Ya Gotta Read This One! - It's a Vivas Thing!

May 28 2009

Birds, Dogs, and TV Crews!

(Note: After a week of camp in July, I came home to find out I'd become part of THAT Family Tree Society! How cool is that?! This post is from the day I realized how far I'd come! ha ha)

I woke up this morning thinking that it'd be a laid back day. I had no plans of putting on make-up or even making myself look much more presentable that the au natural. I threw my hair back in a pony tail and away I went.

I even managed to take the Talented One and B-Boo to school without too much chaos. And then it happened.

We were trying to get my niece off to school (never an easy task) and hubby out to work, when the Smart One mentioned that Roxy, B-Boo's pup, was missing. (That's never a good thing.) I told him to check the back yard.

About that time, the phone rings. It's my little Jewish friend. She wants to know how my day's going so far. I laugh and ask her why. She laughs and says she was trying to get her TB test done (this is a favor to ME…don't ask why), but that the testing center is closed on Thursdays, so can she come visit. Why, yes, come on over! (We tend to get into trouble together..never intentional, but always fun, but that is another post for another day.) I hang up, say goodbye to hubby and go back to my niece.

Anyway, back to the missing pup. She's so cute…don't you think? So, the Smart One checks the back yard and yells that Roxy has caught ANOTHER bird mentions that he thinks the cute, widdle, puppy has a tweetie bird. I yell back to get the thing politely ask him to please retrieve the cute widdle tweetie bird. He runs, she runs. (I"m still in the house trying to get hubby out the door and my niece packed for school.) He yells she won't give the bird up. I am NOT looking forward to cleaning up yet another bloody, gutted bird mess off of a white dog. I try to ignore it, honest. I tell him to get the bird. He says he can't reach her. He can't reach her? That can't be good, can it? Oh darn.

I ask, "Why can't you reach her?"
He replies, "She's at the back of the kennel."
"The kennel, as in the kennel in the house? With the dead bird? And she won't let go? Ew!"

There are times when a mom must do what she has to do. Ok, then. I go to the kennel where my son is still yelling at the dog to drop it. She doesn't listen to him. I peek in and find this cute, adorable, puppy sitting all the way back in the kennel with a bird in her mouth. It's head is peaking out. It's alive…yes, alive this time. That has to be a good thing, right?

I have to stop here and ask my readers…have you ever done something and then realized that may not have been the best way to do it? You know, one of those, "I didn't see that coming, did you?" moments? This, was one of those moments!

By now, I have four children standing around the kennel wondering what's going to happen next. I simply command the dog to drop the bird. (She actually listens to me sometimes.) She promptly dropped the bird and ran out the dog door to avoid my wrath. The bird promptly flew out of the kennel and into the boys room. The girls scream. LOUDLY. I screamed, too, not out of fear, but I was rather startled to have a bird come flying at me. The boys just stand there in awe looking at the chaos. My husband comes running back into the house, panicked. He left the car running outside to come inside and find out what all the commotion was about. He tried to catch the bird. The bird went flying. The girls screamed. Hubby yells to stop screaming. I yell at my son to take my niece to school; she's late.

And then I lose it. I mean, I completely lose it. I am hysterical. I can't stop laughing. I think of THAT family. I'm so bad at this point, that I yell at no one in particular to go get my camera because I just have to blog about this one! (That tells you just how nuts I am at this point, right?!) I'm pretty sure my husband thought that I had really lost it this time. I tell him to go to work, I'll catch the bird. Really.

Hubby heads off to work. My son makes back in record
time. He doesn't' want to miss out on the action! I can't find the bird.
Anywhere. I know which way it went. We start to tear the room apart. I finally find it under the dresser tucked way back in the corner. And then my little Jewish friend shows up.

I say to her, "Wanna help me catch a bird?"

To which she replies, rather enthusiastically, I might add, "Sure!" ( I have to say that I absolutely ADORE my friend; she's so awesome!)

We head into the room and I show her where the bird is hiding. Her daughter and I lift up the dresser so that she can get the bird. I tell my son to make sure to take a picture. She gets the bird. It flies to the other side of the room. She goes to get it. She stubs her broken toe. (Being my friend comes with danger at times. It's a risk you take. Maybe I should give a disclaimer or something like that before one agrees to become friends with me.) She catches the bird…and holds onto it. She even lets my son take a picture. After two tries, this is the best we can get.

The little bird turned out to be ok, a little wet, but unharmed, so we let it go in the front yard so it could dry off safely. I'm not sure, but I think this was still better than cleaning up bird guts off of a white dog.

