Learning to walk

What? My children are 5 and 3, so surely everyone in my house knows how to walk, right? Well, sort of. Our newest furry Key is not sure how to walk. Yes, he walks. I mean, he can get from point A to point B, but we recently discovered that he does not know how to go on a walk. Bless his sweet furry little heart, I do not think anyone has ever taken him. Sure, he has been out on a leash to go potty but not just for fun. Plus, when I rescued him, he has some issues. He had been cooped up, unable to walk around for Lord only knows how long. The vet said it was not a joint problem, but he just did not have any muscle tone. He has already made great improvements in that area just from having free access to a backyard. But it was obvious to us immediately that exercising in any way was never a part of his life before.

We LOVE to go for long walks. We love it the best when Dunken can be free with no leash (as does he). That was one of our favorite things about Germany. Everywhere you look there is another awesome trail through the woods or to a castle or along a river. And Dunken loved every step we took. He loved exploring and sniffing and just being a dog. And we loved watching him. We were obnoxious first time parents giggling at every cute thing he did or pointing out every weird thing he sniffed.

In Louisiana, we did not have a convenient place to take "off leash" walks. We are so happy to be back here with places to go. Last Sunday afternoon, the weather was beautiful. After lots of cold and rainy days cooped up in the house, I decided it was time to get the kids out and about. David was instantly on board, as was Dunken.

We were ready to go. Dunken was immediately excited because he knew he was going with us. He knew because he saw the leash (I am anal and always take it just in case; David makes fun of me.). This is also a sign to him that we are not just letting him ride, but he is getting to do something FUN. Max was oblivious. We get in the car. Dunken is fired up. Max is nervous - he still does not trust us completely. I think that every time we get in the car, a part of him is afraid that we are taking him back. David parks off the side of a tank trail (gotta love living on post!), and we let the dogs out first. Dunken is running around, sniffing, leaving his mark, scratching off. Max just stood there.

We get the kiddos out and everyone is headed down the trail. Dunken in the lead; he is always the leader. I look back and Max was sort of milling around. We called him. He was still not sure what to do! Bless his heart! I spent the bulk of our walk hanging back to keep him focused. Dunken still runs full speed from spot to spot. Max never ran at all! I finally had to hook the leash on his collar to sort of show him the point.

I'm walking, but I have no idea why!

I think he enjoyed himself, but I also think that he was never clear on what we were doing. Like he did not get the point - he was thinking, "I already went potty, why are we still out here?" Poor Max.

Am I supposed to be with them?

FAST FORWARD to this Sunday afternoon. We went to another tank trail to try another walk. The weather was even warmer today. We parked the car, the dogs got out. After I unhooked the kids, I was afraid we were in for another day of Max being out of it. He was walking slowly in the wrong direction for a ways, but then it happened. He saw where we were all headed. He picked up the pace and actually ran toward us! We were all so excited!

We would stop, the dogs ran ahead. BOTH dogs. The dogs would be off sniffing something, we would walk ahead. BOTH dogs would hurry behind us to catch up!! I could have cried! He gets it!

The wesite boys - BOTH enjoying their romp.

It was so rewarding. It was a great walk for many reasons. The kids had fun and explored many cool things.

Sitting on an old army vehicle wheel they discovered.

Following deer tracks we saw all over the place

Spencer gets so tired of my taking pictures all the time. . .

We all enjoyed being together.

After a while, they both "hitched rides" because their feet were so tired.

Our westies, both Dunken AND Max ran and sniffed and played.

And a few times, Dunken even let Max be the leader. . .

Max, in the lead, if but for a moment.

We all had a great time, and the westie boys were tired out afterward,

Dunk, relaxing on the ride home.

Especially our Maxers:

Learning to take walks in hard work!

Who is old?

I made a noise the other day and Jessa said, "Mommy, don't make that noise. You sound like an old person." Now, I have NO IDEA what noise I made. Frankly, I wish I did because I do not want to make "old people noises," you know??

So this prompted me to ask her, in her opinion, who was old?

Before I tell you her answers, I must say that I always call myself "old" to them. Like, "Be easy with your old Momma," when they are jumping on me and hanging on me. Or, "Give your old Momma a minute," when they are shouting orders at me for hot chocolate or sandwiches or meatballs or a movie. So I was fully prepared for Jessa to start her list of "old" people with me.

