Pig tails turned puppy toys

My daughter has finally grown enough hair for pig tails. However, she has not learned how to sit still while she has her pig tails put in, which means on the days she asks for 2, her ponies are not straight. Last Christmas, Santa gave her pony tail holders with long ribbons and she can finally keep them in her hair. She wore them for the first time over the weekend.



The ribbon pony tail holders on two ponies required a dance to show her enthusiasm. There was lots of jumping and shaking as she pranced and wiggled all over, shaking her head from side to side, giggling when her ribbons tickled her nose. Unfortunately, her dancing drew attention from the puppies as she walked out the back door and continued her dance for daddy.

I was not aware that we had pony tail attack dogs. My poor daughter was ambushed. She had a puppy on either pony the minute she walked out to the grass. With 6 lbs on one side and 7 lbs on the other, she went down on her back as the puppies wagged their tails and wiggled and played with their pony tail toys. It happened faster than you can say, "Bad dog! Bad dog!"



The morale of the story, I do not have to attach dog toys to my daughter's head to make the puppies like her.

Little guy socks -- in progress

Big N loves it when I knit for him. Who doesn't like having someone put a lot of love and time into something just for you! He giggled when I showed him the yarn before I started. He did ask that I find something that has more shiny green in it for any future projects.

I am using a pattern out of Knit Socks, by Betsy McCarthy. I really like this book. She has a lot of tips on some of the trickier parts and the patterns are laid out in an easy to follow and an easy to put down manner. I can put the project down and find exactly where I am in the pattern.




The socks are coming out nicely. They appear to have a nice stretch to them and I like the pattern. The yarn is VERY pron to splitting as you knit. I'm not sure if the pattern shows up very well in the variegated yarn. It does look a lot better in person than in the photo. Hopefully I am motivated enough to finish the second sock before Big N outgrows them.

Our newest additions

Let me introduce you to Max and Lucy, two English Springer Spaniel puppies. They were 8 weeks old on Friday.

My husband convinced me that we need two puppies. Big N loved running with them, but little N appreciated the kisses. My son was a little hesitant around them, but I think he will come around. He was a little unsure of the nips on his fingers.

Big N is havine a rough day

I'm not sure if he is tired or cranky or what, but he is having a REALLY rough day. He's screaming and throwing a tantrum at the littlest thing. It is incredible hard for me to not run downstairs and get in M's way. It sounds like M is going to have a rough day.

He drops something, he throws a fit. If Little N colors outside the lines onto his side of the page, he throws a fit. It's like he completely forgot how to cope with little things without throwing a fit.

It's not like Big N to act out so much.

It's a bowl! It's a hat!

I have been trying to use up my left over yarn before I buy more. I came across a pattern for a felted bowl and thought I would use the brown leftover from my daughter's vest. It came out really nice and just as I was binding it off and weaving in the ends, trying to figure out how to felt it, my daughter notices what was in my lap. "A hat! A hat for me!"

"No, it's a bowl for Mommy."

"A hat! A hat!" She then proceeded to put it on her head to show me. This was immediately followed by a dance with spins and jumps around the room, to emphasize that it was, indeed, a hat.

Ok, she wins. It's a hat. I can't take her wagging her finger at me anymore.

She wakes up at a full sprint

My daughter is fast. She goes from zero to sixty is less than a second. She jumps out of bed and runs down the hall, "pat-pat-pat-pat-pat," not slowing down to look for us, just calling out in this panicky little voice, "mommy-mommy-daddy-daddy." She is really saying, "someone, someone, I'm up! I'm up!" Then she finds you and with this thrilled little voice, "You're here. You're HERE!" followed by a hug that starts from her toes and ends at the top of her head as she reaches around you as far as her arms will go with bear, baby, bunny and elephant also in her arms.

It is hard to top her greeting.

Things are looking up

I think I figured it out!

We will end up investing in quick books, but I think it's the right way to go to make sure we track everything. I found a local book keeper who was very helpful on the phone and have her number written down in a very prominent place to call for help if I get stuck. She didn't seem to mind consulting to set things up, which is not what I found when calling around places near the office. I explained what I had done and she seemed a little surprised and told me I had about done everything I had to do.

So, we can pay our nanny, M. I'm sure she will be pleased with that. I know I am, the kids love her!

I hear the kids challenging her a lot more. I'm trying to stay out of it because she is very capable and the kids need to learn that they can trust her. I also don't want her to think I don't trust her abilities. Let's not forget that she doesn't need me interceding with everything.

At this point I will call it a learning process for all of us, especially me!

Will I regret this next April?

I am hiring a nanny, M. She's great! She has energy and the kids are already excited to see her.

I really want to do this legally for a few reasons. It's easier for M, if something happens to my job, she is then able to get unemployment. It's nicer for me, too. I can deduct childcare on my taxes and have a clear conscience.

The governemnent makes this very easy to do. You get an EIN, then the nanny fills out an I-9 and a W-4. It's all spelled out in a nice pdf booklet, publication 926.

Finding information from the state of Washington is less clear. The more you dig, the more confusing it gets. I took the advice of a friend and called a book keeping service and I cannot afford to pay them. So, I will have to weed through the government pages.

First off, according to the state, I need to get a state business license, which surprised me. I fill out the state license form for a Master Business license. The info from this site, hiring an employee, is all I can find. I have yet to find the info on what I need to do to pay unemployment insurance.

What have I gotten myself into? And the book keeper didn't seem thrilled with just setting me up.

Happiness is a cookie as big as your head

Both kids LOVE cookies from the coffee shop. It's more of a special occasion thing, but lucky for me I had my camera in my purse.