Ella

See this cute baby dog....

Isn't she sweet? This is our new puppy....three years ago.

This is her now and yes, she's still sweet and everyone loves her....
(Notice she's even in our family photo at the top of this blog?)

She even gets in the prom pictures....

She let's the girls do this to her hair...

James even likes her and they do circus tricks...

Her name is Ella
(short for Cruella-get it? The black and white hair on the top of her head?)

And she's MY dog.
Yep, I picked her out, paid an insane amount of money for her and when I am home she is with me at all times. She sits next to me when I watch TV, she sleeps in my office while I work, and she sleeps with me every night. (Not just with me but she has to be touching me, she curls up against my side or if I'm lying on my side she curls up against my tummy-sort of like an out of body dog pregnancy.) She's ferociously loyal and in the event I am ever attacked or our house is under invasion she'll run away barking loudly and with all her might and leave me to defend myself. ( I mean really, she's 11 pounds, what do you expect her to do?)
But please, don't think this post warm and fuzzy as it is not! Today I spent $135 to have my carpets cleaned. Especially my office-the place Ella has selected to be her personal toilet.
Now keep in mind we have a doggie door. Just her size. She has access to .27 acres of lush grass at her disposal for her disposal.
I have yet to ever catch her pottying anywhere but outside but some how my office has continual yellow spots and often other rooms will have a small wet patch of carpet-which can be from none other than....ELLA!
(Disclaimer....it doesn't smell-in fact it has no odor-just wetness and a lovely yellow hue!)
It is driving me crazy!!!
As you all know, I sell real estate for a living. If I walked into a listing where my sellers had such a situation I would be appalled. I would be mortified and think why in the world would they keep a dog around that causes such atrocity's? Who in their right mind would keep such a despicable animal. I would doubt their sanity. And yet....it is happening to me! That's right-I am a hypocrite!
So, my nice carpet cleaning boy shows up and I show him the spots and he says "I knew the minute I saw your Shitzu you'd have pee problems." "What?" I ask. "Yes," he said. "I've been cleaning carpets for ten years and everyone who has a Shitzu has pee issues. You'll never train that dog to go outside." I am taken back by this and quickly defend my dog by explaining she's part Yorkshire Terrier. (Oh please nice carpet boy tell me there's hope for me? Tell me that the Yorkie part of her will train??) "Oh," he says "that's the next worse breed for training." (I moan inside and try to keep a pleasant expression on my face.) He then proceeds to tells me about his buddy that is a dog trainer and worked with his Shitzu extensively and NEVER got her trained. He told me that when these dogs get mad, they go pee in the house. Well, apparently Ella has been mad quite often lately. Maybe it's the circus tricks, the addition of a new person in our home, the four hour hair cut James gave her, the cat that hates her...I don't know. All I know is the peeing IN MY HOUSE has got to stop!!
The nice carpet guy had to use some sort of chemical on the carpet that's suppose to eat her pee and hopefully bring my carpets back to presentable. He warned me not to walk around barefoot as it will also eat my feet. Great, I'm sure this is toxic.
Really though it if does the trick, I don't care. I've all ready tried to clean it myself with this concoction I found on the Internet. First a vinegar soak then extraction with a wet vac, then sprinkle with baking soda and then a hydrogen peroxide rub. But within days my carpets look worse than before-not only pee stains but dark dirty spots too. Yep, carpet guy was not impressed with my concoction. Apparently the vinegar and baking soda were okay but the hydrogen peroxide wasn't. Who knew?
So now all our furniture is precariously perched upon tables and beds while the carpets dry and I have devised a plan....
I am sure I'm smarter than this dog and there has got to be something I can do to prevent this from happening...again.
After a hours worth of thought-with the dog outside-I have strategically placed our living room sectional in FRONT of the arch from the dining room to the living room blocking her entrance and put up a baby gate blocking the other entrance. Ella is only allowed on the wood floor in the back section of our home. Her food, dog door and dog bed are all located there as well as her family most of the time. I was quite pleased with myself until....
my children came home!
They all complained about the baby gate, (and the cute little signs I put up at each door proclaiming our home a shoe free zone-Devree told me I was a shoe Nazi!) and Alex managed to jump over the couch from the living room into the dining room within minutes of getting home. Great.
Not to mention our living room looks sort of stupid. Clean, but stupid.
But what else can I do? I love my dog but I also LOVE clean carpets.
I know I'll let her sleep with me tonight. She never leaves my bed so I think we'll be safe from any late night covert peeing attacks.
Good grief....there is a reason they call them SHITzu's!

