Saturday, December 19, 2009

New monkey in the bed

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Yes, the orange pillow mine. Or it was mine until Avyrlie made it clear that I am just too big to fit in her mommy's bed and Liza is just right. Yeah, coal for that one.

(click below to read the rest)


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Chelsi and Kendall came stopped by for a bit yesterday on their way home from the conclusion of their car shopping. They picked up a great (family sized...) AWD that they'll love this time of year. The Smith's were more than a little beat after a day of new puppy, work, and Christmas preparations, so my apologies to them for being very boring hosts.
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Kim and Matt also stopped by with a new addition. They have a male goldendoodle puppy they named Sora (technically a girls name although they named him after a boy who is voice acted by a boy who plays girls parts. very gender confused dog...)
Sora is a bundle of timid enthusiasm. He rarely sits still (thus, none of my pictures turned out at all) and got along well with Liza (they both like the same potty places on my carpet :(
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Avyrlie is still pretty wary of her teeth filled friend, but loves taking care of her especially when she can tuck her into bed for a shared naptime.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Another Smith and A Sick Sense of Humor

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After realizing my being the minority non-dog-lover in the family was never going to change I asked Aimee to find a dog for her and the kids. Secretly I knew the outcome of having her make a dog decision would be that we would never have a dog because, quite unlike myself, she can not stand to make decisions that may cause controversy and not be fully supported by all.

After several months she finally narrowed down a breed that she like. While I am still pretty sure her warped sense of humor led her to choose a breed named after the reason I don't like housedogs, but it was an impressive enough decision making feat on her part that I decided to help her out and actually find her a dog.
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Liza arrived a bit early for a Christmas present, but that was not really the point to begin with. Liza is an F1 Goldendoodle (very funny wife) bred from a purebred Golden Retriever and a purebred Poodle.

Our big, tough, teenage Ian almost cried with overwhelmed excitement when I asked him to help me get stuff out of the car and he realized what was inside. Avyrlie wants it to be a cute baby that she can take care of and is still getting used to her cute baby having very sharp teeth.

I'm just glad we have a good Bissel.

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We took her in for her first vet appointment today at Willowcreek. The vet kept talking to me like I was in preschool puppy class so I was a bit put off, but the rest of the staff is very helpful and a bunch of crazed dog lovers. They are all very nice and have tons of answers and advice. Everyone thought it was pretty cute that Avyrlie kept asking for a bandaid to put on her puppy's bum after the rectal temp...

Monday, December 7, 2009

Happy Holidays - A very special time of crazy

Even more than the mentally unhinged holiday drivers, I enjoy some of the bizarre conversations between shoppers and store staff.

This afternoon I stopped at Home Depot to pick up a drill bit. Another gentleman, who seemed mostly normal but perhaps a bit socially challenged, was talking to an employee about power saws. I hadn't been paying much attention until the shopper's voiced got louder and quite exasperated.

"I just don't need a quality circular saw! My kids are still little and are very hard on stuff so it's just going to get broken when they use it anyway! Please just tell me which one is the best value for the money!"

The employee picked up the cheapest saw and through barely suppressed laughter/frustration said, "This one is inexpensive and will work well for the entire time it continues to operate."

Neighborhood Christmas Party

We went to a neighborhood Christmas party last night.

Items of note:
  • Aimee's food assignment stress is inversely proportional to the size of the item. Rack of Lamb = No problem. Little appetizer = Stroke.

  • The length of Ian's attention span is determined by the amount of physical activity involved. Socializing = Major Eye-Rolling. He headed home shortly after realizing we were not playing football. He did tackle his sister on the way out.

  • Avyrlie's attention span can be measured in several ways depending on the environment. If there are children willing to bend to her will, it is indefinite. If there are stubborn children, it lasts until someone insults princesses or uses the phrase 'bossy just like my mommy'. If there are dogs or uncles present (yes, same category) it lasts as long as they are willing to be mauled. In the absence of children and animals/uncles, as was the case last night, her attention is captive only so long as Diet Coke is available to her. She explained in no uncertain terms that wassel is not an acceptable substitute. Back in the days of bottles and sippy-cups it was no problem because you can hide anything in there. Now the habit is harder to conceal and we occasionally have to excuse ourselves to get Aimee or Avyrlie their fix.

  • Few of our neighbors are permanent. There are quite a few renters and older folks. While neither is inherently bad, it just means they might not be around long. It also means we can find plenty of extra yard work for Ian.

  • Avyrlie loves fudge. She was very polite to ask before she took each of the MANY pieces she ate, and I counted no less than 8 'pleases' from her.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Avyrlie's First Dance Class

Avyrlie was much more excited about the idea of dance class than the actual dance class this time around. She came out at half-time and asked if I saw all the beautiful poses she did for me :) She also spent a fair amount of time practicing poses in front of the mirror.
She did stay on task and paid attention to the instructor pretty well. I think overall she'll really enjoy it. On the way home she explained to me that she didn't need to go to school now because she has a class already and mom can just take her to dance in the morning from now on instead of preschool. So cute.
To clarify 'half-time': the first half of the class is tap, and the second half is ballet. They all come out to have their moms (and me) change their shoes.

Avyrlie's First Dance Class from aaron smith on Vimeo.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Hello Christmas


Hello Christmas, originally uploaded by eouio.

Avyrlie and I dropped Ian off at a friends house yesterday. It was late enough that it was beginning to get dark (5PM so sad) that some houses had turned on their Christmas lights and trees. Avyrlie declared that we should put up our tree and without really thinking about it I agreed.

(click below for more)

She took that to mean I had now moved Christmas Tree to the top of my most urgent ToDo list because for the next two hours she talked about it non-stop.

"Should we put the Tree over here?"
"I have to put the star on top to make it beautiful!"
"Does Ian know how to put up a Christmas Tree?"
"Can birds live in our Christmas Tree?"
"My school needs a Christmas Tree!"
"Santa is sad that we don't have a Tree."
"Does Dylan have a Christmas Tree?"
"Tomorrow is not the day to do the Christmas Tree!"
"Dogs can't put up a Christmas Tree. They only make messes."
"Dad, if you don't put up a Christmas Tree the reindeer will cry."
"Mom said yes that I can have a Christmas Tree!"

Our actual tree setup time is about 5 minutes. With Aimee out of town at the moment I cut that down to 2 because I can skip all the cleanup ;) We keep the tree fully assembled (yes, it's fake and pre-lit) in the basement, bundled in plastic wrap to keep it clean. Aimee gets the ornaments. I just provide labor.