Seriously, you just might go into sugar shock

My little dancer

Taken at preschool today. In case you didn't know (and shame on you) Joey is the one in the Pokemon shirt.

Should I be proud we made it to the Halifax Newspaper??

Check out the story HERE

One of the most fun shoots I've done here

I did a photo shoot here in town yesterday with 3 great girls. They all fell in love with Joey and wanted to take some pics with him. You can see them all HERE

Michael Knight

Joey's entry for Megan's contest.

Why people in this town need to control their dogs

THIS happened the other day. Just around the corner from my house. We've (and not just us, most of the town) been complaining about the dogs that run around here since we moved here. This story is very disturbing and of course has caught national attention.

Yep, we did!

We were going to wait on getting another dog, we really were. We were all crushed by the loss of Maggie. We received a beautiful letter from the Humane Society the other day. They really are such great people. Rob was surfing around and came across Pebbles. She is smaller than I initially wanted in a dog, but Rob and I felt it was important for the boys to have another dog. Poor Joey keeps asking when Maggie is coming home. When we drove through Meadow Lake yesterday on our way to Saskatoon (which is where Pebbles was), Joey kept asking if we were going to get Maggie. It was really heartbreaking. This little dog has already won us over. She's 9 months old and has been with an amazing woman her entire life. Unfortunately this woman is going through a divorce and couldn't keep her. We met her this morning, and were there about 20 minutes or so. She wrote out a big list of everything she could think of that would make our transition with her easier, and even had a big bag of toys and blankets for her. She slept on my lap most of the way back today, and really is a sweet dog. And most importantly, the boys adore her. She has been raised with a 2 year old girl, so she's very gentle with the kids. When we left her previous owner was in tears, which of course put me in tears. We exchanged emails and promises of keeping in touch, which of course we will. And, I gave her this address so she can follow on the blog.

Your laugh for the day

This was in a magazine called Mass Transportation. This was printed in 1943, and I swear it's true. Enjoy.

Guide to hiring women - 11 tips on getting more efficiency out of women employees

1. Pick young married women. They usually have more of a sense of responsibility than their unmarried sisters. They are less likely to be flirtatious. They need the work, or they would not be doing it. The still have the pep and interest to work hard and to deal with the public efficiently.

2. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It is always well to impress upon older women, the importance of friendliness and courtesy.

3. General experience indicates that "husky" girls - those who are just a little on the heavy side - are more even tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters.

4. Retain a physician to give each woman you hire a special physical examination - one covering female conditions. This step not only protects the property against the possibilities of lawsuit, but reveals whether the employee-to-be has any female weaknesses which would make her mentally or physically unfit for the job.

5. Stress at the outset, the importance of time; the fact that a minute or two lost here and there makes serious inroads on schedules. Until this point is gotten across, service is likely to be slowed up.

6. Give the female employee a definite day-long schedule of duties so that they will keep busy without bothering the management for instructions every few minutes. Numerous properties say that women make excellent workers when they have their jobs cut out for them, but that they lack initiative in finding work themselves.

7. Whenever possible, let the inside employee change from one job to another at some time during the day. Women are inclined to be less nervous and happier with change.

8. Give every girl an adequate number of rest periods during the day. You have to make some allowances for feminine psychology. A girl has more confidence and is more efficient if she can keep her hair tidied, apply fresh lipstick and wash her hands several times a day.

9. Be tactful when issuing instructions or in making criticisms. Women are often sensitive; they cannot shrug off harsh words the way men do. Never ridicule a woman - it breaks her spirit and cuts off her efficiency.

10. Be reasonably considerate about using strong language around women. Even though a girl's husband or father may swear vociferously, she will grow to dislike a place of business where she hears too much of this.

11. Get enough size variety in operator's uniforms so that each girl can have a proper fit. This point cannot be stressed too much in keeping women happy.

