A Yummy Thank You

I had a rough couple of days early this week. Copper is still getting me up a couple of times every night to go outside, so I haven’t had a full night’s sleep since we got him. On top of the sleep deprivation, I also had a couple of frustrations with work.

I always take Copper outside for a couple of minutes between my calls with students, but he hates it when I leave him in the kitchen alone. He whines and howls the whole time I’m on the phone, and it has become quite embarrassing. Tuesday morning, he did the same thing during one of my mid-morning calls. When I finished my call and went back into the kitchen, he had “done his business” on the kitchen floor. That was the last straw. I was a mere hair away from a meltdown!

When Copper has an accident in the house, I take him right outside to reinforce that’s where he’s supposed to go, then I go back in and clean it up. Tuesday when I took him outside, there was a van in my driveway. My mind started racing – did I forget a service appointment of some sort? A man got out of the van and said, “Melanie Olson? Delivery for you,” and handed me this…It had this note attached: “Thanks so much for all the support and encouragement over the past few years. I have truly appreciated working with you! WGU is so lucky to have such a wonderful person on their staff. Thank you!” It was from one of my students who just graduated!!! I emailed her immediately and told her the sequence of events immediately prior to the delivery. I told her that the timing couldn’t be better. Then I cleaned up Copper’s mess and enjoyed some of the fruit.

Another Fun Weekend

Some of you know that Rara volunteers for the Bountiful Historical Commission and museum. One of her assignments is visiting all of the 3rd grade classes in all of the elementary schools in Bountiful to give them a community history presentation. Last Friday, May 29, she visited the 3rd grades at Ryan’s school. Ryan has heard the presentation several times, in cub scout visits to the museum as well as general discussions with Rara. He proudly answered almost all of the questions she asked the group (and proudly posed with her after).Friday night, we went out with two of our favorite people, Kristin and Abby. We went to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (Ryan’s favorite restaurant, and one of my favorites). Ryan and Abby both got the plain cheese pizza, and Kristin and I both got the miso salad. As if we didn’t know it already, we apparently have a lot in common.

After dinner, we went to see “Up” in 3-D. If you haven’t seen it yet, I would highly recommend it for both kids and adults. And if you have the choice, spend the extra time/money/effort to see it in 3-D. It has enough silly entertainment (dogs flying airplanes, birds eating chocolate, collars that allow dogs to talk, etc.) to entertain and amuse the kids, and enough of a plotline (love, loss, moving on, appreciating what you have, changing the dreams you once had) to touch the adults. I was near tears a couple of times in the movie. It was well worth the time and money. Oh, and having a new puppy made all of the references to dog behavior even more humorous! (Can you believe, neither Kristin nor I had our cameras, so no pictures!)

Saturday, May 30, was a special day. Ryan’s friend, Logan, was baptized. We were happy to be invited to both the baptism and the open house after. Ryan is so cute. When Logan was getting out of the water and heading to the dressing room, Ryan said, “I’m so proud of Logan!” They’ve been friends since Kindergarten. Look at those handsome boys now!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a nice Memorial Day weekend. We made our visits to our two regular cemeteries on Saturday and Sunday, and even took Copper with us! He made a lot of new friends. Everyone who saw him came up to us and asked to pet him. It was cute.

On Memorial Day (Monday), we had our BBQ at Rara & Papa’s house. It was the first time that Marc & Frances & Alice & Claire had seen Copper. Here are a couple of pictures of their interactions…And all of us together (except Rara, the photographer)…Marc had fun introducing Alice and Claire to the swing. Claire especially loved it!And a picture of the cute cousins. (Notice how Alice & Claire are holding hands.)

Not-So-Mad Scientist

A couple of weeks ago, Ryan’s teacher gave an assignment for each of the students to teach the rest of the class how to make something. We had just done the Scout-o-Rama booth where we made Ooblek, so Ryan told his teacher he would teach the class how to make Ooblek.

