the great outdoors

Even though we weren’t officially attending our English ward at the time, we still went on our ward campout out in Spanish Fork Canyon.

Our friend Jenna had just got into town with her two boys, so we offered to take them with us. Vince loved having some other boys to play with, and Gabe and Noah loved being outdoors and exploring (basically all the boys in the ward wandered around finding sticks and playing whatever games little boys like to play – warriors, army men, etc). Russ’ little brother Jordan also came down with us. We were super surprised that his mom let him come – but it was so awesome to have him with us! He’s an awesome kid and was really helpful with the younger kids and with keeping the campsite clean and pitching tents – and really anything that we needed him to help with.

The recreation area had a zipline that our ward got to monopolize for the most part on Friday afternoon. Gabe loved it, and to our surprise (and delight!) Vincente went on it, too! Twice! He is such a little stud. It might have helped that his friend Nick went down several times as well. I even went down once. It was pretty crazy.

Joseline had a good time playing with Nick’s little sister Miriam. The camp area was great for the kids – it wasn’t near any water or cliffs or anything, so we could just let the kids play without having to worry too much. And the older kids in the ward helped keep an eye out on all the little ones. We even brought Doc (apparently dogs weren’t allowed, we found out later, but we kept him on his leash for the most part and he really enjoyed being in the great outdoors! And everyone was really sweet to him).

We built a bonfire down by our campsite, and our wonderful neighbors (our real neighbors who live behind us) were also our neighbors at the campout and they shared some really yummy dinner with us – BBQ pork and funeral potatoes all in dutch ovens. There’s something about cooking food in a dutch oven when you’re camping that is just right. In the morning the ward did pancakes, eggs, bacon, the works for breakfast.

As you can see, these two really enjoyed the trip. It was fun to get to know more of the ward members, and I think going on this campout helped us decide to switch wards. So far we haven’t regretted it!

Kid’s Swing Makeover

A few weeks ago, my backyard neighbor (the horse people) gave me this kids porch swing. She prefaced it by asking if I knew how to sew, to which I replied, “Of course!” Then she lamented about how sewing is becoming a lost art, and too many young people don’t know how to sew.

Well, I promised her that I would fix it up, and that I would give it back to her (not throw it away) if I ended up not being able to/not wanting to fix it.

Well, turns out it was just the project I needed to christen my new sewing machine.

Here’s what it looked like before:

I wish I had taken pictures of it when the fabric was on the swing so you could see what bad shape it was in. Honestly, I would have redone the fabric even if the fabric was still in good condition because that blue striped duck/frog print? Yeah… not really my cup of tea.

So I went to the fabric store on the hunt for the perfect outdoor material.

This wasn’t even half of the selection, but it was where I ended up with the perfect fabric (and please excuse my pictures – I left my camera at my in-law’s house, and so I’ve been using my iPhone. The picture above was from the collection I took to send to Russ so he could determine which he liked the best).

I wanted something gender neutral, kind of whimsical, and bold colors. This fit all of my needs, and it was only $6/yard.

I have a bunch of extra (plus I’m sure there is still more at the fabric store) so I am thinking about finding some patio furniture on KSL that needs recovered cushions and doing something like this as well. I might go back and get some solids to pair with the stripes.

So, the first thing I decided to do after finding the perfect fabric was to spray paint the frame. The white was dinged up and rusty, so I took the whole thing apart (not before taking LOTS of pictures so I could figure out how to put it back together again), washed the parts, and went to town with the good old Rustoleum. Thankfully the days I was spraying were pretty warm, if windy, so I just hid in the garage and sprayed away with the garage door open. I probably should have been wearing a mask, but safety-shmafety.

 
Vince was being my little helper. You should have seen him and Joss with the empty spray-paint cans making the “shhh” sound and “spraying” stuff. Cuties.

Well, I didn’t take any “during” pictures, so I’ll cut right to the chase – here it is in its finished glory!

I just copied the old material to make the swing and the canopy. My canopy ended up being a little bigger than the original, and my seat ended up being a little more stretched than the original, but who cares – it’s beautiful, right?!

I really like how it turned out. And if you are wondering why it is sitting in my living room instead of out on our beautiful porch… this is why:

Reasons #1 & #2

 
Reason #3 (although this is actually a picture of the LAST snow a few days ago… today wasn’t really snow… it was more like hail, and then slush falling from the sky. It was totally gross and made me a little ornery.)

How to Train Your Dragon

... er, dog.

