Kona's Valentines Day Party

We have the very best vet/dog school EVER!  Last Thursday, Kona had a Valentines/Birthday party at Mountain View Vet.  As you can see, he got to wear a birthday hat and he actually did wear it.  There was doggy ice cream, pupcakes, and even games.  He did awesome with the other dogs and I think he had fun.  He sure did love the pupcakes and the ice cream, but I think that his favorite part was watching the other dogs play...oh and greeting the other dogs.  I think its pretty amusing when the other dogs walk under him to check under the hood.

Downward Dog

For the past 4 weeks, I've been doing yoga at least once a week.  Sometimes, I even "get" to do it twice a week.  I'm learning to tolerate it and maybe even enjoy it, but I've learned that its WAY better to do yoga with friends.  Or Tim.  Or Kona.
 ,
Except that Kona thinks its really fun to bother me while I'm doing yoga.  I'm guessing its because I'm down on his level.  He licks me and tries to tip me over.  He tries to run under my legs and he has even laid down underneath me when I'm in a plank position.  He's a total clown, and I will admit that he does make me laugh while I'm trying to hold a half moon pose while he's leaning on me.  Anyone ever tried a half moon pose with a 120lb great dane leaning on them?

Anyways, the other night after my yoga workout, Kona decided he needed to lay on the yoga mat.  I should also mention that he does this often.  I guess its cushier than the carpet.  I thought that maybe I could get a picture of him doing "downward dog". 

Apparently, my camera is too slow, but this is what I came up with.

 

 So, if anyone is interested in a good, giant yoga buddy let me know.  I'll let you borrow him.  :)

 

P.S. Yes, Kona is as long as the yoga mat.   

I Need Some Sunshine!

Kona LOVES the sunshine 

and will go around the house trying to find the best places
to lay in the sun.  

This afternoon, 

the only place he could find the sunshine was on the back of the couch.  

Apparently, my sweet giant dog thinks its okay to rest on the armrest of the couch

to catch the final rays of the day!

P.S. At least he laid his head on his toy instead of sliming the couch...

Winter Weather

The weather this winter has been SO weird!  We have no snow on the ground.  It's 40 degrees or so outside.  Its warm enough to wear chacos and for Kona to be out lying in the sunshine.  He's loving it!

I, on the other hand, have mixed emotions about this.  It's supposed to be cold and snowy.  There is supposed to be enough snow up at Beaver Mountain so that Tim and the kids can go snowboarding.  Its supposed to be dreary and grey and cloudy.  But, it's not...and I'm not sure how to deal with it.

Oh...funny thing...apparently lots of people in the valley have made the resolution to run/walk/bike whatever because this week there have been SO many people outside!  It was just something I noticed while we were out yesterday.

Anyways, the weather is weird.  I'm struggling with the winter blues and it's not really even winter.  Bizarre...

Also, because I think Kona is super cute, we'll end on a good note.  He got a giant Cat in the Hat for Christmas and apparently loves it enough to snuggle it.

Christmas with the Elwoods

I was going to post this yesterday, but I had a MEAN case of food poisoning, involving issues at both ends of my food chain, so instead of blogging, I spent much time lying in bed or worshiping the toilet.  Definitely not how I planned to spend Tim's day off or the day after Christmas.

However, Christmas this year was awesome.  Tim and I spent Christmas Eve with my parents, and brothers and their families.  We ate appetizers and played games and I watched the Sound of Music with Cole.

Christmas morning, I woke up early, like I always do and got ready for church.  Because I sang in the choir this year, I had to be their early.  Unfortunately, that also meant that Tim got to come to church and sit by himself.  I love having Christmas on Sunday.  I love being able to start the day off feeling the spirit and really focusing on the true meaning of Christmas.  The program at church this year was fantastic and it definitely set the tone for the rest of the day.

After church, Tim and I headed over to my parents with Kona to have gingerbread waffles.  We love them but they are SO rich that I'm glad we have them only once a year...except that Tim and I made them for the kids yesterday too.  We got to watch Cole play with his new kitchen that my parents made for him.  He loved it and when Karen asked him how much he said, "46."  I have no idea what that means, but it was cute.

We came home and I sort of took a nap while Tim played a game on the Xbox.  The kids arrived around 2pm and we had Christmas at our house.

Kona even got to join in the fun and opened some presents and even shredded a box...his favorite thing to do!

Rylan LOVED his Pittsburgh Steelers tshirt!  In fact, I'm pretty sure he's been wearing it since he put it on Sunday afternoon.  I'm really hoping I can talk him into taking it off today so I can wash it.

Tim got a couple of new hoodies, a tool bag, a flashlight, and a few other things.  The only thing I was able to surprise him with this year was the 12 days of Christmas.

The demon dog made a few appearances.

