Fear Not, She Doesn't Know How To Use It.......yet!

Meet Joe......

....the newest member of our family. Brent and I started talking about getting another dog and we decided to get a yellow lab puppy. We were going to start making some calls hoping to get one sometime in July. Well, I made a call last night and we went to see him and we brought Joe home with us. The girls spent the night at my mom and dad's so we were able to surprise them tonight. They have been smothering him with love ever since. I have student babysit the girls for the summer so they are home everyday and it will give them the oppurtunity to help look after the new dog. So far, he has tore apart his dog food bag and right now he is howling in the front entrance because he spilled his water and he is soaking wet and I won't let him in. Fun times are ahead.....

Yummy, Yummy!

It is strawberry season here and thanks to my mom, we got a fresh batch of strawberries today. Thanks Mom! What is better then fresh strawberries and vanilla ice cream? Well, according to Emily, chocolate syrup & ice cream. At least the rest of us appreciated the strawberries!

New Wheels.....

Two years ago, we gave Hayleigh a bike for her birthday hoping that she would get three years out of it. This year Brent made the comment to me that Hayleigh could really use a new bike and me be 'ol cheapo said that she could get another year out it. Last week, I was watching her ride her bike and realized that I was being one cruel mother if I made her ride that bike for another year. Her knees where pretty much touching her chin. She has had some birthday money burning a hole in her pocket and I really wanted to see her put it to good use and not just another toy. So, I asked her if she wanted to put it towards a new bike and we would pay for the rest. She thought that was great idea and here it is, a new 5 speed bike. She has figured out how to get it up to 5th gear, but getting it back down to 1st is proving to be a challenge.

With the new bike, she has given her old bike to Emily and Emily is learning to ride the two wheeler. It is still a little big for her, but she is getting the hang of it. We are still keeping the her old bike handy for the time being.

Hot Summer Days

With the hot weather that we have been having these last few days and the inflatable pool long gone because of leak in it that we could not find, the girls have been wanting the play in the sprinkler. So yesterday when I got home from work, I hooked it up for them. It is not a sprinkler, but a soaker hose and I would not even call it that because it produces more of a fine mist than soak anything. Nonetheless, Hayleigh was more then happy to run through it. Emily spent the first ten minutes circling the perimeter of the lawn for fear that she might get wet. She eventually started running through it, but it took some persuading. The girls have already asked about swimming this weekend and I am sure we will be one of the first to enjoy the pool on Saturday!

You have to love her for her honesty

Let's face it, Emily has a history of not being able to keep a secret. As much as Brent and I would like to take her shopping for gifts we have learned that if we want to keep the gift a secret it is best to just leave Emily at home and keep her in the dark until the gift is opened. Tonight I was taking the girls to get their hair cut and had to make a trip to Canadian Tire. I had planned on picking up Brent's Father's Day present, but as I was driving there, I remembered that I had Emily with me. I asked the girls if they would keep a secret about daddy's father day present. Hayleigh assured me that she could keep a secret. Emily, on the other hand told me that no, she would probably tell daddy what we bought him. So, we did not buy his father's day present. When we did get home, Emily was sure to tell him that we bought him a red jug that we could put water in when we went camping. I will just let her lead him astray!

As Promised.....

As I started to tell you all, Brent was accepted into the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program. You can read about it here. It is a nineteen month long course and includes a 10 day North American Study tour and 14 day International Study Tour. I am really excited for him and the opportunity he has been given. I will be a little jealous when he is off seeing the world and I am left at home to take care of the turkeys (and yes Jim, I have no clue how to take care of a turkey!) Apparently, while sipping one too many margaritas in Mexico, I told Brent that if he got into the program I would not only learn how to cultivate and combine, I would also learn everything involved in raising turkeys to help out while he was doing the program. This was some pretty ambitious thinking on my part. Time will tell how I make out.

The picture is from Hayleigh's class trip on Tuesday to McCully Hill Farm and a farm implement dealership. It as a very cold day. We should have packed hats & mitts. Despite the cold, the kids had a good day. I had just Hayleigh and one other little girl in my group this year so it was pretty easy day.

I Am Not Losing It......

apparently the last part of my last post was ate by blogger. Brent was accepted into the AALP program. I will explain when I have a bit more time. I guess I will just keep you all in suspense.

Good News, Bad News.

I guess I will start off with the bad and that is we had to have Louie put down yesterday. Brent found him on Thursday back in the bush in really bad shape and took him to the vet. At first, we thought he got into some rat poison, but his symptons were not indicative of that. We really had no idea. There were a couple possiblities of what may have happened to him but we did not know for sure. On Friday he showed some improvement, so we decided to give him the weekend and hopefully he would get better. On Saturday he showed no improvement over Friday. Sunday morning before going to the vet, Brent and I decided if he had shown no more improvement, we were not going to have him put down. When Brent got to the vet he perked up, but his breathing was laboured. They did some blood tests and they showed that he was getting worse and just confirmed that were making the best decision. We did not want to see him suffer anymore.

We told the girls that there was the possibility that Louie would die. Emily has always said she really missed him. Hayleigh response was that would be okay, because we can always get another dog. Hayleigh pretty much had the life goes on attitude and had convinced Emily of the same. They have already decided we are going to get a puppy and it is going to be yellow, name yet to be determined. Actually Emily's exact words are, "we are all going to have to agree on a name." They want to see where Louie is buried, but weather has cooperated.

This weekend was a hard one for me. I never thought I would get this upset about a dog. I guess I kinda had the same attitude as Hayleigh. I don't whether is just being older, being a mom or what it is, but seeing Louie like that was hard. I am starting to cry now as I type this - yesterday, I was a mess. He is now buried with all the other dogs that have roamed our farm in the last 30 years, so he's in good company.

So that was the bad news, and now for some good. Brent found out today that he was accepted into the