Isn't he just adorable???

This is day four of the chicken pox. He is NOT a happy camper! Though he tries hard to be....but sometimes his discomfort gets the best of him. I get alot of "mom-mom...pick me up" (this of course is NOT spoken, it is cried with tugs at my shorts).



Here he's trying hard to organize where Charlie is to go so he can lie on him. :) You'll note the ever constant presence of tiger and collie. They are a MUST to have with him these past four days. Oh, but he loves his tiger and collie dog. :)

Chicken Pox!

Yesterday Justin had TWO blistery like spots on his body. One on his backside, the other "in a hot spot".

Thought nothing of it really. Just an anomally in the life of raising a boy child.

He had a hard time settling to bed last night as was still awake (but quiet) when I gave his bottle of water for when he wakes up in the morning.

This morning, he woke up, I got him up. He seemed a wee bit dozey. We did our morning inspection of the property. Then we got dressed properly for the day and he has spots over his back!

Since we were planning on having a day trip to London (Jim has to visit a parishoner) I thought I'd do a quick stop at the ER. Found out that he has chicken pox...and they didn't even do the whole check in thing. The out-going doc just gave his back a quick peek and said YUP! That's chicken pox!

So we came home, had a nice breakfast, Justin got a bit fussy and back to bed (with a bit of tylenol in him). He's having a nice nap.

Our breakfast reading....

One of the things that Justin and I do at breakfast is read a book.

I tend to be done breakfast before Justin is, so while I am waiting for him to finish I read from a book. I know that he's a bit young for the books I'm reading to him, but I figure the words are good for him to hear. I do occasionally paraphrase passages for him though.

The book that we most recently read was Heidi.

It was a good book to read. In the process I discovered that Jim has never read this delightful little book. One of the things that I most appreciated about it, was how it continually points people to praying to God. That God answers questions and requests in ways that we don't always expect. I plan to read it to/with Justin again as he gets matures abit in his understanding.

I'm not sure which book I'm going to read with him next. I"m thinking..."my teacher is a martian" but I"m not sure. :)

For the curious I also read him books that are more at his age level throughout the day. Yesterday he was quite taken with "brown bear, brown bear what do you see". He wanted it read over and over and over again. :) I do have to admit...I got a bit tired of it after the sixth go through, even with making different voices for each of the critters and colours listed within.

The Woes of Having an Older Dog

Riley and Sassy (our dogs) went camping with us this past week.

Our camping neighbours LOVED our dogs. See...our dogs... they don't bark when we camp. They are very quiet, well-behaved dogs. Sassy also LOVES people and is a total wiggle butt and people seem to really like that. :) They even seem to like that Riley is a big stand-offish until he gets to know you. They aren't aggressive with passing dogs and they just lay out quietly watching the world. Sassy impresses people with her frisbee and ball catching skills and.... she even did some freestyle moves for our dog-loving neighbours.

Sassy (who is our barker at home) only barked one time and that is because she was eating her supper and a neighbour (Lee) tried to visit with her. It was more of a "hi, I'm friendly bark, but I'm eating so leave me alone." What can I say...she was REALLY hungry (that's what comes from not eating most of her supper the night before).

Anyways, Riley spent the last couple of nights we were camping OUT of the trailer. Why? Because he got the runs and didn't know it. He was still lying in it when I said JIm! Put that dog out! ICK!!!! We were up at 5 a.m. cleaning up the trailer and TRYING to do it quietly AND then Justin woke up and well....what can I say...it was just a mess. We did succeed though in keeping quiet. None of our neighbours got upset with us, or even seemed to wake up through the whole mess.

It was kinda funny later on. Riley was just a stinky mess, it had rained the night before, and I wanted him cleaner. Riley is normally a dog who will splash through puddles and wade around. NOT this morning! Oh no! When we want him too he won't! So here I am, the big meanie that I am, I make him SIT in a puddle and I swish him around in it. Got most of the poop off, he's complaining to beat the band (whine, whine, whine). I let him up. Note that he's still a bit poopy so the next big puddle I have the audacity to do it again!

You have to understand something here. When Riley is displeased by something...the whole world knows the life is not good. Must be the combination husky-shepherd ...husky's are talkers and Riley talks. Shepherds are facially expressive and Riley can pull this "Ah, life is not good look". It was funny. BUT he was cleaner! Not as smelly! YEAH!!!! yes, I know...I'm a big old meanie for washing him in a puddle....TWICE!!!

