My Poor Sauvo!

This is my poor doggy Sauvo. She was hit on her right leg by a car on Sunday. We took her to the doggy e.r. and they took ex rays and put her in a cast . The wrap on her front leg is just from the i v they had in her. This picture was taken Monday night. We picked her up from the doggy e.r. where she had stayed the night and took her to her normal vet Monday morning. They looked her over really good. They even took the ex rays to the University here and had the "top dog" at the vet school look at them. They all agreed that it had to be amputated. We were devastated. She's the sweetest dog you've ever met. Her normal vet has even made it very clear to us that if we ever have to find her a home.....she'll take her in a heart beat! She had surgery on Tuesday & came home late Wednesday. She's been doing pretty good. They have her on 4 antibiotics & 2 pain killers. She's one drugged up pup! I told her that was fine though.....what she's been through this week.....she's allowed all the doggy drugs she wants! lol She's been walking on the 3 legs pretty well. We don't let her up unless she's going potty or eating or drinking. The rest of the time she's in bed & she doesn't argue with that at all! I'm just so glad she's still alive. She's so calm and patient. Even through all of this she's been nothing but docile.

I'm a Sensaria Rep!!

I'm so excited!! I'm now officially a Sensaria Rep! What is Sensaria you ask?? Well, it's a product line of "SPA" products. What I love about Sensaria is the fact that it's all natural! I've been a customer for about 2 years and just love it!!

I have my own website.....please check it out! You can order online and they are really great at getting your products to you fast!

http://www.mysensaria.com/whitewater

To Die For Bread!! Sounds a bit odd but try it!!!!

Onion Dill Bread Mix

2 cups Bisquick
2 Tlb Lipton Recipes Secrets Golden Onion Soup Mix
1/2 tsp coarse black pepper
1 tsp dried dillweed

1. Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl.
2. Blend with a whisk.
3. Add 2 eggs and 1/2 cup milk.
4. Mix until just blended.
5. Pour batter into 1 well sprayed 8" x 3 7/8" loaf pan.
6. Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes.

Great Idea!! Let's Say Thanks!!

I received this great e-mail from a cousin today and thought I'd share the idea with all of you! It's for our troops in Iraq!! Something cool that Xerox is doing! This is a great idea and only takes a minute to complete. Xerox deserves a pat on the back for doing this for our troops!

If you go to this web site, http://www.letssaythanks.com/ you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq . You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to some member of the armed services. How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! This is a great site. Please send a card. It is FREE and it only takes a second. Wouldn't it be wonderful if all the soldiers received a bunch of these? What's also neat is that kids made the covers of all the cards you get to select from!!!

Very Bad Scary Snow Day! Very Bad!!

Well, it snowed last night. About 4 inches is all. We had a two hour delay with schools today. Instead of going to work at 6:20, I went at 8:20. The little extra sleep was nice! Oh, and the extra cuddle time with hubby was nice too!
Anyway, I didn't have to chain up or anything since my route is mostly flat...no hills or mountains. I was making my second stop of the morning to pick up a 5th grade boy. The road he lives on isn't as traveled as some of the main roads around here are but there were some cars on it and a good amount of slush and gravel/sand from the road crew. I didn't have any problems at all. Anyway, like I was saying.....I was making my second stop. I was at a complete stop with my reds on. That means I'm picking up a kid and all traffic that is going to pass me must stop. All the traffic following me stopped just fine and were waiting. I had one car coming towards me. I hadn't told the boy to cross the street yet because she hadn't stopped yet. I don't think she was paying attention because suddenly she put her brakes on and started sliding all over the road!!!!!! I can't even tell you how close she came to hitting us! I just kept praying that she'd hit me and not the boy standing by the road!! I just kept praying it over and over again....."hit me, hit me, not the boy"! Some how she pulled herself out of it just before hitting me and drove off. She never did stop. I think she was so shocked that she forgot to stop once she got her car under control. I think there were angels helping that car stay away from us. The boy was fine and so was my bus.
After rechecking all my mirrors I allowed him to cross. About a mile down the road I started to shake and almost had a panic attack. I was able to pull myself out of it though for the sake of the children. I didn't want to fall apart in front of them and somebody needed to drive the bus! lol All day, images have been going through my head of what happened. I started to do the, "what ifs". What if he'd been hit? To see a kid get hit in front of me would have been the end of me wanting to drive bus. I couldn't bear it. Thank god he didn't get hit! It happened so fast and so close to us! Thank god he's been taught the rules of the bus well & stood there waiting for me to cross him! If he'd been in the road....we'll let's not go there.
The rest of my routes went fine. Hopefully getting this off my chest, writing about it, will help me stop replaying it in my head & hopefully I won't have nightmares about it. I'm a very vivid & emotional dreamer. I remember looking at the lady driving the car. It's like I was looking at her face in slow motion for a moment. It's hard to explain but if she walked by me tomorrow I'd probably recognize her. The kids are wanting dinner and then I need to take Joshua to youth group. Thanks for listening everybody!

Did It Snow????