Poor Alex...

Tonight Alex had homework done early and was looking forward to playing Wii with his Dad when, his mean old Mom reminded him he needed a bath. Alex's way cool and super fun Dad backed her up on this and sent him up to the bath tub. Each of Alex's parents reminded him to wash all over and that they would be doing the sniff test when he came down. Alex jetted down in minutes with wet plastered hair produced a soap smelling arm and belly to Dad and then marched into the kitchen beaming for the sniff approval from Mom. Mean old mom-who was making cookies-smelled the proffered arm and belly and then asked to smell his leg. "Leg?" little Alex asks, and Mom pulls up his pajama pants to smell a very never been washed leg. Back up to the tub says mean old Mom. Alex stomps up runs the water and Mom comes up standing outside the door and can hear him grumbling (in English) about missing his game. Mom nicely reminds him-from outside the door-to wash ALL of him and waits for him to come out of the bathroom. Then guess what this mean Mother asks? Can I smell your feet? "FEET?" Sure enough no soap smell on the feet. Back in the tub little guy. This time tears of frustrating are welling in his eyes. Mom goes back to her cookies, Alex returns to the kitchen minutes later with red eyes and a contrite spirit. Mom sweetly explains to Alex (for the tenth time) that when he doesn't use soap he smells when he gets home from school. She explains what skin is and what it covers and that every inch needs to be washed. She asks him for a consequence that will happen next time he forgets to wash all over. Something that will help him remember next time. He comes up with grounding from video games. Nope, mean old mom says if you can't remember to wash your body then you can learn to wash the house and give me three hours of cleaning. He agrees they hug and Alex goes into play with cool, awesome Dad. Alex grabs a controller and Dad takes it from him and tells him. "You had to take TWO baths? Give me that controller, this is bull crap. You'll have to wait until everyone else has a turn first."
That was it.
Hum....what will Alex remember tonight? That his Mom talked and talked and explained and explained for the tenth time or that his Dad took the controller and made him wait an extra long turn and used the words "bull crap"?
You know, it really doesn't matter to the Mom who Alex remembers, just that he remembers to WASH ALL OVER!

Week in Reveiw....Whew!!

This week continued to build momentum day by day. This is a synopsis of our week AFTER SCHOOL. (This does not include any day activities/appointments or commitments!)
Mild Monday:
We had the missionary's over.
Not Too Bad Tuesday:
Ry had soccer practice
(Alex's was cancelled)
Kambree was at work (Hurray she has a job now!)
and I showed homes.
Whirlwind Wednesday:
I jetted up to the orthodontist with Austin, Devree & Rylee right after school.
Alex hung out with Brach and Tyler, (Kammy needed somewhere for them to go while she ran Loyd to the dentist)
Kambree and I took Dev & Rylee shopping for Kam's homecoming dress,
Brach and Alex went to scouts at 5:30
and then James and I went to Standards Night with Kambree and Devree
while Austin went to scouts.
Tornado Thursday:
Rylee had dance at 5:30,
Devree had her call for Annie at 5:30,
Rylee and James had a Daddy/Daughter party at 6:30
(so she missed her 6:45 soccer game)
Alex had a 6:45 soccer game (our turn for treats!)
and
Kambree performed at 7:00 with Dance Company at Spartan Spectacular (and my battery was dead on my camera...boohoo!) which Austin and I went too.
Whew!
Finally Friday:
Alex and Ry had a practice emergency evacuation so I walked up to the school to pick them, then I showed a condo, listed a house, boys rode their bikes over to get their haircuts, Dev again had to be to the theater at 5:30 and we all saw the show at 7:00.
Besides dinner and every one's individual homework, add to our week night Alex's homework which consists of: spelling, reading, vocabulary, "Lucky Listener" (which is Alex reading out loud to five different people a very difficult paragraph about the Constitution) studying English and a book report-why do I specifically mention Alex's homework? Because Alex's homework is a family event/ordeal/challenge as he cannot possibly do it on his own!
So let's continue...
Some What Sane Saturday:
We hit 9:00 am soccer game with Alex, 11:00 am soccer game with Rylee, we did some wall demolition in our storage room, I presented an offer to my clients and James painted our bedroom.
Tonight we found ourselves (James and I) home without any children. How bizarre...
Kambree is at homecoming with Matt Burton. (She looked so cute and Matt is such a nice boy-I hope they're having a blast!)
Austin with Jordan or Chance....somewhere.
Rylee with Rachel-shopping and having dinner (Thanks Amy!)
Devree at her last performance (Thank goodness!)
and Alex spent the afternoon playing with Brach and ended up at his house for dinner. (Having a sister with a boy the same age is such a blessing!)
It was sort of strange. We were going to go out but James was still painting-and not wanting to distract him-I surprised him with a romantic, spur of the moment dinner! It was so quiet, I'm not sure we've done this since Kambree was a baby and we could put her to bed early.
Here's a few pictures documenting just some of the craziness....

