Elmer Fuddin' it

Here are a few fun shots of our fun afternoon hanging out in the yard before dinner.

Justin's off for another three and a half days of hunting so I'm flying solo (not including the awesome assistance of Jen Sunday and maybe Tuesday...please Jen?) until Wednesday afternoon/evening. Due to his absence, I was given a tutorial this afternoon on the fine sport of cat hunting. You see, we have neighbors two doors down from us who own three Garfield-sized gangsters. Sure, they look cute and fluffy but they're nothing but trouble. Oreo and another neighbor's cat are regularly harassed by these brutes so Justin's taken to shooting at them with the bb gun when they're on our property. No worries PETA members...they aren't getting hurt, just some serious warnings. I'm not a perfect shot (yet) but I hit the target every time so that's a good start. Maybe after this cat hunting Justin will slowly upgrade me to various small vermin and pesky domesticated deer who eat my raspberry and strawberry plants!

Scary, isn't it? :)

Where did "it" go?

Nothing like showing up to play a soccer game, run for 2 minutes, and limp off the field. Yes mom and dad, I pulled my quad, again. And yes dad, you're right, I didn't stretch enough. Can you believe it? We stayed to cheer the team on and they won so I have a week to rest, ice, compress, and elevate my leg to get it in some sort of shape for next week. I doubt I'll play the whole doubleheader next week but I'll hopefully be well enough to play one half of one game. At least I had the sense to get off the field. Momentarily I thought "I'll just push though" but the 30-year old within overcame that 16-year old mentality, fortuately.

On a lighter and happier note, Parker LOVED his first "real" meal of Zatarain's black beans and rice mixed with plain goat yogurt (dairy allergy means no sour cream). He has been incredibly eager to get his hands messy and this did the trick. It's hard to believe he's almost a year old and feeding himself! This last year has flown by.

And even though it's not great, here's little video of the kids playing in my closet.

I've still got it

Twelve years have passed but I've still got it! We don't have any pictures proving that I survived the first soccer game of the season but Justin, Parker, and Madeleine were witnesses. They made it to the second half of the game and missed two of my four shots on goal (none went in) but Madeleine made sure to cheer "go Momma go" lots to make up for not getting there earlier. I had so much fun! I had forgotten how much I love playing the game and although my body was about 12 feet behind my mind, I had enough horsepower to give a few girls a run for their money. I'm definitely sore today but not as incapacitated as I thought I'd be. The other girls on the team were kind, supportive, and goofy. I'm really excited for next week! Oh yeah...and we won 5-1.

As for Maggie, we were able to be seen this morning by our regular vet who is a wonderful lady. She spent over 30 minutes examining Maggie's legs and explaining her theories to me. Per her advice, Mags' on anti-inflammatory medicine for two more weeks and a nutritional supplement for life. If she's still limping in two weeks, then we'll go for x-rays.

Finally, the new washing machine is in place. It was a minor fiasco acquiring the machine but once we had it we got the new one in and the old one out and without argument or injury. Tomorrow I dedicate myself to laundry.

What a week!

It's only Wednesday and it's already been a crazy week.

Justin's good friend Stefan stayed at our place over the weekend and Justin's dad, uncle and grandfather arrived in Missoula on Sunday. He's been out fishing with them after dinner (his only time to see them as he has to work during the day), leaving Madeleine missing her daddy. They are headed to Yellowstone today through Friday so while we hope they have a great time, we'll also enjoy having a few normal evenings (except for tonight when I have my first soccer game).

Maggie's condition hasn't improved significantly so she has another appointment with the vet tomorrow to reassess things. I'll find out whether she needs x-rays.

I found out Monday that our washer is toast so I've spent the past few days trying to obtain a free washer to hold us over until we can afford a new one. Fortunately we are getting one from Freecycle.

And although Parker slept over 6 hours at once last night, I woke up after a few hours and couldn't sleep for almost 2 hours. What the heck?!? I hate being my own worst enemy!

Madeleine's taken more great pictures that I'll post once things slow down. Sorry for all the words...I know pictures and videos are what you really want. Maybe I'll get to it while doing laundry all day Friday :)

I know everyone goes through weeks like this. Nevertheless

Schmuppy

I had an early morning adventure of negotiating a trip to the vet with the kids and a gimpy Maggie. Wednesday afternoon Maggie charged the fence where she and a neighbor's dog daily bark at each other as a friendly ritual. That particular day she must have stepped in a hole or something because she yelped and limped away from the fence without barking. Yesterday she barely put any weight on her front right foot at all and I had to carry her up and down our steps to go to the bathroom.