The answer is, "Yes"!! Not a whole lot today but it did snow and in some parts of town it did stick!! The kids on the bus thought it was great! I'll have to admit....I enjoyed it too! We are supposed to get more tonight. Right now it snows for a bit and then it doesn't.....on and off.....just teasing us. lol Here's a picture of some coming down next to our house.

Gold is not the only buried treasure......

Gold is not the only buried treasure.
In your heart there is a sunlit sea.
Underneath each moment lies another
Life of pure angelic ecstasy.
In simplest things there is the greatest pleasure.

Rain, Relaxation & Snow?

Today was such a nice day. What did I do today that was so nice? As little as possible!!!!
It rained today. I mean it rained...and rained....and rained.....and rained!!!! Great inside day huh!?!?!?!? I thought so! I got to sleep in once again! Did some laundry. Cooked an easy dinner & crotchet this evening! I'm so relaxed after this 4 day weekend!
Tomorrow it's back to driving school bus. I have a grade school route & then a junior high route. They are pretty good kids. That makes the job nice. It may snow tomorrow so that should be interesting in the bus. I lived in Alaska for 2 years so gained some pretty good experience driving in the snow. Plus it snows here a bit every winter. I've driven pick up trucks and cars in the snow but never a bus. Week before last we learned how to put chains on a bus. Was pretty easy really but takes a lot of time. My route is pretty flat & I have new tires so hopefully I won't need them. Wish me luck! :)

Thanksgiving & Now

Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, I decided that I had calmed down enough from the horrid weekend we had just had with Johnny, so John Sr. drove to Portland that evening to pick up Johnny. I really did have a hard time thinking of Johnny up there with strangers on a holiday so he came home for one night.
Thanksgiving went pretty well with him. Him and his brother got into one disagreement. That evening John Sr. & Josee drove him back up to Portland.
I'm just so glad that holiday is over. It's one of my least favorite. I do all the work so by the time dinner is over I just want to crash. lol
Yesterday I was able to do NOTHING!!!! Josee wanted to go to work with Daddy so she wasn't home and Joshua went hiking with his girlfriend, her family, and some friends. I slept in until almost 11 am!!! Can you believe it???!!!!!!! I then got up and found something to eat and then crocheted for the rest of the afternoon. I love it when the afghan I'm crocheting gets long enough that you can cuddle in it while working on it!! It was such a nice lazy day!! I really needed it!
I then made dinner with left overs....so easy and crocheted some more!!!
I'm feeling much better after the last stressful week I had.
Today I got to sleep in again! Then I fixed my computer and then I started blogging! I do need to do some laundry today but boy I'm feeling spoiled!! :)

I'm making this afghan for John Sr. I started him one years ago when we were in Alaska and I never did finish it. It was probably almost half done. It's still packed away in some box somewhere so I decided to start him a new one! He loves burgundy, navy, & ivory so that's what it's going to be. I found a really soft yarn to use too so it's so cozy to cuddle with!! lol

I'm Back!! Computer Issues....

First off I want to thank everybody who left comments or sent me emails giving me the support I need to go on with the daily task of dealing with one of my kids. Your words really meant a lot to me. You know how the kids always ask that same question when we are on a trip, "Are we there yet"? I sometimes wonder with my kids, "Are they 18 yet"?. LOL I know being a mom is a lifetime thing but sometimes it would be nice to have the house to myself. Oh ya, I guess hubby could stay. lol My youngest is 8 so I have awhile. LOL
I wanted to share a couple of pictures from last week. My computer has been down for a few days so I haven't been able to get online. Thank goodness it was an easy fix. I sat down this morning with my computer and figured it out. I've been needing my Internet fix!!! LOL

Johnny's birthday cake I picked up at Super Walmart on the way to Portland from Bend. It was was a double fudge chocolate cake!! To die for!!!!!!

This is Johnny wearing a couple of the hats and holding the IPod he just opened. Believe me, the IPod was not my idea. That was all Daddy. Spoiled kid! I didn't really think he deserved one but I'm just the mom.

On our way home from Bend we took a different route. We drove by one of my favorite summer time lakes. Detroit Lake is a man made lake and they drain it every fall so it's just down to the river. Boy it sure looks a lot different! I don't think I'll go tubing 'til they fill this sucker back up!

Here's a small body of water in the Cascades on our way from Bend. It was frozen over so of course we had to stop so Joshua could throw rocks at it. LOL He's 16......do they ever get too old for throwing rocks???

Just a picture on the trees and mountains in the cascades. This area is still growing back after a fire went through it a few years back.

We stopped at a rest area.

Joshua built the world's smallest snowman. He didn't want to get his brand new shoes dirty so he stayed on the sidelines to build it. Looks more like a snow bunny to me. lol You might have to squint to see it!

I took this picture almost 2 weeks ago. Both dogs wanted to cuddle with Daddy on the couch. Harley jumped up and got comfortable first. Sauvo then thought she'd try to find a place by Daddy too. She laid right on top of Harley! The kids thought it was so funny! They said that it looked like Harley was coming out of Sauvo's Bumm! lol Kids are so gross! They laid like this for a couple of house while we watched a movie. LOL Harley never did complain!

