Raw Puppers Update

In July I brought home Pippi and Scamp, two little mixed breed puppies. They had some health issues and I thought we might lose the little girl that first week. I started feeding them a raw meat diet immediately.
They quickly responded to the improved diet, worming, flea removal, etc. Pippi, at 8 weeks, 3 pounds.
Scamp, 8 weeks, 4 pounds.

Yesterday they were 5 months old. Scamp is now 7 pounds and is assumed to be full grown.
He is sweet and lovable. The vet says he wishes he could clone them, not only for their good looks but for their pleasant dispositions. He says many people want small dogs but are unprepared for their often snippy personalities. Pippi looks like a chihuahua, with her little apple head. She is definitely the alpha dog and is smart as a whip. She is hard to get a picture of because she is so active. I walk her twice a day and she never, ever tires out!
She does like to snuggle and is definitely a lap dog when evening comes. At just 6 pounds she is our little princess. They still need some of their teeth pulled because of severe overbites, but other than that they seem perfectly healthy. They have to wait until exactly 6 months to be spayed and neutered because of their small size. I have not mentioned their diet to the vet because previous discussions have led me to believe it would not be well received. Maybe on their 20th birthday I will mention it! :)

It's Wednesday, so it must be library day!!!

Everyone laughs at Christopher because he gets so excited about library day. I am more than thrilled by his excitement because, like him, I thought the library was the most wonderful place in the world from the first time I walked in one. I still find them magical, mysterious, and altogether excitement worthy.

If I start Paxton early enough maybe he will share our love of all things library~like.
Christopher chose cymbals for music and wiggle time.He made a treasure box that he plans to keep his crystals in. He did not know what an egg carton was so I showed him how the compartments held chicken eggs that people then cooked and ate. After I finally convinced him I wasn't kidding he decided that was gross and wanted to use the box to hatch dinosaur eggs. :)

Wednesday is Tasha's day off and usually the only day we go out with all three children in the car. We surprised Christopher today with his very first visit to Chuck E. Cheese. He could hardly contain himself when we drove into the parking lot. He watches PBS cartoons where the restaurant is heavily advertised and has often asked to go. As we were unloading and filling the stroller he said, "Hurry up and open this door and let me go see that talking mouse!"
They had a beautiful salad bar with romaine as well as iceberg lettuce, my definition of a decent salad bar! lol! They even had fruit!
We met the technical manager, who took a liking to our little group and gave us lots of free tokens. When Christopher told him he liked Chuck E. Cheese as much as he liked the library the man started laughing. He then went into the control room and had Chuck E. call all the children over for story time. Christopher was the only child to come and sit, enthralled by the story of the tortoise and the hare.
Gavin even got in on the fun.
All the games require only one token and many were just Christopher's size.

I thought this was cool. It really "flew" up to the ceiling. Doesn't it look like something out of Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium?
Finally, it was time to pick Up Aunt Zanne from work and we had to tell Chuck E. good-bye.
We do know how to tire our boys out! :)

An Optical Delusion of the Consciousness

"A human being is a part of the whole, called by us, "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security." : Albert Einstein - (1879-1955) Physicist and Professor, Nobel Prize 1921

I was reading this and nodding my head and saying, "yes, yes," when it occurred to me that I must first "widen our circle of compassion" by embracing and showering myself with unconditional love. Only then could I "embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty," and free myself from this solitary confinement I had doomed myself to.

Let's love ourselves, right now, just as we are, and wait for the walls to fall and all of nature to become our playground. If world peace begins with us, what are we waiting for?

I love me, and I think you're pretty cool too.

Presidential Debates Last Night

I don't know about you, but I'm voting for Jim Lehrer! :~)

Library Day

Darling Clementines

Have you seen the two bite brownies and cupcakes they serve at showers and parties? Well this is a two bite fruit. These tiny clementines are exactly two bites of sweet juiciness. That may seem like a lot of work to peel one for such a small amount of fruit, but the skins slip right off and they taste amazing. Christopher loves peeling and eating them. For him they are three or four bites. I have a big bowl of them sitting out so he can help himself to them whenever he wants a snack. The two pound bags sell in the store for $6.00 but I was able to get a case of 15 bags for $19. from my produce man. At that price I can afford to be generous and have been handing out bags to friends and family.

Clementines
Clementines are the tiniest of the mandarins. Imported from Spain, Morocco, and other parts of North Africa, clementines are a cross between a sweet orange and a Chinese mandarin. They are small, very sweet, and usually seedless. Most people think of clementines as small tangerines, but they're a different variety entirely, with a distinctive taste. The Clementine is an excellent eating orange. Its small size and lack of seeds make it particularly popular with kids. Clementines have been available in Europe for many years, but the market for them in the United States was made only a few years ago, when a devastating freeze in Florida made domestic oranges scarce and expensive. A lot of oranges, including clementines, were imported from Europe, and clementines started to catch on. Over the past few years they've become increasingly popular, and as the demand has gone up, so has the price.

Green Smoothie to the Rescue!

This is the green smoothie I had yesterday for breakfast. I made a full blender and saved a second quart which I had for dinner last night. My days are sometimes so hectic that a smoothie is all I have time to to chug down! If I didn't have one ready I would end up starving and eating who knows what!

My baby, 17 year old Suzanne, has gone to work. She works four days a week at a clothing store and then she dances and teaches dance in the evenings. My older daughter works full time as a hair dresser and dances evenings with Suzanne. My son and his wife live in a nearby town but are now working in Jacksonville. I am left alone at home all day with all the babies! I have my grandsons, four year old Christopher and 3 month old Paxton, and my friends grandson, 8 month old Gavin. Some days all is calm and well but other days it is quite chaotic. Thank heavens for my vita mix and green smoothies!

As our food tastes change our television tastes change too. My daughters have been fans of Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill. I have watched them with them in the past. Last night they were conflicted because of the return of Heroes in the same time slot. I told them they could watch Heroes and I would watch the other two and tell them what happened. I found both shows so silly and boring that I fell asleep. I apologized but told them they would have to choose between the two in the future. They turned Heroes off because they said it was too gory and violent for them. They agreed about the other two and we all went to bed.

I did leave the television on to see the fate of Horatio on CSI but did not enjoy that show as much as usual either. All of this is fine with me as I would happily live without a TV but am having trouble convincing anyone else that this is a good idea. Tasha and I did watch Baby Mama yesterday. As expected, it is silly and the plot is predictable, but Tina Fey and and Am Poehler are so funny together! They play off each other so well that we really liked the movie.

Have you seen it? Have you seen the raw vegan restaurant scene? I tried to be offended by that but really couldn't because it was so absurd. What could a yeast ball be? It looked like a ball of raw bread dough. The last two times I went to a raw food restaurant I got violently ill. The food was delicious but something in it just did not set well with me. I have heard some complaints about the scene from raw foodies but do not think anyone would take this as a serious representation, it was your standard health nuts are nuts scene. We can deal with that, can't we? If we can't laugh at ourselves we can't expect to influence anyone in a positive way anyway. If they had showed a real raw restaurant it would not have been funny because the food they serve looks just like cooked food. :)

I did like the yes we have no bananas smoothie and thought I might try to create one, but I cannot imagine a smoothie without bananas!

Well, that was my day, how was yours?