But on a sadder note, Riley has been doing this pooping thing without knowing it, much more frequently lately. I am getting tired of the cleanup - happening way to frequently lately. And there are days when he looks like SUCH an old dog. I don't like those days when he's looking so old and so sad. Makes me worried for him. And the days that he just seems to get tired going for a short walk ... He's getting old...

I called our vet the other day to see how much it would cost to put him to sleep. Not as bad as we thought...$35 - We'd have to bury him though. Jim says, the backyard, a big hole and a nice marker. It will be hard to let him go....but we're starting to think that in October (when the weather starts to turn too cold to let him out all day and early in the morning) That we'll have to say good-bye to this good old dog.

Oh...i was going to add...the last night we were camping two little coons came by our campsite. We had supper garbage bags hanging out and they were curious. I woke up to the "grr" noise that coons make. They had noticed Riley out in the x-pen and where making "we're not scared of you" noises "see how big we are". Riley's response seemed so classic "What? I'm here you're there. I"m not doing anything. What?" Stupid baby coons! :)

Vacation

Ah...the joys of summer vacations....through the eyes of a one year old boy.    More on that later....once I get pictures that I can access at least....

Jim had his birthday (40th) this past Sunday and he didn't want to work on his birthday so he decided that this past week would be a great time to take off.

It worked out, providentially to be good timing.   Most folks didn't know, but at least that I know of, guessed... I was pregnant, and at the beginning of our vacation week, I lost that child.   It's our second miscarriage.  Still not a pleasant or good thing.   I had just gotten to the point of looking forward to this little one, when God in his providence, chose to take that child home.

This wee one, I called Angelina, will be missed even though we scarcely knew her.   (and yes, I know, we can't know if the baby was male or female, but the baby just seems an Angelina to me).

We took off.  Spent the first couple of nights at Jim's mom's house since she was away pet-sitting.  I didn't feel comfortable going to a camp-ground at that point.   On Wednesday we headed up to Fanshawe Conservation Area in London.   We spent the days just kicking around.   Did some window-shopping, walked the dogs, swam at the place where Jim's mom was staying (nice pool that Jim and Justin enjoyed thoroughly), and just relaxed with each other.

JUSTIN HAD A BLAST.   But I'll write more on that later.

NOT THE WEEK WE WOULD HAVE LIKED

Today we arrived home from our week off. The weather was good, all be it, hot. The camping was lots of fun for Justin with lots of things to discover and get really dirty doing it. However, for myself and Annette, it was not what we had hoped for. Although we had not told anyone (some had guessed) Annette was pregnant. This was her third pregnancy, the first ended in a miscarriage, and the second in our wonderful boy Justin. We hoped that this would be the time for a brother or sister for Justin as we are now both in our 40's (I just turned 40 on Sunday), but that was not what was in the providence of God. On Monday the 10th, Annette told me she was spotting, and by the middle of the week we had lost the baby. Although it was only 2-3 months into the pregnancy, the loss is no less. Annette picked the name Angelina for our unborn baby. Rather than being restful, this vacation turned into a very tiring emotional stretch that left both of us drained. It was good to be together through this, and not have to work. I worked the last time and paid for it in being completely drained emotionally and from that physically for months afterward. This time I had the time to work through things a little, but it was not the vacation either of us wanted.

CAMPING

It is good to have some days off, and better yet, to be able to get out and camp. It is one of the things I really enjoy. I am not sure why, but even if I had to work, I would happily do it while camping. We are definitly going to Fanshawe Conservation Area. It has fairly nice sites, and I have found it to be a great base to head out on day trips from. It has some nice trails, and if we were to bring the canoe the reservoir makes for good canoeing and fishing.

It is located here:

We're off

Today we are off.   Jim is on holidays so we're going camping for a week or so.   Not entirely sure yet what all we will be doing, but my best guess is we'll go to Fanshawe Conservation Area in London.   We can park the dogs at his mom's while we do day trips (she's away pet-sitting).  That will keep the dogs safe and release us from worrying about them at the campground.  :)

Anyways, we'll be back and I'll be sure to update you then.

Our Dog Sassy

I know, following a post about our boy, it may seem silly to post a picture of one of our dogs, but this picture from several months back is a good one of Sassy at the K9 sports agility trial.

Picture on day of turning one

That rather cumbersome title is all so I can post this:



Here is a picture of Justin on his first birthday.

He's One Year Old today!

Can you believe it's been a whole year already!?!?!?

My boyo is a whole year old!   No party today, that comes on Saturday, but he's one year old.  He celebrated by walking across the kitchen completely unaided.   Wow...what a boy!

