THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE NORTON FAMILY & CAN WE SWIM YET?

MEET THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE NORTON FAMILY:

HA HA- I'M SOOOOO KIDDING! But we did go back to the pet store the other night, and I had Chris talked into getting her. When we got there another woman had her out and was loving on her, and I knew she was as good as sold. I know we don't need her for obvious reason, but we sure did want her. I do think she went to a good home so that's good. We didn't leave empty-handed, though. Meet Geo:

We think he's beautiful too and MUCH easier to care for! :)

CAN WE SWIM YET?????

That's the question I keep getting from the boys, especially on a day like yesterday where temperatures reached the mid 70s, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was a gorgeous day! I like it - I love it - I want some more of it. (Sorry - had to say it - thanks Tim McGraw!) :)

We took a walk, played as much as we could play, and it was killing them not to get wet somehow. They still don't quite understand that the nights are still quite cold which means the water is VERY cold. But, being the boys they are, they had to see, rather feel, for themselves.

It started with washing Reid's truck:

Then lead to spraying each other:

To put it mildly, Reid didn't like that part too much:

Reid tried his best to seek revenge but he fought the water hose more than anything:

And the water hose won:

Don't worry, Mac took on the big brother role and sought revenge for him:

HAAAAA - I GOT HIM!!!!

Then of course came, "Mommy, can we PUH-LEEEEEEEEEEASE get in the pool?" "Ok," I said, "Fine. Go ahead." I knew they wouldn't last long. In they went:

And right out they came. :)

Then with teeth chattering and lips having turned a bit purple :) they asked to take a warm bath:

They got warm, put on their jammies, and got cozy on the couch. Around 5:30 Chris came home from the grocery store, so I got up to put away the groceries. When I went back in the den, this is how I found them:

We are SO ready for Spring and Summer!

BATTER UP

The batting cage is complete - perfect timing with some warmer temps this weekend. A few snapshots of our first time trying it out:

Ok, I know he's mine - but he sure is cute! :)

Brother to brother: Grant trying to teach Mac his stance:

I wish you could see the smile under that helmet:

Where's Reid you ask?

Oh he's near, I can assure you of that! He's not into baseball quite yet like his brothers are, so he was busy playing in the dirt:

And from the look on his face, probably getting into something he shouldn't:

Happy Monday!

PUPPY LOVE

Before you read this, I must say I have no idea what's going on with my pictures. I updated Post Editor and now I cannot get the pictures to do right. They're all different sizes and shapes and in all different places. Oh well, they're still pictures! :)


About two months ago both of our dogs went missing. Our sweet sweet lab, YoYo and Nate the Nuisance  (we had a love-hate relationship - I loved him when he was sleeping - HA!), our cavachon. Nate really was a sweet dog, and Chris and the boys loved him to pieces - but he crossed the line when he chewed up my favorite pair of Rainbows. Anyway, Chris went down to check on YoYo one evening before he was scheduled to take her on a duck hunt the next morning and they both were gone. We really believe they were stolen - we have our suspicions. The big picture is that our kids had two dogs and now have none. They talk about Nate and YoYo all the time and ask when they're coming home. We definitely want to get another dog but are not sure what we want to get. Do we want another lab so Chris can have his hunting dog or do we want an inside dog so the kids can have more of a pet than a lab who stays outside??? We're still trying to figure it out. Yesterday we decided to take the boys to a pet store to check out the pups. We knew going in we were not going to be leaving with one - we just wanted to play and get a feel for different ones. Who doesn't love a puppy? ALL puppies are cute, and you can't help but smile when you hold a puppy.

We checked them all out and decided we wanted to play with a French Bulldog first. I've loved these dogs since learning about them from a girl I used to work with. She got one and said she'd never have anything other.

Patiently waiting to meet him:

You better look quick because he was an energetic little thing. SO cute and friendly and VERY mischievous. A little too mischievous. He was more into what he could get his little paws on as opposed to the kids so, um, NO! We opted to try a Yorkie.  

Oh. My. Goodness!!! She was PRECIOUS! We LOVED her! She was so sweet and so small. And so very lovable. The boys each had their turn holding her and loving her. You couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces. 

Big brother went first:

I don't think I've ever seen Mackey smile so big!

