Two More Days!

In two days we head west to see my parents! It will be a LONG 17 hours in the van (we're to cheap to stay in hotels so it will literally be 17 hours straight in the van) with three kids, but my parents did it all the time with us when we were young and we didnt have a van, we had a station wagon with windows that didnt roll down, and one summer the heater was stuck on. I think we'll be fine.

I tried to find a picture of our station wagon but couldnt, this is another rig we travelled in from the midwest to Alaska

I made the mistake about a week ago of telling the kids that we were going to Grandma and Grandpas soon. Well Blondie being very literal AND VERY impatient has been asking me about 100 times a day if we're going soon... When she wakes up, when shes playing, when we're riding in the car, at bed time, while we're eating... I tried doing the how many sleeps thing and a calender to show her, she doesnt get it (I never did get a paper chain made but I could almost see her pulling the links off when Im not looking to try to make us leave sooner). Anyway, needless to say shes excited and she doesnt get that soon means a few days not right this minute. Im really happy about the fact that my hubby is working 1st shift this week so we get to leave nine hours earlier than we would have. Oh man do I enjoy him being on first shift... Unfortunately its only this week that he gets to be on it. We go to bed at a decent time and when Blondie wakes up Im not dead tired, like I always am on his normal shift. Its really really nice. Also it seems like we have so much more time together. Sigh.
George has been riding his bike like a champ. He learned two wheels last year but was a big chicken and lazy about it, this summer though he has really caught on. He can keep up with us on family bike rides and has taken two nasty spills but got right back on. Brave boy. He skinned up both his arms and chin the other day pretty bad, he had bandaides all over the place. Someone from church asked him if he had a picnic with the pavement :o) Haha! It makes him seem so grown up riding around on his big boy bike. We went to Khols the other day and they had a lot of stuff 60% off and my friend had a 30% off coupon. George was in desperate need of some clothes, so I got him several shirts and a pair of shorts. He looks so handsome in his new duds. He also ripped the sole from his shoe the sole was worn through anyway (I was trying to make the shoes last until winter), and when I felt his toe in his shoe, his shoes were bordering on to small! Poor kid! So it was time for him to get some new shoes. My mom sent me a $10 off coupon at Khols and with the 30% off coupon we got him some pretty nice (somewhat obnoxious) shoes. The ones he picked out have huge light up flames that cover the entire toe. He gets shoes so infrequently that I let him pick ones that maybe I woulnt have chosen, but he thinks they are so cool.
In other news we have a very unique dog. I know animal stories arent always the most interesting but I havent really said a whole lot about her so shes going to get some time on my blog. Lasso (George chose her name, my dad is really into cowboys so it was fitting) is a Welsh Corgi. She has legs that are about six inches tall and a body that is about two feet long and HUGE pointy ears. My hubby will sit and pet her and comment often about her large interesting ears. I think she looks like a Wiener Dog mixed with a fox. When she runs she looks like a rabbit because her back legs hop like a bunny. She tries to jump on our couches which takes two to three attempts each time. She'll be running leap and smack into the side of the couch then jump, and miss than jump and finally make it, since her legs are so short jumping on couches is hard work. The other day she tried to jump from the couch to the coffee table (I have no idea why) and only managed to get one paw on the coffee table and was frantically holding onto the couch with one back paw (keep in mind she has tiny little legs), she stayed extended between the two for a good 20 seconds. She never did make it to the coffee table, she fell. One more odd thing about her is she sleeps on her back. Not on her side but completely on her back with her short little legs in the air.
Lasso does SOOOOOO well with the kids. They can be rough sometimes but she never nips at them. My son smothers her and she just sits there and takes it. I dont have to worry that she will bite them, shes just mellow. We've had two other puppies in the past and she doesnt act like a puppy at all. They were wild and hyper but shes almost on the lazy side. Shes super calm, AND a big bonus she doesnt bark very often! Nice! She seems to really like Tiny, one time Tiny was crying in her bed and the bedroom door was closed. Lasso went and laid on the ground infront of her door and pressed her nose up against it. She stayed there until I went in and got Tiny. It was sweet. My parents gave her to us (they mate Welsh Corgis) and they couldnt have given us a sweeter dog.