warm weather and cool sunsets

I took this photo last night from our front porch. It is looking west out towards Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams. A little time later the sky lit up with lightning. It is so amazing to watch the lightning along the valley. One of the many perks of living on the hill, you can see forever.
We are also getting acclimated to the warmer weather. Mostly it has been in the mid 80's to low 90's, but yesterday my car said 99. I absolutely love it. This dry heat makes it so much more tolerable. 90 on the west side is unbearable without air conditioning. Three cheers for the A.C!

My allergies have kicked into high gear. The dust and weed pollen have kept me on a constant dose of Claratin. I know the dust will be here, but hopefully the weed pollen will subside just a bit. 

The kids are on the countdown to the last day of school. Next week is the last day. Like I said before, I'm actually excited for them to be out this year.  It may be short lived, but I'm excited.  

We will have a few trips planned and hopefully getting the boat out on the river for some wakeboarding. It has been almost a year since I was behind the boat. YIKES! I have a feeling there will be some sore body parts following that activity.

We have still been sampling the wine. A few nights ago a friend brought this over for us to sample. It's not a "Prosser" wine, but it is from the valley and the grower buys all of his fleet cars from Brandon's dealership. It was not bad. I wouldn't rank it to my top 5, but it was good. 

One of the great things about being in WA wine country is there are so many good wines, and we usually get to try them for free. With the weather getting warmer, maybe I will be moving on to wine spritzers?

 

Where does the time go?

Time just keeps rushing by these days. My kids only have 3 weeks of school left. (yeah!) I'm looking forward to at least a few lazy mornings here and there. No more packing lunch boxes, signing papers, and making sure everyone has a coat. At least have a break from it for a bit.

I know I will be singing another tune about 2 weeks into vacation when they are at each others throats and all I'm doing is counting down the days until the first day of school. But, that is what us moms do.

It seems like we have been busy, but not doing a whole lot..if that makes sense. Just had the parents of my high school BFF stop by for an over nighter. We did a little wine tasting, BBQ. (Thank you poppy and Mimi for the GIANT bag of M&M's Ellie and Braydon had them for breakfast the next day) Wine and BBQ is looking like a pattern here. 

Braydon goes to a 3 day camp this week with his 5th grade class. He says he is not sure if he wants to go because the puppy will miss him. WHATEVER! I think he is just nervous to go because he really doesn't know these kids. It's a bit different then camp last year when he went with his buds. 

I have been trying to plant my garden but the dang ground squirrels keep eating the tops off my starts. I think I'm going to have to cage the plants for now or go on a squirrel hunt. We are hoping for some green peppers, tomatoes, musk melon, watermelon, and a few cucumbers. This will be my first attempt at a garden. We will see. 

I have been absolutely loving this weather we are having. Sunny and 80+ is the life for me. Truly I don't care if it's 26 degrees as long as the sun is out. Why is it so much more motivating to get up and moving for the day when the sun is out. No wonder there is so many depression issues in the Pacific Northwest. 

I really hope to be posting more to the blog. I feel like we have not been documenting our "New Normal" Over here on the east side of the state. But the sunshine just keeps me away from the computer working on my tan.

Puppy updates

Where to start? These guys are a blast to have around! (minus the puppy accidents in the house) I'll start with Mister. His name describes him to a T. He is a true gentleman. There is nothing like having a mature well behaved dog. He is so even tempered. He is so gentle with the kids. If he gets enough of their noises or constant need to touch him, he ever so politely goes to find another place to be.

When we were at the kennel, the breeder said she was leery about us taking him home since he had not been around too many kids. She also thought he needed a large fenced yard because he was a bit wild.

Turns out he loves the kids, is just happy snooping around in the back yard, and is only wild when you are wild with him.

Mister is a great addition to our family.

Then there is Murphy. Murphy is all puppy. He plays hard and sleeps hard. The potty training thing is a real hit and miss. One day he goes outside all day and the next he has accidents. Again, all puppy. He is still sleeping with Braydon and right by my side all day. 

Mister is real good with him too. Murphy will bite on Misters tail and Mister drags him across the hardwood floor. They are comical.

This is Murphy taking a little nap on the back of the couch. He really is asleep like that.

Things I have learned about wine tasting

Moving to Washington wine country has opened up a whole new world for me. I used to buy my wine a Target solely based on if the label was cute. Little did I know moving here would completely make me a wine snob. I broke open a bottle I  purchased at the local Target before I moved. Lets just say it went down the sink. I now know what I was missing, a good wine.

By no means am I an expert. My taste buds just have been open to a whole other taste. And I like it.

One of the things I have learned is, I like wine very much. exclusively red wine, until this last festival. The bottle in the middle is from Maison Bleue..YUM! The only white so far that has actually come home with me. I was hoping I didn't purchase it because I was taste happy. But, come to find out, it was really good.