Reid had his turn:

He wasn't too sure what to make of her little wet kisses :)

Then I had to get my hands on her! She snuggled up next to my face and laid her precious little head on my shoulder. It was pure sweetness! We really hated giving her back but knew we had to. As cute and sweet as she was they are so small and quite fragile. Fragility + a house full of boys = disaster waiting to happen. It wouldn't be fair to her or the boys. 

I mentioned in my post yesterday about genes and heredity. Unfortunately the boys took after Chris in the allergy department. Grant and Reid have horrible allergies around some dogs but not all which was one of the reasons for the visit yesterday- to see which ones they could handle. Not even 5 minutes after meeting the rambunctious french bulldog, poor Grant started itching:

And scratching:

And quickly opted to leave Mac, Reid and me with the puppies and go with daddy to take a look at the non-furry friends (look at his poor little eyes - bless him).

One Zyrtec later and he was fine. Reid started itching about the time we were getting ready to leave, so it did make leaving a bit easier on everyone. I don't see any french bulldogs or yorkies in our future, but even with some itching and scratching, we sure had fun while it lasted!

THAT APPLE FALLS WAAAAAY FAR

Genes run deep. I mean REAL deep. Chris and I laugh hysterically at some of the things the boys do that are exactly like some of the things we did/do. The same goes with Bethany about certain things. She's so like me sometimes it's scary. Like picking out just the right cinnamon roll. You can't just get any one. It has to be THE one, where the icing looks perfect. When we're picking out something at the grocery store, we can't get the very first one of the shelf - we have to reach behind for the next one. And I guarantee you when she starts driving she'll look for parking places you turn left into. I cannot turn right into a parking space. I side-swiped a car doing that when Grant was a baby and ever since then I've been phobic. The first time Tara turned right into a parking place Bethany thought she had made an illegal turn. :) When we have cheese and chips, the cheese has to cover every chip. The list goes on and on. Ok, so those are just things we laugh about having in common. There ARE more serious ones - real passed-down-the-gene-tree stuff. ;)

HOWEVER there are other times B's so different that, were it not for the evidence left behind of the 50 lbs. I gained while pregnant with her along with her birth video, I would wonder if she's really mine.

(This picture is not significant to this post - I just really like it.)
Bethany was voted "Most Likely to Become a Fashion Designer" by her classmates at school. And she so could become one. She's definitely got it (and she regularly keeps me in check!). It just amazes me that something that came from my loin could have that kind of natural talent/ability. HA! :)

HOW DO YOU OCCUPY THE TIME ON A COLD, RAINY DAY?

This is our recipe:

Start with a little writing/coloring:



 


then add a little hide and seek:

throw in a can of Vienna Sausages for good measure:

mix in a fun game of "You can't catch me, mama."

Be sure to add lots of this:

and finish it off with transformations into Batman: The Dark Knight (well, just the cape and mask - they didn't feel like putting on the "itchy" part) :) Then set out to save mommy from insanity the world.

There you have it. The perfect way to fill up a rainy day.

Spring, Spring, wherefore art thou Spring?!?!?

YOU KNOW IT'S A MONDAY WHEN...

Things were going so smooth it was almost scary. Everyone was up and at 'em and in a good mood. Everyone had breakfast and was dressed. Grant's lunch and backpack were packed and ready to go. We weren't running late. All the kids had been dropped off at school/preschool and I was pulling up to the post office by 8:30 a.m. to get a few things in the mail. Much to my surprise and delight (and many thanks to the reminder I set on my BB) I actually remembered everything: all the envelopes, cards, packaging materials, addresses, etc. I took my time addressing each item with my Sharpie Fine Point pen which I am in love with, waited my turn in line (only a short time I might add), and got all my packages mailed even making some friendly small-talk with the postal worker who was obviously having a good Monday herself - she was quite jolly. I turned to head out with a little skip in my step thinking to myself, "Wow, look what I've gotten done already and it's not even 9 a.m." Sounds like a pretty good start to a new week right!?! I thought so too. Until I kept going with that little skip in my step all the way up to the exit I was so sure was an automatic door.

It wasn't.

I walked straight into it. Sure did. And I did NOT turn around to see who saw it because everyone in there did.

It's a small post office.

And it was loud.

It's okay, go ahead and laugh. I eventually did. All that's hurt is a little pride.