But you know what is really funny? After all the chaos is over and my friend and I finally get to sit down and have a nice chat, my phone rings. We have choir rehearsal tonight for our concert this weekend, so I answer the phone since it's my friend the choir director. (Did I mention that she also works for the local news station?) She asks how my day is going so far. I laugh. She mentions maybe she shouldn't have called. I'm intrigued. She wants to know if I'm interested in being interviewed for a news session that they're working on. I laugh again. Ok, when? She says she'll have the reporter call me. TWO SECONDS LATER, the phone rings again. It's the reporter. She wants to know if she can come now. I laugh. (Remember, my hair is in a pony and I have no makeup…I look terrible. I mean, when I woke up this morning, the thought that I might be on TV honestly never, ever, occurred to me!) In the end, I did manage to pull myself together in time for the interview without giving a hint of the chaos that had occurred shortly before. And that was AFTER having a nice, friendly chat with my friend, the bird catcher!

Mar 14 2009

Drama Dog

Look at this face!

Does he look like a drama king to you? Does he just exude pitifulness? (I realize pitifulness is not a real word, but it fits here.)

This is Joey. He's one of the two pups that we got for Christmas. I should have figured out something about this puppy when we first got him. We were there for at least 30 minutes before the owner could even find Joey! He was in hiding because he was afraid of the vacuum cleaner. We were about to leave with his half-sister, Roxy, when he finally decided to make an appearance. He just cuddled right into the Smart One and there was no way we could say no. Roxy was a maniac ball of fluff and Joey was the hold me, love, never ever leave me dog.

In the almost three months that we've had Joey, he's had one ailment after another! First, he started losing his hair. Not just a little, but a lot! He was the most pitiful thing I've ever seen after a while. He looked like a dog with a reverse something! Super short hair on his head and shoulders, and long hair on his back and butt! We took him to the vet to have him checked out while getting their shots.

As soon as we got home, we had to rush Joey back to the vet. Turns out he had an allergic reaction to the vaccine. The poor dog just went nuts! He got to spend a couple hours at the vet that day. Next time we took him back I had to give him benadryl and then they split the shots to make sure he didn't react again.

A week or so later, the vet calls. Turns out the tests came back positive for ringworm. Ok, so we had to sanitize the dogs, the kennels, get the carpet cleaned, etc.

Did I mention he's a wimp, too? He whines; a lot. Roxy will find anyway to escape from confinement. I always know when she's escaped because Joey starts howling. He's too afraid to try. That's probably because the one time he attempted it, he did it wrong and got his head stuck. It's a good think my wonderful hubby recognized his howling that time as a cry for help instead of a "that's not fair she got out" again cry.

A few weeks ago we took the dogs to the groomer. I just couldn't take it anymore! Joey needed something to be done about his hair issue. You could tell he was scared when we picked him up, but he looked a lot better.

A week later, Joey was whiny. He's a whiny dog, but this time his whine was different. So, we rushed him off to the vet. Bad ear infection. Great. That meant two weeks of ear wash and ear drops for him, plus pain pills because he was obviously in great pain. Poor baby. Good thing for him we were out of town for the first couple of days, so he had wonderful attention from a good friend. I'm sure he misses her now.

He did manage to surprise us though! He was the first one to climb the stairs. Roxy, the brave heart, is just now climbing those stairs. Joey didn't want to get left behind, so went up them one morning. He stopped halfway though when he realized just what he'd done. I could not get him to come down. B-Boo started coming down to get him, but he started backing up. I could see what was about to happen, so yelled at her to stop and ran over, but it was too late. He backed himself right off of the staircase and took a fall to the tile below. We were amazed that he wasn't injured!

The Smart One carries Joey around like a baby. Seriously, he holds him over his shoulder and walks around with Joey resting his head on his shoulder. It's the funniest thing I've ever seen! The other day I was sitting at the table reading with Joey in my lap. He just kept whining. I kept telling him to hush up. He was upset because Roxy was in the other room with the Drama Queen. The next thing I know, he manages to push his way up on my shoulder and lean his head on me. And he stopped whining. He is so stinking spoiled!

Today took the cake! B-Boo was bathing the dogs since I'm bedridden with a nasty bout of bronchitis. She washed Roxy first and then handed her off for me to cuddle. A bit later, she comes out with Joey. When Joey gets out of the bath he loves to run around and rub his head and body over everything. It's a dog thing. She tells me that Joey is hurt; he can not walk. She doesn't know what he did, he just started crying. I told her to put him down, and sure enough, his front right paw is just hanging there. He won't put it down, and he's in so much pain that he just falls down and won't get up. B-Boo brought him to me so I could check him out. He's whining and whimpering and carrying on. We're sitting on the bed trying to figure out what to do.

