No News is Good News?

Some people swear by this slogan, but... eh. I mean, no news is better than bad news. Well, that can be true to an extent.

So, I haven't posted in 5 days. We were able to go to our Mulberry property on Sunday while Chris mowed and the kids and I picked up branches and trash. While mowing, Chris went behind his dad's shed to mow (if he could) and he found a flower growing off of some kind of fruit. I took as good of a picture as I could and uploaded it to Facebook asking if anybody knew what it was. I described the plant as best as I could and I was not coming up with anything. Come to find out, it's something called Lantana. It will cause diarrhea, vomiting, dizziness, etc, plus liver damage (especially in farm animals). So, I told Chris about it (his Aunt Janice let me know what it was) and I told him we should uproot it so nothing happens to our animals and he said that animals have a certain instinct about what to eat and what not to eat, so I guess we don't have to worry.

I also got a picture of our piece of paradise... this is on the woody side, but we also have another half of the property that is an open field.

(Sorry the video doesn't work, but I'll leave it here anyways)

Our property ends at that set of picnic chairs to the left of that tree.
I love Chris and all of the hard work he does for this family. At work or at home, he's always working on something. When he finishes one project, he picks up another one. One Sunday once we got home, Jessica, Nate, and Ashley were visiting so we were all hanging out for a bit. Chris was going to run to his dad's to pick up his boat to bring to the Mulberry property, but it was already starting to get late. Before it got TOO late, Chris ran me and the kids up to Lowe's and we bought a roll of chain link fence to build the kennel for our puppy, and Chris also picked out some 2x4's for... our chicken coop :D I have been looking forward to this day for a long time! Chris says he's going to build maybe 6 nesting boxes inside of it and he said during the day while we're working and the kids are at school, the chickens will stay inside and then in the afternoon, we will let them roam free until dark falls and then we will herd them all back inside.

I am so way, way excited! But alas, we still did not visit our baby Zeus again this weekend. I miss him so much and he's going to be like a totally different dog next time we see him. Last time, he was only 2 weeks old, sleeping all over me and his eyes were barely cracked open. Now they're going to be all the way open and he's going to be running around everywhere, PLUS this week, Week 4, is the week that puppies begin to wean off mom. So he's also going to be on regular food. Ahh, I miss that baby. And Chris said if he happens to finish with the coop before we move, then he will set it up in the front corner where the kids' toys are at. Yay! And the puppy cage will be set up next to our front steps, right in front of our house.

While I'm talking about the days that I haven't posted, last night, I made some boneless pork ribs simmered in bbq sauce with mac n cheese and baked beans on the side. Those pork ribs were boss!

Last but not least, I got a video of Elaina this morning. Everytime I buy a package of biscuits, it NEVER pops open for me. It ALWAYS pops open for Elaina. So I had Elaina pop them open for breakfast, and it never fails...

That's alllll folks!

Kayla Dobbins

Long Time, No Type!

I haven't posted in 5 days. I am such a horrible person. UGH. Nothing much has happened that's eventful or post-worthy. Me, Chris, and the kids ran out to Jessica's in Tampa on Sunday afternoon to bring Nate our lawn mower, and on our way home, Chris stopped by Pizza Hut for dinner. It was so freaking delicious, as always!
The last day to file our taxes was April 18th, which was Monday. And guess which day Chris decided to go file our taxes? Haha, of course. So, we had to run to the library and print out his bank statements from like May til December of last year so the tax person could see all of his business expenses. We went through all of our documents and at the end, we were told that we would be getting back $3,333. BUT we have that IRS discrepancy that says we input our numbers wrong from when we filed 2014 taxes and that we owe like $4,233. So, instead of just filing this year and paying the discrepancy off, we found out why we supposedly owe money and it's because Olympus filed a 1099-misc for Chris that doesn't even exist.