Much to my surprise, she does not consider me old! So for any of you keeping track here is the list of people I asked her about with her answers:

Mommy, not old
Daddy, not old
Mimi, OLD
Poppy, OLD
May, old
Bay, not old (what, he is older than May!?)
Grandpa Harold, old
Joyce, not old (Harold's wife, and the same age as Harold)
Gramma with no glasses, old (that is what she calls Bay's mom because you guessed it, no glasses)
Uncle Danny, old
Aunt Karen, not old (she is older than Danny!)
Roy, old (Our dear friend, I think it is because of his hair. Although she keeps telling him if he'll just use more shampoo, his hair will grow back.)
Peggy, not old (Roy's wife, and our dear friend)
Lucas, not old

I cannot figure what criteria she used to determine these classifications. I guess I am just glad to be "not old," except that may get me out of doing things. Maybe if she saw me as old she would be more patient?? I am not sure.

But whatever the case, Jessa has spoken.

Visitors in the house

We are all so happy because my Mimi and Poppy have been visiting with us since Sunday afternoon. They were here for the Superbowl, and we are so happy that they are here with us for a short time.

When you have been married for almost 59 years, you do not have to sit together all the time.

My woodworking genius, Poppy built me a cool corner cabinet to make the most out of my kitchen. I looked for one to buy, but I did not have any luck. I do not have enough counter space or cabinets. I am so excited about my new kitchen. Plus, now that the cabinet is here, I was able to unpack the last 3 boxes in the kitchen! Whew!

New one on the left - doesn't it look great??

And the old ones are on the right,; they match pretty well, huh??

Anyway. We have been busy visiting with them. But I wanted to get a few things typed before I forgot them.

Jessa needed to go to the bathroom while we were out to eat. She tickled me because while we were in the bathroom, she explained how things work.

"Mommy, when I am at the table, my tee-tee has a stop sign. Then I go to the bathroom and my tee-tee gets a go sign." Very simple, don't you think??

At supper tonight, Spencer was singing a funny song. See, David makes up nicknames constantly. He and I call each other "D." (We have tried to trace its origin back through notes and cards, but we cannot figure out when or why it started. He even stumbled over my name at our wedding because when the preacher told him to say "I, David, take you, Dana," he almost said "D.") And he has a thousand nicknames for the dogs, the cat, the kids, and me. One of Jessa's nicknames is "Jessa juice." And he sings it sometimes to the tune of "Gin and Juice" by Snoop. So I thought I would lose it when my sweet baby boy starts singing, "Sippin' on Jessa juice" in perfect tune!! He proceeded to sing "Sippin' on Mommy juice and Daddy juice" throughout our dinner.

THEN, he totally cracked us all up in the car. We were all getting in and getting situated, seat belts hooked, car seats hooked, etc. And Spencer says, "Please keep your hands, arms, and feet in the tram at all times, and watch your children." JUST LIKE every tram ride or any ride at Disney. We all died laughing!! Then I said, "Spencer, can we eat or drink?" And he grinned and said, "No eating, drinking, or smoking while on the tram." I guess the safety instructions made an impression. Mom thinks he may have a career as the tram announcer at Disney. Not a bad gig, I guess. . .

We have been having lots of fun, and the kids have kept us all laughing!! The kids LOVE when they can "hang" with Mimi and Poppy. We are SO glad to be back in GA where we can see them more often. We hope they come again SOON!

5/5 tag

I saw this a few weeks ago on my friend Mary Beth's blog. And then my friend Mary did it on her blog, and I thought it was a FUN idea!

Here is how it works. You go to your pictures folder. Count five folders over and open it. Then find the fifth picture in that folder. And y'all know how I LOVE to look at pictures, so here is my 5/5.

It is during the period after Jessa broke her arm, so you can see her cast. And Spencer appears to be unhappy with the fact that she has dressed him in a night gown. We all know that he is over that now, huh???? Jessa was 3 1/2 and Spencer was 16 months old. Oh my sweet babies!

So if you are reading this, consider yourself TAGGED! I want to see your 5/5 picture, OK?

My silly babies

My children make me smile all the time. . .

The other night, Jessa came running over to me to share some important information:

"Mommy, I just heard them say "Stop dying, and Start Living with Weight Watchers." We need to get that so we won't die. Because if you die you are gone and you cannot come back." She has been sad since her Betta fish Carly went to heaven to "swim with Jesus." So she is trying to grasp the whole dying thing. . .

Spencer has been sort of excited about Buzz and Woody since we met them at Disney. So now he is saying "Buzz Lightyear and beyond" all the time!

Our power was out last week and Jessa was wanting something to eat.

J: I want meatballs.
Me: When the power is out, the microwave does not work.
J: I want soup.
Me: When the power is out the stove does not work.

