Life in the Dirt Hole

Today, Sean is outside pressure-washing the house. And Piersen.........well, Piersen is outside smearing dirt on the freshly washed house. We have this nice little, let's call it a sinkhole, out in the backyard next to the house. We call it Libby's dirt hole. Because, although Libby is supposed to be an inside dog, she like to spend the entire day outside during the winter and part of the day in summer. And it's freakin' hot here. So she dug herself a nice, cool, little spot right up next to the foundation. Ain't that lovely? So when it rains it becomes a big mud puddle. And what could be more delightful to a little boy than a big inviting mud puddle? Not much, I'll tell ya.

Kaylee

Clearly, my baby is not a baby anymore. She is a beautiful girl who is growing up right before my very eyes. Every time I blink, she gets older, and even more beautiful.

Pancake Eatin'

We like pancakes. Well, duh!.......I guess everyone likes pancakes, don't they? But makin' pancakes on Sunday mornin' before church is just so darn fun. Don't you love our cute Vera Bradley aprons? Thanks, Robin and Lisa! And the gingerbread man apron Piersen is wearing was a Christmas gift from Old Navy a couple of years ago. Thanks, Nana! The kids love to help me and I love when they do. (HA! Did you believe that? I wish I loved when they help me...in reality it stresses the crap out of me when they are in my kitchen. But since I would like them to actually know how to cook when they get older, and, ofcourse, since they adore helping, I am trying really hard to learn how to love when they help me.) Anyhoo, as I was saying, I just love baking with my kiddos. And then we get to eat yummy pancakes. The best out there if you ask me. Here is a link. Go make them. They are the best pancakes in the whole wide world.

What really gives me a kick is how we all eat them differently. Allow me to illustrate.

Sean eats them with maple syrup now. (I find this amusing because I am the one who insisted we had to switch real life maple syrup beacause it was better, but I don't actually care for it. I would rather eat the thick, imitation kind. Weird, I know.) He spreads on butter, pours on syrup, and cuts them with his fork as he goes.

Mitzi spreads on butter and cuts them into uniform bites. Then she pours on the fake syrup, but only in small sections, because she hates for them to get soggy. Like I said, she's weird.

Piersen spreads on butter, cuts them himself with a fork and dips into the little puddle of syrup that he pours on his plate. (He doesn't care which kind.)

Kaylee never eats more than one pancake. And she doesn't use butter or syrup. That's because she is a princess, and her pancake is the only one with chocolate chips in it.

I love to see all of our differences intermingled with all of our similarities.

Going Granola Exhibit A

So for the past six-and-a-half months or so, we have been making homemade dogfood. Yes, folks, you heard me right. Or rather, I have been making homemade dogfood. It all started when I was reading Kal's blog one day. She linked to this really great blog with homemade dogfood recipes, and gushed about the wonders that it had brought about in her sweet guy Crash. So I went and looked. Bad idea. My mind started racing through all the horrible stories that I had read during the dogfood recall debacle. Then I started googling, and that's always a bad idea. (Well, a good idea, really, but come on...there are just so many horror stories you don't hear until you start googling crap.) We had been worrying about Libby's skin and coat recently, and we had always been concerned about her eating habits. Read: the girl just wasn't all that interested in food. Yeah, I know. What kind of dog isn't trying to attack you when you feed them, right? Not our girl. We had to beg and coax her to eat most of the time, and there were nights she just wouldn't even bother. And she was thin. The vet was always reassuring me that she was a healthy weight and that it was better for her to be slightly under- than slightly over-weight. But that didn't reassure me any. She was just too darn skinny. So, after reading about all the benefits of homemade food (um, and the higher price), I approached Sean with my facts. And I waited for him to say, "sorry about your luck." But he thought it was a great idea. He even praised me for making such an effort to take good care of our sweet girl. Seriously!?

Seriously. And we haven't looked back. That isn't to say it doesn't have its drawbacks. Like the price, which is slightly more than twice as much, I mean have you been to the grocery lately? And the time. It doesn't really take that much time, but when you already have cooking, housekeeping, homeschooling, etc., on your list it can sometimes (okay, usually) feel like a chore. I truly feel like it has been worth it, though. Libby girl has gained five pounds! And she likes to eat! Whereas before we were begging her, now she's in the kitchen before five-o'clock with a "where's my dinner" look on her face. And what a cute face it is, huh?

The bottom line for us was this: we took her in , took responsibility for her, and promised to love her and take good care of her. We wouldn't feed ourselves or our children canned, preservative-filled food every single day, so why should we feed our Libby that? If only she weighed fifteen pounds instead of eighty, it would be a lot cheaper to feed her. But we hope that the quality of her food will make her healthier and , therefore, less vet trips will be needed. And hopefully, we will prolong her life a bit. Afterall, larger breeds don't tend to live as long as smaller breeds. As a german sheperd/golden retriever/? mix, she's not exactly tiny tim, and we hope to keep her around as long as possible. It's been over four years since we found her at the pound, and she's a fixture around here. A definite member of the Barber clan. I can't imagine what the children will do without her one day, or us for that matter. Yes, we certainly love our Libby, and we feel really good about feeding her the best quality food available.

So cool!

Don't you wish your parents were as cool as we are? Dude, we let our kids ride their bikes in the house! Are we the coolest parents ever!? Okay, so actually, I am a poser and Sean is the coolest parent ever becasue it was totally his idea. And at first I went along with it even thought it kinda drove me bonkers, but now I'm totally down with it. Because I don't do summer. And bike rides outside in hundred degree weather are not my thing. I can't really handle sweating my butt off while Libby drags me down the street trying to keep up with the little speed demons. (I only do that at eight-o'clock in the morning.) But I can handle doing chores or surfing the web while they do laps around our great room. They get exercise and let off energy and I get to stay in the air-conditioning. It's a win-win situation. And it makes us look cool.

Only 13 more years, Buddy!

He looks so excited to be "driving", it just cracks me up. He is such a boy. Last night when he was taking a bath, Sean and I were talking about all his little boy ways. I can honestly say that I don't know any other boys who are as completely male as this child is. He is the ultimate picture of toddler testosterone. What am I gonna do when he's a teenager?!? When I was pregnant I prayed specifically for a rough-and-tumble little boy and the Lord certainly delivered. As much as I complain about him wearing me out, I'm actually overjoyed with and extremely grateful for my little man. I can't wait to watch him grow into a big man, and I truly pray that he will be a real man. Do you know what I mean? Have you heard Brad Paisley's new song, "I'm Still a Guy"? I find it very sad how feminized a great deal of men have become.I hope that Piersen will grow into the kind of man that God intended him to be. A man who loves Jesus, loves his family, loves his wife, and works hard. He is such a gift.