Pool is Open!!!

It's that time of year again...

The neighborhood pool is open. It always opens Memorial Day weekend and closes Labor Day weekend.

Here are some photos from our first outing of the year...

Ready for the walk to the club house

Getting used to the water


Settled in and enjoying our swim - of course, T Rex insisted we take a sphere!


T Rex "swimming" to his sphere


Victory! The sphere was reached.

Wishing you all fun filled days and a way to stay cool during these warm days!

Last days approaching to get your comments in for this month's giveaway.

Another Weekend Project

This was last weekend's project.

I've been looking for an "after swimming" robe for T Rex. I really have not been able to find one. There was a "toweled hoodie" at our local department store but when I tried it on him, it was too small so I took it back. It's really hard to find ones in his size. So, I decided to copy the pattern from one of his hooded vests and tweak a few things and here you have it!

I think I'll probably make another one because I am very dissatisfied with the terry cloth material I used. I wanted it to be like a wearable towel but the terry cloth unravels horribly. Someone suggested using an old towel and try it again. That's an excellent idea and I might just do that. I guess that $1.99/yd fabric really lives up to its price. I used velco to fasten the hoodie rather than attempting button holes on such difficult fabric. It works perfectly and T Rex enjoys closing and opening it on his own.

Here he is modeling it while "vacuuming" the remnants of my sewing project! He is a very clean child! Note he carries two spheres in the other hand.

Next weekend's project will be May's giveaway winner - the giveaway continues until the end of the week. I am planning an apron. Click here to see what it will look like. Alternatively, if you are May's giveaway winner and you prefer something other than an apron, I am happy to make anything else I've previously used as a give away item.

Onto next weekend's project...

Tuesday's Tribute - "Shelley"

T Rex Dad and Shelley have been friends since 4th grade. At that time they played soccer together. Since then they've been close friends through junior high, high school, etc. Hence, it just makes sense that she is now an honorary aunt and god parent to our little T Rex.

She's truly a spectacular person. Aside from the fact that she's probably the smartest person we know, she's a tremendously caring and giving person. No surprise that with such qualities she chose to become a physician. And not just any physician - an anesthesiologist (how many times did I have to spell check that one?). Yes, she was on speed dial when we were getting that epidural for T Rex's birth.

We love that's she the total sci-fi guru like us. Makes it easy to share the same interests. And it also means she gets our obscure jokes that only the most hard core Star Trek or Stargate fans would understand.

I find it interesting (and hopefully I'm not sharing too much here) that she had horrible asthma as a kid - much like our little T Rex. It gives us hope that this will not stop him from doing amazing things, just like her.

As frosting on the cake, she is married to a totally awesome guy - Rich. They have their own blog, News From Summit Ridge. They are always taking amazing trips - usually involving some kind of mountain climbing. Last year's Christmas card was taken from the top of one of those "hikes". And they're die hard Seattle Mariners fans - yes, they were even married on Safeco Field!

T Rex absolutely adores "Aunt Shelley" - her and Rich came over for dinner this weekend and T Rex took her hand and away they disappeared for 45 minutes to play until it was dinner time. Then after dinner was over he went to sit on her lap for another 20 minutes. Usually he does not sit on anyone's lap for more than a few minutes. (I can barely get him to hold still long enough to finish drinking his milk before bed.)

We feel so fortunate and blessed to have such am amazing person in our lives.

Don't forget about the May giveaway going on until the end of the month.

For more Tuesday's Tributes Visit:

All of Our Children...

In the beginning there was Sydney - the black Lab. Initially she was my dog - I brought her to our marriage and T Rex Dad adopted her. If you've followed our blog for a while you know she's had a couple bouts with cancer and lupoid onchodystrophy but seems to continue to thrive at the age of ten. Coincidentally, she and I have the same birthday.

Then shortly after we were married - Anya joined the family. She is a Bolognese - a rare breed of small dog. So rare at the time there were only 4 breeders in the US with waiting lists at least 6-12 months out. Thus, we looked into importing from Italy - origin of the Bolognese. She was not the original Anya - our Anya was delayed because she was scheduled to arrived the week of 9/11 and the attacks on the World Trade Center. All flights were grounded and cargo was halted.

