The Wobbinator 3000

Meet Bobby.
He's been with us since early September now, and I think we're all mostly agreed that he can stay.  It did indeed take this long for him to worm his way securely into our hearts.  Dustin is still not positive - but now he's outnumbered by the the rest of us.
Bobby is a "Morkie".  Or a "Yorktese", if you prefer.  A mix of a Yorkshire Terrier (Silk Terrier my groomer told me to be exact) and a Maltese.
He came to us (for a pretty penny; I wont lie) at the age of 7 months, and from a home that welcomed their first human child 2 months prior.

Energetic Puppy + New Baby = new home for puppy. Simply math really.

He came to us with the name "Corona" (Yes, like the beer) and I don't know about you,  but the only Beer name I could see yelling out the door was maybe "Bud", so renaming him was something we were all on board with, and Bud wasnt an option.
Here's where Dustin jumped on board - he loves the naming part.  And, the more human, the better.  After some hmming and hawwwwing, "Ricky Bobby" it was, after a stupid Will Ferrel movie- Taladega Nights!
The first month or so, our poor pup thought we must have had an invisible member of the family - who was this Bobby?!  But he caught on, we refused to call him Corona - and now he listens (when he chooses to) quite well when we speak to him.
Naturally, the boys all have a million nicknames for him - Dustin's favorite is "No Wobby No", or "Jerk", and Zach's is "The Wobbinator 3000", and "Licky Bobby"(he never stops licking!).  Yes, 'Wobby' has replaced Bobby when they are playing.  I'm not surprised.

Zach is smitten, as you probably knew already.  He is my animal lover.  He comments all the time how happy he is we got an indoor dog.
Brad took longer.  Claiming Bobby had "no potential" to ever be a good dog (we had to work on A LOT of behavioral issues that I think he old family just didn't have time to work on with the new baby), but a few months later, Brad is willing to admit then Bobby is like-able,  and may just in fact grow into a "good dog".  Right now, we're in the adolescence stage, and everything is being tested, so that's frustrating.  Bobby is, I mean.  Although I'd think Brad would share common ground on this issue. (totally joking, I still dont know how we managed to have such amazing kids!)

Bobby is my new baby in a way.  And I knew it would be something like this when we had our children very young.  I miss something to snuggle and cuddle and take care of.  My friends with young children laugh at me now - but someday they'll understand it too.  I have no doubt. And i dont mind the teasing.  I seriously AM becoming "that" person with a fur-baby.  I find it just as funny.

Dustin tolerates Bobby.  Bobby doesn't shed, so that's all that really mattered to him, and is doing very well with house training- as long as I keep track of what goes in and when it needs to come out. And I'm happy (usually) that we got an indoor dog.  Happy wife, happy life.  Dustin is taking that one to heart on this subject.  He pays for the food, but really doesn't do any of the care taking, and that's fine.  I didnt expect him to.

So, that's it.  A new member of our family.  And one I can put in a kennel and have a break from (legally!) any time I need.  Works for me! :)

watching sports with his new bestie

they were both sleeping until I took the photo -brad didn't wake up though!

RARE photo of him still and not trying to chew me

How many more times will I have a cup with a handpicked flower on my window ledge?  How many more times will a kid come in, glowing with the knowledge that he has something behind his back that will make his mom smile?  Already, it's a little bit of a 'tongue-in-cheek' act, as though they're way too old to be doing such childish things.  They've graduated from dandelions -which I kind of miss, by the way- to the wild daisies that grow around our acreage in the denser bush.  The hands that hold them out are not chubby toddler fingers anymore, but capable pre-teen and teenager hands.
 It's hit me pretty hard lately … my kids really are growing up.  And no matter how hard I try to freeze time now, or slow it down, it seems to just keep speeding past.
I find myself trying to soak up my kids' every day now.  Some days its easier than others.  I dont claim to be a saint and am faaaaar from a perfect mom - I definitely dont have endless patience for the bickering that happens.  BUT -  It seems like I'm running out of time with them.  Today I took special care to remember details.



