Where's Waldo?

We got a cat and named him Waldo because we could never find him. He wasn't a big fan of Haddie. Or Stella. So he hid all day long in really good hiding spots like this one.

Then after the kids were all in bed, he would come out and party. All. Night. Long. Which would be fine if we liked cats, but we don't. We got the cat for a pet for the kids, since the dogs that we have (only one, presently) are working dogs-not pets. Sami loved that cat and that cat loves Sami. But not the other two. Stella tried to love that cat. 

But he was not a fan. And Stella showed signs of allergies to Waldo. So after three sleepless weeks of Waldo running amok in the house, knocking stuff off countertops and roaming the halls meowing wondering why we weren't getting out of bed to play with him, we returned him to the Crazy Cat Lady we got him from. Farewell sneaky, mischievous little stinker. We hope a good home finds you and loves you.

Twos-Days Gone

The last picture of my two-year-old. The last picture of her with her paci. Probably NOT the last picture of her sleeping backwards in our bed. 

Haddie,

You've got a big day ahead of you my sweet, strong-willed little Cubby. We've talked and prepared for this day for a couple of weeks now. And not just because it is your THIRD birthday, but because of the change this birthday brings. On your first birthday, you were completely cut off of nursing (you handled it just fine). On your second birthday, you got promoted from high chair to booster seat at the dining table (you felt on top of the world). But this third birthday brings the toughest change yet: your beloved bedtime pacifier has got to go. No amount of prep talking can prepare you (or me) for this. As you sleep next to me tonight I will soak up your sweet little paci-face one last time. 

You have grown up so much this past year, as children do. You are venturing a little farther away from Mother Duck and developing your own sense of self. You are athletic, smart, funny, sweet, sassy, and brave (and many other things, too). You enjoy running laps around the gymnastics gym at full speed, only slowing to get stamps for a task performed. You love to read and build.  You are my baby, just like I am my mama's baby. And you always will be my baby. My Cubby. My little duckling. 

Happy Third Birthday, Haddie Liz!

Love, Mama

Helllooooo 2015!

The first day of 2015 is coming to a close. It's been another beautiful, sleep-deprived, love-filled day.  Every day is such a roller coaster of ups and downs and meltdowns and dance parties. And guess what?!  If you actually read this, you are now going to {possibly} see our everyday crazy.  I'm going to let it all hang out. My personal challenge (not resolution) is to do a post a day for 365 days. With any luck, I will have two posts a month.  Maybe I will make fifteen posts this first month, due to the excitement of it. But then the fun and re-newness of it will wear off and I will get bored or distracted and move on to one of the other billion challenges I have set for myself for 2015.  Yes, I can see how this will probably end. But, this is a new day and a new year filled with new chances.

Now on to personal challenge number 78: Use or learn a 'new' {not frequenting my daily vocabulary} word each day.  I'm going to do that here, too.  And you can't laugh at me. Or, you can, but don't be mean to me while laughing at me. Here's my word-of-the-day definition from Merriam-Webster:

pri·ma don·na

noun \ˌpri-mə-ˈdä-nə, ˌprē-\

: the main female singer in an opera company

: a person who thinks she or he is better than everyone else and who does not work well as part of a team or group

 ***

I will admit that I used to (years ago, let's just say 'years' ago) think the term was 'pre-Madonna.'  I've never been a big Madonna fan, nor could I figure out the proper context to use the term. What defines someone as 'pre-Madonna?'   No shame.

***

I would also like to point out that Rip made the photo collage, but Abe - poor, fluffy, little, poopy faced Abe, did not.  Why not post a picture of possibly the most adorable little furball to exist? (I might be biased, but if you heard the things I call that sweet little beast, you might believe I think otherwise.)  Because he has a POOPY PUPPY FACE! His most favorite recreational pass-time is poop eating.  And the little turd (pun intended) has taught the other dog in the house the art of poop eating.  Rip is old enough to listen to the command to not lick me, so I dare get close to him with my camera.  But Abe...well, that's a risk I don't want to take.  Brings a more literal meaning to the term 'shit faced,' doesn't it?

HAPPY POO NEW YEAR! 

Zoo Year's Eve

The girls and I went to the zoo on New Year's Eve for a special Zoo Year's Eve event we (I) spotted on the zoo's website.  The website was misleading about the event, so we ended up arriving three hours early.  Glad we did, though.  It was cold, but the animals, especially the wolves, were very playful!  Sami played with this wolf for about 15 minutes - no joke!  They ran back and forth together. When she stopped, he stopped.  The littles and I stayed inside the shelter and watched through the glass and the wolves came right up and one touched noses with Stella through the glass! Well, duh, he didn't go THROUGH the glass. But you know what I mean.

