Friday, September 26, 2008

Friday fun

I need you to get my butt out of bed :)



Currently, I don't work on Fridays. Well, more accurately, I do no travel to my place of employment on Fridays. I still spend the day with a pack of beagles, an Avyrlie, and an endless list of stuff to do and things to accomplish. Lately the whole bit has been trumped by the release of Neal's newest book and my addiction to Orson Scott Card's Ender series. In my world there truly is nothing like a good book (chocolate is perhaps a close second ;)



So, by the time Friday morning rolls around and I've been up all night reading, or catching up on my DVR, I'm not about to jump out of bed and get stuff done when the alarm goes off at 4:30 AM. Aimee and Avyrlie are still battling in their sleep. The dogs are contently snoring in the kitchen. Ian has crumpled his blankets into a ball, thrown his pillow across the room, and is curled up in some position I've seen only in Yoga classes. All of this prevails on my still clouded and now caffeine deficient mind, so I re-enter the battle bed and slip back to semi consciousnesses.

The problem is that I have two distinct sleep windows. One from midnight to 3 AM and one from about 5AM to 9AM. If I don't get up and going between 3AM an 4AM, the day becomes a scene from the Walking Dead with me playing the part of Daddy Zombie, Avyrlie playing the perky cheerleader who gets it in the last scene, and the dogs just run randomly frantic through the frames like the poor squirrel in Ice Age. Nothing you want to see on the big screen!

In my effort to reclaim my Friday fun, I've decided to make Friday mornings a regular posting time here on Smithpix with whatever I'm in the mood to share (poor you ;) Hopefully this will get me up and going to avoid the Zombie Zone and keep me current on postings, photos, and happenings.

Here we go :)

Took me a bit to figure out what on earth she is doing. Watch the clip, then read on...



She's wiggling. That went on for another 20 minutes...

At preschool she is loving the computer and playing house. The teacher has her help the kids take turns on the computer (a natural talent for our bossy princess), and loves how helpful she is. We love how helpful she is too with cleaning, playing with dogs, and telling Ian what to do!



The dogs are a force of nature. They are starting to outgrow their puppy clumsiness, and are now able to destroy things with precision and grace. This morning I watched them lend credence to the phrase 'my dog ate my homework' as they ripped apart Ian's book report and several old assignments. Then they found a path to the kitchen table by jumping from the couch, to the lamp table (they made some room by knocking off the lamp) and onto the table. During the path clearing process, they not only took out the lamp, but missed the table on the first few attempts until they figured out how to scoot the chairs away to clear the final flight path.



Triela has also discovered a new favorite trick: knocking Sadie down the stairs. I think at first it was an accident, but now she either waits in ambush for Sadie to round the corner from the living room into the kitchen, or does a Beagle-Ninja spin and nudge move as they are chasing each other past the stairway sending Sadie toppling down into the doorway. Sadie is much stronger and faster, but Triela is stubborn and relentless. Reminds me of some kids I have...



Ian is pretty excited to finish the doghouse for the pups. It's insulated and windproof so they should be pretty cozy all year. We changed his school medication a bit this week to a 12 hour instead of an 8 hour pill and upped the dose a bit. He's been feeling pretty good about school and doing better, but we're not quite there yet. Hopefully, along with some improved study and sleep habits, we'll get him performing more constantly with all of his commitments and responsibilities and not as anxious or defeated.

(Avyrlie doesn't like this picture. She calls it 'Scary Ian')


The third book in the Eragon series just came out, so getting Ian to do his reading has a been a bit easier lately. I also talked him in to joining the choir at school. a friend of mine is one of the directors and I think Ian will have a lot of fun doing it. Or he'll hate me forever, but then he's almost thirteen anyhow...

Well, Avyrlie is up and politely demanding pancakes, so my fun time with you is up and Friday begins!

Last pic. Click it to check out a couple more random kid pix :)


2 comments:

Tessa said...

I think I have an excellent idea for a birthday present for your daughter...

My dad gets his brightly colored clothing for VERY VERY cheap... (because obviously no one else wants them) So next time we see plaid man capri's with 27 different colors and dad isists on getting a pair for himself I will think of you Aaron, and your daughter and may have to splurge the 50 cents and get you some. I can just imagine the look on Avyrlies face and it would be worth every penny! Oh my the possibilities!

Glad you have devised a new method to get the most out of your friday's... hope it works, and I hope you are better than me at makeing pancakes!

Happy Trails...

Chellor said...

the ogre sleeps!