"Snips and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made of!"
Surrounded by my sweet boys (hubby Eric, sons Connor and Ramsey, and our dog, Jango), I thought this a rather befitting name for my crew's blog. To our cherished friends and family, happy viewing! We love you!
Our "sweet little puppy" just had a birthday! As of November 8th, Riggs is three years old.
Some people are nuts about photographing their pets. I'm just nuts about photographing the family in general. Our dog is no exception. I'm posting pics as a walk down memory lane, from the adorable playful puppy months, to the rambunctious times of older puppydom (yup, just made that word up - no judging!) and early adolescence, to his maturation of the family's protector (or, at least 'barker-when-so-much-as-a-mouse-toots').
Before we met him:
The day we met him and brought him home (December 27th, 2013):
And the days since....
Right before Ramsey was born:
Kisses from Ramsey:
Halloween lion:
The day of his 1st Birthday:
More days in the life....
We had a fun little party for him (just before our "election party", with pizza and goodies) and gave him his presents (a big ol' bag of pigs' ears and a new frog squeaky/tug toy).
We gave him a pig's ear right away (gross, yes, but he loves them). He inhaled it; it was gone in less than five minutes!
Happy Birthday, Riggsy... You're a faithful and loving companion... and just a darn good doggie! WUF YOU!
I always seem to need some sort of a "project" to fulfill my creative side. One day, I was tooling around on Pinterest. Oh yes... Pinterest... my dear friend and giver of fabulous recipes and project ideas!
I started clicking links for chalk-painting projects, scanning through unbelievable before and after pictures of mediocre (or, in some instances, heinous) old furniture pieces that were "magically" transformed into beautiful new enchanting potential heirlooms. Perhaps that is a bit dramatic, but really... there were some astounding makeovers! I found something that caught my eye, as well as solving a fundamental need in our house. It was an old quasi-dilapidated chest of drawers that was turned into a bench with storage. Yes, this was definitely something I must have!
My inspiration pieces:
I didn't have any existing pieces of my own to use, so I found this jewel on Craig's List. Isn't she a looker? Ew. Well, more blah than "ew". But, she had good bones; real wood, dove-tailed drawers, and sturdy [brass] handles. I hated the brass handles.
My Mom, Ramsey, and I took a road trip to pick it up. I dropped it off at Mom's neighbor's wood-working shop; he's a fantastic carpenter and craftsman. I showed him what I wanted and he revamped the chest of drawers for me, lickety-split!
He dropped it off yesterday afternoon. I was so excited that, last night, I got out the ol' chalk paint, put on a coat (plus touch-ups) then sanded it to distress it slightly. Over my lunch break today, I waxed it and hauled it into our entry way (thank you, forearm forklifts and nasty old towel for your assistance).
I filled it up with all of our gloves, scarves, hats, Riggs' toys and leashes, etc, then added some candles and a throw pillow.
Fashion and function!
Might I add... I now love the ugly tarnished brass handles!
I do plan to make a seat cushion for this, but since I am not a seamstress (darn it!), I will ask this duty of one of mother's friends.
Ok... now... what will the next project be?!? Mua-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaa!
Too often we take for granted the true beauty of nature! Yes, every day, I look across the lake and smile at the scenic view. It's been such a hectic few months that we hadn't ventured too far on foot to check out the gorgeous environment in its autumn glory.
It's been so nice out lately that we've been itching to venture away. Since Riggsy needs some much overdue extended exercise, I took him for a hike on the trail next to the lake, just to the South of us.
I started off with Riggs on a long leash. His actions were precisely this: stop, sniff, pee, run, stop, look around, pee, sniff, poop, run, repeat. My arm was getting exhausted, as was my patience. So, off the chain he went, released from its confinement. He was happier than ever, passing back and forth through the tall brush, scoping out scents that he'd tracked, and stopping every now and again to see where I was and to "doggie smile" at me.
He managed to scare up a few pheasant hens (that scared the dickens out of me; was NOT expecting that).
Yup, it was a good day! We'll be continuing this daily... as long as the weather stays friendly.
Over the course of the last month, each week Connor is excited to show us a new card trick that he learned from videos on the Internet.
We're all skeptical while watching him, then try to debunk his methods! We're quite impressed!! After he shows us the tricks, he then tells us how he did it. Magicians aren't supposed to give up their secrets, but I'm glad he does; it's fun learning how he dupes us!
I wanted to take a video of him doing one of his tricks, but he "politely declined". I think he was being a shy teenager! Maybe I'll snag one later on. :-)
Ah, Halloween... personally, my second-favorite holiday! (Christmas is always first.)
And Fall, one of my four favorite seasons (*wink*); the beautiful rich autumn colors in nature, plus decorating the house is always so much fun!
Connor is 14, so he's not "into" dressing up anymore, but Daddy and Ramsey searched online for Halloween costumes. They found lots of fun ideas. Of course, everything was related to Star Wars! Would he be a Snow Trooper (one of Ramsey's favorites), BB8, Kylo Ren? When the notion came up for Momma to be Princess Leia, here's Ramsey's reaction:
If he was looking at the Princess Leia gold bikini costume, I could completely understand why he'd be laughing! (Eeek!!) But, it was the white dress outfit, so...?
Eventually, Daddy and Ramsey finalized that Ramsey would be BB8, the little round droid from Star Wars 7. So here's the costume we originally had in mind:
Realizing that we didn't have enough time to create such an extraordinary costume (plus we were quite certain that Ramsey probably would NOT want to wear a large cumbersome ball or a stifling helmet on his head at Age 2), we took the easy route; a few mouse clicks on a big box website and we just bought one (plus some cute BB8 pajamas to wear underneath)!
Prior to Halloween, Eric and I did take on some creative work and had some fun with pumpkin art. I took two pumpkins (from the beloved Pumpkin Ranch) and painted them to look like BB8. Note: Later, I had added small wooden dowels into the top of BB8's head for antennae and also glued a clear round bubble mold for his camera/eye.
Eric tediously carved Darth Vader into another pumpkin. It was awesome when he lit it up with candles. Ramsey was a little afraid of it at first. It was just that cool. :-)
On the "big day" of Halloween, I took off from work early so Ramsey and I could get ready and do some fun things in the afternoon. We were planning to go the police department to see Daddy, the staff, and the police cars... and then go see Connor and go trick-or-treating.
We visited Daddy first in his office, then went around to all of the other departments to get candy! Ramsey was NOT shy at all. He went into people's offices, used "the force" on them (Vader-style - envision nice "throat hugs"), and was "getting them" with his Han Solo and Darth Vader figures, making funny verbal gestures. And, of course, up and down the hallway, he ran... and ran... and ran.
He stopped into Chris' office and, without coaxing, he seated himself into one of the guest chairs. Chris and Daddy teased that he looked like he was there for a job interview. When Chris asked him why he thought he'd be a good addition to the Detective Division, Ramsey looked him straight in the eye, put his hands up in the air, and shrugged. Then, he bolted.
...only to return to ask for some Halloween goodies. Chris didn't have much for candy, so he gave him a pen, a crumpled-up piece of paper... and later found a Green Lantern action figure.
Daddy then took Ramsey to see the police cars so he could see the lights (no sirens this time!). That got his attention!
Ramsey and I left to run a quick errand and Eric went to pick Connor up from his after-school activities (weight-lifting at the Y!).
We met up with the boys at Bethlehem Lutheran; they had a Trunk or Treat event with many people dressed up, handing out candy.
We had fun, but Ramsey just wanted to RUN. So, we got some candy, let him run for a few minutes, and finally headed home.
