Atomictumor

It’s been a great couple of weeks at this house. What have we been doing? Well…

The computer and the tv have been turned off in the boys room for “an undetermined amount of time.” Stuff happened. Anyway. But the residual actions from removing these electronics from consuming their little brains has been pretty awesome.

Between the teasing 75 degree spring weather, the puppy and no video games and tv…. we’ve managed to witness the birth of DAD TIME!! (That’s when boys and dogs do what boys and dogs do best..WRESTLE!)

And it sure is fun… there is guarantee “Dad Time” will be requested nightly.

Let’s see… what else?

The boys joined us on the deck to grill steaks and shrimp last night. Juicebox rolled his bike into the backyard and tried to ride in the grass (that’s ready to be cut). He even broke out the new bike helmet he got for Christmas… He ran past us looking like this:

And then there is Xander. Wow, he is growing fast. We’ve had him 2 weeks now. He’s learned to go up and down the steps on the porch…though the DOWN part baffled him for days. He loves his crate (bed) and goes there to nap on his own. Potty training is progressing. Had ZERO accidents yesterday. Woot! His little blue puppy eyes are turning green. He is not afraid of the neighbor dogs anymore, but the neighbor’s lawnmower was a new and scary creature to him… he’s working it out though. You can see him trying to figure out every new thing he encounters. My older dog is tolerating him better. Not as many teeth shown. She’ll even let him give her kisses and climb over her back. Beagle? He’s still working on patience. He’s the only dog with a whole tail in this house, and it gets Xander’s attention frequently. And, omg! Check out the paws on this little boy!!

He learned to sit. And he’s SOOO excited to show us how good he can sit! (then he gets a cookie) He’s also learned that he has a voice. It’s not being used too much…mostly when he’s frustrated and can’t do something. Or- if the other dogs bark..he barks because they are (though he has no idea why).

He’s all puppy. But he’s looking more like a big giraffe dog everyday.

Meet Xander Crews

Yeah…we’ve had a big week around here. Xander is 6 weeks old and we picked him up today. Plannned puppyhood. We put a deposit down on him when he was days old. Today he was old enough to come home. The boys are very excited about a puppy in the house. My dogs? Well, one of them seems to be intrigued by the pup. The other looked at me like “Oh god, this can’t be happening” (she’s my 12yr old Rotti mix and she just “tolerates” stuff like cats and puppies…but she’s been around them enough to know how to deal with them nicely)

Xander is a blue and rust Doberman.

He’s taken quite nicely to the boys. For just about 8 hours with us, he seems to be a pretty laid-back pup. No whining so far (we’ll see how tonight goes). He chased MastaG around and tried to give him kisses. He’s tickled about Xander. He’s learned to hold him gently and he’s asking lots of questions. I think he’s at a great age to enjoy his own pet.

And now it’s bedtime… wish us luck.

So.. this morning when we woke up, it was snowing!! It’s really the only substantial snow we’ve had this year that has “stuck.”

We checked the news website and school was NOT canceled. The boys were not happy.

As of 7am, school was still on for the day… AT loaded up a very sad MastaG and took him to school.

Juicebox made the best of the snow before he had to leave for school. (Note: The car is AT returning from dropping MastaG @ school).

Juicebox loaded up in the car and went to school. 20 minutes later, AT returns home..Juicebox in tow… the elementary schools are now closed.

As AT’s rehashing a story about stupid Tennessee drivers in the snow, MastaG calls.. as of 7:35am, all the city schools are out for the day.

AT goes to pick up a very happy boy.

The boys have enjoyed a cold morning, playing in the snow before it all melts.

And the dogs joined the snow eating, too.

Then everyone came inside to defrost and eat some warm breakfast. Juicebox chased his snow with 5, yes FIVE, pancakes and some bacon…

And MastaG? He ate about half of a pancake and a piece of bacon…. He wasn’t hungry. He had breakfast at school this morning.

Juicebox woke up this morning and told me that he had a bad dream, one of volcanoes and ‘blowing up’. He then proceeded to impart upon MastaG and myself his extensive knowledge of volcanoes.

He told us that there is lava in them. He told us that lava is bad news. He told us that they grow up out of the ground, and that they’re very dangerous, and that you don’t want to be near one. He told us that they make mountains.

He told us that there are girl volcanoes and boy volcanoes. The girl volcanoes are the ones that have closed up and don’t shoot lava out.

The boy volcanoes are the ones that do.

Hmm.

—

I think I’ve been having nightmares myself. It involves being in a large crowd, maybe at an anticipated outdoor music festival, and hearing the incredibly amplified voice of Metallica’s James Hetfield say “WHO CAME TO BONNAROO TO HEAR SOME FUKKIN METAL?!?!?!?“

They then proceed to play some fukkin metal and chase me with RIAA lawyers. I escape, only to be blocked by Eddie Vedder, wearing a polo shirt and brandishing golf clubs.

I wake up screaming. I managed to convince the Ladyfriend that it was just another giant robots dream.

Theres no need to put something this heavy on that girl…

3 year-old Lugnut just ran up to me and said, very excitedly, “I have a bag of money!”

I saw in his hands a brown lunch bag, filled with something.  “You have money in there, Lugnut?”

“Yes!  CASH MONEY!”

I took the bag and peeked inside.  It was full of toy elephants.

I wonder if we can use them as a down payment on a new house?