How did I get so lucky....

I've just spent the morning blog lurking. Yes, the best thing to do when I should be finishing the laundry, making work phone calls, grocery shopping or just cleaning up after the kids breakfast mess but instead I'm lost in blog land.
I follow quite a few blogs but no one seems to be writing much these days so I went lurking. I follow a fabulous blog that a woman keeps who has also adopted from Ukraine-her boys have RAD and attachment disorders so I started clicking on some of the blogs she follows and all I can say is....
Wowza!!
How did I get so lucky to get my Alex? (Should I even say that out loud?) I've read so many heart wrenching stories/post about kids with severe attachment disorders and my heart just aches for these blog moms. I've got nothing on these moms. Kids lashing out verbally and physically. Sick kids with a sickness hardly anyone understands. Oh so sad.
So I'm saying it out loud....we are blessed. Alex (knock on wood) is a piece of cake all things considered and not only are we blessed with Alex but with all of our children.
I need to appreciate all of them more and find more joy in this parenting thing. I feel as if I have a permanent frown cress between my eyes sometimes. I'm always complaining and over whelmed. Why? Really Wendy, why? (Yes I am having a conversation with myself on my own blog-perhaps I need therapy-oh wait, this IS my therapy!)
So, thank you blog moms that put your hearts out there not only with your adopted Ukraine kids but with the world on your blog. You are an inspiration to me.
I am now going to get to all those things I SHOULD be doing and get off my computer all while attempting to smile and soften the frown cress between my eyes!

2nd Discussion....

Last night we had the missionary's over for the 2nd discussion with Alex. He was very talkative and entertaining. The discussion was on the Plan of Salvation also know as the Plan of Happiness. Alex shared with us that he had a dream he was playing with his friend Doug and they were with Jesus and they were playing Avatar. (FYI Avatar is a Japanese cartoon character who has powers to bend water? I think?) Then when the missionary's got to the part about resurrection, Alex told this big story about how he will be in a little baby in my tummy and only speak English. (I think he's got reincarnation confused with resurrection?) He's mentioned this before, the wish that he was born to us and not adopted. I don't think he could saying anything more endearing and tell us how much he loves us than that. I told him that we love him just how he is and besides if he hadn't come from Ukraine we wouldn't learn all these great Ukraine words. His answer? If he came from my tummy he would speak a few Ukraine words like b____ (Which is the Ukraine word for hobo and one that I cannot possibly try to phonetically spell let alone say!) Great, as long as we know the word for hobo!
The missionary's went over what resurrection was again just so he was clear. He seemed to understand as he then told us about how the "angel told Jesus mother" (Mary Magdalene) that he went up and bye bye. (You would really have to visualize this as he's pantomiming Jesus descending into heaven and waving goodbye as he goes.) Obviously the boy has had some religious lessons, right? I don't think this was anything they've covered in Primary this year.
Then trying to make an object lesson, the missionary's also asked him how he would feel if his mom left with instructions to clean his room before she got back and when she was coming home how would he feel if he HAD cleaned his room? He said, "My mom say awesome!" Then how would you feel if you HAD NOT cleaned your room? He then explained that then he would have a wishing rock and it would magically make his room clean. Oh brother so much for the object lesson!
When we started talking about Jesus Alex explained that he saw a movie about Jesus in school and then he pantomimed how the two other people on either side of Christ had their hands tied to the cross but Jesus had nails driven through his hands. Our translator said it was probably the Baptist that came to the orphanage and showed this video. That might explain some of his religious knowledge.
Connor (Elder Malmberg-the other missionary I met in the food court at the mall in Kiev) came to translate. Alex told him he doesn't understand Poruski (Russian). But I know he still understands-he's just getting rusty. Apparently Connor has a bit of an accent and at one point Alex said "You sound like speak Chinese!" At first it looked like Alex was having a hard time understanding the translator and often times he'd asked questions and Connor would explain more or use different words but they both warmed up by the end. Which reminds me...
People always ask if we're learning a lot of Russian. No is the answer for the most part. Alex is very leery of speaking Russian to us. (In fact our biggest tears have been when he's frustrated and can't tell me what he's thinking and I tell him to just let it out-say it in Russian-not a good idea-that just makes him cry harder!) But a couple of days ago he just started telling us Russian words. He told us the word for push (don't even ask me to try and spell it or say it) then Devree asked him the word for pull and he looked puzzled and said "Let me think, me not remember." In fact there were a lot of words he couldn't remember. That is bittersweet. Bitter as I don't want him to lose his language but sweet because he's learning English so well. (The school secretary originally from Holland was so impressed with him when he came in telling her that he needed to get the ball off the roof-she was astounded that he could respond to her questions so quickly-she told me he must be thinking in English to be so quick.)
Overall is was a sweet night. Alex helped me serve brownies and the missionary's had to hurry off to their next appointment. Connor stayed for awhile and we shared Ukraine stories.

