Bye Bye Prika :(

After Prika had lived with us for about two weeks, I started breaking out with hives.  I was so frustrated and didn't tell anyone for about a week.  I then tried a bunch of different things.  Some would work for a little while, but then stop and some just plain didn't work. 

 So after much inner turmoil, we decided we needed to give Prika back to the breeder.

He picked her up a week ago and we miss her a lot, but my hives have gone away.

I'm less irritable and I feel better.

Prika is enjoying being with her mom and a few of her siblings.  She is still the runt and the smallest of them by a bit. She is such a good dog and a pretty one as well, I think she'll find a new home without too much trouble. Well, it was fun while it lasted, but our home will have to be dog free.

So long Prika.

Finished Yard

I don't think I ever posted pictures of our finished yard.  I took these a while ago, but other than the seasons things haven't changed too much. The lighting isn't great, but it'll do.

 

 This is our front area.  The bushes actually look a lot better in real life and had finally started blooming good before the first frost.

 This is our back yard.

 Here is our playset. Our lot is about a third of an acre, which is huge when you're landscaping everything yourself.  We have been pleased with how things have turned out so far, but I don't think we ever want to do this again.

Here is part of our garden.  We ended up with a bunch of carrots, peas, beans, peppers, and some butternut squashes.  We also had some tomatos, but not as many as we would have liked.  We were excited how much we got considering we just kind of threw it together while we were doing all the other landscaping.

Gabby's Birthday

Gabby turned two!  I have to admit I was pretty sad at the thought of my baby leaving babyhood, but I'll survive.  She got a baby doll that she loves very much.  In fact she has about six or seven babies lined up on her bed each night that she takes care of.  She loves pink and declares anything pink "my pink" and says it is hers.  She had a nice birthday and loves her new pink clothes and is such a girly girl at this point in her life. We love our Gabby!!

Halloween 2010

I feel ridiculous posting these so late, but better late than never.  For Halloween, Emma was Medusa's head on a table (at least for the picture, she quickly ditched the table like I told her she probably would, but she insisted.)  Ben was a ninja.  Eliza was a bat.  Gabby was a giraffe, and Gideon was batman.  Batman was elusive though and I somehow missed taking a picture of him.  Next time I'll have to call up Peter Parker to take one for me.

Jedi Ben is 9!

Ben turned 9 and had a Star Wars birthday party.  We did a modified Jedi Training Academy with ideas I had found on the Internet.  The boys wore "jedi" tunics and we colored Darth Maul and decorated goodie bags with crayons and stickers.  Then the boys tested their jedi abilities by rolling ball down the stairs while trying to hit Star Wars Action figures. We then did lightsaber training with lightsabers I got at the dollar store. We also hit the death star pinata, which the kids actually took pieces of home.  A couple boys actually used their jedi costumes as Halloween costumes at the ward party, so I think the party was a success.

Ben's Millennium Falcon Cake

Where to start?--catch up time

Well my hiatus is over and I need to get back to documenting our lives.  Here is a summary of October:

At the beginning of October, Gideon, Gabby, Prika and I went to a pumpkin patch in Colorado with our church playgroup.  We were able to choose pumpkins, had a hayride, and roasted hot dogs for lunch.  It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the nice weather.  Prika got along with everybody and we had fun playing with our friends.

In October we finished soccer season (big sigh from Jenn).  With four playing and Dan coaching Emma's team, it was a long six weeks.  The kids all had a blast and all played really well. I'm just not sure I can handle another season, but we are already signed up for next spring, so we'll see how that works out. 

One Saturday in October we went to the temple, and on our way back we stopped at a corn maze.  WE went to a different one last year and like it better, but this year we had Prika with us and didn't want to leave her alone all day, so we went to this one.  We had fun getting lost in the maze.  We did it twice.  The first time we went through in about 45 minutes or so.  We decided to go in a different way the second time and had "help" from other maze people and it took us about an hour.  we still had fun though.  They had a couple of playsets from a playset selling place set up and some blow up thingies that the kids really enjoyed. They also had some animals there that the kids liked seeing.  It was fun, but I think we'll go back to Anderson Farms next year.  They just had more to do.

Prika's Home

 Our puppy came to live with us on Tuesday.  Alex, her breeder, had just given her her first vaccinations and it was a bumby ride from his house, so she was really nervous.  She was pretty anxious most of the day, but was starting to calm down after the kids went to bed. Wednesday she was better and she seems even better today.  So hopefully she'll get used to living with all of us humans and no other dogs.

 We decided to name her Prika, which is short for Paprika.  She loves to chew on her toys. We keep her crate on the main floor of our house and she takes her naps there. She also retreats when she has had enough of the kids, or I'll put here in there when she has had enough of them. She seems to be doing okay with house training.  We watch for her signals and put her out when she needs to go.