The Porcelian Express

Yes, this is what you think it is (or was). A black widow. In my house. Alive (or was). Strong will to live I guess..... survived the entire winter so far in my garage... Well, I'm sorry if whoever reads this is against killing spiders, but I'd rather save the lives of my family. She went for a ride in the toilet. Bye bye black widow.

***CUPCAKES***

Haylie got this cool baking set for Christmas. It comes with all sorts of fun things (I even like it)! So, instead of making dinner tonight, we made CUPCAKES!!! We had a blast!So proud that she put the cupcake liners in all by herself ;)
Enjoying "making" cupcakes!
The finished product!

Danner

This, is a really sad and a little bit graphic post. So, if you have a weak stomach, I'd stop reading now.

Our dog, or rather Joe's dog, has Parvo. For those of you who don't know what Parvo is... it's a disease that lives on any imaginable surface. Hot or cold, rainy or windy. It even survives on pant legs and shoes. It's extremely contagious and very deadly. Most dogs get it when they're puppies, and mainly if they haven't had their Parvo vaccination. It's very rare for a dog Danner's age (1.5) to get it. The vaccination comes in 3 different boosters for puppies, and then they should get another one about 8-12 months later. Then, the medication is supposed to last for about 3 years (FYI in case anyone is looking to get a family dog). In Danner's case, he only had the first of the three boosters (STUPID US), and so he caught it, we think when we went down to Idaho for New Years.

When we got home on the 3rd, he started vomiting. Next it was coming out the other end, accompanied by blood (sorry). After there was nothing left to exit his body, he just quit eating. He was still drinking a little bit, but soon after he quit eating, he was throwing up water as well. He's lost about 20 lbs. It's just awful. Poor Joe is just devastated... Danner is his buddy. They LOVE each other and Danner just lights up when Joe walks through the door. I haven't seen very many dogs who love their owner more than Danner.

After we got home from Idaho, we took Danner in to the vet. After it was all said and done, our bill ended up being around $765. I know some people don't like to talk about money, but at this point, it doesn't really matter to me who knows. Danner had to stay at the vet, hooked up to an IV, a catheter, on antibiotic for the blood in his stools, and on vomiting medication. He was there from Monday until Sunday. Saturday morning, Danner ate his food!! We were thrilled! Sunday morning, we went before church and picked him up and he got to come home! We couldn't be any happier! Today, Danner quit eating. Again. He threw up all that was in his stomach: bile. So, here we go again. Tomorrow morning, we are heading back to Sunnyside to try and save his life for the second time. The saddest part about it, is, there's no way we can pay another $800 in the same month. I really hope this Dr. has a trick up her sleeve. I might be sleeping alone tonight...

The Great Flood

This won't mean much to some people, but this is the Yakima River, which runs right along the border of our town. With all of the snow we got this winter, and the rate at which it melted, the rivers are flooding like CRAZY!!! We are reminded every day we drive over the bridge to get home, how incredible Mother Nature really is. Kind of ironic actually... we pray so hard for moisture so that our crops can grow, and the river ends up flooding!

Towards the left of the picture, you can see some wooden posts sticking out of the ground...that's the edge of a road that goes down to a big clearing next to what should be the river.

Also, on the right side of the picture, you can see like 3 trees out in the middle of the river... those usually are on land.

Not Sure.....

Somehow... this... happened on Friday night. Some neighbors stopped by, and we were showing them our "Johnny Jump Up" because she has a 13 month old, and another one on the way, and thought she might be able to use it. We put Connor in there to test it out, and while we were talking, Haylie thought she'd get in there and have a little try. Well... you can't really see their faces, but it was quite the stressful moment! I'm supposed to add that Haylie was SO stuck, that it took us a good 2-3 minutes to get her out of there... (It really did)

This One's For You Chelsea!

Meet Sassy!

Sassy is Haylie's beloved Christmas present from my Nana, her great-grandma.

Our lab is sick, and so has been staying at the vet. The kids went with me to check on him yesterday, and our other 2 dogs (yes, we have 3 dogs) got some vaccinations while we were there. The vet office has free leashes, and so we ended up home with a couple of them. Haylie took it upon herself to "pretend." I promise I didn't teach her to hang things! In fact, I told her that Sassy was choking. BUT, she insisted I take a picture of her and Sassy...

The funniest part is, for some reason, this doll has her tongue sticking out to the side, so she looks like she really is choking.

Should I be worried?

Play date anyone?

My dad got this for the kids for Christmas this year and it was our "biggest" gift. I was a little surprised he got it for my kids, because we begged him to get us one when we were little and he wouldn't do it. Apparently he had a friend who got paralyzed on a trampoline when they were kids, so he was scared of them. This one has the net that goes all the way around it, with a door that zips closed, so I think he felt a little bit better about that.

Joe was like a kid in a candy store with this trampoline! His family grew up with one, so he was very excited to set it up for Haylie and Connor as soon as the snow melted. I told him I heard that there was supposed to be another storm coming, but he didn't care. He said he'd just take it apart if it did snow again. Mmhmm...sure he will! As you can see, everyone is in their big coats and hats, except for Connor who was only on for a couple of minutes. They LOVE it! I'm so excited for this summer! I feel like I'm part of the "play date club" and can have something to entertain kids with.