Day 10: He's Just A Walking Photo Prop

Rebel is starting to feel a little more at home around here. His energy has perked up a bit, he's more curious, and has a lot longer playtimes (in between naps, of course). 

Because I like to dabble in photography, I had big plans of some shots to take once we brought Rebel home. And since he's only going to be a tiny puppy for like 5 minutes, I knew I only had the next couple weeks to punch them out. 

He's really a walking, barking photo prop. I mean look at that face. 

So I dressed Calen appropriately, tossed him on the fenceline of our yard with his baseball glove and bat and even gave him a Coca Cola (in a glass bottle) to stage some old timey style photos with Calen and his dog. 

Day 9: Our First Day With Rebel

It's our first full day with little Rebel, and as you would expect, we are all tired around here. We've gone right back into infant creature mode in the house, getting up every two hours at night to let him outside, following his every move and swabbing his cheeks when we suspect something foreign is in his mouth. 

Rebel is still very quiet and mellow (for a lab), but I attribute that to stress of leaving his litter, and he did start to come out of his shell a little. We learned a few things about this little guy as well. 

1. He prefers to be outside. He likes laying in the grass (and attacking vicious dandelions), and sleeping on the back porch facing the yard (our future watch dog). 

Shenanigans

He prefers to sleep at the back porch, with a view of the yard and the field behind it. And his duck.

2. His favorite toy by far is Duck. Duck is a stuffed duck, and he loves to fetch it, wrestle it, or just carry it around. 

Falling asleep chewing on Duck

3. He is a gentle giant. Calen took half of his lunch and dinner (watered down kibble) at feeding time, and would feed him one kibble at a time with the command "Rebel, Look!!!" (with the idea of Rebel sitting and looking up at Calen. Rebel learned quickly to just sit at Calen's feet and wait to be fed, but when Calen would hand him a kibble, he takes the food very calmly and gently. 

Learning to "Look!"

Learning from Calen

Calen was a champ today, taking a LOT of his time to be in the yard with Rebel, playing with him and even doing his summer workbook on the floor while he slept, and just creating a strong bond. Calen is solely in charge of feeding/watering/pooping in the day time, in order to solidify to Rebel that Calen is master. The boys also learned that Lego time is now on the dining room table, and not on the floor due to curious mouths. 

All in all, it was actually a pretty easy, although tiring, day with our Little Rebel. 

Day 8: Japatull's Rebel Yell

Several months ago, we said goodbye to our little obnoxious (and turns out, aggressive) pup Sonic go back to her rescue. Calen asked, with tears in his eyes if he had to get rid of his dog, if he could have a labrador puppy. And how, pray tell, could I say no?

So, after speaking to (literally) 10 different lab breeders in the general area, we finally were thrilled to find a breeder 3 hours north of us (Japatull Labs) that was actively breeding English Labs, and got put on a wait list for an upcoming litter that was due to be born in April.

Did You Know? English Labs are labs except generally shorter, squatter, thicker coats, and have a (slight) amount more chill than the leggier, silkier, batshit crazy American cousins. 

In mid April, we received news that a litter of 8 chocolate labs were born (3 girls 5 boys), and we were bumped up to receive 2nd pick out of the 5 boys!!

Fast forward to today! The litter is officially 8 weeks old tomorrow, and it's time for them to go home. So, we packed up the family, drove 3 hours up to Corning, had an olive sandwich at The Olive Pit (since Corning CA is the Olive Capital or something), and drove out to a gorgeous ranch a few miles out of town to meet our little sweet bundle. 

When we arrived, the 4 remaining boys (all 3 girls and 1 boy were already gone) were in a little doggie playpen, wrestling and playing with balls and a cup with their little different colored ribbons on (to identify them). They were finally here in front of us! The puppies we had been watching grow on Instragram for 8 weeks! 

Now how the hell do we choose?!

Although we told the kids Brad and myself would choose the pup, Calen in the end really bonded with the teal-blue ribboned boy, a chunky sweet faced little guy who was following him around and playing. 

We have a winner!!

And so, teal-blue ribbon boy became Japatull's Rebel Yell (or "Rebel").

