Man's (or boy's) Best Friend????

Part of the time I was in Pennsylvania, Derrick and Scotty were house/dog sitting for Derrick's mom. They also were watching Nolan's pit bull Fudge. Scotty and Fudge became such good friends. The morning after they picked me up from the airport, I came out after my shower and saw this: Scotty looked up at me and said, "I sleep with Big Fudgie!" I had to take a picture of him cramming himself into the doggie bed with his new "best friend."

And then, five minutes later...................Scotty got out of the doggie bed and asked me for a snack. I gave him some string cheese. Well, the dogs had all come running because someone had food. Scotty was walking from the kitchen into the family room and there is a step down into the family room from the kitchen. Just as he was about to step down, Big Fudge and Bella (a 6 mo chocolate lab who is BIG) decided that they NEEDED that cheese. They knocked Scotty down the step and stole his cheese. He face planted into a toy and got a bloody nose and he scraped his leg on the stair. Now every time Scotty looks down at the healing wound on his leg he says, "Those dogs scratch me up!"
So the question is: Are dogs really Man's best friend????

*WARNING**Long boring post ahead*

I'm back from Pennsylvania and loved being able to help Suzi out. My trip started out a little crazy with my flight there and ended really crazy with my flight home. On the way out there I was flying from Phoenix to Detroit, had a 1 1/2 hour layover and then from Detroit to Erie. Well, I got on the plane and we started rolling out. But, as we were waiting to take off, it seemed to be taking forever. They finally told us that the A/C on one of the engines was out and we were going to have to go back to the gate to have it checked out. I think we took off about an hour after we were supposed to. So, we get to Detroit and I have to run down this crazy tunnel with bright flashing colored lights like a disco club to get to the terminal I needed. I got there while they were boarding the last few people. Just in time. It was great to get to Erie and see Suzi, Levi and Kassidy. Kaybree Sue Black was born the next day!

Kaybree Sue

(I "borrowed" this pic from Suzi's blog)

I enjoyed being able to take care of Kassidy while Suzi was in the hospital and Levi was in classes/clinicals. She was such a good girl. It was fun to take her to see her mommy and new baby sister everyday at the hospital.

Kassidy

(another "borrowed" pic!)

I enjoyed being around Suzi and helping with her little girls. It is so beautiful and green in Erie. And while it was a little humid at times, it felt so much nicer and cooler than home (it's been raining a lot in Rio Rico and it is VERY humid and we only have a swamp cooler.) It was great to be able to spend time with Suzi's family but I was missing my boys a lot. So, I was a little anxious to get home to see them. So, my flight home was supposed to be: Erie to Cleveland with a hour layover then Cleveland to Phoenix. I got to the airport in Erie and was told that our flight was being delayed due to "mandatory crew rest." We were supposed to leave at 7:20am and they said we would leave at 8am. My flight from Cleveland to Phoenix was supposed to leave at 9 am. So, I was pretty sure that I would miss my flight. We ended up not even leaving Erie until 8:50. So, they had put me on a back up flight from Cleveland to Houston and then from Houston to Phoenix. So, originally I was supposed to land in Phoenix at 10am and I didn't get home until 3:00 pm. You gotta love it. I was REALLY anxious to see my boys after all of that. It was so nice to be back with them and to give them real kisses instead of over-the-phone kisses. We stayed in Gilbert until Saturday and got home Saturday night............................to a dirty house that was pretty clean when I left (boys) and to the same hot, sticky humidity as mentioned before. But, still good to be home I guess.

Super Hero

This was my conversation with Scotty last night as I was getting him ready for bed at his grandma's house.

Scotty: Mommy, I'm a super hero. I have super powers mommy! Lela has super powers.
Mom: Oh, Lela has super powers? And does Bender and Fry have super powers?
S: Yes. And I have super powers.
M: Does Cierra have super powers?
S: No
M: Does Benson have super powers?
S: No
M: Does Daddy have super powers?
S: (giggling) No!
M: Does Mommy have super powers?
S: (giggling more) NO!
M: Well, if mommy and daddy don't have super powers, then where do you get YOUR super powers?
S: (thinks about it for a minute) From grandma's glasses!

Busy, Busy

This month is a pretty busy one for me. I got home a few days ago after being gone and away from internet for a week and a half. And I'll be leaving again tomorrow and will be away from home for another 2 weeks. This will probably be a long boring post so beware. We were in Gilbert babysitting Derrick's little sister and brother and watching 5 dogs (yes, you did read right...........5 freakin dogs.) Derrick's mom has 3 dogs and we were watching Derrick's brother Nolan's 2 dogs as well. Many of you may know that I DO NOT like dogs/pets very much. If I had my way, I would never own a pet (other than our cat Kiki who I'm all ready committed to.) And now, after watching these 5 dogs, I will fight very hard to hold off getting a dog for a very long time (hopefully I'll get my way since Derrick and Scotty both like dogs.) Derrick made a deal with his brother that we would watch the dogs as long as he would bring over his Rock Band game so we could get our rock on!! Now, I love this game. I played and played until I thought I had blisters on my fingers. But........after dogs waking me and Scotty up WAY too early every morning, after dogs chewing/tearing numerous things up (a huge plastic water bowl, the doggie door, Scotty's football, cookie cutters for Scotty's play dough, etc.) and after a dog peed, yes peed, on my leg, I don't really think the Rock Band blisters were worth it

On to better things. I was able to have my favorite hair stylist Koi color and cut my hair. I wanted dark in the front and underneath but I wanted something a little more fun than just brown. So, I had her do a violet color. Some people may not like the purple look but I am having a lot of fun with it and I love the contrast. This pic is not good at all, but it's the only one I have with the new hair. Thanks Koi

We were able to spend the 4th of July with Derrick's family. We ate a lot and some people swam and then we hung out and watched fireworks from the upstairs windows of Derrick's mom's house. We were all glad that we weren't outside in the heat watching the fireworks and then fighting our way out in traffic to get home. I was too lazy to go and get my camera out so there are no pictures of the 4th

The next day we left for Pinetop. We went up for a mini-vacay and so that I could go to a Dr appointment. It was nice to be back in all of the pine trees and in the cooler weather. Derrick had a plan to eat at all of his favorite restaurants there. So, we had the vacation of eating! We were able to meet up with a couple of friends but didn't have enough time to see everyone we would have like to have seen. I spent a lot of time at the Dr's office and at the lab getting tests done. When we were packing up the car on Tuesday afternoon to come back home, Scotty was sitting on the stairs by the door of the condo. He had a shoelace untied so Derrick told him to stay on the stairs while we finished loading up. I was putting some stuff in the trunk and heard him running and heard him fall. I looked up to see his face planted into the pavement. He started wailing and started to get up. I saw blood on his face so I ran over to check it out. He had scraped up his face and had a mouthful of gravel and blood. Luckily, it wasn't too bad. Here are some pics of his injuries

So, now I'm on to my next adventure! I get to go to Pennsylvania to help my sis Suzi. She is having her C-section on Monday and I get to fly out on Sunday to help out with Kassidy and with Suzi and the new baby when they get home from the hospital. I will be staying there for a week and a half. Scotty gets to stay at home with Daddy. I'm sure that I'll miss them both like crazy but I'm so excited to see Suzi and her little girls