Daddy took a picture of him eating a VERY messy lunch-time meal.  Not sure that he has it downloaded yet for me to post, but it was very messy and very full of smiles.  :)  When it's up, I'll be sure to post it...everyone needs to see a messy, smiley boy once in a while eh?   :)

Oh...he even got a present today!   One of the ladies from church stopped over with a brand new truck for him!   What fun!  :)   Justin even liked the card that came with it.  The truck of course went zooming all over the floor.   Oh boy...trucks are fun!  

Tomorrow if it's nice he'll go swimming in his pool, go shopping for his party on Saturday, and go for a nice walk with the dogs.

Silly Dogs

I have for the most part decided that we have two very silly dogs that share this household.

Two dogs: Riley older husky-shepherd cross male.  Sassy younger complete mix.

We've in the past couple of months switched them to a raw food diet (actually known as a B.A.R.F. diet)  that stands for biologically appropriate raw food diet.  To learn more go here.

They get fed outside because, well, raw food is a tad bit messier than kibble.

We've seen good changes in them, and can do it for about the same cost as mid-range kibble.

Anyways, why are they silly?

1. We tie them up when feeding because Riley is a thief.  No other polite way to say it...he is an unrepentant thief.

2. So here is Riley, he is NOT done his own food.   He is stretching out as far as he can on his lead-out with his nose in the air sniffing.  And then he starts his infamous woofing.  I want off!  I want off!  he woofs!  I kept telling him to be quiet.

3. I go out to see what is taking Sassy so long to eat her food.  What do I find?   She's guarding her food against flies!   Silly dog!  Just eat!   I told her to go ahead, eat!  Even scared the flies away.  She ate!  ARGH!!!!

Silly dogs!!!  Both of them!!!!

Neither completely finished their meal.  That's not unusual for Sassy, and a good sign with Riley.  I"m testing just how much he eats, and will give him filler (rice) to help him feel full so he won't woof and beg to be let off so he can steal from Sassy.  (not that it worked tonight...perhaps I'm deluded in thinking I can change him....)    Tonight I gave him just a tad bit too much filler.   Sassy tends to eat her quota one day, and then the next day, she leaves some behind.  She's a bit harder to figure on this new diet.  

I used to keep the leftovers for the next day, but have stopped doing that.  I either flush the leftovers OR if it's pieces of chicken, I dump it out in the compost for the neighbourhood stray cats (at least that's my assumption as it's always gone the next morning!).  Besides, whatever is eating it, the scent gets Sass all excited the following morning!  Good to have a rush isn't it?   (grin)

My Girlie ROCKS!!!!

The trial: Jumping for Joy Trial in Maryhill, Ontario.

The date: July 1, 2006

The judge: Billie Mclean

The organizing body: Agility Association of Canada (AAC)

The events entered: Advanced Standard, Advanced Gamblers, Advanced Jumpers.

MY GIRLIE ROCKS!!!!!  

Yes indeedy!   A hot day, camping with fireworks.  Nervous girlie.  Had a hard time settling, wouldn't eat her supper or her breakfast (needed to bribed of all things with BACON!!)   She ROCKS!!!

The night before: dropped Riley (actually on thursday night at my hubbie's mom), dropped our son at my parents (on Friday).   Headed up to the trial site.  Camped.   There were fireworks.  Sassy was unimpressed.  One of the participants drove onto a stump, that caused a kerfluffle, Sassy was unimpressed.

First the standard run.    Sassy was one of the last dogs to run.  NO OTHER DOG completed the course clean and under time.  I got a tad bit nervous at that point.  The standard course time was 67 seconds, Sassy squeaked...literally squeaked through at 66.70 seconds!   WOW... call that cutting it close.   Wouldn't have been so close if the weaves hadn't freaked her out a bit.  Took three attempts to get it right, (she kept missing a pole here and there).  BUT she did it.  She got those poles completed, she picked up some speed, and we squeaked it through!!!  YEAH FOR MY GIRLIE!!!!

Then we had the gamble.   For some reason, I like doing the gambles but I find them somewhat nervewracking trying to figure out what I think is best to do for me and Sassy.    BUT Sassy did EXACTLY what I asked her to do, at a rather pokey speed, but everything that I asked, I had planned a bit more in case she wasn't pokey, but that would have just been gravy.... She sended with 64 points!  Yeah for Sassy.
She did the gamble!!!   She was one of I think two dogs that completed the gamble.  Comments overheard afterwards: "Nice gamble by that dog", "Good run!"

She started to relax....good dog!   :)  Ate some food!   Yeah for stressors leaving! 

