Introducing Ted Wait For It Dunow and other random Dunow happenings.

This is our new addition to the Dunowbunch.  His name is Ted Wait For It Dunow.  Logan named him.

You would have to be a big fan of the TV show "How I met you Mother" to get the name.  Needless to say, it's quite hilarious.  Little Ted WFI has filled a little hole in my heart since Buster has passed away.  I'm hoping Poppy warms up to him soon.  She really needs someone to play with.

He is the sweetest little thing.  There is nothing cuter than a baby cat, except for a baby dog or a human baby.

Maybe a baby elephant,

baby monkey,

sea lion....

Never mind.  There are a lot of cute babies out there!

Let's just say I am loving him so much.

Several weeks ago, Logan went to work with Troy for the day.  While Troy worked, Logan took to the streets of downtown Vancouver.

Troy took him to lunch at a place called Fresh Local Wild.  It's been featured on the show "Diner, Drive In's and Dives"

They had a good time and took some neat pictures.

 Lilacs.

Wonderful smelling Lilacs.

I spent the day relaxing, just smelling the perfume of this beautiful bouquet.

Then Logan came home from school and started to sneeze and tear up and complain about the horrible smell in the house.

Leave it to a teenage boy to burst my bubble.

 The garden here at my house is bursting with flowers.  Everyday I go outside and there is something new popping up.

 A couple of weeks ago we had to drain our lower pond, take the fish out, clean it and repair some leaks.  It was some major entertainment watching the kids try to catch the fish with this bucket.

 Then Troy spotted this guy and Logan and I completely freaked out.  I bet they don't have cute babies.

Soren, the best Mother's day gift I ever had.

It was Soren's birthday last Friday but we celebrated it on Saturday.  I had him on a Mother's day, what a special gift to myself!

We had a few of his friends over to celebrate with him.  They played games, had lego building contest and made A LOT of noise.

Soren gets migraines when he eats red dye, most preservatives and lot's of sugar.  I made him a texas sheet cake since it's one of his favorites.  I made a double batch.  Apparently texas sheet cake doesn't work for stacked cakes.  How stinkin funny is that?

We had lot's of veggie and fruits for the kids to snack on.  They all loved it.

Everybody participated in a game of kick ball.  I did it mostly to get energy out of the kids.  They made me tired just watching them.

Olivia had a little melt down during the game, so I took her and walked around the yard with her.  We spotted Logan's #1 enemy.  This Frog lives on the upper part of the pond.  It's so fun to just sit and watch him.

I think Olivia was jealous that Soren was getting all the attention.  That's the baby for you!

I took these today.  Olivia will have total conversations with herself.  She is such a character to watch play things out.

It's Mother's Day today.  I was outside today trying to get some planting done.  I get my love of gardening from my Mother.  I always think of her when I am outside working.  I'll see my lilacs that have bloomed and think of how our house used to smell growing up with huge bouquets of lilacs in vases.  Every plant, flower and tree, I think of her.  She taught me how to appreciate and enjoy nature.

Happy Mother's day Mom.

Springtime in Custer, Washington.

It's green here.  I mean really, really green.  Everyday it's a shock to us and everyday we comment on it.  Of course we are used to New Mexico and all of it's vast brownness.   I love and miss New Mexico, but it's just.......brown.

Here it's just.....GREEN.

Logan and one of his friends Brady were trying to catch some fish.  They had just gotten back from fishing elsewhere.  The boys ended up catching 4 trout at some little lake.  They made my fridge stink.

Along with all this green comes slugs.  Oh how I hate slugs.  I can't run across the grass without shoes on.  Never mind the fact I can't remember the last time I ran. If I were to ever run across the grass, I couldn't due to these slimy little snot slimmers.

Have I mentioned how wet it is here.

It is.

There are a lot of trees on the property with blossoms.  I have no idea what kind of trees they are.  I guess I will be finding out when they start growing fruit.  So excited to can this year!

One of my most favorite colors is yellow.

