Dog-Sitting

The boys love earning money by dog-sitting! (Except for Caleb, who wants nothing to do with any of the dogs we watch. 😆)

Building and Dog-sitting

Does anyone else feel like summer is flying by?!?

One of Matt's summer projects is to build a new play gym for the backyard. Our old one was gifted to us, but some of the wood was badly warped. I was nervous each recess for preschool when we had 3 kids swinging at a time that it would break! Luckily it held up for the year, but I didn't want to chance another year. Rather than replacing the wood that was warped, Matt decided that he would build a bigger and better play gym (male ego). Hopefully it will get finished this week, but here's the progress so far.

Digging the holes to place the poles and fill with cement (it has to be extra sturdy because it's extra big!)

#1 helper: Caleb

#2 helper: Carter

#3 helper: the dog we were sitting

Unfortunately his help included digging holes in our grass where we didn't want holes!!!

(Yes, Carter is eating dirt.)

The holes were the perfect size for Carter to jump in

All boy

Where we stand today. Still to do: 2nd tier, roof, attach swings, ladder...

The same night that Matt dug the holes, it rained (which we need desperately!) so he didn't get a chance to set the posts that night with cement. That also meant that the holes in the backyard became mini-swimming pools for Carter and the dog. Carter escaped in the backyard with the dog and thoroughly enjoyed the muddy pools, along with the dog. Then we watched as Carter and the dog climbed up into the sand table (I was impressed that Carter could pull himself up there!). 2 of a kind.

Not a fun clean-up, but the dog and Carter had a lot of fun!

The puppy and Carter were quite the pair for the 2 weeks we dog-sat. The dog stuck like glue to Carter whenever Carter was eating, because something always goes over the side of his high chair for meals/snacks. And Carter stuck like glue to the dog the rest of the day. He was fascinated by him. Carter usually greets me with a kiss first thing in the morning, but I moved down the totem pole with a dog around. The first thing Carter did each morning was run and lay on top of the dog. He would then give him a kiss on the mouth, which for Carter is an open mouth. It was gross to witness.

We learned a lot by dog-sitting. I've been contemplating getting a dog for awhile now because my boys love dogs as do I. I learned that we are not in a stage in our lives where we are ready for a dog/puppy! It was a hard 2 weeks. I think the puppy was missing his family desperately, and we had different rules in our house than he is used to.

Maybe One Day...

Caleb used to be very afraid of dogs, but recently he's started loving them. For about two weeks straight, Caleb asked every day if he could have a dog. He specifically wanted Brona, our next-door-neighbor's dog. Carter is very taken with dogs as well. As soon as we step outside the front door, he immediately grabs my hand and walks me over to the neighbor's fence where he expects me to lift him up (and hold him up indefinitely) so he can see Brona.

Matt and I have had several serious conversations about getting a dog. I LOVE dogs. I worked at a dog kennel all throughout high school and became very attached to some of the dogs that always frequented the kennel. We had a dog growing up when I lived in Utah. Periwinkle was *my* dog. She slept with me at night, and we were the best of buds. It was so difficult leaving her behind when we moved.

After a few discussions about getting a dog, we finally decided that the time is not right for now. Matt's biggest reason why we shouldn't ever get a dog is because I become too attached. There were a lot of other things...we couldn't make up our minds about small vs. large dog (I'd love a dog that could go running with me), outside vs. inside dog, we would want a dog that didn't shed hair, I'm trying to take good care of our 2-year-old couches and don't want a dog jumping on them, and cleaning up the backyard after a dog isn't necessarily appealing especially when I teach preschool and have kids playing in my backyard constantly. So to answer Caleb's constant question, maybe one day we'll get a dog. For now, our neighbor is kind enough to let us borrow his dog on occasion. We love it when Brona comes over to play!

Completely unrelated to dogs, we love our wisteria in the corner of our backyard. It has completely taken over all 4 corners of the fence. It only blooms for about 2 weeks in the year, so we had to take a picture of it before all the blooms left. (It also attracts a large number of bees and wasps for those two weeks!) It is green all spring and summer so it still looks nice, but we always look forward to the blooming.