Mischief

Little Whiskey has been into mischief lately. Here is a list:
-he bites...hard
-he knocked over my lemon tree (both he and the tree fell down the hill)
-he knocked over my begonias
-he ate that baby bird
-he pulled the toilet paper from the roll all the way to the bathroom door
-he is barking...a lot

BUT I love him SO much!! He is still so lovable and cute. It will just take a little bit more discipline.
Some pics:

kisses!!



after he knocked over the begonia


chewing on the broom...I cannot sweep anymore



playing fetch with grandpa

Whiskey River

I will post pics of the pup again soon. He has been lovable and a little terror. He is getting really good at sleeping in his crate at night and a little better at going potty outside. He definitely has his moments. He is currently attacking my dustpan and brush, his new favorite toy.

I went out yesterday to water my fuschias on my front porch with the pup, now for sure named "Whiskey River". Everytime we even step foot onto the porch, their is a little bird (a Junco) who yells at us because she has a nest around there. We were pretty sure the nest was in the Arbor Vitae out front. Anyway, I went out to water the flowers and the bird was going NUTS, as was the dog because he loves getting dripped on. I started watering one of them and all of a sudden two little chicks popped out onto the grass. As I saw them, so did Whiskey. I looked down and he had already eaten one of them. I was SO SO SO sad! That poor mama bird was so mad at us and I thought she was going to dive bomb us and peck our eyes out. Luckily, the other little chick was safe; Matt saw them later on in the yard.

Baker's Dozen Minus....Ten?

Nope. No baby. But we did get a puppy!!!! He is an 8 weeks old yellow lab. Here is a pic of our new little family (sorry it's blurry):



When I said in my last post that Matt had something planned for the weekend, he meant he was taking me to SACRAMENTO to get a dog!! On Saturday morning, he woke me up and told me to get ready for the day at 6:30 am (very early for me these days!). So we went to the airport and flew to Sacramento, puppy items in tow that Matt has been stowing away in our house without me knowing! When we got there, we saw some new vineyards with new homes on them for sale:



So the reason we went to Sacramento is because there is a dog named Zeus who is from WA and went to Westminster this year. Matt and I saw a picture in the newspaper of him and fell in love. So naturally, Matt researched to see if he was having any litters :) (such a Matt thing to do!). And his only litters were in CA, so he put in his name to be on a list about 8 or 9 weeks ago. Here are some pics from the lady's home:


All of her big labs:

Matt with a little guy:

Matt with the big ones:

Pups:

Marching in:

Pups at Matt's feet:

Matt holding one of them:

Playing with one:

We stayed at a hotel that night and he did fine, and only whimpered a couple of times on the flight itself. He loved when we got him home!! He explored every single portion of our yard with his mouth! Ah, the joys of having a puppy!

First dip in the pool:



All tuckered out from play:

Playing on his new bed:

Posing:


Sleeping with Mommy, again:



Playing with Daddy:

Finally, playing with Jessie:


He has been so good!! He definitely likes to nibble on things, but he is learning quickly what he can and cannot do! He is sleeping at my feet as we speak.

We still haven't really decided on a name. We may call him "Satchel" or "Whiskey". One is good for when he is a good boy, and one is good for when he is being bad. We'll get one soon :)


Not to be outdone by my puppy, but I also got a new camera for my upcoming birthday from Matt!!! I love it, but still don't know how to use it! It has so many cool functions that I will eventually learn how to use.

the 4th

Sorry no pics today. I have forgotten my camera time and again. We spent the 4th and 5th of July over on Herron Island where my Mom and Sis have homes. Sis had a party with a bunch of people and actually invited me :) . I love her and it was so much fun to see her with all of her friends. I also love the deer, or deers as Jessie's friend would call them. We were around a campfire with loud music and loud people, and about 10 deer surrounded us...just hanging out. I swear they liked us better when we didn't pay any attention to them.

No swimming this weekend, it was way too cold for that. Compared to the gorgeous weather we had last week, this was actually refreshing. I guess it's time to start deep cleaning the house again. I almost died vacuuming last week in that heat!

I am taking this weekend off from work just because. I work every other weekend, and I feel like I miss out on a lot. Matt has something planned...

I missed the pop sale at Safeway. I guess I should have looked at the ads before the 4th. Pop was buy 2 get 3 free!! Lame...I will be more prepared next time because I really like Diet Coke.

a new yard

First off, here is Matt and his Dad cutting some of the patio stone. As you can see, Matt thinks he is SO tough doing this. It's pretty hot.


Here is the top soil in our driveway.


Soil progress in backyard.


Sod progress in 90 degree weather. Poor guys!



A goldfinch at my feeder. I love him.


A lemon on my new lemon tree.


New lemon tree.


Finished backyard!!






The difference between dry and wet on the patio.


The plants I potted today.


More yard. We put extra sod on the hillside because we had a lot of leftovers. I intend on planting a bunch of bushes in the midst of the grass eventually.