The Jumpers course.   Looked challenging, proven to be in some ways to almost everyone out there.   I was conflicted about how to do the opening, to I run on one side knowing that would draw her to the wrong side of a tunnel farther down OR do I risk a harder opening and know that, that wrong tunnel will be less attractive?  I chose the latter.   So....Sassy unfortunately got a refusal at a tunnel because I didn't clearly indicate it enough thinking it was just a straight run.  BAD HANDLER!   BUT!!!!!   She still came in first!!!!!!   :)  She had 3.23 time faults and 5 faults for the refusal.   She gave it an honest try...just had a really sucky handler!     Didn't help at all that we had taken the trailer down so we could get going as soon as possible after the trial was done so she was all stressed that we were leaving and she wasn't allowed in the van.  She is such a silly dog sometimes.

Would I trial under Billie again?  Yes, I like her open courses.

Would I trial at Jumping for Joy again?  yes.  I would love to not have quite so many mosquitos, but it was a good trial.  Well run.  Met lots of nice people.   Calm, relaxed atmosphere.  They treat their volunteers decent.  Good place to exercise your dogs close by.   Just very nice place.

It was just a lovely week

So I"m not entirely sure what made this past week such a nice week, but it was just a really good week for us.

Yes, Jim struggled with the heat and trying to sleep.  He ended up setting up the trailer and sleeping out there.  The cool night air did wonders for him.  :)  YEAH!!!!   No headaches and general icky-ness feelings during the day.  

Justin and I did the pool thing frequently.   He now makes a beeline for his swimming pool when we are out in the backyard.   I can put him down anywhere and if he sees his pool...off he crawls to get to it.   Nice to see him having fun NOT nice having to haul him out wet clothes and all!   

I had my last Sunday School class yesterday (for this year).  We are trying to figure what to do for next year.  The one girl is so ready to move up, the other isn't.   Hard to know what to do.  They really don't want to be in a class all on their own either so....what to do?  Ah, their mom and I and Jim will figure it out.

Justin, Jim and I went for a bike ride for the first time yesterday.   it worked well!   We passed some horses and Justin got all excited.    I was reminded of why I like my bike so much.   :)   Cost enough...I should like it.  I"m hoping next year that we can afford to get the shifting system revamped.   Somehow it got messed up so shifting is an issue, but for just riding around town shifting is just not an issue...I love the smooth action and gliding of my bike.   :)

We had our anniversary, just a quiet day at home with lunch out and a "eat whatever you want" supper.

It was just a lovely week together as family.   It felt like my little old heart smiled a lot this week.

Our anniversary

Jim and I have been married, as of today at around 2 p.m. (I think) for four whole years. They been good years, filled with some tough moments, but also times of gladness and joy.

Times of sadness: arguements with each other over stupid things, loss of a child, watching Riley dog get older and stiffer, death of people in church and so forth.

Times of gladness: watching Riley play again when he switched over to a BARF diet, birth of our son, guinea pigs, The Royal winter fair (yearly), new friendships, and a whole host of more.

We've grown in our relationship with each other.

I've learned to appreciate him in ways that I never imagined.

I've grown in my relationship to God. Never expected marriage to impact that!

I'm a parent! Sometimes I'm still in shock! :) I so expected to live my life as a contented single woman. And now I'm living my life as a more or less contented married woman with a child! God is so full of surprises at times. :)

Praise be to his name!

So we are now at four years and counting....I wonder how many more we will get until God takes us home.... Good thing I can't see into the future. Makes me treasure each day that I have.

Discovery Toys

You know how when you go to fairs and so forth you will often see a vendor booth for Discovery Toys? I like their stuff. It's bright, colourful, children like it, it can be educational and so forth. I also find that their stuff is a bit pricey (at least for my book).

BUT!!!! Garage sales can be havens of discovery! This past Saturday we came upon this toy at a local sale.

CASTLE MARBLEWORKS® Play Tower
Thinking & Problem Solving, Fine Motor

Building the tower is just the beginning of this fast-action experience. As children watch the three weighted chime balls race and spin, twirl and drop back and forth, children learn to predict the pattern of the ball pathways. Set up the 8-piece set in different ways. 25" x 14½" x 10" (64cm x 37cm x 25cm). From 24 months-Kindergarten

In Discovery Land it is worth $50. We got it for the princely sum of 50 cents! It only has the one ball (but we've discovered golf balls work too!) Justin loves it. And I have always liked these rolling path ball toys. I think they are neat! And it's fun to switch which ways the path go, and to make the ball stay inside and to just listen to the sounds of the ball going down the pathways. Fun! Fun!

Discovered this morning

On our walk this morning (me and the dogs) we saw this fellow.

