::::

::six::

Today after church we had six missionaries over for dinner. No, we didn't _eat_ the missionaries for dinner, unfortunately, we fed them. They ate a lot!
For some reason our ward has six elders right now. Two portuguese speaking and four english speaking. They're total goofballs. We had a lot of fun with them.

It stressed me out a little trying to figure out what to feed them all, and once I realized that today was fast sunday and they'd be breaking their fast at our house it was even worse. But we figured it out. There wasn't a bit of food left by the time they left, but I think they may have been full.

It was Max that had the best time though. He was playing with them non stop. Tickling, being tickled, playing games, teasing, yelling wiggling. You call it, they did it.

Magic tricks--making quarters disappear (down your sleeve.)

We took some photos so I could email them out to their moms. Max made sure he was front and center.

It was really fun to have them, makes me wish we could have Murphy and his companions come so we could feed them too!
Missionaries are so cute.

::warn me next time::

Max says he told me before, but I don't remember it.
He says that when he goes outside, sometimes he turns in to a bad guy.
I wish I would've been prepared. It was a little scary.
Good guy:

Bad guy:

Good guy: (well sort of)

Bad guy:

Well behaved, compliant young man:

Really bad guy: (you should hear the scary sounds he's making)


The scary thing is that it's finally warming up around here, and hopefully we'll be spending more (a lot more) time outside. So wish me luck, I'm not sure what's going to happen.
These photos were taken a week ago today, and it was freezing. My hands were so cold taking pictures, they felt like they were going to fall off. Today it was sunny and actually kind of warm in the sun. I don't expect it to last just yet, but I we're going to enjoy what we get. Max spent a lot of time out in the wimpy yard running his trike into stuff. Can't wait for the new yard!

::so far so good::

So I took Rachel's advice. She said that if Sultan slept with Max it would seal the deal and they'd be friends forever.
I asked Max if he wanted to have Sul sleep in his room. Max was a little worried about the carpet getting hairy, but once I promised him that carpets can be vacuumed he was excited and went and pulled Sultan's bed into his room.
Sultan thought it was weird. He wasn't sure he wanted to sleep there. I gave Max some dog treats to try to smooth things over, and it helped a bit.
But he didn't want to sleep there when night fell. He usually sleeps on his bed all night, but last night he kind of wandered the house.
I think he ended up on the bed though.

Anyway, the whole point of this story is that I went into Max's room this morning after my shower. Max was supposed to be getting dressed, which is always an ultra long process.
Here's what I saw:

Does he have that kind of put upon look in his eye, or is that just my imagination?
Max was letting him read. He'd gotten out his dog books. McDuff, and Martha Speaks. They're open to specific favorite parts.
I thought it was so cute. How nice of Max to help Sultan read! And to find the books he might be interested in.

So far so good I say. I like that Max has to think about somebody else besides himself once in a while. It can't be a bad thing. Now if we can just get Sultan on board we'll be set.

::not yet::

It is FREEZING here. It doesn't feel like spring at all to me. It warmed up for a couple of days, but the wind is freezing. So high 50s felt like 30s to me. And now when it's in the 30s it feels like 20!!
But spring can't be _too_ far away. Because Max and I found these:

and these:





If the flowers are out it can't be too much longer, right?
We found most of these in unkempt yards belonging to rental houses. I love whoever planted them, they make me so happy to see. And I love the person that thought of early spring flowers in the first place even more! I miss the bulbs I planted at our first house in Kansas City, the ones the squirrels always ate up. I wonder if they're still blooming.

These remind me of an easter egg hunt. Just sweet little flowers coming up bravely amid all the old winter detritus.
And even though we were freezing when I took this pictures, it was still nice to be outside. And nice to see the sun.
Come spring, come!

::the answer::

So finally here's your answer. You were all very close.
"OK Sul"

"Sit!! Sit!! SIT!!!"

"DOWN!"

"Good boy"
We got a bunch of little doggy treats from Trader Joe's. Somehow Sul likes them. He's funny and pretty picky about what he eats. He doesn't even really like milkbones. But he likes these. So I've been having Max work with him on a few things. Sit, down and stay. It's pretty funny to watch, and if Sul realizes there are treats involved he gets excited and kind of tries to obey.



He takes a treat, puts it on the ground and says "Stay." He usually says it like 45,000 times. Then he says "OK!" and Sul is supposed to run over and eat it. It usually goes really well, and it's super fun to watch.


Max kept putting the treats on the floor instead of having Sultan eat them from his hands. I asked him why and he didn't explain. But I figured it out after seeing the following photos.









That last one is hilarious, isn't it? Feeding him from your hand is scary! Look at those big teeth in that huge mouth!
It's been fun to have Max interact with Sultan a little more lately. We've had him feeding Sultan every night too, which at least gives them some sort of connection.

Hopefully they'll get to be even better friends as we go along!

::?::

Anybody know what's going on here?

::missing::

We can't wait to get back to the beach. Max has convinced himself that may will be the month when everything fun happens. We'll see if the beach is one of those things.
Hopefully we'll get a lot of great beach visits in with our friends Melissa and Angie and their littles before they graduate and leave us on our own.

(did you know these clams are called quahogs in RI? who knew)

::::

Some of the "fruits" of my visit to the grocery store earlier today. And this doesn't show the grapes, carrots, strawberries and bananas.
We've been trying to eat better as a family for the last long while. We're doing pretty well now. I used to buy fruit and just end up throwing it away. Now we eat it all. It just takes a bit of an adjustment--if we want a snack we try to reach for fruit now. And seriously, oranges are so delicious.
I'm proud of our improvements. And I'm glad that my little boy is a fruit lover.

(max feb 2007 enjoying a pear at the dining room table in our old house in kansas city. we miss that house.)