Ok, so here's the shortest possible story to tell you what happened:
the supposed 1099-misc that we "owe" the IRS says Chris did "$9,565 of work without paying taxes on that amount and so we owe taxes on that amount of money". BUT that was the first year that Chris started working with Olympus. He never got one check that didn't already have taxes taken out first. Plus, he never signed a paper allowing Olympus to distribute him a check that did not first have taxes taken out. On top of that, Chris got a printout from Ashley (in the Olympus front office) of all of his checks from 2014 and the amounts on the printout equal to... wait for it... $9,565. But those were normal paychecks where the taxes were taken out first before they were distributed to Chris. On top of THAT, ok, Chris got 2 different w-2's from Olympus in 2014. One was over $18k and the other one was for $660. Now, these amounts on the w-2's shows the amounts of checks that have already had taxes taken out of them. So, somehow Olympus has on file that they only paid Chris $9,565 in the year 2014 BUT the w-2 says that Olympus paid him roughly $19k PLUS that 1099-misc that says he got an extra $9,565 that didn't have taxes taken out. SO, Chris supposedly made almost $30k in like 6 months after just starting a new job and as we all know, when you get a new job, you start off with crap pay.

So, here we are today. It's Thursday. We found out about this discrepancy 2-3 days ago. Chris has yet to call any lawyers and he even told me that he was going to do it himself and he doesn't need me to do it for him. He said that he's finishing up his last assigned Olympus job this morning and either tomorrow or maybe this weekend or first thing Monday he's going to open this case. Chris was saying that Olympus will probably hold onto these last 2 checks that he's owed. The one that he needs to get this next Monday from last week. Plus, when I do his invoices this weekend for this week's work that we're in now.
BUT I was asking Chris last night about that just to make sure I heard it correctly, but then he was telling me "I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see what they want to do.

I mean, I guess that was post-worthy.
We didn't get to see our puppy last weekend. I was very disgruntled and disappointed. Week 3 for a puppy is the big week when their eyes and ears open and they get more active. Now, if we're able to go over this weekend, he will be 4 weeks and he'll be running everywhere and he's not going to remember who we are because I only saw him when he was 2 weeks old and I'm just hoping he remembers our smells. Probably not. But I hope he loves us anyways. And I hope he gets excited when we bring him home.
Peas to the world. oooOooo

Kayla Dobbins

My Amount of Cares is Non-Existant

Gail asked if the kids could go play with Violet this afternoon. Typically, they go play for like 3 hours or so and then they ride their bikes back home and resume life as usual. Nope, not today. Lily is at Gina's for the weekend. Jonathan has been complaining the last 2 days that both of his ears hurt on the inside. I was going to take him to the ER last night once Chris got home so I could get him some ear infection medicine but by yesterday afternoon, he was telling me that they don't hurt anymore. Then this morning, he was saying they hurt again and he had to put his shirt on really slow. And now he's saying they don't hurt. He's driving me bananas but I love him dearly anyways.

Elaina... I have no idea what happened but after the kids were there for maybe 2 1/2 hours, I texted Gail and told her "Thank you Gail. I really appreciate you watching them" and she texts me right back "Elaina just punched Jonathan in the face. I need you to come get them". Then she called me right away and I think she was trying to tell me what Elaina was doing but I couldn't understand, but then she said she was going to drive them home. Then immediately after we hung up, Gail called me back and said that Elaina was fighting her and that I would have to come pick the kids up.

She did the whole yelling while talking so I smacked her in the mouth. She was stomping everywhere and I got her to stop. She was freaking out that she couldn't find her shoes, but Gail had already put Elaina's shoes and bike into my car. I just have no more cares. I have to deal with her father's attitude which is exactly this and now there is a spawn of him with his same attitude and I just can't do this. The attitude is supposedly part of her ODD. Apparently, more often than not, children with higher IQ's have this ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder) and it makes them think that they're smarter than everyone and they know everything, what's right and wrong, the whole shebang. And apparently, the attitude is something that goes along with it. She also had a small positive score of ADHD but most of the time, she can control herself. But this is just like what was happening at school.