Actually, since we aren't registering Rebel in the AKC (though he does have a pedigree and we have the papers to prove it), he really doesn't have a registered name. But if he were to have a registered name, that would be it. Instead, he's just "Rebel".

Another fun fact: Rebel's great-great-add a few more greats-grandfather was named Rebel, which we didn't know until today. The kennel owner said that her Rebel was the first male she ever bred, and there's a direct family line down to our Rebel. How fun!

It just so happened, the collar we had waiting for him was teal-blue, the same color as his ribbon!

Rebel was great in the car during the long drive home, after a few bouts of whimpering and crying - after all, he hasn't ever been away from his home or siblings! We stopped at a rest area and he was the best of puppos by going potty on the grass and not inside my SUV. 

At home, he took to the back yard fairly quickly, and very much enjoyed the toy stuffed duck that Calen picked out for him. We had some visitors and he played for a good hour before finally going inside. 

He was a little more nervous inside, after all it's a big new place for a little guy! And like most babies, he was surrounded by brand new dog toys, but chose to play with a paper cup.

We flopped him on Calen's bed for story time, and he made himself right at home snuggled in between Calen and some stuffed animals. 

He needed some quiet after a big day. 

Welcome home, Rebel. 

Day 7: I Solemnly Swear That I'm Up To No Good

I was throwing a mattress topper out today, and in a moment of irrational mischief, I flopped the mattress topper on the landing of the stairs and brought a piece of cardboard out of the recycle bin and shouted "Hey boys I have a GREAT IDEA."

Commence an hour of "sledding" down the stairs into the mattress. 

Because nothing could possibly go wrong with this. 

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.

Disclaimer: No one got hurt in the making of this afternoon. 

Day 6: Comical

The other morning, I woke up to the kids already up (this is not an uncommon occurrence, since my children are apparently forever in Eastern Standard Time, and if they sleep until 6:15am, that's sleeping in), and very suspiciously quiet. 

So, I tossed myself out of bed, expecting to find the house on fire or painted neon green or something similar that might happen when boys are silent, instead to find them sitting in our "library" closet, drawing out their own comic books. 

Calen has been drawing a lot of comic books lately and is (dare I say) pretty talented at it, and Brad has been taking his comics to work and laminating them for him to keep.

While I love reading endless comic books about zombie stick figures being shot by the hero and then blown up by the hero and then the world saved by the hero over and over, I thought maybe I could spark some creative juices and enjoy reading a different theme, for once. 

So, I drew up a little "how to draw" this simple little astronaut, named Spaceman Bob. I told them "Here's Spaceman Bob, now tell me a story about him!" For extra fun, I tossed all the supplies in our teepee in the backyard. 

Calen started off writing about how Spaceman Bob landed on a new planet looking for life, and how a martian blew up his space ship (and Bob said "Darn, do you know how much that thing cost?!" - which I laughed at) and then he wandered on foot on the planet and found a telephone "house" (booth) and used it to call his boss to bring a jet down to destroy the martian. THE END. 

Camden's, while it didn't get finished, was about Spaceman Bob flying to a bunch of different planets (Earth, Saturn, Planet Fart, Poop Planet, etc) before landing on Jupiter and getting into a massive battle with aliens. THE END.

While I couldn't get either of them away from big battles and firefights, it was still cute and hilarious to see what they came up with. 

Day 5: Go Fish

Since we were at the lake yesterday releasing Green Ninja the frog, Cam has been asking to go fishing.

Which is funny, because usually when we go fishing, he gets frustrated as all hell because the fish don't bite his lure the moment the hook drops into the water. 

But, both the kids were onboard, so the four of us loaded up our poles and our fake worms and walked down the hill and went fishing for a couple hours. I decided it was a good day to pull out the big camera.

We didn't catch anything today, but both the boys surprisingly had a great time. Calen said his favorite part is casting over and over, which is fine by me because he can do it without help.

Day 4: Can I Keep Him?!

Here I was, minding my own business, folding laundry and watching some stupid series on Netflix while the kids are playing outside, when Camden comes BLASTING through the back door and running full speed through the house with his hands cupped together. 

"MOM!!!!! CAN I KEEP HIM?!?!"

Of course that raises the eyebrows into suspicion. What species is "him" that you are bringing into my house? Is it a bug, or a bird, or an alien?