Kyra got a new snowboard and some snowboard boots so she's all set for snowboarding this season...if we ever get some snow.

I got some super duper huge cookie sheets (Tim wants me to bake more...), as well as some other baking stuff, Sister Dalton's new book, and my personal favorite, a pair of super cute cowboy boots.  I don't have a picture of the boots yet, but I love them!  Tim said that we're turning into "cow" people, but I have no idea what that means.

After presents, we headed back to my parents for dinner.  My Dad made a delicious stuffed pork tenderloin and we had salad and baked potatoes and it was so fun.  Then we played games and it was time to go home. 

We decided to watch "A Christmas Story" and that went pretty well.  I ate some leftover 7 layer dip (hence the food poisoning) while Tim and the kids had candy and popcorn.  Apparently, I should have skipped the dip and eaten the candy.

Anyways, we had a WONDERFUL Christmas and I'm sad that it's all over.  I guess now it's time to move on to the next thing!

How Kona Entertained Himself During Christmas Shopping

Yes...that is an open present...for my Dad.  Apparently, while Tim and I were in a store getting some shopping done and Kona was supposed to be waiting patiently for us, he decided to check out the gift wrapped presents.  I guess he thought Grandpa's present looked the most appealing.  The back of the car had lots of shredded wrapping paper and tissue paper and some pieces of cardboard box, as well as a ribbon.  Oh, he also thought he would try to open Grandma's present, but he only managed to get the ribbon untied.  

I should also mention that he did this while we were getting other gifts wrap and the girl helping us was telling us how her neighbors taught their dog to open presents.  Of course, I said, "Why would you want your dog to open presents?!"  Now, I know that my dog knows how to open presents and apparently, he also knows that he will entertain himself if necessary.

Kona is Pup of the Month!

Yes, Kona is Pup of the Month at Mountain View Veterinary Health Clinic!  Check him out HERE.

The Christmas Lights are Up!

Today was the day the Christmas lights went up at our house! Of course, Kona had to supervise.  Tim even got him to climb the ladder. 

 

 We only had to use 2 strands this year, so we actually have an extra stand that we're trying to figure out what to do with it.

We also hung my awesome wreath.  This took a couple of tries because we kept changing our minds on where exactly we wanted the wreath to be.  I'm debating on a ribbon for the wreath, but I'm thinking that maybe I should just leave it sort of rustic looking to go with my super cool reindeer.  Oh...the reindeer will be going out tomorrow...at least one of them will be on the porch.

 Maybe we should use this as our Christmas card photo?!

We also had to adjust the cord for the wreath because the first attempt made the wreath look square.  I'm pretty sure wreaths are not meant to be square.

 I'm pretty sure that the highlight of Kona's day was finding this tiny ball in one of the planting beds.  He brought it in the house and was flipping it all over the place. This was before I got the house all cleaned up, but I'm sure the cute tiny soccer ball will make an appearance tomorrow.

P.S.  The Christmas lights will not be turned on until tomorrow night...  :)

The Giant Reindeer Project

Two Saturdays ago, Tim and I made our giant reindeer prototype.  See here.  Because we liked it so much, and because we heard alot of great comments about how cool the giant reindeer was, we decided that we would try our hand at building and selling these steel reindeer.

 

On Friday morning, we decided to paint the prototype.  I chose a color called "antique oiled brass."  Tim was skeptical, but it turned out awesome.  Before we could paint, we had to clean the reindeer off with alcohol and then prime it.  Of course, Kona had to supervise.  I did put him in the house before we started the painting because I really didn't want paint paw prints all over my carpet.

After the primer went on and dried, we painted it the "antique oiled brass."  It is a dark brown with gold metallic in it.  I'm typically not a gold person, ever, but I think the shimmer in the paint really adds to the color.  I'm a fan and my reindeer will definitely be painted this color.

Once the reindeer was dry, we took it outside to see how it would look.  I'm pretty sure it looks fabulous, but I'm also completely and totally biased.

While we were having lunch at one of our favorite places, The Italian Place here in Logan, we spoke with owner about putting a couple of our steel reindeer in the restaurant and trying to sell them.  They said, "Of course" and also suggested that we put the reindeer in the local gallery walk on December 2.

So, last Saturday, we went back to IPACO and bought the steel to make six sturdy giant reindeer.  We spent the afternoon building two of these reindeer.

This morning, we sanded, primed, painted, and laquered the reindeer and now they're sitting in the garage drying.

 

Tomorrow morning, they're headed to the Italian Place to hang out for a few weeks with hopes that we can build even more super cool steel reindeer.  If you're interested in purchasing one, or a pair, let me know and we can definitely have a conversation about it!  Oh, and if you have any suggestions about how to make the giant reindeer cooler or fancier or a way to sell/market them more, please let me know!