The vet this morning gave us the option to have her sedated for x-rays to be taken or try antibiotics (she has a slight fever) and anti-inflammatory for the weekend and see if it improves. I opted for door #2 with the hopes that it's just soft tissue damage and not a bone injury.

So far I've coaxed her to take the medication with bacon grease on her food and a pill wrapped in a slice of deli ham. She isn't a fool so she doesn't fall for the pill in the peanut butter trick. I tried and ended up with two slimy and peanut butter covered pills on the carpet. Gross!

The other dilemma is that I had to run inside to answer the phone, leaving Maggie outside. She tried to come up the stairs by herself and ended up hurting her other front leg so now she can barely walk at all. I'm desperate for the medication to work quickly because it makes me so sad to see her this way. I already mourn the fact that she's getting older (10 this year) so adding an injury to the situation only makes her age more obvious. Although it may sound petty because she is just our dog, I'd appreciate any prayers you're willing to offer up for her healing. It's hard enough to take care of the kids and myself during the day...carrying her around the house and helping her go to the bathroom is almost too much for me to handle. Thanks so much!

Hunting debrief

Justin returned yesterday afternoon after having a harrowing encounter with some bears, one of which looked like this:


That, my friends, is a grizzly bear. Justin did not take this picture...he was too busy taking out his pepper spray and wondering what to do next. After getting home and checking descriptors, he's positive that one of the two bears he (almost literally) ran into was a grizzly. His suspicions were confirmed by the local FWP bear expert whom Justin called to report the sighting. This has left Justin with some serious things to consider before going hunting again!

While he didn't get an elk, he did shoot a grouse on his way out of the woods so one of us will eat dinner one of these nights (for those of you who don't know, the breast meat from one grouse is enough for one moderately hungry adult). We're just glad he's home safe and sound.

First Oreo

Here's Madeleine with her first Oreo cookie. I felt like it was a picture-worthy moment.

Hunting

The time has come. Archery season opened this past weekend and Justin took off yesterday afternoon for three days in the wilderness. He'll be back Wednesday evening. The kids and I are surviving thus far but we had help from our friend Jen last night to tonight will be the true test. It will all be worth it if Justin can get an elk! I'll try to capture Madeleine on video explaining what Justin's out doing. It's pretty cute how she describes it. Okay, back to playing with Parker (they've taken to tag-teaming on naps, much to my chagrin).

Time to brush off the dust

Time to break out the old cleats and shin guards...I'm on a soccer team! Games start in two weeks and no, I haven't been working to get in shape. My soccer shoes haven't even seen the light of day (out of their shoe bag) in, ah, ah, ah, a decade? That's scary! Fortunately my hairdresser has joined the team with me and she and I will get together next week to see if we still know how to kick the ball. The "season" is only 5 weeks long with one game a week. Then maybe I'll finally use my gift certificate for the massage I've been saving :)

No lie

Justin and I've decided to let our hair grow. Why you might wonder? I think we're rebelling against age but that's just a guess! It will be hard to tell in the after picture that I'm actually working on growing it out but I've decided to do things the non-traditional way: maintain a groomed look while letting my locks get longer. In the past I've simply gone without haircuts which results in a pretty disheveled look. I'm investing in myself now and will therefore take my sweet time in getting it to the length I want it. As for Justin, this means no more barber shops...it's the salon for him :) My hairdresser will help him from becoming a mushroom head, just like she's doing for me!

After getting my haircut and putting the kids to bed I spent the entire night watching America's Got Talent and voting for my favorite acts. I never thought I'd be "one of those people" (I used to only listen to NPR for heaven's sake!) but I am and I hope Kevin Skinner wins it all :)

Bound to happen

With the end of summer comes the attack of the bees. The bees always get more aggressive at this time of year and although we've taught Madeleine how to respond to them (waving her hand gently and saying "shoo-shoo"), they still seem to freak her out. She almost fell off our stoop twice panicking when they've flown around her head. But the irony is that Parker was the one who got stung yesterday. Despite minding his own business in his baby swing, he got stung on his hand while rubbing his eyes to get the bee off his face. He whined for a few seconds and then was fine. He wouldn't tolerate any ice and I didn't need to use the baking soda paste so it's still kind of swollen but he's fine.

Both kids have been progressing through a cold so I haven't had much to post as of late but as they start to be themselves I'm sure I'll manage to find something fun to share :)