Insanity...

Here are some of the things we have had going on since I last posted.

Every morning since The first of January we have been delivering the newspaper.  Either Ben, or I, or both of us, get up between 1:30 and 2:00 in the morning to go put the papers together.  Then we call Nate and come pick him up so he can help deliver the papers.  Sometimes I wonder why we are doing this, but then I spend an hour talking to Nate, about important things, or not so important things, or I listen to Nate proudly telling his friends about his job, and a little sleep deprivation seems worth it for the time being.  

Towards the end of February I had a sweet lady in the ward call and ask me if I would help her out.  She knew another lady that was moving to Florida unexpectedly and couldn't take her dog with her so could I take care of her dog until we could find her a home.  Well, long story short, I am a sucker.  We took care of Abby for almost a whole month and then finally, and thankfully, with the help of several ladies in the ward we found her a home.  She was a very sweet dog, but she was shedding all over my home and there is a reason that we have a hairless dog.  

Okay, now of the end of that story.  Two weeks after we found Abby a home her owner called.  She had not moved to Florida and had decided she wanted her dog back.  This was a big problem as, understandably, the people who adopted her did not want to give her up.  The original owner was very angry at us for adopting her dog out and even threatened to call the police on us for stealing her dog!  Who does that?!  Anyhow, finally, after several days and several angry phone calls between her and many of the kind ladies involved in this, with permission from the new owners she called them and they informed her that they were not giving the dog they had legally adopted back.  She threatened to call the police on them and they told her if she didn't stop harassing them that they would call the police on her.  We haven't heard anything else.

Now, having this extra dog in our house shedding all over everything was a pain in the backside, but it made me realize how much better behaved our dog is if he has a friend to play with, so after looking around for a little while for dogs that don't shed a found we a posting on Craigslist for someone that was adopting out their American Hairless Terrier.  We now have two little naked dogs instead of only the one we had before.

Our new dog is named Dobby.  He and Chancho seem to get along pretty well most of the time.  And yes, just to add to the insanity I made them clothes.  I am almost embarrassed to admit to what levels I've fallen.  In my defense, due to the fact our dogs don't have hair they tend to sunburn rather easily so putting clothes on them is the best way to prevent this.  Seeing as how dog pajamas cost $15 to $20 plus shipping I decided to go to the fabric store and buy a pattern, yes they make them, for dog pajamas.  I have now officially started sewing again, after about five years.  My next project of Easter dresses for the girls was much more admirable.  But I'll have to post about them at a later posting, which will be much sooner than this last one, I promise.

Also in February Gwen was student of the month.  As an awesome mom, I once again forgot to go to the student of the month assembly.  I felt so bad.  I had thought it was the next Friday and totally missed it.  But Gwen was alright and was pretty thrilled to get her certificate nonetheless.  

Here is what her teacher had to say about her, it was printed on the back of the certificate so she could keep it (and so slacker moms would know what was said in behalf of their children).  

"This deserving young lady is a joy to have in class.  She always puts forth her best effort and completes work in a timely manner.  she is attentive during lessons and has interesting things to say during discussion.  She is a kind and considerate friend to everyone."

On the day of her assembly, even though neither of us remembered it was this day, Gwen chose to wear a jumper to school.  When she came downstairs I noticed the tag sticking out of her dress right in front.  After informing her that her dress was on backwards she shrugged her shoulders at me and said, "Who cares."  And she wore it that way all day long.

Also in February Bonnie had played a piece on the cello for solo-ensemble.  She was the only person in her grade at school that attended and she did great.  I had never been to a solo-ensemble before so I wasn't sure what to expect, but they have the students go into a room with their parents and the judge and then they play just for the judge.  I was pretty nervous for her, but she didn't seemed to be bothered at all.  She played Yankee Doodle and she received a superior ranking, which is the highest you can get.

Bonnie with her strings teacher, Ms. Schrade.

This is a quick video of a school morning at our house.  Enjoy...

Also since we last posted we have had trips to New Mexico and California, spring break with Grandma and Grandpa Lamoreaux, pinewood derby, a couple of field trips, and some holiday celebrations.  I promise to post about all of these things soon. I have a goal to write more frequently, since this is the only type of journal that I manage to keep on a somewhat consistent basis.  Now that I have written this down as an official goal I will try even harder to be better at posting.