"Mom can I PLEASE KEEP HIM I'll name him Green Ninja and I'll keep him in a jar and I'll FEED HIM BUGS!!!"

And he opens his dirty little hands to reveal a small, green tree frog. 

"Camden, you can't keep a frog in the house."

"But MOOOOM I'll feed him BUGS!! And he'll be my pet!"

"Cam he's not going to survive in the house."

"But you're giving Calen a puppy."

Well shit, I can't really argue with that. Except for the fact that it's an effing frog.

"Let's take it to the lake, and give him a HUGE house!"

After many tears over not being able to keep it, Cam reluctantly stuffed Green Ninja into a mason jar and we took the slow walk down the hill to the lake and released him in a nice spot under a tree, far from any geese or turtles or whatever the hell else eats frogs. I had finally perked Cam back up into a good mood, when we reach the house and Calen asks what the jar was for. I told him it was for a frog Camden found that we released.

"Yeah, he was going to be MY PET. I can't believe I can't keep a frog and you get a PUPPY, Calen."

Burn.

Day 3: Orange Crush Popsicles

Nothing says summer like homemade popsicles, especially popsicles made from Orange Crush soda. 

This summer brought to you by high fructose corn syrup and yellow #5.

Day 2: The Swim Test

We didn't have enough fun at the pool yesterday, so we decided to head back to the pool today. It's relatively hot (for Northern California), it's within walking distance, and not even two days into summer vacation, I was hearing that eye bulging two-word phrase "I'm BORED" and something had to give. 

As I'm sitting outside the pool chatting with another mom, a friend pops her head out and says "Hey, Camden is taking the swim test!"

Camden?! My tiny little cannonball that revels in the phrase "I CAN'T DO IT!!!" and would rather sink to the bottom than actually TRY?

Granted, he knows how to swim. But compared to Calen, who is basically half human, half shark, and passed the swim test at barely 6 (which is swimming one length of the pool without stopping or touching, then treading water for 30 seconds), Cam might as well be an anchor. 

So, of course I jumped up to watch, expecting the lifeguards to have to tear off their jackets Baywatch Style and jump in and save him and leave me embarrassed for the rest of my life. But, much to my amazement, Cam swam the entire length, treaded water, and passed the test. 

Camden returned to the lifeguard with a humongous shit eating grin to receive his prize: the coveted wrist band that allows him into the deep end with the slide. 

Good job, Bam.

The face that comes with VICTORY

Another Year In Blogging, Round 3

Baseball season is over, I'm only working 3 days a week, and the boys are on summer vacation. So the question is, what do I do with all this spare time I have?!

Why, do another year of blogging, obviously!

It's not like I have to take Cam to hockey 2 days a week, or Calen to baseball camp, or entertain kids all summer, or get a new puppy to train, or anything. I've got tons of spare time! I've got time to kill! Let's throw on another daily commitment. 

I don't know why I insist on doing this every year. 

Well, yes I do. Deep inside past the "ugh I HATE blogging" feelings, is the relief that once my kids move out and have their own lives, I'll have this library of memories to look back on. Because let's face it, none of us remember what we ate for dinner 3 weeks ago, let alone the cute/funny/obnoxious things our kids did seven years ago. 

The timing here is great, because it's the first day of Summer vacation! And I'm still in full on Pinterest Mom mode of "Let's Have Fun Martha-Stewart-Esq Activities Every Day This Summer", and haven't yet burned out and just tossed the kids a box of untoasted Pop-Tarts for lunch and allow them to play Minecraft for 13 hours straight. (But don't worry, that'll come soon enough).

We spent our first day of summer playing outside and going to the pool, of course!

And apparently the pool wore them out, because it left them irritable, and at dinner they were arguing about...barbecue sauce. 

Calen: "Ooooh, it says 'Habenero Fire Sauce'! I bet it's really hot"
Camden: "Yeah it is, if you squirt it on a tree, the tree will CATCH FIRE."
Calen: "It will not!"
Cam: "YES it will, because it's FIRE SAUCE. DUH."
Calen: "NO, only if someone drinks enough of the barbecue sauce and their mouth gets super hot and they start breathing fire could it catch a tree on fire."

Obviously.