I'm not 100% but I think this may happen because her brain is worn out and she's over-tired. I'm not totally sure about this, but this is my hypothesis. Now because today's events have happened, I'm not really sure that Elaina will be able to get into public school next year. I have a feeling I'm going to need her to stay homeschooled until middle school. I think by 6th grade, she should know how to control her feelings. And hey, if not, then I guess she'll have to be homeschooled throughout high school too. By then, she must have them under control. If not, then she will just have to be put on some kind of pills to calm her down. I am not going to be held responsible for putting someone with this kind of attitude problem out in the adult world. She kicked Gail's shins! And also she punched Jonathan like Gail texted me. I was also told that Elaina just kept kicking and hitting Gail. Like, what the flying flipping fudge??? Everybody loves Gail! What on Earth would provoke Elaina to do this to people? As far as I know it was just Jonathan and Gail and she didn't touch anybody else. Uggghhhhhh.... I just can't deal right now. But Elaina is officially not invited over at Gail's anymore. Lily and Jonathan can still go over but Elaina just lost any and all privileges.

I guess onto the good news for the day... I got mail! 2 packages!

Smiley 360 was...

It's a bluetooth pregnancy test that works in conjunction with some First Response app that you can download onto your phone. Literally, the day after I accepted this campaign, I started my period after not having it for like 3 months! (Hypothyroidism thing) I wrote the Smiley people a message about it and they said that I just don't have to interact with the campaign and wait til it ends. I won't get any points from it, but it apparently won't count against me. That made me feel better. I was afraid it would penalize me since I couldn't use it.
Then, I also got one from BzzAgent...

Children's Claritin! WOO! I was going to use it for Elaina's cough which I was rather sure was from allergies. Right now, she's in bed coughing because she's crying. Jonathan isn't coughing at all. And sometimes, randomly, Lily will get an allergy cough for like 2 weeks but I haven't been able to identify what it correlates with. And I also got one more thing for my best friend, Jessica :)

Woo! Formula coupons! Lol. Hey, every bit helps! :)

I'm hoping we can go see our puppy again this weekend. If so, I will definitely update with some developmental pics! Chris just pulled into the driveway so I'm going to go see if I can get some grocery money to fill up our fridge and cabinets for the week.

Keep your heads held high, my friends. Things always get better.

Kayla Dobbins

1, 2, Skip a Few...

Today, I am feeling sad. The kids left with Gail and Violet maybe an hour or so ago. I've been sitting here with PBS still on tv and I've been jumping between Amazon, Facebook, and Youtube just looking at random garbage. I feel like I have a mental problem. And so much anxiety.

So, Nate and Chris were here at home this morning because Chris had to get a stuck plug out of someone's pool but his unplugger tool somehow broke? Something happened to it so he brought it home to weld on it to fix it. That wasn't working so he went looking for something else to replace it. In the meantime, Nate happens to mention "Katie must be happy. Her dog finally just had her first puppy. It's a black one". So, of course, I couldn't stop thinking about them. Like, I have feeling like I'm obsessive. I could swear up and down that I'm not, but my brain sometimes just drives me bananas. Like, there's so many time where I wish time could speed up just a couple days or a couple weeks. Like, I REALLY wish we could have our male pit here at home now. We just need a cage for him to stay in at night and a humongous bag of puppy food. Those are the last 2 things that we need. I've bought him his food and water bowl, some different toys, some different treats, and I got him a harness and leash from Dollar Tree cuz face it, he's going to be growing quick in the next 6 months to a year. But back to the Katie's dog thing...

Katie posted something on Facebook about the puppies and tagged Jessica in it and so I was able to see it in my news feed. Said something about her daughter guessing right about a certain color or pattern on two of the puppies. One is a tan and another one has spots. So, I had a battle to the death in my brain asking myself "Should I ask about the puppies or don't say anything so I don't look like a weirdo?" So of course, I have to look like a maniacal weirdo and post a comment. I asked "Is the tan one a female?" and she commented back something along the lines of "I don't know. I've only sexed 2 of them but I want to leave the mom and puppies alone at least for the first 24 hours so they can all relax". I totally get that! I would do the same thing. I mean, I may sex them as they're coming out, but I myself would not want to do much handling of the newborns either. But I've basically been beating myself up because I feel like I look or sound like some weirdo, obsessive, crazed person.