Brad is in SK with Dustin right now, he tagged along for an overnighter to go check a job site.  That left Zach and me here to hold down the fort.
It's a normal Thursday, only I told him we'll have a "date" since we were on our own for supper and the evening. We get groceries in the afternoon.  He chooses a watermelon for an extra summer snack around the pool this week, and bar-b-que chips.  He chooses Plain M&Ms for our treat with a movie this evening, and I dont even try to talk him into the Peanut ones.  He rides the end of the cart to the car, draping himself as a human tie-down over the precariously balanced bins I have in it (I hate Walmart carts for bins.  But I hate plastic bags even more, so we deal with bins balanced in carts) laughing that he's loosing his grip and there's no foot space on the underside.
We stop by Canadian Tire. He's talked me into letting him buy yet another soccer ball.  This is an insanely special one because it's the official FIFA colors.  We check the spot where there had been lots of them last week, only to find the shelf empty.  We track down an employee who goes to check the infamous 'back',  and he confidently tells me she will find one- because he just prayed.  He lets out a good loud  "YESSS!!!" when she comes around the corner carrying his treasure.  (Score another one for his child-like faith!) He's beaming and grinning all the way to the checkout.
Somehow he talks me into letting him pay me back for the ball with money, instead of the agreed on chores to work for it as we drive home.  He'll still help weed the garden tomorrow though, he tells me, because Brad's not home and he'll be bored anyway.  I agree.  I'm pretty sure he knows I'll forget to transfer the funds from his bank account, so the least he can do is help weed.
We arrive at home, he helps unload the groceries from the car, or the milk jugs anyway.  By the time he's done with those I've got the rest in the house…. then he grabs a teaspoon to share the melted edges from the ice cream we just bought (my mom always did this with me when I was little, and it seems I've taught my kids it too.  Soft and melted edges are the best!) and then he settles in to watch the sports channel.
Later, we go back into town and pick out a movie (Robo-cop) and he chooses where our "date" for supper will be.  He chooses McDonalds …  then Subway … or maybe Dairy Queen.  Then he rethinks  it and chooses McDonalds again, telling me not to let him change his mind ... and then he realizes he hasn't even considered A&W.  But he wants McDonalds.  Until we start driving.  Then he flops back to A&W, telling me to forget that he told me he wasn't allowed to change his mind.  This is the only time I've ever been grateful Steinbach does not have more choice for fast-food; we may never have eaten if it did.
He insists he wants fries and not onion rings, and then eats all of my onion rings.  He claims he's starving when I ordered him the 3 piece chicken strip meal (he wants the 5) and then brings home half of the 3 piece meal because he's full.

He tells me about FIFA World Cup during supper.  How Spain won the entire games last time, but surprisingly, was out in the first round this time.  How Brazil lost horribly to Germany, and how sad it was to see Brazil so upset.  I learned that one player (forgive me, he told me the name and I forget now) was taken out of the games and suspended from anything relating to soccer for 4 months for biting another players shoulder.  We agree that biting should only be something toddler still do.  He tells me  another is recovering from a fractured vertebrae from a knee hitting his back, and I silently add Professional Soccer Player the list of careers I don't want my boys in.  I learn the average distance a soccer player runs during a full game is close to 10 kms.  I learn a lot from my 10 year old about soccer this evening.

We come home again, movie in hand, and decide to get outside settled for the evening before starting it.  He tells me he'll help cover the pool and water the flowers and garden.  After the pool is covered, he becomes moral support rather than help, choosing to snuggle his beloved cats instead.  He tells me Big Mama must be expecting kittens, she's much heavier than she's ever been - and I actually do think she may be, she does seem rounder.  He tells me he needs to get something from the garage and hands me Big Mama telling me not to put her down, she needs snuggling, and he isnt done.  So I stand there by the garden, swarmed by mosquitoes, and realize I'm rocking a pregnant cat as though she were a baby herself - because my kid told me to.  It makes me smile.
He returns - not sure what he got because he's empty handed- and takes back Big Mama.  He asks (again) how many kittens we'll keep if she really does have a litter.  And (again) we talk about the chances of there being longer haired ones like she is.  And orange ones.  He wants orange ones.

We I finish watering, and he finishes snuggling and we head in for our movie.  We decide to watch in my room because it's more comfy in bed.  The previews aren't even finished and he's asking for M&Ms.  I tell him to wait a bit, we just had a big supper.  He asks what's in Dad's and my secret stash in the headboard compartment, and I realize it's not a secret stash anymore.  I give him the M&Ms.

The movie ends and we agree it was pretty good.  We text with Dustin and Brad a bit and then he goes and gets his ipod and plays a game beside me while I edit photos.  Before we know it, it's 9:50pm and well past bedtime.

And now I sit here and type this, thinking that it's yet another day gone by with him.  Chances are he wont remember it, it was just a typical day really.  But I hope I will.

I love you, Zachary.

I'm just going to skip the excuses for not blogging in a year - life is busy. That's the deal.


The house is coming along nicely.  More is done than is not.  I cant even begin to tell you how nice that is!  I'm actually starting to think about re-doing some of the things that were done first nearly 4 years ago - like our master bedroom paint color.  Brad is itching to change his room color as well.

The stairwell got moved to a much less inconvenient spot, which allowed us to change the laundry room into Dustin's office right by the garage door, and the old office into the laundry room (which was now a much smaller room since the stairwell runs along the side).  It all just makes sense now.  It was an insane amount of work - and Dustin did an amazing job as usual.  I cant get over how good he is at what he does.

The main floor sunroom (there is another on the upper floor) has been redone.  I had painted it when we moved in to make it brighter and "clean" in the least, but now it has been insulated (still 3 season though), new ceiling, new flooring, and a nice 'siding' looking panelling on the walls.  I scoured the MCC for old rocking chairs for a few weeks, and it's become our favorite morning coffee spot.

The mosquitoes are awful this year with the amount of rain we've had.  It smells like a swamp when we're in the back yard.  The area we are wanting to seed eventually has been under water since spring, with only a day or two to dry out after Dustin had a pump going from the pit to the ditch.  But then it would rain and overflow again.  After a dozen times pumping it out (no joke) and quite a lot of money spent on fuel for the pump, we've decided to just let it be flooded.  Our house is much higher and is in no danger of the water coming in, so it'll just be wet there this year.
We plan to dig the pit out larger when it finally is dry enough to get a machine in there, but that likely will not happen this year.