The patio just needs to have the edges cemented in now.

food

If you ever buy flank steak, marinate it in Stubb's Beef Marinade. Matt and I do this all the time and it is DELICIOUS!!!

updates

What I have been up to:
-had two sick days last week (totally unlike me!)
-friends in from out of town for the weekend
-lots of Wii
-lots of good food
-a graduation party
-an 8.5 mile walk down to Snoqualmie Falls
-new outdoor lounge chairs
-a visit from Danice and Nicole
-beautiful weather
-a finished patio(pics to come)
-gates on the fence

On my to-do list:
-vaccuum the house
-do some laundry
-wash the sheets
-clean out window sills (stupid little bugs)
-a little Bed, Bath & Beyond with Smesh (sis)
-get my hair done
-water my fuschias
-call my friend Nicole (a long time coming...)
-coming next weekend: top soil and GRASS!!! Yay!!
-see my friends...if we can ever connect our schedules

More randoms...

-Matt hates cantaloupe...more for me! I ate a whole cantaloupe in the last two days with frozen cool whip in the center-yum!
-What is it really that is making gas prices so high?? It's not like the demand has changed...or even the supply...
-Don't people know that you are supposed to pull over when a cop is behind you?? I was behind someone going SO slow in the far left lane today and a cop came up behind me with his lights on. I pulled over one lane to the right to get out of his way, and the other person stayed...for one whole mile. Once they realized a cop was behind them, they slammed on their brakes and pulled off onto the left shoulder. hmm.... I can only imagine what that cop was thinking.
-One of my "love birds" is apparently not a Tufted Titmouse, a la Matt...I guess I have just been calling him that because he is so fat and cute.
-I am wondering if I am still supposed to water my fuschias if we have already had a torrential downpour (they are under my eaves...).
-Why does the bird poop on my car look like an oil slick??
-Why does the garbage man always leave my garbage lid OFF when it rains? Doesn't he know that I have to then dump the water out?
-I cannot wait for those new "reality" game shows that are starting the end of this month on ABC. I love it when people fall off of things...I have laughed every time I see the commercial for them!

Random weekend stuff...warning, long post

On Friday, Matt and I headed out for a drive down to Vancouver, WA to visit some friends. Naturally, we hit traffic and it took us 2 hours to get to Fort Lewis. We finally arrived around 8:15pm. Matt was so giddy the whole ride down...I blame the Starbucks blended strawberry lemonade-his favorite. I tried to post about his silliness on the blog using Matt's blackberry, but for some reason it didn't show any "New Post" link. boo. Soon Matt was asking for a fruit roll-up...I didn't pack any food for the trip, so I am not sure why he even bothered asking. Although I do generally sneak things into my purse for him, and naturally I had a fruit roll-up in there. He was in heaven...for 2.5 seconds. I turned away for one second and that thing was GONE in an instant. Luckily I didn't have anymore or he would have been on another sugar high.

Yesterday, we did yard work. Matt mowed the lawn, cleaned out the gutters and got me some fresh soil. I planted a couple of our new plants that we got months ago :), weeded a little, and fed the birds. We LOVE the birds that venture into our yard...except for the crows. I hate them. They jump onto the fence, and it sounds like a meteorite fell from the sky. Plus, they look at you...and stare. The other little birds are adorable though. We have a Junco and a Tufted Titmouse that love each other. I am not kidding. They are always flying around together. I saw them one day about 10 feet apart on the fence and they ran towards each other and kissed. I swear. I think it brought a tear to my eye. Ever since then, I always see them together on the fence, in the yard or in the bird feeder. I love them.

We also have a rufus-sided towhee (sp?) . It is SO cute and fat. And on a walk the other day, I saw like 20 Cedar wax-wings in the same area. They have heads that look like cardinals. For your information, I do not have a bird book nor do I know any of these names on my own. I ask my husband. He usually knows or we look them up on the internet. Yes, we are that enthralled with them. :)

This summer is going to be so busy. On top of working every other weekend, we have two weddings to attend, a work retreat for Matt's work, a patio/yard that needs to be finished, and hopefully a small get-away vacation for us. Hopefully, we will make plans ahead of time for the 4th of July. It is the first 4th I will have off in a few years. Thank the Lord.

Matt called me from work the other day to inquire about a bill we got. Here is the conversation:
Matt: "how come our PSE bill is $680??"
Stef: "umm...not sure. Did we not pay?"
Matt: " I don't know, you set it up for automatic payment. I will call them."
Two minutes later...
Matt: "so apparently we haven't paid our bill in 3 months. I don't think you set it up for automatic payment."
Stef: "hmm...oh yea, I had the bills sent by email to your address. Didn't you open the bill??"
Matt: "no, I thought they were just statements saying we paid..."
Stef: "I think I will blame this on you... :) "

This sure shows my dependability, right Tarena? Luckily, they hadn't charged us a fee nor did they shut off our power. Man oh man.

As you can tell, I have had way too much coffee this morning. I better go do my laundry.

test

test test

Why do I...

...always get these stupid little bugs in my window sills??? I have had to vacuum them several times in the last month! They are all somehow dead, but yet they keep coming back!

More patio

Last weekend, Matt compacted the gravel.

...he leveled and graded...


...and they moved all the stone 1 or 2 pieces at a time to the backyard because each stone is SO heavy!


stones all piled up...

...more piling....



...and today, Matt and his Dad are out there "gluing" it to the gravel with a sand/cementish mixture...


...we are going to LOVE our patio...they have already surpassed my expectations!


And last but not least, the tree has finally been planted in a random spot in the backyard. Now it can finally grow up!!