Levi's Haircut

Levi is a hair hairy dog.  The amount of dog hair on my floor is astonishing.  It has to be swept daily, and even then, I find hairballs that managed to sneak away from the broom and band together.  Not only is it everywhere, it is long hair.  Long enough to french braid or put into ponytails. 

I asked Callie to take some "before" photos for me, to document what Levi looks like with all his hair.  I thought this would be perfect because Callie loves to take hundreds of pictures and there are usually a few good ones among the lot.  Sadly, this time, she took 5 pictures and this was the best.  All the pictures she took were of his hairy hindquarters.

This is the best picture I could find of Levi.  The dog is always in motion and it is incredibly difficult to get a cute picture that's not blurry.  Since the girls tied him up with the jump rope, he stayed put for this picture.

Again, note the length of hair.  And it is soft hair! 

Here is the "After" picture!  Look at how little he looks!! And he looks like a woolly lamb.

Isn't he cute.  Look how short his hair is.  It is actually an inch long.  We'd planned it to be a little longer and chatted with the groomer about what we'd like.  When I went to pick him up, she said that the trim we'd wanted looked awful on him, so she'd done the default trim down to an inch.  We're happy with it.  It is getting hot and muggy and Levi hasn't enjoyed our runs as much because he's been hot.  Check out the awesome stool Levi is on.  My Father-in-Law made it!  And this is Levi's new trick.

If the video refuses to play, it is of Levi doing his trick.  Yeah, we think he's awesome.

Someone would really like to go for a walk! 

And now look at his bum!  You can actually see his nubby little tail!  The kids have been fascinated by it.  You never saw his tail before because it blended with the hair, so they are excited that it is true, he DOES have a tail!

Who? Me?!

Nothing makes a Sunday morning more exciting than arriving at church and noticing that your son's name is on the program to give the first talk.

Nothing warms a mother's heart more than said son writing a talk and delivering an awesome one 15 minutes later.

How to Eat a Cupcake

Spring!!

The official first day of spring has arrived!  And with it, the 10th birthday of a special girl I know.  Yep, Marian had a birthday.  She was so cute.  She did not want pictures or attention.  But she sure was excited about cake and presents! She requested a lemon cake with lemon frosting.  It was tasty, even for  us chocolate lovers,

 Opening the cards.

 She didn't ask for much in the way of gifts.  She said she wanted a pocket knife and a musical instrument to play. Hence, a violin.

When asked, Marian told her grandmother that she wanted Paints, but not the kind you have to add water to.  And donuts.  I love my in laws.  They sent a fantastic paint set with paper and brushes. Marian has had a blast trying them out.  What really warmed my heart though, was the $5 bill with the note that said it was for donuts!  (We went out for donuts for breakfast today!)

And because it is that time of year, Rylee's preschool had it's annual Easter Egg Hunt.

Here is my cutie in her super-cute shirt they made.  I love the hand print bunny!

Hunting for eggs. 

So excited over the patterns and colors on some of the eggs. 

Counting her eggs.  The kids were only suppose to pick up 15, so Rylee was diligent about counting her eggs after each new addition to the basket. 

Not sure if she can put this one in.  She had a great time and loved finding eggs.  She liked the eating of the contents even more.

That'll Leave a Mark!

 Ever since I let Joshua tackle the destruction of my old stroller for parts, I've had a lot of young men hanging around in my back yard.  This is what they were doing the other day.....

 Gleefully trying to demolish the stroller.  Because they haven't got the right tools, the stroller is putting up a good fight and is still looking like a stroller. Joshua has been having a marvelous time with it and I love that it keeps him outside and working his brain. Fortunately, he has not wacked himself in the head with the hammer again.

As for me, I finally did what I've known is coming for a while.  I fell.

I get up early some mornings to run before the kids get up for school, and with Daylight Saving Time last week, it is now really dark at 5:45am when I hit the road in my go-fasters.  The last .75 miles of my running path before the turn around point is in total darkness- no light but the oncoming traffic, which blinds you.  So I am surprised I have not stumbled badly before today.

Here is my poor bloody knee.  I am quite disgusted that I fell a mile into the run.  It is all Levi's fault.  He had to poop while we were still in civilization, so I had to pick it up.  I could not find a trash can though, so I was running with a bag-o-poo for a bit.  I finally spotted a dumpster in a parking lot and detoured to toss my baggie in it.  Then I headed back to the road.  Unfortunately for me, I didn't notice the 1/2 inch curb at the bridge that connected the parking lot to the road, and down I went.  Ouch!

I'm a punk, I can take it.  So I got up, walked a minute and then finished my 5 mile run.   Yeah, I'm tough.  Sort of.  It was really starting to hurt by the time I got home, honestly. And the blood flow wasn't really that bad.  It was a muggy 68 degrees out there, so it was vastly enhanced by sweat.

And... And, what kills me is that I put on my headlamp to run with this morning!  I knew it would be dark, so I had my reflective arm band, with my amber light on it, and I put on the headlight.  I did not have the headlight on in the parking lot because I was still where the street lights are!  Ug.  I sure look cool though, don't I?!  Ha.  I know, I am an ugly runner and I'm okay with it.  I ran 5 miles.  I can be an ugly runner if I can go 5 miles!

 This is my knee, all cleaned up.  No skin left on it.  Now to keep it moist enough till the new skin realizes it is on an appendage that needs to bend.