A Monday in the Life of a Trophy Wife

I should probably explain the "trophy wife" in the title...I think being a housewife sounds so dull and drab and boring.  Trophy wife sounds WAY better and definitely more glamorous...so when people ask what I do, I tell them that I'm Tim's trophy wife.  Of course that comment gets all sorts of looks, but I'm amused by it.  Anyways, on to my Monday.

Mondays are always super busy for me.  I do that to myself on purpose.  I prefer to get all of my cleaning, laundry, errands, tasks, duties, etc etc etc done on Monday so that I have the rest of the week to hang out with Tim and to do whatever other stuff comes up. 

Here's what I've done today:

-Read my scriptures
-Worked on my lesson for Sunday
-Made oatmeal for breakfast.  Tim cleaned up breakfast so he gets lots of gold stars and lovin for that.
-Unloaded and loaded the dishwasher.
-Took the dog out to do his "business"
-Went over my calendar for the week
-Took the dog out to do his "business"
-Got ready for errands
-Went with Tim to Lowe's to buy paint for our reindeer project.
-Went with Tim to his dad's house to work on the welder.
-Went to Praxair with Tim to get parts for the welder.
-Checked out my mom's thumb since she's injured.
-Ate some of my dad's yummy pineapple.
-Took the dog out to do his "business"
-Ate lunch with Tim.
-Started the laundry

-Used the lady drill to unclog the shower drain.  I joked with Tim that it may be time for me to cut my hair.  He said absolutely not.

-Cleaned and mopped the bathroom.
-Cleaned and mopped the kitchen. Decided not to "restore" the floor since it takes 24 hours to be completely dry.  Who has time to not use their kitchen for 24 hours???
-Dusted, vacuumed and cleaned the ceiling fan in my bedroom.
-Worked on the laundry.
-Took the dog out to do his business.
-Worked on my blog while waiting for the kitchen floor to dry.

I still have 3 more loads of laundry to do, a workout to get done, a floor to "restore", dog school with Kona, and make dinner for my cute husband.  Oh and we need to do FHE.  Like I said, Mondays are busy, but hey...I'll take one busy day if that means the rest of the week goes smoother.

Happy Monday!

Fall Decorations

Here is my attempt at fall festivity decorations.  This is a big giant bowl sitting on my coffee table.

This is why I'm not into decorating...Yes, those are teeth marks from my sweet naughty dog in my white pumpkin.  I came upstairs from giving him a bath and found him tearing up a cardboard box and tearing up my decorations.  I'm seriously pondering the worth of decorating on the coffee table...

Oh and in case you forgot, this was last year's debaucle with decorations...What's Wrong With This Nativity Scene?

How to Give a Great Dane a Bath

Kona has needed a bath for awhile...but I've been waiting until its warm enough for him to go outside in the sun to dry off.  Wishful thinking on my part I guess.  Anyways, this morning Tim and I were getting ready to go and do some errands, so while Tim finished up his morning computer time, I decided to give the dog a quick bath.

I've had several people ask how in the world I give Kona a bath.  It really has never been an issue, mostly because he's been having baths since we got him.  I will say that getting him to the bathtub is a little tricky and sometimes involves some bribery.  I have been known to give him an entire hot dog to get him in the tub.  However, this morning, Kona only made me chase him around the house for a few minutes before I got him to hop in the tub.

Once he's in the tub, he usually just stands there while I rinse him off.  He looks thrilled, doesn't he. One time he did jump out of the tub and ran around the tiny bathroom (the floor is covered with towels prior to the water turning on) which resulted in me being super wet and him unhappy to get back in the tub.  Today he was awesome and stood there the entire time.

After he's wet, I lather him up with some oatmeal sensitive skin shampoo.  That's shampoo squirted all over his back. Its supposed to smell like coconut...I'm not sure about that, but it does smell nice.

He loves the lathering part.  I'm always surprised at how much hair comes off when he gets bathed.  I think he just likes being warm and massaged.  He was shaking off in this picture.

Then he gets rinsed off.  No big deal there.  I just have to make sure to keep the soap out of his eyes and make sure that he gets completely rinsed off.  He has sensitive skin, so I always try extra hard to get all of the shampoo rinsed off.

Probably Kona's favorite part is getting dried off.  After I towel him off, or attempt to towel him off, he heads out into the house to do zoomies.  He runs around like a maniac, picks up all of his toys, runs up and down the stairs, jumps off and on the beds, and then he runs to the door, rings his bell and heads outside to pee.  Apparently, he also looks like demon dog in the midst of the zoomies.

When he's dry, he gets vacuumed off.  Yes, actually vacuumed off.  He loves it.  In fact, whenever I get the hose out for the vacuum, he comes running.  Today he got vacuumed off in the garage and again in the house while I was cleaning the house.

Finally, he lays in the sunshine relaxing.  What a life he leads...