The girls had a couple of rides on the carousel, courtesy of the super sweet volunteer that took pity on my stupidity (free carousel rides were part of the Zoo Year's Eve event and also how I lured the girls to the zoo in the first place), ran around the zoo and burned some energy and yelled 'HAPPY ZOO YEAR! as we left.

Sami stayed with her BFF/cousin Nora and had a fancy celebration and stayed up late. Stella (has been sick with a yucky cold/cough) and Haddie (had a bad nap day) did a little bit of dancing and  were passed out by about 8pm. Joe and I stayed up late watching a really slow, boring movie (called Captive-consider yourselves warned), but we (I) needed to see the ending so we suffered through it.

2014 for this Fluge household included:

• One broken thumb-sucking habit (with the continued help of Mavala Stop polish)
• Two {mostly} potty trained littles.
• Three surgeries.
• Four girls.
• Five birthdays.

Goodbye 2014 and Happy Zoo Year!

Sami-Then & Now

My first-born is in SECOND grade! She is sporting a bob haircut this year to better manage the wildness we call her hair. We flat ironed her hair for pics this year, but that doesn't happen every day. Or week. Or month. It takes a lot to tame that mane. 

Sami turns more and more into a sassy, talk-backy pre-teen every day. But she is still my super sweet, big hearted girl. 

This is her then at almost 7 and now at almost 8. Her birthday is in a week and a half and I CANNOT BELIEVE IT! Two more years until the double digits, three more years of elementary and only ten more years until she's 18. 

Stella-Then & Now

Stella has come so far over the past year. She has become a bit more independent (but she does still call us into her room at night when she is cold to cover her up), finally completely potty trained, done with naps (for the most part), and her personality just gets funnier with each new day. 

Here she is at age 3 last year and 4 this year.

Haddie-Then & Now

Haddie has changed quite a bit over the last year. Her hair has grown a bunch, she's a few inches taller, improved speech, a little bit sassier, a little bit funnier and a whole lot sillier. 

The comparison here is from 1.5 years to 2.5 years.  Haddie will be turning THREE in January; I cannot believe it! 

Happy Birthday, Cash!!

Today is Cash's third birthday. He's such a great dog (thanks to a certain handsome trainer). I call him 'My Prince' because he is so calm and well mannered. Well, except for the peeing on EVERYTHING.

(Not very thrilled with the princess crown.)

We are all very relieved to have him here with us today, as last night he was to go to a new home a few hours away. That was the plan from day one with him - he is to train and sell. Don't get attached.

Guess what? 

We got attached. 

So attached (to this dog that isn't even really a family pet, but a working hunt test dog), that a certain female in the house sobbed sporadically and uncontrollably from the time she heard the words 'I sold Cash' to the time the deal was called off (even a little bit after that time, too). But, REJOICE! None of us could really bear the thought of Cash not being ours anymore. Some are just better at hiding our feelings than others.  

So here we are on this happy day. Cash has a friend over to help him celebrate (or perhaps a dog-sitting gig just happened to fall during this time) and he has actually been participating in some fun dog play that doesn't even involve birds or bumpers.

Happy Birthday, My Prince! 

Free Pool

I took the girls plus my niece to the free wading pool across the river. We got there right when it opened and it was just us for the first glorious 30 minutes. 

Then a daycare showed up, which wasn't so bad. It was when I heard a classy lady tell her young child not to worry about other kids splashing him, because she'll just drown them, that I decided it was time to go. Then she described to him, in detail, how it's done. 

GIRLS!! Time to go!

My Messy Dirty House

There is an unwritten rule that if you get a surprise visitor, it will be at a time that your house is in shambles (and if when the place is looking good, there will be nary a visitor for days).  As a mother of three young children who are constantly peeing on the toilet, spilling their food, wiping boogers on the walls and running through the house with muddy feet, I am slowly beginning to accept this. That's sort of a lie. 

I had planned on taking these two hooligans to play outside after rest time and snack this afternoon (Sami had a sleepover at Grandma Deb's), but they disappeared off to the living room and were playing dreamingly well together. So, I continued to clean up the kitchen, making sure to not show myself to them, and as I was washing the floor and wiping the window sills, walls and baseboard down I thought about how the visitor we are supposed to have later today probably won't show up now. The house isn't in shambles, after all (well, at least the kitchen isn't).

Then I thought about the time my sister-in-law dropped in quick to use the bathroom. I'm sure you have pieced it together by now that the bathroom wasn't lookin' very good. It was pretty disgusting. Now, I'm sure that she doesn't think back to the state of my bathroom and cringe, like I do, and maybe one day I will forget all about it. Until then, I am going to try to embrace the dirty floors, walls and toilets, because one day I will miss those boogers on the wall. Well, maybe not the boogers.