The puppies are getting a lot bigger, and a lot more obedient. They dig up the yard and chew on everything, just like a little baby. I’m not looking forward to training them to not dig up my yard at our new house, but hopefully we’ll figure out a way.

I’ve been trying to teach them how to fetch. They will both run after things, and Doc will sometimes pick them up, but neither of them would actually return the object.

So I turned to trusty Google, and I found a few suggestions – first I tried the suggestion of using a crushed plastic bottle (they like running after it, and the like picking it up – but they still wouldn’t bring it to me). Then I had the brilliant idea to put some of their treats inside the crushed bottle. Bingo. (I also tied a rope around the bottle so they would have something to grab on to – they’d been having a hard time picking up the bottle by itself). Once they realized that they couldn’t get to the treats without bringing it to me, they were hooked. Lucy kept getting mad at Doc because she could never get to it before he did. I ended up having them take turns (one stays in the crate while the other plays, and then they switch). That worked pretty well, and I really need to do it more often. They’re getting too attached to each other and will cry I leave one of them in the crate.

When we move back to Utah and get settled in I’ll take one out for a walk at a time, and do more alternating practice with them. I’ll also try to schedule vet appointments for one at a time (even though it’s more convenient to take them at the same time – it’ll be easier for me to manage and hopefully will help them wean from each other). Same with the dog park, and rides in the car.

We’ve also got to work on not waking up at 3 in the morning to go pee...

Canine Candids

pictures of the kids with the puppies at 6 weeks old
(the breeder’s husband was taking pictures of the puppies that hadn’t sold yet, and offered to take these pictures of our puppies with the kids)

Joseline: “Mamãe! Save me!”
Lucy: “What did I do?”

That’s better! Best friends in the making! Me with a little puppy head in my lap.

Their favorite place – the A/C vents – especially in hot Arkansas

Lucy’s favorite game is soccer. Doc likes fetch (when Lucy doesn’t steal the thing he’s fetching – she likes to run after stuff, but doesn’t like to bring it back to me... mostly she likes to pester her brother)

Left: Lucy (I think) panting after running around outside
Right: Doc and Lucy sleeping in the car on the way to their Vet appointment

Doc sleeping on my computer desk while I Skype with Russ

Joseline loving on Жесткий. I think it’s pronounced something like “Schoitska” – but the a is like a a/e dipthong type sound? Maybe. I’ll have Russ come in and give you the phonetic spelling. Жесткий mostly enjoyed playing with the puppies. Mostly.

Vincente playing with the puppies around 8/9 weeks old

Lucy stopping a soccer ball. She is really good at this. I want to take her out to a big field and kick the ball as hard as I can and see if she can stop it. If she can catch it, she can stop it. I want to teach her to play soccer. That would be hilarious.

Monday Musings -- What Was I Thinking!?

Day 1 of new puppies is almost over.

It is bordering on nightmare for me.

I imagine it would be easier if I only had one, or if both puppies were quick with the pottying business.

The problem is, Doc doesn’t want to potty on the grass. Pee on the driveway? Sure. Poop in the kitchen? Absolutely. Pee or poop on the grass? Not on your life.

He finally went poop outside today. Neither of them have pooped in their crate, but I think Doc has peed in there a few times.

I have to take them out to potty one at a time right now, because otherwise they just want to play. It might be easier if my arms were longer (and I could keep them apart) but they just want to roughhouse. Lucy will do her business, in fact, the first time I took them out, she was just too excited to go pee, so she didn’t really go (plus, she hated the leash and spent most of our first few trips out to potty pulling at the leash). Doc seemed to be more relaxed about the leash, but he would not even walk on the grass, let alone go pee on it once he was there. Now that Lucy has discovered when she pees or poops on the grass I shower her with praise and loving, we walk outside, I tell her “Faz” (the command for - “do it” in Portuguese... yes, we speak Portuguese to the dogs, too) and she basically pees on command.

Editors note: This post was actually written on Saturday, August 14 – the day I found out my brother passed away. This was written a few hours before his passing, and I’m pretty sure the reason I didn’t finish (or post) it was because I got the call from my dad telling me to change my flight and get out there as soon as possible.

Looking back, those first few days (weeks) of having the puppies were like a nightmare for me. But the puppies are so well behaved now, and such a source of entertainment for the kids, that I can’t help but think it was worth it. All the work, the stress – and it’s not over, because we’ll have to adjust them to a new house – but it was worth it, and will be worth it. These puppies are great, and I’m glad we have them as part of our family now.