Chivalry Is Alive In Elementary School

Mr. Schmitty, T., R., Ruby, and I all took a stroll to W.'s school yesterday afternoon to pick him up upon dismissal. It was a beautiful day, a little warm for April, but I much prefer it to the cold and am so happy winter is gone. The school is very close to our home so it's a nice walk for the preschoolers. No worries that they will tire and we'll have to carry them.

Now that we have the world's most ADORABLE PUPPY it's very difficult to leave the school when the kids are released. Pretty much every child who comes out the front door makes a pit stop to pet and fawn over her before they get on the bus or begin their walk home. A few of the kids have even told their moms not to worry if they are a few minutes late because they are with us and the puppy. It's very comical.

One little girl, A., in particular walks home with us everyday we bring Ruby. She is a friend and classmate of W. and lives directly behind us. We've known her and her family since W. was a toddler.

All of Ruby's fans finally let us leave. We begin to walk and I notice W. say to A., who was carrying a backpack and a big shopping bag full of items she needed for a project, "A., let me carry that bag for you."

I beamed with pride and told him how thoughtful a gesture that was. Another mom overheard him and commented to me that he was just the sweetest boy. My heart swelled.

W. then says to A., "Actually A., I usually do this as a free service for everyone."

As opposed to what? Charging for it?

The Laughs Just Keep Coming

Sometimes, I swear our daily happenings can be turned into a sitcom. We always seem to have chaos running amok or some sort of situation or crisis. I'm so glad we have a sense of humor or else we'd lose our minds.

As you all know 4 out of 5 in the Schmitty household are sick. Not just a cold sick, but some sort of evil germ is trying to wipe us out. It's a very, VERY, nasty bug. We are lying around like lumps of dog poo.

And speaking of dog poo, as if I don't have a hard enough time trying to raise three kids, we get this bright idea to add a puppy. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm glad we did and we absolutely ADORE her. But as Murphy's Law would have it, we have to get a puppy and come down with the plague.

So picture this. The other night I'm in the bathroom, again, door wide-open, because I have not one shred of dignity left. W. is in the downstairs shower screaming that he's, "DOOOONE!" At almost 9 years old you would think he'd stop being afraid of being by himself in the house. We have a split level house and he freaks if he's on a level of it alone. He's continually yelling that he's done showering. I obviously can't do anything about it. Then I hear T. in the hallway.

"EWWWWW!" I know what that means. Ruby. Again.

I then hear R., "Mommy Ruby pooped and it smells!"

"Well, now you know what your diapers are like!" I reply.

She walks into the bathroom and pukes at my feet.

Oh.For.The.Love.Of.God!

Our Home Has Grown By 4 Feet

Well, she's here! Little Miss Ruby. She flew here from Ohio on Thursday and Mr. Schmitty picked her up from the airport. He called when he was about three minutes from the house and I got the kids all ready. I told them to sit on the floor and be still. I thought she might be nervous and I didn't want them to freak her out.

Mr. Schmitty came in and placed her on the floor. The pictures we saw of her did her absolutely NO justice. She was more cute than I imagined! I swear she is the most adorable puppy I have ever seen! She ran right over to the kids, tail wagging, and jumped up to kiss all of their faces. She is so sweet and friendly.



Here are a few moments from the weekend with the new addition:

1. T. "Mommy, Ruby is pooping on the living room floor! Ewww...it looks like toothpaste is being squeezed out!"

2. R. is crying.

"What's the matter honey?"

"Ruby keeps stealing my sock!"

The puppy completely pulled her sock off of her while she was standing and ran away with it!

3. Besides potty training a puppy we are still potty training R. Mr. Schmitty was putting her pull-up on and said, "Now remember R., if you have to go potty, don't forget to go outside."

4. I sometimes tell Mr. Schmitty that I get a little baby tug every so often. Not that I am going to have any more kids, the baby factory is definitely closed. But you know, that pull in your heart that makes you miss when they were infants. The first night Ruby was here, well, the kids kinda drove me crazy. I know they were excited and all but it was very chaotic. After they went to bed the puppy curled up in my lap and fell to sleep. Mr. Schmitty asked me, "Will she do to satisfy your baby cravings?" I replied, "Actually, I was thinking of putting the kids up for adoption and getting 2 more puppies."

Just Checking In

I can't believe Easter is a week away. I.AM.NOT.READY! I've got to get a grip. I have to find and unpack our plastic eggs from the crawl space, gotta find those Easter baskets - God only knows where they are, buy some eggs to dye - oh yea, and have to locate the box of dye we bought a month ago, need to get to the store to finish buying stuff to put in those plastic eggs before all they have is black jelly beans - YUCK, I'm so happy W. had a school fundraiser for Easter candy, at least the kids will each get a chocolate bunny. I also have to start taking pictures, I want to send them on a scavenger hunt for their baskets. You hide plastic eggs with clues of places in the house which will lead them to the next clue in an egg and eventually their baskets. For those of you who celebrate Easter, what kind of fun traditions do you have?

On another note, thanks to Mom On Coffee for asking how I've been. I truly appreciate all of the concern and well wishes I have gotten from everyone! I've been a little better. I still have bouts of stomach pain, actually it's more like an ache, some nausea at times too. I think the Nexium is helping somewhat. My anxiety is a lot better, I've got more patience too with a little help from my friend Paxil. I still have bad nights with the sleep. I purchased a new mattress and it is helping a little bit, but I am tired a lot. I have to go for an endoscopy next Tuesday and I also have to schedule an ultrasound of my abdomen. Hopefully they will find something. At this point I just want a diagnosis so we can get this under control.

Well, my dear daughter R. is awake. She is yelling for me to come get her, why she just doesn't get out of her bed is beyond me.

P.S. I got the pictures of the litter of puppies we are interested in. We have to choose one we like - I'm excited. Though you all need to remind me of that when I start complaining that I must have been out of my mind to get a puppy!

Hey buddy, my eyes are up here

Mr. Schmitty and I have decided to get a puppy for the kids. Well, for me too, I just love animals and think it's time for a pet. We have found a breeder in Ohio that has the type of dog we are looking for. It's one of the new "designer breeds", technically, it's a mutt. But it's the most ADORABLE mutt I've ever seen. The puppy is part Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and part Bichon Frise, and is called a Cavachon. We are waiting for the details and pictures to see if she has a female we will name Ruby. I think I'm more excited than the kids!

Yesterday I was showing T. pictures of the puppies on the woman's website. When we were done he said that he wanted to see pictures of other doggies. I Googled "puppies", clicked on images, and before I could even look at the computer screen he yells, "EEEWWW, mommy look at those puppies!"

Hooray for the internet!