Fondue!!!

Isn't this just the cutest fondue set! I love it! I'm going to have to drop some hints to hubby or the folks! LOL It's from Costco.....I love love love love Costco!!

Dress Up With Jo Jo!!

A couple of weeks ago we were at our Grandma's house.

We decided while we were sorting
some of the clothes to play dress up with Josee.

Hey, if you have a daughter you gottsta play dress-up!!

It's the law!!! Ha! Ha! I sure love my daughter!!!

Isn't she cute! As you know, this is the outfit she wore on Halloween.

Miss Asian!!

She's a gal from the 50's again!

Not sure what this was. Ugly that's for sure.

She liked this cute little suit.

She wasn't as crazy about Grandma's old under clothes!

It was a snug fit that's for sure. We put socks in her chest. LOL

She didn't think much of that either!

It was a fun time.

Aunt Willow & I enjoyed the "girl" time we shared with her!

Oh ya, Willow dressed up a bit too.............

Visiting Great Grandma

This is John & Willow's Great Grandma Lessie. She's 97 years old and lives in a really nice nursing home about an hour from us. The last time we were there she kept asking for her dollies. So this time when we visit we were sure to bring her dollies. She was thrilled!! She doesn't talk much anymore and is in and out of reality but she recognized her dolls!! The doll in the picture above is her favorite one.
We took her outside for a bit and picked her a rose. She used to have tons and tons of flowers around her home. She tended to them every day & she always had the most beautiful flowers in her neighborhood. She lived on her own and cared for her flowers until she was around 94.

Here's Josee with her Great Great Grandma Lessie!

After a having lunch and a stroll outside with us Great Grandma Lessie was tired so we tucked her into bed.

Josee kissing Great Great Grandma goodbye.

One thing I've always wanted to do in life is work in a nursing home. I really enjoy the elderly. Every time I visit Great Grandma Lessie I wish I could just stay there and help everybody but I don't. Of course this nursing home is too far away from where we live to commute every day but there are others around here. One of these days I may just venture out and follow my dream. Even volunteering would be a good thing.

We had a nice visit with Great Grandma. She doesn't always know who we are and sometimes think we are somebody else from her past but it's still good to see her. She won't be around forever so we treasure every bit of time we have with her.

Trick Or Treat!!

We had a good time with the kids dressing up & trick or treating!
Josee was a girl from the 50's. This was one of her great grandma's outfits. Everything matched and it just looked so cute on her!!

Dracula & "Susie" ready to trick or treat! Josee decided that with the look she needed a new name that evening. So she was "Susie". LOL

Dracula attaching Susie?

This is just a hug right??

Nope.....Dracula's attaching!!! Run Susie! Run!!

John....he's Dracula riding an ostrich!!

Isn't Susie cute???

The entire scary family!!

My sister-in-law brought her heads home from beauty school and put fake blood on them, placed them in a bowl and put them outside by her front door. It was pretty neat looking. It did really freak out one little girl.

Adventures in the PUMPKIN PATCH!!!

As you can see from the pictures my family & I went to the pumpkin patch Sunday afternoon. Most people go to the grocery store for their pumpkin. I just don't think that much fun for a family. We enjoy going to a farm & spending the afternoon picking out just the right pumpkins. We don't get out as a family very often so it's a nice time for us. Pumpkin patches are very popular here. There's all kinds of them. We've been to most of the ones in our area. They all have the traditional corn mazes & pumpkin patches. Some patches you can walk to, some you take a hay ride to. There's even one in the area that you have to take a miniature train to! Some have extra activities like face painting, blue grass bands, petting zoos, horse rides, hay slides, and so on! A couple of places around here have vegi/gift shops. You can buy anything from your salad you are going to enjoy with your dinner to jams & aprons made in the state. They also have munchies!!! Oh how we love the munchies!! In the vegi/gift shops they make fresh apple donuts rolled in cinnamon sugar! Oh the smell alone satisfies you!! They are so good! Specially when you get them hot!! We also enjoy the hot apple cider or hot cocoa with them! Another one of our favs is the caramel apples!! The place we went to Sunday just had plain ones but another place we go to often rolls them in candies! I love the caramel apple rolled in M & M's! They are to die for!! You have like 4 or 5 choices of goodies for the ones that are rolled in candies! Which ever one we go to, we always have a blast!!
Josee & her favorite monkey in the pumpkin patch! Aren't they cute!!! You better say, "YES"!!! LOL!!!!
John carrying out the pumpkin John chose! It only weighed 75 pounds!!!
Josee & John sitting on their pumpkins waiting for the hay ride to come back around.
John & I in the pumpkin patch!!
It was so cool....the farmer let Josee drive the tractor back to the barns! There was about 12 of us in the back with our lives in the hands of our 8 year old!! She had a blast!!!!!
We got back safely!!
John pulling Josee & the pumpkins to the mini van!
John & Josee enjoying their caramel apples on the very top of the hay play ground!

John the farmer & Josee the goat!!!