This is the part where I stop and tell you how wonderful my husband is. He never complains about this dog, he just goes with the flow. He hasn't had a weekend; he spent Friday night taking me to urgent care and today running errands for me with the kids. I'm really thinking at this point.

We try to get Joey up one more time and, I kid you not, the dog just looks at us like we're crazy for trying to make him stand up and slumps his body back down on the bed, looking at us with his pitiful little face. I'm thinking, great, now I have to break the news to the Smart One and tell hubby he has to take the dog to the vet. So I tell B-Boo to please have her father come upstairs. He comes in and we shut the door to discuss the dog. Sure enough, Joey won't stand up. It was pathetic. We have no idea what happened, but his paw was just hanging there, so we're concerned. Hubby took the Smart One with him and off to the vet they go.

Twenty minutes later, hubby calls me from the vet. Joey is fine now. He's walking around, jumping, playing and having a grand time. You have got to be kidding me!

Turns out there's not a thing wrong with his leg. It is a good thing we took him in though, apparently his ear still needs the drops. Of course!

Mar 05 2009

Steven’s Soup, In Memory of Joshua Stevens

Art, Josh, & Mike

I can't believe it's been six months today since Joshi went home to be with our Lord. We miss him so much. Drew, Barb, Shelbie and Sammie, we love you so much and pray for you daily; you are never far from our thoughts and prayers.

For my friends and others who are reading this blog, today is Joshi's Day. We've kind of made a little tradition where on the 5th of the month we make a cheesy potato soup for the Stevens to help them get through the day. My kids LOVE this soup and look forward to it each month. They start asking for it a few days before, knowing that Mom is going to be making this soup. The other day, I was telling Barb that my kids were asking if I was going to make the Steven's soup. We kind of laughed and said that is how it should be. It is the Stevens Soup, because it has so much love poured into it for the Steven's family and whenever we eat it, we smile and remember Joshi and what he meant to us.

So, I thought I'd post my recipe, which started out as a recipe from Allrecipes.com and grew into much more.

Ingredients

Love, as much as you can put into it

1/2 cup butter (I use earth balance to keep this dairy free)
2 qts organic chicken broth
1 diced sweet onion
5 lb bag red potatoes, peeled, chopped
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 12 oz tub sour cream ( I use tub Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream)
1 8oz tub cream cheese (I use tub of Tofuttie Better Than Cream Cheese)
1 heaping tsp dill (fresh is best)
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup chives (fresh is best)

Place onions and potatoes into a large pot. Add chicken broth, garlic, cayenne, pepper, and salt and bring to a boil. Continue boiling until potatoes are tender. Mash potatoes with a potato masher (or a larger spoon thingy) until there are small little chunks of potato mixed in. Add butter, sour cream and cream cheese, chives and dill and simmer for about 15 minutes. If soup is a little watery, you can add in a bit of potato starch to thicken it up.

For those who can have dairy, top off your bowl with colby jack or cheddar cheese and enjoy.

But before you take a bite, please remember Barb, Drew, Shelbie and Sammie in your prayers…and if you knew Joshi, share a few memories as you sit around your table eating the Stevens Soup!

Joshua Dennis Stevens
1995-2008

I am Josh
by Josh Stevens

I am Athletic – like a precise machine, running smoothly and efficiently.
I am Competitive – like the sun, fighting to shine through the clouds on a cloudy day.
I am Fun Loving – like a circus star, wanting to give joy to others.
I am Kind Hearted – like a favorite family pet, wanting to give love to all.
I am Persistent – like a skilled quarterback, never giving up till the ball scores.
I am Obedient – like an athlete responding to his coach.
I am Respectful – like a player accepting of the ref's call.
I am Beautiful – like a gem stone, with beauty for all to see.

Jan 21 2009

Whatever in the Whole Wide World

should I write about? (BTW…"Whatever in the whole wide world is something I say a lot). Anyway, there are so many choices! I could write about our crazy pets and what happens when you let your bunny loose in the backyard with two new puppies! I could write about my latest cooking experience. Hey, it's not easy to find a recipe for a delicious banana bread that does not contain eggs, dairy, wheat, gluten, soy or nuts! I could write about the wonderful party that my family threw for my 40th birthday…and how I'll be eating chocolate for the next 40 years!

What about how much fun it is being a parent of teenagers! Now there's something I could write about forever! I mean, will it ever end? We finally got one to adulthood only to have four more coming up! And what were we thinking, really? I mean, we have not one, but TWO teenagers right now! I honestly haven't' figured out which is worse, boys or girls, so God is having a field day showing me!