The second thing I have learned is for us locals, don't go to the tasting rooms on a Saturday. All the visitors are here and it is busy.  It is nearly impossible to get to taste anything, ask questions, and enjoy the experience. On Saturdays  is not likely  you will get a second taste of a particular wine. It's best to go on Sunday or get drunk during the weekday. Wink!

Third thing I have learned is, Don't go to the tasting rooms during a festival. Unless you know for sure you are going to buy a bottle of wine, or really want to try it. Being a local, I find it a rip off that I have to pay to taste. It really cuts into the budget. 5.00 each? Some places do give you a coupon for 5.00 back on a bottle, but what if I don't want to buy a bottle and I just want to taste? There are some tasting rooms that do not charge, mostly the smaller vineyards.

It's definitely better for me to wait for the off weekend!!! Free wine!

These are my 3 favorites this week. 2007 Lemberger by Alexandria Nicole. 2008 Notre Vie by Maison Bleue, and my all time favorite, 2006 Merlot by Olsen Hills Estates. (on my 3rd bottle)

Piles

This one word (PLIES) seems to sum up my days here. I have plies of  clean laundry, piles of dirty laundry,  piles of school papers the kids bring home, piles of mail, piles of dog hair and piles the puppy leaves behind.

I know I sound like every mom around the world, but I have never been one to let things pile up like this. Well, not the puppy and dog hair ones.

I get the kids off to school, hit the gym, come home clean the morning dishes, take the dogs out for a walk, clean up puppy messes, make beds, take a shower, throw a load of laundry in, run a couple of errands and it's time to get the kids. Where did the time go.

I admit I do look at Facebook, Prez Hilton ( gotta get the latest celeb gossip), and MSN news in the morning while the kids eat breakfast and I do check my email during the day. I don't watch daytime TV or afternoon TV for that matter. Food network is on in the background, hopefully to inspire me too cook a gourmet meal for my family.

As Brandon kisses me goodbye in the morning I hear, "Hey Honey, I need work socks." 

Crap, That means laundry again, didn't I just do that? 

When the kids get home we are having snack, homework, taking the dogs out for a walk again, and getting dinner started. Then it is showers and time for bed.

I cannot seem to catch up on all of the things in between.   

I was worried about moving to a small town that I would be bored and not have anything to do. I don't think I have to worry about that too much right now. My to do list is still a mile long.

I still haven't begun to do all the scapbooking I wanted to do. I still haven't organized the file cabinet. I still haven't made it over to the west side to visit my BFF's, Where do my days go?

The puppy isn't that much work. The kids are not that much work. Do I have a time management issue?

I thought I was more together then that. Maybe I should get off of the blog and Facebook? NAH!

The biggest suckers in the world!!!!

See these 2 people here in the photo above? Suckers I tell yah. Yesterday was a good Easter Sunday for every one here in the "Why do these kids keep calling me mom?" household. 

With the recent loss of our beloved Vinny, we chose to take a look at a new puppy, but what happened? Well, I fell in love with this guy...

Meet Mister. He is a 41/2 year old Papillon. He was rescued from a breeder going out of business. He is so sweet and easy going. I could not leave there with out him. The breeder was not real crazy about us giving him a home since he had no been around too many kids. But, we changed her mind on that. By the end of the visit Mister was licking the kids and following them around. He was more then happy to go home with us, even sleeping on my lap the entire way.

My heart is a little fuller now with Mister in our lives. Oh, but wait. Remember we said we went to look at puppies?

Meet Murphy. He is a 10 week old Papillon. SUCKERS I tell you. The kids are so jacked. Me the other hand...I'm a bit busy now.

Moving forward

It's funny how you let an animal into your heart. Vinny was so much a part of us in his short little life. We inter-weaved him into our daily agendas, and it never became a second thought if he was going on a road trip or if he was going camping, he was because he was one of us. 

One of the saddest things is not being greeted at the door with a happy wag or a howl, welcoming you back. 

His good night love before tucking him and Braydon in for the night and turning off the lights.

It was his own vice of chasing cars that did him in. This was only one of many brushes with death for him. He was a freak when it came to cars. It's not surprising this would be his demise. 

The kids are already asking for another dog. I'm not sure I'm ready. But I miss not having a dog here. Like I said he had been so much a part of us that it really feels strange. I like the knowing he would bark if someone was nosing around outside, or if the doorbell rang. Not that his little 10 pound body was going to protect us, but he was for sure our heads up.

I have been looking at other dogs to help appease the kids, it seems to be helping them. They are excited to look at pictures of puppies and the thought of bringing home another family member got them smiling and laughing. But my heart has truly not forgotten about our sweet little Vinny. *Sigh*

All of you out there, give your pets a little squeeze tonight, for me.