Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Poor Fritz

Poor, poor fatty Fritz.  We took our pup to the vet last week because I was afraid he had psychological issues when it came to itching.  Months ago, he was itching nonstop, and we found out that he had fleas.  So we took care of that problem.  But the itching never stopped.  Turns out he has allergies.  How in the world did we get a high maintenance dog?  I'm not sure I signed up for this.  But, with some prednisone, the itching has ceased and we can all sleep.  Really.  I wasn't sleeping because this dog's itching kept me up all night.  Now I can actually get a few hours of sleep in a row!


So we took the dog in for his itching.  But we had also noticed that, at 10 months old, he was getting up and walking around like an old dog sometimes.  My parents had a dog with hip dysplasia and I was concerned that was Fritz's problem.  The jury is still out on the dysplasia, but the vet did tell us that our dog needs to lose a little weight.  And by a little he means almost 20 pounds.  He is now on a puppy diet and he absolutely HATES it.  I think he hates his diet more than I hate mine.  I guess we can be miserable together.  The sad thing he is Fritz will probably shed 20 pounds before I do.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Happy Birthday, Gus!

My sweet Gus turned 3 yesterday.  Although I believe he will still tell you he is 5.

Gus requested an Elephant and Piggie cake for his birthday.  If you don't know about Elephant and Piggie, you can view my previous post here.

This is what Gus thought of his cake...




Add some pretty awesome presents from his grandparents, great grandparents, great aunts and uncles and this kid had a great day.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Pathetic Anders

Anders had a rough couple of days.  On Saturday morning Fritz knocked him over and caused him to bite his tongue.  It hurt me every time I looked at it.

Then, on Sunday afternoon, he made a face plant on the sidewalk.  He looks pathetic.  But don't worry, he is fully aware of how to use his pathetic skinned face to get an ample amount of cookies.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

The Adventures of August

Proud Mom Alert!  Gus has been potty trained for several months.  And when I say "potty trained," I mean that he went to the bathroom when the idea was his and his alone.  This meant that he had several accidents a day.  As glad as I was that he was 2 and potty trained, I was starting to think that John had the right idea about waiting until he was 3 and then never having a single accident.  I was just starting to get to the point of utter frustration with having every bathroom in our house reek of pee when Gus announced he wanted to wear underwear, and not his pull-up, to bed.  Great, I thought.  Now I can wipe pee of the walls and the floors AND add an extra load of laundry in everyday.  My husband would say I'm a pessimist.  I say I'm a realist.

To my surprise, my big boy two year old has been accident free, both night and day, for over a week.  I believe this shows his true colors.  He is one stubborn kiddo.  Ideas are only good if they are thought of by him.

Friday, March 9, 2012

"Please get the federal government, Mr. Chairman, out of our consciences."

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the HHS mandate has created quite a stir.  If you missed the hearing you can view part 1 here, and part 2 here.

I'm not much of a political person.  I also happen to live in the most politically corrupt state, so I don't see me becoming a political person any time soon.  However, because I am a Christian, I have read and watched a lot about the HHS mandate.  I also proudly watched my church body's president, Rev. Matthew Harrison, deliver an excellent speech.  One that had all of the LCMS Lutherans proclaiming "that's MY President!"

In most of what I read, people seem to be wavering from the facts.  We, as Christians, are against the HHS mandate because it impedes our religious freedom.  The first amendment is supposed to protect religious groups from mandates such as this.  I get unnerved and baffled as to how people are making this about something else.  So let's just stick with the facts.

  • The HHS Mandate requires that all employers, religious or otherwise, offer health insurance that provides forms of birth control, even those that cause the death of an unborn child.  
  • Obama did provide an "accommodation" for religious employers stating that employees could get birth control directly from the insurance companies if their employers didn't cover it.  But since those religious organizations are still required to provide their employees with health insurance that covers these forms of birth control, this still violates the consciences of those who oppose these drugs/services. 
  • The first amendment guarantees all US citizens the right to the free exercise of their religion.  We cannot freely exercise our religion if the government is forcing religious organizations to violate the tenets of their faith.
Those are the facts.  Plain and simple.  The government should have no control over our consciences, and yet that is precisely what they are trying to do.

What this whole circus has become is a bunch of people who aren't sticking to the facts getting upset over our "misogynistic" men in leadership.  This issue is not about women's health.  This is about religious freedom.  This is not about how President Obama feels about birth control.  This is about how we, as religious organizations, feel about birth control and our right not to offer abortion causing drugs as part of our health insurance plans.

It is instances like this, when people show they can no longer be logical, that I worry about the world my kids are a part of.  We work as parents to shield them from harm and protect them from danger.  We teach them to be kind, loving, gracious and respectful.  We raise them in a Christian home with Christian values.  We teach them right and wrong.  Not this new age right and wrong, but biblical right and wrong.  This has shown me that not only do we as parents need to proceed, diligently teaching our children Christian values, but that we must also teach them how to fight logically against those who try to invade our consciences.



Thursday, March 8, 2012

Sleeping John

John tried with all of his might to stay up until Gus came back into the room.  But, he just couldn't do it.  When I went to bed several hours later he was still sleeping like this.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Grandma Fiene Visits

At the end of February my mother in-law came for a visit.  We had a great time and the boys are always glad to see their grandmothers.  John always asks why the grandpas don't come as often.

Solveig happened to come on the same weekend we had our family pictures taken.  It was so nice to have an extra set of loving hands around.

Grandma came bearing gifts.  The boys love getting new books.  
I really need to stop taking pictures so fast without checking my settings or the light.  Really, Katie?  Really ?

 It's a good thing Grandma can take a better picture.
John loved reading to Grandma.

We had a wonderful visit and we can't wait to see you again!

Friday, March 2, 2012

Anders and his Favorite Drink

Let's go way back to Superbowl Sunday.  We had a few friends over for a laid back, food filled evening.  When we weren't looking ,Anders decided it was high time to try a beer.

Don't worry folks, the bottle is empty.

Oh, and when I said he grabbed it when we weren't looking, I really meant this...
Does this catch anyone by surprise?

 Anders was very upset when the bottle was taken away.  He cried for so long we ended up just putting him to bed.

The other boys didn't want to watch boring football.  They opted to watch a movie in the basement.  A good time was had by all.