Sometimes we lie to kids.

It feels *kind of* bad to lie to Luke... so frequently... but hear me out.

He is the typical, tomato hating 7 year old. He doesn't want tomatoes touching anything he plans on eating - and he definitely doesn't want me to do the mom thing and try to sneak them into his belly.

I found a way around this.

"It's not tomato, Luke. It's rotel - like in cheese dip!" Not all the way a lie.... and he doesn't ask any questions about anything related to cheese dip. Cheese dip is the ultimate kid delicacy.

Last night he was eating my husband's version of chicken spaghetti - which is probably better than mine... - and he says "Is this tomato or rotel?" I very quickly said "ROTEL! We know you don't like tomatoes"

To which he responded, "well... it's just that, I don't think I can tell the difference anymore. I think I like tomatoes"

HOORAY!!!

PS - my husband is off work all week... can I just say that having a house husband is AMAZING. I come home and dinner is ready... I even get handed a glass of wine. A girl could get used to this.

The Dog (sitting) Days Are Over

SO....

I emailed my boss lady last night because Luke is sick and JD couldn't miss his client meeting this morning. I told her I would be at work by 12:30. Let me just recap how my night went. OH - and I'm dog sitting this little puppy named Kent. He is adorable, and his mommy is my friend. And Amanda - my bestie that is always on our couch - is spending the night. We sort of refer to her as our adopted daughter. Our first born.

12:00... finally get to bed.I'm not really sure what the hold up was, but I didn't get to bed until this late.

1:30.... Luke gets us up. He isn't feeling well and he can't sleep.

3:00 Luke gets us up.

4:30 Luke gets us up.

5:30 Luke gets us up.

6:00 we had JUST fallen back asleep. Amanda gets us up because she needs to let Dakota out (her dog) and she doesn't know how to disarm the security system. I tell her if she is going to let Dakota out, Shep (large dopey dog) is going to hear her and she'll just have to let all the dogs out. Including Pete - even though he maintains that he is not a dog.

6:05 - Amanda STOMPS back into our bedroom to tell us that Kent has been sick ALL in his kennel - and that he is now running around our garage covered in poo.

I lay there for a minute trying to take in what this means for me....

6:07 - she comes back in to tell me that Shep has had a similar experience. Naturally, since he is my baby, I jump out of bed and the second I walk into the garage... the smell slaps me across the face... I have never smelled something so AWFUL. SO AWFUL....... so. awful.

I get Shep outside and grab a towel to go find Kent (I also make "shoes" out of Kroger bags....my feet were bare!) - I wrap him in the towel and get him outside... I bleach the floor of the garage, the living room (our little Amanda ran through the house after stepping all in Kent's mess...), I throw a rug away that was ruined in the process.... then JD and I go out to hose the dogs and their beds down.

I called the vet - by now it's 7:30.... they don't open until 8. JD, Amanda and I lay down (all in our bed... but we were so sleepy that it wasn't weird) and we sleep for 30 minutes... then I prep my car AKA load it down with towels and blankets that I will later have to burn - and then I put Kent (who still reeks!) and Shep (who is just tired and listless) in my back seat.... take them to the vet.

Kent is so dehydrated that they kept him for the day. Shep gets to go back home and get treated like a little prince.... Luke and JD are home laying around... and I'm feeling quite zombie-ish. It's now 1:00 PM.

I get a call from the vet around 5ish - I've been as productive as a sleepless girl can be at work - and I head to go get Kent.

He is currently sleeping in my laundry room... poor little guy..... I feel so bad for him. His momma is in Honduras doing the Lord's work until Saturday. I feel like the worst dog sitter EVER - even though I know I did all I could do...

Ack.

Fireworks for Luke

The more spontaneous the happenings, the more..... (this is going to sound cheesy) genuine things feel. Just.... easy...natural. Maybe I'll start to make sense in a minute...

Example:
4th of July Fireworks. Now: if we had PLANNED on attending the River Market fireworks... I wouldn't have been very excited. I don't like crowds... or loud noises. Or bugs. I would have planned on going solely for Luke - because he is 7 (only for a few more weeks! AHH!) and he loves fireworks (... and bugs). My husband, knowing me, didn't even bring it up.... until about 30 minutes before we needed to be there.

I rushed home from my very relaxing K-Roger trip (something about grocery shopping is relaxing to me... as long as I don't go in hungry - in which case it becomes a race to see if I actually pay for the Oreos before I purchase them). Anywho: I leave Kroger knowing that there is a huge possibility I'm about to face a few elements that I avoid individually and DEFINITELY when they're all together - but I didn't have time to get all upset about it or even think about it.

Came home. Unpacked said groceries. Packed our really cute red picnic basket (I love this thing... it makes me feel precious). put on "real" shoes (ie: not flip flops) and then we all jumped in the car to go downtown with the rest of Little Rock. By now it's 8:40 and fireworks are supposed to start at 9:something.

We parked. We walked. We found a really great place on the lawn to unpack our blanket, take off our shoes and open the red picnic basket. We snacked on fruit and veggies and Stacey's Pita Chips (I'm in LOVE with these). It felt so nice. It wouldn't have been so nice if we had planned on it. I can't put my finger on why.... but it wouldn't have. (Look at my boys in that photo... even in the same step. So cute.)

The fireworks were actually pretty impressive. I did my best not to freak out - and Luke was in love with the sky the entire time.

Totally worth the effort. It couldn't have felt the same if we planned it.

LADY! WHY did you have to be standing there? Geez.