This went on with her trying to turn things on. About the time I felt like she was starting to "get it," all of the sudden, the power came back on. She was so happy and asked me,

Mommy, WHO fixed our power?

I paused to think of the easiest way to explain it to her and before I came up with anything, her face lit up and she said, "I know! Jesus fixed it." I smiled and said, "Yep, it was Jesus." I decided that it was a nice way to look at it, and she was satisfied. Then at supper that night, she was saying the blessing and at the end she said, "And thank you Jesus for fixing our power today."

Spencer LOVES puzzles right now, well, they both do. When we were moving in and had not TV or computers, unpacking would get boring for them. So they would bring out puzzles into the kitchen floor for us to put together. Now, everyday, Spence wants for us to put puzzles together on the kitchen floor. I always tell them to look at the picture on the box if they are having trouble. Spencer gets so excited when he gets it all put together and can compare it to the box. He'll say "Mommy look, it matches just like the decoration!"

They also have taken to chanting "U-S-A" whenever they are running around the house. Many times, they are "chasing bad guys." Many times, David and I are the bad guys. And they also will be heading to the bath room or the play room, and they hold up one finger pointing in the direction they are headed and say, "To the playroom, Away!" Or "To the Bathroom, Away!" I live with classic superheroes!!


In case I have not mentioned it before, our house is old. So one day last week, we had no heat all day. (This was the day before the power went out. We are not convinced the house will not fall down around us.) When we woke up, it was 54 degrees IN THE HOUSE. Yikes!! We all wore coats all day. While we were waiting for the heat guy to come, we were trying to stay warm. I made some homemade hot chocolate to have a hot chocolate bar with marshmallows and chocolate chips. They were so cute enjoying their hot chocolate together.

They love hot chocolate parties! Jessa and I like to call it "Cocoa Moo" like Shego (extra points if you know who Shego is. . .) We have them even when it is not 50 degrees, and drinking hot chocolate together really cracks them up!!! I LOVE hearing their belly laughs.

See why I am always smiling???

Maxwell Update

Sweet snoozing Maxwell
My Momma suggested today that I needed to post something about our sweet Maxie. He has been a Key for about 5 weeks, so she felt I needed to let everyone know how he was doing.

First of all, he is such a sweet boy. I cannot even begin to imagine how ANYONE could neglect him. He is so precious and so appreciative of anything you do for him. He even cooperates with me each day when I give him his many medications to include eye drops and ear ointment twice daily.

Loving his new home and family
Now that is not to say we have not had a few problems here and there. He LOVES to try to get into the trash can. He still chases Stewart and barks at him incessantly when he happens to see him. He still does not ever ask to go outside, so we all sort of have to watch him and make him go out a lot. We have not had many accidents lately, but that is more because we are paying close attention than he is letting us know he needs to go.

But, Max is slowly learning to be a "dog." Bless his heart, when he first came home, he did not act like a dog. He does not chase squirrels or even seem to notice when Dunken does. He does not feel the need to "mark" his territory when he is in the yard. After a few weeks of being around Dunken and Momma's dog Cooper, he is starting to "get it." It is so exciting to watch him chase Dunken across the yard. He is really coming into his own.

Max with Dunken, learning the finer points of a nap in the sun.

Dunken is an excellent big brother.

Clearly, he in not feeling any pressure in his new role.

He is patient with him and for the most part does not seem to mind having him around.

A seat full of Wesites in the car

Enjoying a snack together

(Dunk is always in red and Max in blue)

Patiently waiting for Daddy to share some delicious cheese

Dunken sharing the watchdog responsibilities with his new brother.

David was especially concerned about his reactions to Stewart. Stewart was here first, and we all do not want Stewart to suffer or be in any danger. Well, we needn't have worried about Stewart. The few times that Max has chased him and gotten him cornered, Max walked away with scratches. And I think he is more curious about Stewart than anything else, but Stewart is not yet willing to give him the chance to figure him out. Not that I blame him. . .

Look at that face!

We read different ways to set things up for the safety of your cat (or in some cases your dog ;>). So we went with the baby gate idea. Stew is safe in our room with his litter box and food and water. And he can venture out if he chooses, but if Max decides to bark at him and chase him, Stewart has a safe place to go. Well, Stewart is loving this. He will taunt poor confused Max from the other side of the gate. Spitting, hissing, growling all make Max crazy. And the funniest is Stewart attacking him through the gate! Max does not stand a chance!!