Thus, the breeder sold our dog and gave us the daughter of the world champion. The only stipulation for giving us his prized puppy was we were obligated to breed her at least once. We agreed and our Anya (papered name "Pompeia") arrived in late October. She was our "first born" child and still acts as such. She really is the queen of the castle.

As agreed, we bred Anya and she had three puppies: Andreanio, Dolly, and Jack. Andre went to a wonderful lady in Ohio who uses him as a stud for other litters. My mother kept Dolly and my sister-in-law took Jack. Sometime I'll post photos of them as puppies - too cute! Two years later we bred her again. This time, the puppies did not make it and Anya had to have an emergency C-section and hysterectomy just to be saved. It was horrible - especially when she came home from the dog hospital looking aimlessly for her puppies. She mourned for months and we feared her spirit was broken. Then we got an email from Andre's mom in Ohio - she had a female puppy needing a home. We thought this would be just the ticket to perk Anya's spirits. Enter Sonador or "Sona" (pronounced "Sewn-ya-door" or "Sewn-ya").

Sonador is very playful but fairly shy. She will fetch all day if you let her. And one of her favorite pastimes is chasing the birds. Anya is nothing like this. The best way to differentiate between them (other than Anya wears a red collar and Sonador the blue) is that Anya acts like a human princess and Sona acts like a dog - one likes to be petted and groomed and the other just wants to run and play. Anya treats Sona like she's her own personal pet!

Then there's our little T Rex - our first two-legged human chid. You know all about him. Note in the photo below he is playing with the same toy Sydney has in her mouth in one of the earlier photos. And both he and all the dogs were drinking from the same water. As fate would have it, he is allergic to dogs. Horrible huh? He started having breathing issues at 6 months and was diagnosed with asthma and allergies. The scratch testing showed the only thing at that point he was allergic to - dogs. That has changed our lives significantly but the breathing issues are improving. He will still break into hives occasionally after playing with Sydney - never the little ones, but it is so hard to keep them apart - they love each other SO much.

Sydney is unbelievably protective of the little guy - I fear for anyone strange approaching our yard - her hackles and teeth really come out! She'll even sit at the base of the slide and wait for him.

This is first flattering photo I have EVER captured of all three of our four-legged kids all together. I guess after photographing a moving target (AKA T Rex) I've gotten pretty good at capturing photos!

And now you can say you've been introduced to all the kids!

Don't forget about the giveaway going on until the end of the month. I will be working on projects all weekend and post photos of them next week as well as announce the winner of the giveaway.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!!

Wordful Wednesday - Our Lucky Charm

Wordful Wednesday - brought to you by:

*Wordful Wednesday is for those of us that like to showcase a photo(s) but that just can't seem keep our mouths shut about it(them).

Life just seems to keep getting better - especially since this little one joined the family! There must be a correlation!!!

Don't you think it's very appropriate he is wearing shamrocks, which he put on himself, hanging around his neck?!?

I just love those bare feet!!!

Outdoor Toy Shopping...

We've been wanting to get some outdoor toys for T Rex but are on a rather tight budget with me starting school next month. Therefore, rather than heading to the store to buy something new we've been checking garage sales and craigslist.com for the past several weeks.

This weekend we found the jungle gym of the genre we've been looking for. We have limited back yard space and a small child, thus we were very specific about what we needed and wanted. As luck would have it, the playset was located only 5 minutes from our house - very unusual since we live on the outskirts of town. All the more reason I think it was meant for us!

Our friends were kind enough to loan us their truck to haul the set as well as provided a place for T Rex to hang out while we ran our errand. The set was in excellent condition and was exactly what we were hoping for. We paid the sweet family their asking price - an amazing deal - and we came home to set the gym up.

All ready for a T Rex to play

In fact, the friends who loaned us the truck and watched T Rex posted a photo of the boys playing while we were gone. You should check out their blog: Cooper au fil du temps. We might have the jungle gym but they have the pool and the sandbox!

