Keepin' It Real - Part I

So I discovered the “Keepin’ It Real” blog posts a little later than it originally made the rounds (http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/2008/06/keepin-it-real.html; http://shannonbrown.typepad.com/life_in_general/2008/06/keepin-it-real.html; http://creolewisdom.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/06/keepin-it-real.html).

It goes like this:
Take pictures of the following 10 things . . .
1. Fridge
2. Closet
3. Kitchen Sink
4. Toilet
5. Favorite Shoes
6. Favorite Room
7. What my kids are doing right now
8. Laundry
9. Self-Portrait
10. Dream Vacation
. . . The catch is that in order to see how people exist in real life, there is no prepping, primping, or picking up (i.e. just take your camera and just go for it!) The point is that you should not pretend your life is perfect on your blog when everyone knows that life generally isn’t.

I discovered the “challenge” (was “tagged”) somewhere around the middle of exams, and the house was a mess. And, not a normal mess, but a really, really awful, horrible mess. But that’s the point, right? Well, I decided that it wasn’t fair that I was “tagged” while my house was at its most disgusting point possibly ever:
. . . yeah.

I also decided that maybe I don’t care about being “real” on my blog. A blog is, in a way, inviting people into your life, and don’t you usually pick up around the house before you invite company in? I decided that maybe it is kinda nice to be able to pretend (not lie, just pretend a little bit) that everything is lovely. Maybe I like to pretend that my dining room always looks like this:

And that my bed always looks like this:

But, maybe it was right before Christmas, and maybe my closet actually looked like this:

Besides, whose kitchen sink actually looks like this right before dinner? Not mine.

And who really only has this much laundry to do? Not me.

Maybe I'm just a slob, but come on, really?!

Anyway, I’ll finally take the pictures tomorrow, but you should know that I have been cleaning up a little bit since we just got back to town - as one does. Although, because we just got back into town, some things are still kinda a wreck, such as in the laundry department. So, this will be my semi-edited version of “keepin’ it real.” I’m sorry, but it is the best I can do. I simply can't put a picture of a dirty toilet out there for all (ok, really just my mom, Allison, and Colleen) to see. And, I will go ahead and tag three more people, although if anyone actually reads this (again, other than the 3 above), feel free to consider yourselves tagged as well.

Maybe some of them will be a little more “real” than I am!
Tag: Katie, Elyssa, & Andrea

What's for dinner, Ma?

Christmas Photos

Attempts at a Group Photo

Toys from Santa

Let go of my stuff!

Sharing . . . amazingly

Alejandra loved unwrapping presents and running around with ribbons

in true puppy fashion!

Alejandra's Bed

Best Buds

Ra-Ra-Roo'ing

By the end of our time in Dallas, the three dogs were the best of friends (especially Alejandra and Dagny - who acted amazingly maternally). It took a while for her to figure out what she was allowed to do and not do with this little puppy (i.e. no growling, biting, or stealing toys), but once she did, they were constantly playing. Their game pretty much consisted Dagny and Hank chasing Alejandra and "biting" her while Alejandra jumped up to paw "the big dogs" in their faces or "bite" on their mouths. Once they discovered their game, Alejandra was basically soaking wet all the time, but if you removed her from the game, she whined and trashed to get back down and play. Apparently, since we have left, Alejandra has been constantly searching the rooms of the house and crying. Poor baby!

Happy New Years!!!

Two Years . . . and Counting

MealTime

Meeting Alejandra

Introducing "the puppies" to the new puppy (aka Alejandra the guinea-bear) went much, much better than I thought it would/could. Hank has a mixed track record with puppies and Dagny can be a mean little girl.

Amazingly, Hank was fine automatically, and he just wanted to play, although there was some concern he might think she was like a squeaky toy. Dagny growled at first, got smacked, and then was less than interested in this furry little thing getting the attention. She has since warmed up to the guinea-bear, and now the three are bosom buddies and play until the little one is soaking wet.

Alejandra = 5 pounds
Hank = 50 pounds
Dagny = 35 pounds

The Count

Katie: 1 down, 5 to go

Patrick: 5 down, 2 to go (kinda)

Bublicans

Merry Christmas

"What Christmas is all about"

(you have to pause the music to the right)

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Patrick, Katie, Hank, & Dagny

Our House - The Master Bedroom

It’s been a little while since I promised to post pictures of the Arizona House. After the Dining Room, I got a little distracted, but here are some of the bedroom . . .

. . . or maybe it looks more like this on a normal day

Making the Bed

The other day I was kinda stressed, so Patrick asked if he could do anything to help me out.

“Sure, can you make up the bed?” (I had just washed the sheets but had not managed to get them back on the bed yet)

He said okay, disappeared for a few minutes into the bedroom, and then reemerged - “Done, but it's not made up ALL the way since we're about to go to bed." (I figured this meant . . . well, a kinda "turn down" look, right? No decorative pillows and such.)

While I appreciate his efforts, this is what I found when I went into the bedroom later . . .

Patrick's version of making the bed . . . at least the sheets are on there, top AND bottom!

Our Christmas Tree

. . . And yes that's a real fire in the fire place!

Parents' New Puppy

"Alejandra"

Decorating the Christmas Tree - California

Second Rhamey Thanksgiving

The day after Thanksgiving, we took a trip to Dog Beach with all four Border Collies (and a dachshund) in tow.

Favorite Picture of the Day:

Dagny is biting Ladybird. No one is actually carrying the frisbee. Rocket is lagging behind.

Hank's Booties -
I honestly had no idea that Hanks booties would be such a big deal at Dog Beach (it is California after all), but he was the talk of the beach. Everyone kept asking us, "why is that dog wearing shoes?!"



















Katy & Kate














Look at that tail go!

Dagny's New Crazy Thing

Yesterday we discovered that if we say "Ready? One, Two, Three!" then Dagny goes CRAZY! We're not sure why, but it is her new favorite game.

Booties

This is what Hank's beach booties look like (although they don't come up as high on him).

I don't know if this is because we bought a different style than is pictured here or if Hank is simply "thicker" than this puppy.