His nemesis: THE GATE

Stewart relaxes in the safety of his lair.

But things are going well, I think. Max seems to be feeling at home and secure. He has gained a couple pounds. His hair is coming back slowly. All in all, I am very pleased with our newest family member's progress. . .

He looks pretty content, don't you think??

All good things must come to an end

We really did have SUCH a good time on our vacation to Disney World. I do not usually enjoy trips as much as I used to. You know, once you are the grown-up, you have to think of things and pack and plan. But this time was more relaxed for some reason. I am not sure if it was because we were SO happy to have David home and with us or if I was relieved to not be at home staring at the remaining boxes or maybe it was just being at such a fun, special, magical place.

Our last day was spent backtracking and making sure we accomplished everything we needed to accomplish. This was my favorite day, by far. I think the pressure was off. We did everything already, and this day was about redoing favorite things and just relaxing. We had planned to leave early that day and had not originally planned to do anything. So in a way, it felt like a bonus day! We even played on the playground a while. . .

We played at 100 Acre Woods in the Winnie the Pooh area.

Our first goal was to get our booties to Hollywood Studios and ride Toy Story's Midway Mania ride. It was always SO crowded and they ran out of fast passes quickly, so we decided to try one more time and get there first thing in the morning.

IT WORKED! We only had to wait about 20 minutes, and it was so worth it. I swear it was one of all of our favorite rides. It is this cool 4-D game thing. You are actually in the game. There were 3-D glasses involved, a car moving through the game, shooting targets - FUN! It was awesome!!

And in true Disney style, the waiting area was almost as cool as the ride/game itself. . .

Disney artists are my heroes! WOW! The details were absolutely incredible.

And I am an expert, we have watched the Toy Story movies a million times, at least!

After that, we got our last 2 souvenirs (Jessa's "Cowgirl Jesse" doll and Spencer's "Cowboy Woody" doll. . .), and posed with a toy soldier (Spencer was dying to do that). Then we park hopped our way right over the Magic Kingdom.

The soldiers were SO cool.

When they stood still, their feet looked like they were on a stand just like real toy soldiers!!

Tram ride to the Magic Kingdom - note Jessa holding Jesse (she is our new favorite toy).

I mentioned that it was our favorite place the whole trip. Plus, the first day was so long and crazy and stroller-less that we wanted to give it one more chance. I am SO glad we did

Spencer did not want to ride the carousel the first time, but this time, he did. Spencer slept through "It's a Small World," but this time, he didn't. (AND HE LOVED IT!) Plus, in our princess hunt, we missed several rides that they really enjoyed. I think that is what makes the Magic Kingdom perfect for the little ones. There are very few rides that are too scary or unsuitable for the little ones. My kiddos felt so cool and big riding all the "roller coasters."

Spencer was clingy to me the whole trip, so Jessa and David were "ride buddies!"

We also saw the Monsters. Inc. Laugh Floor show - SO funny! Sorry no pictures - cameras were not allowed. But it was another interactive show. There were cameras, so people from the audience were actually featured in the show. David ended up being "Randall" from the movie. He kept having to make himself invisible. So when David's face appeared on the screen, he would duck! Funny stuff! I really wanted pictures, but it was dark, so I doubt they would have turned out. . .

And as we were finishing up, we ran into Buzz again. We LOVE Buzz, so we visited with him again. Jessa even let him kiss her Jesse since she just knows by the way the Toy Story 2 ended that Buzz and Jessa are boyfriend/girlfriend.

Farewell, Buzz. . .

And David and I decided that we were going to ride Space Mountain! We had to do it in shifts since the kids were (a) not interested, (b) not tall enough, and (c) would have been terrified. First, he went. He walked right up, no line! So I thought what the heck, and I rode it, too. Spencer was SO pooped by this point that he lost all control once he realized I was gone for my turn. When I walked back up, David and Jessa were on a bench, and my hysterical little dude was sitting in the ground a foot away with his back to them.

Jessa was not upset that I rode Space Mountain. She was just chillin' with her sucker. . .

Spencer couldn't wait for me to come back and pick him up, bless his heart.

Once I picked him up and placed him in the stroller, he was asleep within seconds for the ride to the car. Thank goodness we bought those strollers. . .

Having fun tires a boy out. . .

I cannot say enough about what a great time we all had. I know it is crazy expensive and such a huge trip to undertake with the little guys, but it really was so much fun. And I thank Disney SO much for being willing to offer great military discounts that make it possible for all sorts of soldiers to provide such an awesome experience for their families.

We sure hope so. . .