T Rex had a wonderful time playing on his new set. However, it was really warm this weekend and I wanted to do something that would provide cooling relief after climbing on the slides. The first thing we did was hose the set down so the parts would not burn our little guy. Then we discovered he loved sliding down with the water running on the slides. Thus, I think it will be a regular thing for him to be out in his swimming attire while he plays on his jungle gym in hot weather.

T Rex Dad also slipped on some swimming trunks and participated in the fun!

Lastly, taking the advise of my friend Caitlin (click here if you want to read her posting that gave me the inspiration), I made a "water table" for T Rex out of a sweater box. You know those plastic ones that are meant to fit under the bed? This particular one has wheels - high tech! I filled it with water, T Rex's bath toys, and he spent hours - yes, hours, playing with it. I estimate this container costs around $8 - significant cost differce from the $75 kids water table I saw on Amazon.com! (Time playing allowing Mom to work in the garden - priceless!) He did get quite wet but that was the intended point - to cool off.

There you have it - outdoor toys on a budget. Alas, the bike trailer I was saving for is going to have to be put on hold another year but I think we'll be staying home more with the play gym in the back yard anyway.

Wishing you all warm fun days of your own!

May giveaway going on now - one entry counted per comment per posting per blog (T Rex Mom & Dad Tales and/or T Rex Tales). Entries doubled for followers.

Busted!!!

I've been noticing an animal control vehicle parked in the neighborhood the past few weeks. We sometimes see coyotes and I figured one might be causing problems and someone called animal control.

Last week a friend came over with her toddler and we took the kids for a walk on a nearby trail. Sydney, our Lab, begged to go with us. We've been taking her running on this trail for years. In fact, our backyard borders the trail.

We embarked on our walk. Recently, signs have been posted on the trail stating dogs must be leashed at all times. I still let Syd run off the leash - no one was around and we watch people from our backyard run their dogs off-leash all the time. It seemed to be an uneventful walk. Syd was a little hyper since this was only the second time I had taken her on the trail this year. The boys were content with their snacks of puffs but alas they started to get antsy so we turned around. Syd continued making her rounds sniffing every bush in sight.

We noticed a few bikers on the trail above us but Syd paid them little attention. We also encountered a couple other dogs also off leash but they sniffed each other and went along their ways. Then there were a couple of bikers wearing bright yellow vests making their way toward us.

Finally it clicked in my head - animal control was patrolling the trail making sure people keep their dogs on leash. The officers turned out to be from the sheriff's office. Indeed they stopped us, but I had Syd on her leash by then (yes, I do take it with us). The officer proceeded with his questioning starting with "How are you today?" What I wanted to reply was "How my day is really depends on how this conversation is going to end." I resisted the urge to back talk, though - really resisted - and clicked into polite charming person mode. I did not want a ticket.

He asked if I saw the posted signs - yes. He asked if we walk on the trail often - honestly, it was only the second time this year (no lie). He said they are patrolling to make sure people keep their dogs on leash on this trail. I mentioned our backyard borders the trail and we've walked on it for years and no one leashed their dogs. He said that was exactly why they were enforcing the regulation. I mentioned the animal control vehicle parked for the past several weeks and just assumed we had a coyote problem and was relieved that was not the case. He said he would give me a warning and sent us along our way.

On a side note, the boys sat perfectly still and quiet during the conversation with the officer. Something about his sheriff uniform that must have been intimidating!

We continuing on our way and finished the walk successfully. Anytime no one melts down - a definite success! Upon reflection I can only conclude a couple of things. One the economy must be really bad if officers are giving out tickets for off-leash dogs. This is Idaho and not the big city. We live on the outskirts of town - barely in city limits. It's not like we're in a downtown area letting our dogs run free. I guess the state really needs money to finish construction on our roads! Secondly, it is a little disturbing that we've seen significant increases in home robberies and drug activity, and yet officers are riding their bikes on a nearly deserted trail handing out tickets for off-leash dogs. In the officer's defense, he was only doing his job and was very polite about it. And, we were in violation of the regulation.

Oh, well. We were busted but got off with only a warning this time. But I still watch folks from my back window running with their off-leash dogs. It does not bother me - I just hope they don't get busted too!