Out of the mouth of babes....

Devree became aware of what a hysterectomy is during our camping trip. (I think she overheard my mother talking about it, asked about it and my mom explained.) But she didn't understand very clearly because she was elated and acted as if this was the most wonderful thing in the world! You should have seen the light in her eyes. She asked me if I knew what a hysterectomy was, when I told nodded yes, she looked perturbed like I had been keeping a big secret from her. Then she said,"Mom, do you realize that we could all go have this surgery and never have periods again! Wouldn't that be wonderful?" I told her "Well, yes...but you do realize that if you have those parts taken out that you'll never be able to have children?" Her crest fallen face said it all. She honestly thought she had found the answer to avoid that terrible time of the month!

Family Home Evening

So Monday night I decided to once again to tackle the impossible-have family home evening without James. I popped in a video that you've probably all seen about the Indian Boy that hikes to the top of the mountain and finds a rattle snake. The rattle snake asks the Indian Boy to pick him up and carry him back down the mountain. At first the boy refuses but the snake begs him so the boy carries the snake down the mountain and then carefully puts the snake down in the meadow at the base of the mountain and then the snake bites him. The snake then tells him, "You knew what I was when you picked me up." We discussed what the snake could possibly represent. Rylee suggested cigarettes-yes that could work, sometimes all it takes is one cigarette to get addicted, Austin threw out porn-yep another good analogy and then I asked Alex what other things the snake could represent and he said.....
"Dinosaurs! You carry dinosaur, put down-he could bite you!"
Yep, that too....

Camping Pictures!

The first night in the camp fire....

Dad and Mom

Alex making S'mores and thrilled to be playing with fire!

Saturday morning, Mom cooking in the rain!

Double Rainbow

Troy helping Zach with his DS game

Zach on the bunk with Alex

Troy, Dad and Arron chilling in the Taj

Sydni

My girls!

Arron, Brach, Alex, Troy & Zach on "Troy's Brother Boat"


Looking out the back of the boat

Austin loving the Jet Ski!

Dad cursing the blow up tubes!

Kammy and Syd asleep in the boat!

Rylee, Devree and Austin tubing!

Aleeney and Jeff

Bill getting loves from Syd

Alex loves to camp....can you tell?

Kam & Syd being "cutie pies"

Syd, Troy & Zach

My baby brother Arron

My five dirty campers basking in the glow of the campfire and soaking up the lovely smell!

Glow in the dark hair accessories!

Austin modeling his grandpa's wet suit with the accent of his life jacket hat!

Alex and Brach the inseparable cousins and friends!

Kambree....

Kambree wake boarding

Alex the designated flag boy

Jeff with his JCrew look

Kambree, Me & Alex tubing...

Two brothers in too big of wet suits!

Kambree and I showing off!

Kambree and Austin playing rough!

Tyler in his water gear!

Grandpa teaching the girls to play Hearts!

The coolest climbing tree ever...




Alex asked me to take his picture with this bear

And Kambree with this one!

Then my battery in my camera died!