We wrote a little script, talking about the properties of liquids and solids, similar to what we did in the Scout-o-Rama booth. We practiced it for a few days so he could memorize it. On the day of his presentation, Rara and I went and helped. Ryan stood in front of the class and gave his presentation, asking his classmates about the properties of liquids and solids, and what happens when you mix liquids together. After a little discussion, we had the kids come to the table and make Ooblek. (Sorry, no pictures of the Ooblek table itself. I was trying too hard to keep the goop under control.)At the end of Ryan’s presentation, his teacher said (in front of the rest of the class), “That was the best presentation so far! Great job, Ryan!” Of course, my little scientist was beaming!

Our New Addition

The day Ryan has been waiting for has finally arrived! Our new puppy, Copper, came home on Sunday. He was born on April 4, and had his shots on Saturday, May 16, at 6 weeks. The vet said that the six puppies were ready to go to their individual homes. So Sunday after church, we went and picked him up. We had a long visit with the breeders (we have been talking with them about weekly since we put a deposit on Copper a few weeks ago). They gave us all of Copper’s vaccination information and his pedigrees from both of his parents.

Here are a few pictures of Copper on his first day at home…I had been told that having a puppy is like having a newborn again. I think Sunday night was worse than having a newborn! I was up taking him out seven times, but I was awake almost all night. We are “crate training” Copper, so I put his crate next to my bed with the door facing me so he could see me. I kept the hall light on so he could see me. He still whined (and when I say “whined,” what I really mean is “howled”) almost all night. I think my longest stretch of sleep was about an hour and 15 minutes. It’s a good thing he’s so cute!

Our nights have become progressively better this week. Last night we were only up three times, with minimal whining between. My longest stretch of sleep was three hours. I’m crossing my fingers for continuous improvement.

Ryan has been so good to get up early to help. All three mornings so far, Ryan has gotten up between 6:00 and 6:30. He takes Copper for a walk around the block, and then gives Copper his breakfast. Ryan has his breakfast while Copper has his, and then Ryan gets ready for the day. Once he’s ready for school, he takes Copper for one more walk around the block. Then Copper and I take Ryan to school. Copper whines when Ryan gets out of the car. It’s cute to see how much they have already become buddies in just three days. Ryan is a very good puppy owner!

I keep hearing a lot of different advice, and I’m trying it all. Hopefully this phase of sleepless-night-puppyhood doesn’t last very long! Again, it’s a good thing he’s so cute, and that he puts such a smile on my sweet Ryan’s face.

Fun Festivals

On Friday, May 15, I helped chaperone the 3rd grade field trip (on the bus) to the Living Traditions Festival at Washington Square (the block of the Salt Lake City & County Building). I spend every Friday morning with Ryan’s class, helping them with reading. The kids know me pretty well & some of them greet me with hugs when I go into the room.

The original plan for the field trip included four or five parents that had signed up to help chaperone. We learned literally at the last minute that two had backed out. Ryan’s teacher had all of the kids’ names listed on the board, divided into the five groups. As we heard about the two parents that weren’t coming, Ryan’s teacher rearranged the groups under the three chaperones. I guess he felt pretty confident that I could handle the boys – he gave me all of them but two!

I know all of the boys that were in my group pretty well, so most of them were responsive and respectful. We enjoyed going around to the different artisan booths and to the musical and dance performances on three different stages. (Yes, the carvings in the first picture are watermelon and canteloupe.) Two of the boys apparently weren’t used to sitting still at cultural events, because they complained during every musical/dance number, and asked me what time it was every few minutes. The highlight of their day was lunch! I was proud of Ryan and most of the other boys for enjoying and appreciating the things we saw and did, like making their own Japanese origami frogs.Later that afternoon, Ryan and I walked part of Bountiful Main Street looking at the art on the annual Chalk Art Festival. Can you believe, I didn't have my camera? We had a great time, just the two of us, walking and talking, after the craziness of the first part of the day.

SCORE!!!

Ryan finished his Spring soccer season with a bang! He scored TWO goals in his last scheduled game! He is such a good little player, and a great sport. He and another player on the team figured out their own way to communicate if they were open. They had a series of claps that they would do. It was very cute. Here are some highlights of that game...