I stood on our back porch and took this picture.  I love to watch the deer.  I know people love to hunt, but for the life of me I don't know how they can look at a deer and want to shoot such a lovely creature.  I suppose that's why I'm a vegetarian.

Don't know what this is either.  They're little heart.  How lovely!

If you look really close, you can see the frog that lives in the pond off our porch.  Logan just loves it!  I need to come up with a name for the guy, or gal.  Let's hope they're not any little froggies being made.

I wander around the yard and marvel at what's coming up.  The greenness of it all.

The rhubarb is already huge.

More blossoms.

These purple little pansies are popping up all over the place.  Even in the lawn.  I cringe when I mow over them.

Ok, so I don't normally post pictures of myself let alone my hinny.  I just want people to know how Troy is when he is suppose to be helping me.

I was trying to get the kids posed so I could take their photo.  Troy is standing back with the camera making funny faces at the kids taking very unflattering shots of my backside.

When I downloaded these pictures I let out a not so lady like scream at my "very funny" husband.

He just laughed.

Oh, I just noticed little Buster sitting there.  Sigh.  I am having a really difficult time with him not being with us anymore.

My kids are keeping me busy.  They make me laugh.

The top and bottom pictures are typical of how my life runs.  I couldn't ask for a better life.

Full of laughter, husbands who love to play pranks, kids who argue, house that's always in some state of mess and a food bill that keeps getting bigger.

We love living here in the land of green, slugs and all.  Every day brings something new for us.  More places to explore, plants to examine, birds to watch, friends to make and work to be done.

Saying goodbye to Buster.

Our little Buster was taken from us last Saturday.  He was killed instantly when a car hit him.

Our hearts are all hurting right now.
 

He came into our lives last December, right after our move to Washington.  We all needed a new friend and Buster was that little guy who filled that role.  The kids all bonded with him in different ways.

The girls loved to walk him.  Soren loved to throw balls around with him.  Logan and Buster were BFF's.  Buster slept in Logan's room every night. When Logan would get home from school, Buster would follow him everywhere.

For me, he was someone to take care of.  I needed that when all the kids were at school.  He was my little companion during the day.  When I would take a nap, he would come snuggle with me.  At night when I would crawl into bed to read, Buster was there with me.  Then Logan would steel him when it was bedtime!

He loved, loved, loved the snow.

Sometimes we joked that he was more cat than dog.  He lounged on the back of the couch in the sun.  Logan found out that Buster was a really good mouser.  One morning Buster had caught a mouse and brought it to Logan in bed.  He was so proud of himself!

I had gotten a bunch of baby toys at Goodwill for Buster to play with.  He would go over to his basket and take out a toy and play with it.  That would happen until the basket was empty.  He never did learn how to clean up his toys.

The mole hills were always a source of entertainment for him.  He would dig until we could just see his tail sticking out.

This video below is of Buster after he got into some catnip.  Yes, one more reason he was so cat like.

We only had Buster for such a short little while, but he made such a huge impact on our lives.  It's amazing how we will love such a small little creature so fiercely.  It's been extremely difficult not having him with us.  I am so glad that he didn't suffer.

The kids planted some flowers on his grave by the forest.  That has helped them a bit.  I am thankful for the time Buster was in our lives.  He will be missed greatly.

Family pictures spring 2012

I took advantage of the sunny skies here in Northern Washington and took some family pictures. Unfortunately the cornfield behind our house had just been fertilized with cow manure. It stunk sooooo bad.
Logan is our oldest at 16.

Anna is 14

Ella -11

Soren, almost 9

and our baby Olivia, at 6 years old.

I am proud of who my children are becoming. They each have such different unique personalities. They will fight like siblings do, then stick up for each other when it's needed. When someone needs a friend, it's my children who are reaching out to them. They are learning to be kind to others despite their differences in race, religion or culture.

I feel my kids are growing up too fast. I want to slow it down and make these experiences last, yet I know that's not how it's going to happen. Life will continue to fly by. At least I will have these pictures to remind me of the little moments we have together.