All I have been able to think about for the past like 2-3 weeks now is pitbulls and puppies. I have bought the puppy stuff here and there whenever I could, I have watched so many videos on Youtube about feeding dogs a raw diet (but Chris doesn't agree. He just wants to feed them dry kibble). I have watched videos of pitbulls giving birth. I swear I'm not doing it for weirdo reasons. I just love the miracle of birth. And, oh my gosh, the birth of puppies is just so beautiful. I really should've stuck with wanting to be a veterinarian from when I was little but I worked at Boyette Animal Hospital my senior year of high school and my manager was a major biz-natch so she kinda put a bad taste in my mouth about working at one.

And also, I've been nonstop jumping to Amazon because I keep doing surveys until I just hit the $5 threshold (or sightly more) so I can cash out with some Amazon credits and order more things. In the mail coming to me now is a 2pk of puppy Nylabones. I've also ordered and received a decal for my Tahoe back windshield that says "I love my pitbull" even though we don't have any of them yet. This morning, I ordered a hand-brush thing to scrub them when bathing them so I don't have to get that dirt or those fleas up under my fingernails.

I feel like I'm a huge mental mess. I can't stop thinking about pitbulls and puppies and then I'm worried that Katie is going to think that I'm a lunatic because she's not on my friend's list but I happened to comment on one of her Facebook posts like some crazy whack job. I just have so much going on. Maybe I have some form of ADHD? I mean, I'm definitely not hyperactive but my brain sure is and I just need a way to shut it off.

And I'm anxious and worried that we may not be able to see our little man puppy every weekend until we can bring him home. Every week of the beginning of a puppy's life is important. Week 1 is basically them just eating and surviving. Week 2-3, they start to open their eyes and their ears. Then week 3-4 they get more active (I assume because they can finally see and hear their surroundings). And next weekend he's going to be 3 weeks (actually maybe like 3 weeks and 2-3 days old) and his eyes should be fully open and hopefully his ears too.

I tried to keep him still on my chest or shoulder last weekend in hopes he would smell me enough so he can remember my smell so when he sees me and smells me again, he will smell the familiar smell and know that I am family. See, these are all things that normal people don't worry about.

I don't know, I mean, I'd like to chalk it up to the fact that the kids aren't here so I have more time to think about things and everything is kind of flooding my brain at once BUT these things have been on my mind all day and for a couple weeks now. I just wish I could slow down my brain activity. I'm always having a hard time falling asleep and forming sentences because I don't know what the next word will be out of my mouth and I stutter and stumble a lot. I hate it so much.

Did I tell you what my PCP told me at my appointment last week? She says "Your T3 and T4 are in a normal range so even though your TSH is higher than the 'normal range', your thyroid is fine". My blood boiled. Just because T3 and T4 are off does not by any means mean that my thyroid is fine. Why else does it choke me on occasion? Why is my hair falling out in clumps? Why am I always tired? Why am I always hungry? Why can't I lose any weight? And I'm not even staying the same weight, I'm constantly gaining no matter what! My eczema she doesn't seem to care much about because she doesn't have to live with it. I am pretty sure that's the last time I'm going to be visiting with her. Also, she has prescribed me 3 different things to take for my tickly throat cough thing. NO. I would like maybe a stronger milligram in an allergy pill, not 2 pills and a nasal spray. NO. She does not want to fix me. She wants to prescribe me stuff so I can keep going to see her sick so she can keep getting that insurance check. F NO. It was like pulling teeth before she says "I can refer you to an endocrinologist if you'd like" and I gladly accepted. But I haven't tried to find one and make an appt yet because I don't know when I'll have anymore gas money before my next check at the beginning of next month. I mean, Chris should have a nice check coming this Friday so I hope things work out.

