DIY chairs

It has been a busy past two months with Tax deadlines, a trip to Las Vegas, my work convention, Scott's surgery, my bronchitis and then strep, Maddy's Hand, Foot Mouth virus and then the flu . . .

But despite all that, things are moving along in our kitchen. I need to clean up the kitchen and then take some pictures for you of how things are looking. But for now, I'll brag on my recovering of the kitchen chairs. Eventually we will probably get a new kitchen dining set but for now, a little change on the kitchen chairs goes a long way to update them.

Dad reminded me that there is a lot of history in this dining set. . .

"Mommy and I put the blue seat covers on many years ago. At one time, back when we bought those chairs in the 1950s, they had a floral pattern. This is at least the third iteration. Maybe even the fourth. In fact, I seem to remember that perhaps these chairs had a red and green plaid on them before the blue. Hmmm. I remember totally refinishing the table and chairs in our garage on Quailstone. Indeed, the chairs had gotten separated somewhere along the way and one or more had been painted. Probably that was the one with the plaid seat. Anyway, we stripped off the paint and refinished and reseated them into a complete set again. Turned out pretty nice, actually."

All that history is what makes my sentimental side scream "Out with the new - keep the old!" For now, that's just what we'll do. Unfortunately, a young, bored Toby chewed a chair leg or two  back in the puppy days and we'd probably have to find someone who could fabricate a new leg to match the correct shape. A dining set from the 50's is likely not worth the money.
























A little fabric, new cushions and some tacks to keep everything together and I say they look pretty sharp. I love DIY projects especially on a stay-home-from-work day while watching Hocus Pocus on the television!

training

Scott has told several people how he taught Maddy to stand up by herself but I didn't realize till today that I had videotaped it!

He had the two dogs and Maddy in sitting a line in front of him. He'd tell Jake "get it" and Jake would stand on his hind legs and get a cheerio. Then to Toby "get it" and up Toby would go for a cheerio. Then to Maddy "stand up" and . . . she did!

Who says that training a dog is that much different than training a child!

28 April 2010

go for a walk?

Maddy brought the dog leashes to Scott on Sunday. She wanted to take the dogs for a walk. Sweet Toby let her walk him up and down the hallway, around the kitchen, into her room and back again. He was very patient and good. She loved it. When Toby wanted to take a break and sat down, Maddy came up behind him and pushed on his bottom to get him up and moving again. What a team. Scott eventually hooked a second leash on to make sure Toby didn't take off too quickly, and they all went outside for a real walk. Maddy walked Toby all the way up to the school behind the house. Can't wait till she's even older and can walk the dogs for real!

Avrey

This is Avrey. She joined our family yesterday. Avrey's a golden lab who will be Scott's retriever when he goes hunting with his buddies. If Jake is Toby's dog, then does that make Avrey Jake's dog? Is she Maddy's dog? Scott says no - she's his. I love that answer. In that case, if she eats up something then it's his fault since it's his dog! I couldn't get a good picture of her without her being in her kennel because she doesn't sit still for a minute. She is 10 weeks old and wow - what energy!

Jake wants nothing to do with her - she just wants to play and he barks at her or runs away. Toby just keeps on high ground to stay away from her. They jump from one couch to the footstool and then to the other couch avoiding the floor if at all possible. If they have to get onto the floor, they wait until she is asleep or looking away and then they run like mad for the other couch!

I have to add that she was named Avrey because it was associated with hunting. All the boy's dogs have hunting names. For example, Avrey's mom's name is Browning. Avery is the company that makes duck blinds and decoys. Funny huh? I liked Scout as a name but Scott picked Avrey.

A new puppy, two little guys, and a 4 month old - this oughtta be fun! Wish us luck.

Kisses

Sarah, Bryan and the little kids came for a visit a few weeks ago. Jake had to be sequestered in the back room because he just barks but Toby got to come out for a little visit. He mostly just wanted to give "kisses" to everyone. Brandon thought it was ok- Lilian was a little more nervous about it,

but kept coming back for more. The kids had a great time feeding him his dog food one piece at a time. We sure do love Toby.

Hand me downs

This is Madelyn in the dress I wore as a baby. My mom said that she loved to put me in this because the orange complimented my strawberry blonde hair. You'll notice I'm wearing it in this picture of me and my great-grandma. I will say, I love the color that it brings out in Maddy's cheeks! Orange is a good color.

I had a pictures of me in this dress (in color not b&w) that I was going to scan and post here but Toby ate it. Oh boy was he in trouble!!!! I'm not sure if my mom has a copy of that picture. Why again do I have dogs?

My dog the Democrat

My dog is a genius. He knows what a gun is! About a year ago, Scott had his shotgun out on the kitchen table and Jake barked and barked at it. Scott put it on the floor to see what he'd do (it was in the hard case that didn't even look like a gun shape) and he kept barking but wouldn't go close to it. Very weird. Another day, the soft case (shaped more like a shotgun - kind of a long triangle) was propped up empty against the wall and Jake went crazy.
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Yesterday, Scott brought home a handgun and was showing me how to put the magazine in and out and how to check to make sure it wasn't loaded, where the safety is - all those things that I have to know if it is going to be in my house - and Jake went off again. This gun doesn't even look like the other ones in size or shape so I don't know how in the heck he knows that it's "bad"!
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I think he must be a Democrat since he seems to be for gun control!

Strutt Your Mutt

We joined friends at Sugarhouse Park for the annual Strutt Your Mutt fundraiser for the organization No More Homeless Pets. We had a great time - well, I had a great time. Scott still balks a bit at the "pet people". He loves our dogs but draws the line at dressing them up and carrying them in backpacks. I think it was a great way to help to remind our pets that they are indeed pets and not people! Jake had a hard time getting used to so much craziness all around him but after a bit of time, eventually he was walking with his tail up and I think he had a good time.

Haircuts

Scott decided that rather than paying over $100 to have the dogs get haircuts every 6 weeks at PetSmart, we should just pay $150 to buy some animal clippers and do it ourselves.

Boy it takes a long time, lots of patients and lots of exclaimations of "good boy"! Scott went outside and started at about 4 and didn't get done with Toby until after 7! And look at those skinny legs! Scott had such a good thing going with the body but those legs are hard!!! Toby let us do his back legs but had a real problem with the front ones. I had to let him put one front paw on my shoulder and like my face with abandon so that Scott could shave the other. We also discovered that it is really hard to do those little legs with a guard on the clippers so we had to take it off. This is why his legs are so spindly (is that a word? Well, it is now).

I guess all I can say is that the dogs are clipped and washed and smell nice and coconuty for the sabbath.

My babies

I had to do another entry for today because I took this cute picture this morning of my babies. I realize that I am 100% certified, dog person! I will say this, there has been no dressing of the dogs but there is a set of doggy stairs up to the bed (you probably noticed) and we like to let them sleep with us. I can't help it. When you have little guys this cute how can you bear to shut them out at night? As I write this, Jake (the terrier) is curled up in my lap with his chin resting on my arm and Toby is sitting beside me with his front paws on the arm of the chair. If you have dogs you'll understand this unconditional love that dogs are so good at sharing. I never would have thought it from me but boy, these puppies melt my heart!