Dustin built 3 garden boxes for me this year, and we planted our favorites.  It's too bad its so wet, I'm having a hard time getting in there to weed. And really, with the boxes, weeding is very easy.  We picked a low, wetter spot in the yard (since most years it doesn't rain a fraction of what it has this year), and I need rubber boots just to walk around them.  They do drain well being boxes, but the mosquitoes there are beyond horrid.  And they're vicious!  Bug spray doesn't stop them this year.  It's really too bad, I was really excited about lots of fresh produce, but it looks like some things just arent handling this much rain well.  I'm still holding out hope that the rain will stop and everything will dry up.  And the mosquitoes will subsequently die off.

Camping ('Glamping' is more accurate) has been something we're actually enjoying now that we've got nice big camper trailer.  We just spent a few days at Birds Hill, and the weather was amazing. We absolutely loved staying in the camper. We're really looking forward to heading down into the states for a family holiday in August with it, not only to enjoy family time, but also celebrate our 15th anniversary.

Brad is now a teen.  That statement should invoke fear I'm told, but I can honestly say I'm loving it (cue the McDonald's theme: ba-da-buh-buh-buh).  He is super helpful, eating us out of house and home, and usually in a fairly good mood, as long as he's slept enough.  He's very responsible (always has been) and usually very enjoyable to be around and have a good discussion with.  He borrows Dustin's clothes, and wears a shoe size one size bigger than him already.  He's into dirt biking, and restoring the old Allis Chalmbers, drawing his amazing cartoons, and basketball.  Oh, and coffee.  He loves a good cup of coffee now too.
Zach will disagree with some of these statements about friendliness.  I think he's getting the brunt of the "teenager" change from his older brother.  But mainly, it's just because Brad doesn't want to "play" as much (he's too busy making another sandwich ;).
They do get along better that a lot of siblings still - and I really cant complain.  I hear some horror stories from other newly teen's parents of how the changes are in their home, and I am really really thankful I can still "like" my kid. lol.

Zachary is still a sports nut. If there is a ball involved, you have his full attention.  He adores Sydney Crosby, and has quite the collection of poster, framed cards, and jerseys to prove it.  Some day he'll have an amazing 'man cave' with all his stuff, and in the meantime, there's no question when you look in his room as to what he likes.
Both boys decided not to play football this year, Brad took up the dirt biking, and Zach has been playing ball-hockey once a week.  He also loves to call up Grampa and go play tennis in town.
He's still the cat-whisperer around here, choosing to face the swarms of bugs to snuggle the cats outside.  They run to him crying to be picked up when he's outside, and are purring before he even has them fully in his arms. He was the first one to pickup an HUGE orange tom-cat that hangs around our yard, that we've coined "big Daddy" and is still the only one the big cat doesn't run from.

One of the greatest things of the past year has been the birth of our new niece, Kara.  My brother Andrew and his wife Geena welcomed her on Easter Sunday.  I dont think saying we are all smitten with her describes it well enough - but we are.  We are all wrapped around those chubby little fingers, and melting at her gummy smiles and coos.  Before her, Zach was the "baby" of my extended family, so a new person was huge for us all.
I had the insane pleasure of doing her newborn photos, and am over the moon excited to do her 3 month photos soon.  I seriously cant wait to get that little peanut in my arms again.  I am so in love with her.

Work is awesome for both Dustin and myself.
The studio is busy, mostly with babies and children sessions (my favorite!) and I joined the PPOC this year (Professional Photographers Of Canada).  I am an observer member until I complete at least one Accreditation, so I'm working on the Newborn category right now.  One of the required images to be submitted is of "multiples", and wouldn't you know it - an old neighbour of ours was due with TRIPLETS this summer and graciously agreed to let me photograph her family.  I dont think I've ever been so nervous and excited at the same time!  The session is in a few days so I'm busy crocheting tiny hats and pants for them.  hee hee, love it!
Dustin continues to be an AMAZING Project Manager for a local home building company.  The company is amazing too, we are truly blessed with all the extras they pour down on us.  Dustin oversees ALL the trades, their scheduling and delivery of material, permits, and as of this year - the COR safety supervisor for all the sites.  He really does enjoy what he does, and we all love the freedom he has to set his own hours.  He'll often go in super early and then be home when they boys get home from school.  Of course, his phone is always on and he delegates from wherever he is at the time.


You'll remember if you've read my past blog posts (or know me in person) that I went down to San Antonio a few years ago to hang out with a great friend of mine.  I was thrilled that Ashley was able to come up to visit me this past month.  We were able to photograph a newborn together, and she saw how my life is here.  We took in some of the tourist sites - and I learnt some things about my local area in the process too!
She also blessed us with some gorgeous family/anniversary photos. What an amazing thing to have! I absolutely love them!  Check out A to Z Photography if you're looking for a photographer in San Antonio!