If you don't believe that this is a true article, click HERE

Never a dull moment in this house

This has been the craziest two weeks we as a family have experienced in a VERY long time. For those of you who are not on Faceb00k, we had to put the dog down yesterday. We have had such a rough go with the poor little pup. She was sick when we got her, with an infection in her eyes, a bad cough and the worst case of dry skin I've ever seen. We were given drops for her eyes, and antibiotics for her cough. For the first couple of days she seemed to be getting better. Then the seizures started. She would sit up straight and it looked like she was chewing gum and foaming at the mouth. At first we thought she was choking on something, but after turning to our friend the good ole' internet we determined it was in fact convulsions. All the factors seemed to indicate canine dystemperment. We called the vet, explained the symptoms and were told to bring her in right away (keep in mind the vet is 220kms EACH way). This was on a Thursday. She was immediately put on anti-convulsion medication as a precaution, and we were told that if she continued to convulse while on this medication it would more than likely be CD which unfortunately is fatal in most cases. We were in constant touch with the vet, and by Saturday we were told that she had not had any convulsions and the recommendation was for her to come home on medication for us to monitor her. When we picked her up Saturday, she was soo excited to see us. She jumped around and then jumped right on Colby. Everything seemed to be fine until Monday. On Monday morning Rob called me at work and told me that the dog was convulsing again, and worse than ever. By Monday night she had 6 massive seizures, which left her unable to walk straight and unable to jump up on the couch. To say we were heart broken is such an understatement. Although we only had her 2 weeks it felt like she had been in the family for years. So we made the drive back to the vet Tuesday morning and said our goodbyes. It would have been so much easier if she had been an ugly, mean dog, and I actually said that to her when I said my goodbyes. I have to say, the vet in Meadow Lake is amazing. They really treat you like family in there. And to answer the question you are all thinking, yes we will be getting another dog. Just not right away.

My work of art

This is what I have been working on since we came back from vacation. I poured over the hundreds of pictures we took, and then when I had the ones I wanted there I decided to add a few older ones in also. I'm quite happy how it turned out. If you click on the picture you can get a better view of the individual pictures.

"I won't order porn mommy"

So let me set this stage for you. We have satellite televison and a DVR, which both boys know how to use. Our DVR is full of kids movies and Joey was watching one of his movies (Garfield) today when this all happened. I was on the phone chatting with Kelly when I noticed the blue "purchase" screen on the TV. It seems Joey leaned on the remote and when he was trying to put his movie back on somehow ended up choosing a "naughty"channel. I grabbed the remote just in time before he selected "BUY" and said

"No Joey, don't order porn!"

to which my little angel said very seriously

"No mommy, I'm not ordering porn, I want Garfield!"

I'm sure poor Kelly is still laughing.

You just gotta do it! Everyone's doing it!

So if you are a northern blogger you must know Clare... The Godfather of Nunavut Bloggers! He has been blogging out of Arctic Bay for over four years discussing topics of his previous job (Mountie), his current job (father, husband and B&B owner), his passions (birding, the north, photography, icebergs, and more).Clare needs our help! He desperately wants to win a contest to send him to Antarctica and I cannot think of a more deserving fellow.

Click here to go and vote for him. It is a few steps, so please be patient with it and follow through.

You can also read more about it here on his blog. And I challenge all northern bloggers to use your blog for good instead of evil today and help get Clare the votes he needs and deserves.

Yep, I admit it, I just cut and past from Kara's blog because I am too lazy to type it out myself today. But she said it just like I would have!

So stop reading AND GO VOTE!

It's a girl!

For anyone who knows me personally, you know that I have been resisting for YEARS on getting a dog. A lot of my trepidiation comes from the greyhound we adopted. It was great in theory, but a trainwreck. It really, REALLY made me not want another dog. Rob has been not so subtly dropping the hint over the past 6 months that the boys really should have a dog. When we were on vacation, I mentioned to Rob that I thought Colby was old enough now and we should start looking for a SMALL dog. Not a "size of a cat" kind of dog, but a dog small enough to be able to travel with us and sit between the boys in the truck. Honestly, I thought we would "look" for the dog for ANOTHER 6 months, but Rob knowing me like he does popped that bubble when he said to Colby

"Mom said we can get a dog so we're going to start looking".

Jerk. Because he's like that.

We, (and when I say "we" I mean Rob) has been online almost every night looking at Kijiji in both Saskatoon, Prince Albert and Alberta looking for dogs. For the longest time the only dog we could find that fit our (MY) requirements (smallish, short hair) was a beagle, and *I* didn't want a beagle just as much as my hunter husband wanted it. And then we found "Juno". Juno was listed on the Meadow Lake Humane Society website as a scottie cross. Rob had a scottie dog when he was growing up, and honestly I always said if we were to get a dog it would be a scottie because of the short hair and size. Scotties are not known for being the best with kids, which is why we never considered one. And let's face it, most of the time the only place you can get a scottie is through a breeder and they are not cheap. We emailed the society, and after many emails back and forth we decided to fill out the application of adoption. We received an email the next day saying that we had been approved to adopt, and off we went yesterday to Meadow Lake to meet her. Honestly, I loved the fact she is only 13 weeks old, that way we can train her the way we want, and she can grow up with the boys. She had a bit of a rough start in life, and was rescued by a social worker in a neighbouring community. She has many scabs on her back under her fur which are tender to the touch, so we have been gentle with her in that area but overwise she is very loveable and friendly. Colby is madly in love with her, and it's cute to see Joey laying on the floor with her. I said to Rob tonight that even though she has only been here 24 hours, it feels like she's always been here.

So, without further adieu.........

Meet Maggie.