Picture from: http://www.northrup.org/photos/red-fox/

He, of course, saw us first and beat a hasty retreat. He stopped about 100 ft from us. The dogs poked up their heads and watched him. He sat down, curled his tail around us and kept a good watch on us. He didn't move until he thought we were well out of site. Makes me wonder if there is a fox den somewhere on the trail in town.

I just thought it was rather neat. I've never been that close to a real wild fox (one that's actually in the wild). Just so you know...it's way better than seeing them in the zoo! :)

He swims

So this past week we purchased a small pool for Justin. $10 at the local C. Tire store.

Filled it with 3 inches of water.

Let the wonderful hot weather we are currently experiencing heat the water nicely.

Today Justin went swimming. I stripped him down outside and just
dumped him in. (after of course checking that water was indeedy warmed
up) This little 11 month old boy had SO MUCH FUN!!!! Made his
mom-mom laugh. I had purchased some sand toys a while back on sale,
and I dumped half of them into the water with him. Splash and dump
and attempt to drink. Boy.... you couldn't have asked for more fun.

AND THEN>>>> he learned that he>>>>> could
climb out! WOW!!! more fun!!!! more excitement!!!! More screams
of AHH!!!!!

Later today he might experience the joy of bike riding too. Justin
and I picked up a bike seat for him while garage-saling this morning
and then hubbie and I picked up a toddler bike helmet for him this
afternoon. He was unimpressed at the store (he HATES wearing anything
on his head). So we'll see how that goes.

Raw Food Diets

We are switching our dogs from a mainly kibble diet to a mainly raw food diet.

Why?
1. research shows it helps with dogs who have attitude problems which our Sassy dog sometimes displays.
2. research shows it helps older dogs maintain their health longer
3. we can do it for about the same price or a wee bit more as we can feeding a mid-range dog food
4. defecation is reduced!

After one week of doing this Riley was discovered happily playing in the backyard with an old sour cream container. I had never seen him do this with any type of vigor. Jim said Riley used to play like that all the time.

Sassy defecates much less often! YEAH!!!

A dog on the raw diet consumes between 2-4% of their body weight in food each day.

Our dogs are roughly 50 lbs – means 1-2 pound of food per day depending on activity levels

so....looking at that what we will do is

Riley
16 oz to start... we will see how he does

9.6 oz meat – bones, etc. (wings, necks, chunked meat)

2.25 oz veggies (this can be up-ed or lowered without effect overall)
4 oz internal organs – the mix from Metzger's good for this

Sassy
24 oz to start... we will see how she does

14.4 oz meat – bones, etc. (wings, necks, chunked meat)

3.6 oz veggies – (this can be up-ed or lowered without effect overall)
6 oz internal organs – the mix from Metzger's good for this

Tuesday's new mix made

Veggie mix – lettuce, carrots, turnip, peppers, broccoli...
- whatever isavailable with ½ of from above and below ground veggies

Weekly Menu

Sunday night – kibble with veggie mix
Monday night – oatmeal, rice and yogurt, veggies if any left
Tuesday night – veggies with meat
Wednesday night – veggies with yogurt, ½ meat, eggs
Thursday night – veggies, rice with meat – fish night?
Friday night – veggies with yogurt, ½ meat, eggs
Saturday night - veggies with meat

Justin and garage-saling

Yesterday was Saturday.

One thing that Justin is learning about Saturday's in the summer is that his mom-mom likes to go garage-saling. For those of you who have NO CLUE about what that means... it means that his mom-mom likes to check out all the yard sales around town (and anywhere else she sees one).

Yesterday we started off our day at the Fireman's Breakfast. Good food. Justin didn't eat he was too busy gaping at all the people around him. Jim had a huge breakfast, I ate what I could. Nice to support these men.

THEN>>>>> we went garage-saling. What fun!
1. Jen's sale - Justin got a barking dog, a puzzle box that makes noise, and an orange thing that you pull a lever and it tells a nursery rhyme.
2. Other sales - I got a neat scrapbooking sticker page, some free clothes hangers (I needed 10 she gave me a whole whack of them), a barney truck (you know...the purple dinasour that parents love to hate), and... Justin's new favourite toy!

This was a BRAND NEW... as in never been used, still in all the packaging. Shelcore Sort'n See. $5 only! I was impressed.

Justin had so much fun with it. I showed him how the blocks fit through the holes. He didn't get it. I showed him how the lid fits on. Well my goodness! First the blocks go in the bucket (without lid), then out of the bucket (repeat several times) and THEN!!!! the blocks go in the bucket one at a time with the lid going on after each of them. Boy oh boy...what a very intrigued young fellow he was. :)

Very fun to watch him learn and experience and explore.