nice little guy, and a good weed eater... though, given his size, he doesn't make much of a dent - we actually have 2 goats, but I don't like the other one - therefore, I will not post him! (He's a billy we've had since he was a kid *ha ha!* - we, mistakenly, put off having him neutered... and still haven't done it. He's stinky, cranky, and has a full set of horns that he pushes Horace around with regularly. Happily, he's going to someone else soon, so I won't have to smell him anymore)

Um... time flies?...

Or... maybe I'm just lazy - that's probably more accurate. I guess I am long overdue for a new entry - along with a few new pictures, updates... all that good stuff! (I have also been kind of camera lazy, but I'll post what I have) So here we go!

We had great weather for Easter this year, and were able to spend it with both families - Easter morning was spent up at my Grandparent's house, along with Paige & Kalani's family, Jonathan, and of course, my grandparents! (The day before that was my birthday, and Kalani & Jon surprised me with a very creative animal birthday cake that they baked & decorated all by themselves - I loved it! I think Paige has a picture of it, so I'll have to get it and post it later :) Anyway, the kids had a great time hunting Easter eggs - however, I think that the Easter bunny needs to rethink the amount of eggs he hides, as taking home a grocery bag filled with candy might be considered overkill... that, and I end up eating more than the kids.

After the morning egg hunt & breakfast with my family, we went down to Dave & Myrna's to spend the rest of the afternoon with Scott & Stef's families - the kids were surprised with another egg hunt, and Myrna made me a cake for my birthday (two cakes is way better than one!) The weather was so nice that we spent most of the day outside playing - woo hoo! The kids love the playground at Dave & Myrna's - I think I need to steal it and move it to my house!

Speaking of warm weather, Rendan graduated from preschool at the beginning of May, and is not particularly happy about it - being at school is much more interesting than being at home! Here he is dressing up for 'fairy-tale day' - the kids could dress up as their favorite fairy tale character... Rendan didn't really have a favorite, so we dug through our old Halloween costumes and came up with this... I think he liked the stick more than anything...

And, here he is on graduation day - of course, he managed to give himself a black eye for the occasion - he was worried that everyone was going to look at it when he went to class, but I don't think anyone else minded it as much as he did. This little cutie in the picture with him was the main topic of conversation this preschool year, at least when it came to his friends - he adored her to the point where I'm just glad she put up with his constant attention. The highlight came when we wrote her a letter for her class mail slot - he wasn't happy when I made him downgrade from writing 'I love you' to 'you're nice and you're pretty'... he came to me broken-hearted after class that day and told me that she did not like his letter at all... apparently the 'pretty' part didn't go over very well, and he took it rather hard... (Good thing that 4 year-olds move on quickly!)

Well, that's about it for now! Stefanie pointed out that I need to be writing about the new stuff going on (like gardens & kitties) so I'll try to post something more recent if I get some new pictures - until then, I am patiently awaiting the arrival of my nephew and will hopefully have some great pictures when he arrives! :)

Stephanie Needs...

I received this tag on facebook, but I thought it was pretty funny so I'm posting it on my blog as well! Steal it if you like it - it's an amusing little activity.

This one's easy and doesn't take any thought... Type your name and needs (______ needs) in a Google search, and then type a list of the first 10 things that come up.

Stephanie Needs....

1. Stephanie needs some help.
2. Stephanie needs to be in a family where there are no other children or animals.
3. Stephanie needs rhinoplasty surgery.
4. Stephanie needs to get the women together in an alliance.
5. Stephanie needs to get a life!!!
6. Stephanie needs you BAD (wha?!)
7. Stephanie needs a family who can help her strive to participate in structured recreational & social activities
8. Stephanie needs to pay attention.
9. Stephanie needs a straw for her tea.
10. Stephanie needs to improve.

(Apparently, Stephanie needs to change her name!)

Hooray, it's friday!...

It's been kind of a busy week, and I'm glad Friday is here! Todd & Kayla had a photo shoot in some of my grandma's old glasses (very stylish... when she bought them 20 years ago...). Both of my grandparents donated old glasses to Kayla for her to add to her school donation box - they are sending them down to Mexico, and it was pretty cool of them to help her out! (So if you have old glasses, send them our way!)

In other happenings for the week - for those of you who don't know, we lost our little miniature schnauzer Walli about 6 months ago. She was the best, smartest, nicest little dog you could ever want and we took it pretty hard when she died. (Everyone who met her loved her... even non-dog people!) Jane, from Rhapsody Miniature Schnauzers in Salt Lake (and one of the nicest people), sold Walli to us and knew that we would eventually want another dog. She emailed us a little while back about a young dog her friend owned who had just finished his championship, and was now available for a pet home - she put in a very good word for us, and helped us hook up with his owner. I picked Ticker (we call him Tigger) up last Saturday for a trial run, and he has been pretty good so far - really mellow little dog (different from Walli, as she was very peppy) but also very gentle, smart, & good with the kids. Having him around has made us miss her even more, but I think he'll fit in pretty well around here. (I know... people get funny when it comes to their dogs!) So, meet Tigger...

Grandparents are great!

Last weekend, Grandma Myrna & Grandpa Dave took the older grand kids out to see "Walking With Dinosaurs" in Salt Lake. (Renny ended up calling in sick that day, so he hung out with us :)

The kids had so much fun - Makayla wisely used her spending money on a stuffed dinosaur & Chuck-E-Cheese tickets! She played a racing game, but maybe didn't quite get the point... Myrna said that most of her driving time was spent hitting trees, poles, and other cars... if you look closely at the picture, you can see her next victim!

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!