And then it happened! I was sitting here, minding my own business at 10:22 pm, thinking I've finally come to the end of my day when the unthinkable happens. It's calm, it's peaceful. Children are asleep, the hubs is quiet downstairs and the eldest daughter and I are finally done with her report on our new President's speech. She's off to the shower and I'm sunk into the pillow ready to type away. Yes? No! Because in that next moment, she lets out a blood curdling scream that could wake the dead! I rush into the bathroom to find her out of the shower screaming about some giant BLACK spider that is going to eat her in the shower! Amazingly, her father hears nothing, so I guess I am the one to be the spider killer of the night!

While she hides far enough behind me, I calmly creep to the shower, pull back the curtain and access the situation. Sure enough, there is a HUGE, BLACK SPIDER just sitting there waiting to be ambushed by said spider killer. (That'd be me, in case you didn't know!) I promptly say a prayer of quick thanks for my hubs who thought to install one of those shower heads hooked onto a hose while I grab it and aim it at the poor unsuspecting HUGE BLACK SPIDER! I quickly turn on the water as HOT as I can and let loose on the monster while my daughter questions my every move.

"Are you sure you're getting rid of it?"

"What if it comes back up?" (I'm thinking dear, that the scalding hot water alone would kill it, but I'll keep going just to keep you safe.)

After several minutes of a hot water flush, I turn off the faucet to wait and see if the thing will work it's way back up. Nothing, zilch, nada.

But said teenager wants to make sure it's gone…..so again with the hot water flush.

Finally, I think I've managed to convince her it's safe to shower, right? Sure, ok….but just in case…

I get to type up my first blog sitting on my bathroom floor with my laptop in my lap (now there's a funny) and listen to her take the fastest shower in her life!

And that, my dear readers, is what why we say,

"It's a Vivas Thing!"

Nov 06 2006

The Case of the Missing Hamster

Monday, November 6, 2006

What a weekend! Middle son’s hamster showed up missing on Sunday morning. He’d cleaned the cage on Saturday evening and forgot to lock it. The little booger knows how to push the door open, which is why he has to keep it locked!

Here’s the story:

So we searched and searched and finally went to bed, telling our son the hamster was bound to show up in the
middle of the night by running across someone’s feet. Not so.

At 4 am, I was awakened by scratching noises. They’d gone on for a few moments I think, as I was between the land of gone and come back. As I drifted back to consciousness, I realized the sound was coming from the wooden TV table. About a second later, I realized it must be the hamster! I leaped up, turned on the vanity light so as to not awaken my slumbering husband….but the little critter had vanished. Bummer.

I decided to go back to bed and pray and try and get some sleep, all the while wondering how that little hamster got up all of those stairs and made it to the farthest room in the house! A bit later, I heard the scratching again. I crawled out of bed again, turned on the light, and …….don’t hold your breath….nothing.

I crawled back into bed, prayed some more, tried to doze. About 5:12 am, I heard it again…this time going through plastic…and I immediately freaked. You see, we have a poster of our oldest daughter that I still had not framed, wrapped in heavy plastic beside hubby’s desk in the room. I envisioned this hamster shredding away that poster; the very last poster of her competing in gymnastics….this was war! I jumped up onto the bed and pounced over hubby while yelling at him “WAKE UP! The hamster is in our room!”….made it to the light in a flash…and caught the little booger, standing up on his hind legs on the carpet at the end of our bed as if to say, “Oh Lord…she’s caught me and she doesn’t look happy!”

Hubby quickly shoved the door close so she wouldn’t escape! Then he went on one side and I on the other. He is now wide awake and yelling at me to catch the hamster….yeah right! The dern little critter was way to fast for me! As she
scampered between my legs and headed off to my closet, I grabbed my cell phone and called the hamster owner who was downstairs in his bed dreaming the night away.

I heard a groggy, “Hello?” to which I screamed into the phone,
“GET UP HERE NOW!!!”

1/10 of a second later he appeared in our room. (I didn’t know the boy could move that fast!) I yelled at him that his hamster was in our closet and he needed to get her out of there please. She was so wound up every time he caught her she’d jump out of his hands, so I ran downstairs and grabbed her ball, ran back upstairs, handed it to him and she jumped right in. He promptly took her back downstairs, put her in her cage and locked the door. He said the poor little thing was just guzzling down that water!

I gotta tell you; I asked the boy…what were you thinking when you ran upstairs? He said, he thought something horribly awful must have happened and he’d better get up there now. Poor kid…he’s probably traumatized for life. I still crack up every time I remember his look of sleep and surprise; I’ve been laughing ever since!