I don't have a best friend that I can tell everything to. I like that people have faith in me that I won't go tell their problems or judge their issues but I don't know who I can go to to tell them that I think I have a mental problem. I also have depressive days. I just really wish I could get fixed with the first doctor I go to instead of being referred, basically telling me "hey I don't feel like doing my job so you can go make another appt to go see some other professional". Yeah, I realize PCP's don't necessarily specialize in anything so it's not up to her to tell me all about my thyroid like an endocrinologist should be able to. But she doesn't need to tell me that because my T3 and T4 are ok that my TSH is fine. NO. She needs to keep her comments to herself and simply put "I can check your TSH levels but if they are out of range, even if your T3 and T4 are fine, I can't tell you that everything else is fine". There are other things in this whole panel of blood tests that can also be tested towards the thyroid, not just those 3 things. But she has no business telling me that I am fine. I am very pleased with how my blood tests all came back. Basically everything was in the normal range except for my liver which means I need to cut down on the greasy fatty foods, I need to go out in the sun more often for vitamin D, and my TSH is higher than what it should be.

My hands are getting tired and I keep messing up. I hope tomorrow is a better day. Chris said he's dropping Nate off at home now and then he's going to hsi dad's to see if he has any money because his dad borrowed a bunch of money before he started working and now he's been working like 2-3 months and he hasn't paid Chris anything back. It can't take him THAT long to catch up on his bills. We only have tuna and eggs here as protein. Otherwise, we have no meats in our freezer. I was going to make breakfast for dinner. Scrambled eggs with ham and cheese on toast as sandwiches and cheesy grits on the side. I SHOULD have like half a block of sharp cheddar left and we only have like 2 slices of sliced cheese left. But like breakfast sandwiches and cheesy grits for dinner... that's kinda blah and I don't expect Chris to be able to fill up on that. He likes BIG dinners. I've gotta tame the beast. I always give him more than half of dinner and I usually just eat a small plate. He doesn't get that. He thinks I feed myself as much as him or more than him. I don't eat a lot. I missed lunch today. And breakfast was a small protein bar. I am so hungry. It's 6:30pm now. I'm kind of afraid to but... I think I'm going to go make me a breakfast sandwich for dinner now. The kids are still at Violet's and Chris probably won't be home for at least an hour. I just need something. Stay cool, my friends.

Kayla Dobbins

Be Still My Heart

Yesterday was finally the day I was able to meet our (soon-to-be) newest addition. Chris drove me and the kids out to Ruskin to see our pride and joy!

He's so soft and fat and I love him so much! I got to see the inside corners of his eyes are open just a little bit/ This may be one of the only times that I have to hold him. I mean, I'm always going to try. Lol. But once his eyes open and becomes more active in the next couple weeks, he's going to be everywhere and I won't be able to hold onto him anymore and then he's just gonna keep getting bigger. And I saw his mama yesterday and she's one of the shorter, more muscular ones which is what he's going to be and apparently his daddy was basically a beast, kinda like mama, short and muscular. Short red nose.

And as far as I have seen or heard, Katie's dog is still pregnant. I have no clue what's going on with her. She apparently lost her mucus plug like a week ago and about 5 days ago, she had already gone 24 hours without eating. And Jessica said that Katie told her that mom dog has already tried pushing but Katie's kids keep interrupting. I don't know. I mean, I know there's plenty of other pits being born out there but it's nice to be able to get it from a friend or a friend of a friend. I'm glad I know people who have pits so I know my friends won't be judgmental.
I am just totally not feeling it today. I've gotta go keep myself busy or I feel like I'm going to fall into a coma.

Kayla Dobbins

Mom and Dad

I knew there was something I was forgetting from my post from earlier today, but of course, instead of editing my last post, I'll just make a new one! WOO! So, when I was Facebook messaging Katie the other day asking her about the puppies, she sent me a picture of the mom and dad....

Mom is the blue nose on the left. Dad of course is on the right, he's an American Bulldog. Chris isn't worried about the puppy being full-blood and neither am I. I didn't know if he would want to hve 2 full-bloods so we can get good money from them. But come on, dad looks basically like a pitbull anyways and I bet all the babies will too. And yes, I'm still waiting on news about them. I am on pins and needles! I don't want them staying in there too long and getting sick or something detrimental happening. I wish Katie could maybe just shut her bedroom door so the mom can get some peace. Please pray for peace and patience between mom dog and Katie and also for me! Lol

Kayla Dobbins

What A Week!

This week is Elaina's testing week. I gotta say, I don't know when the last time was that I posted anything on here. She's doing her SAT's out in Tampa at DW Waters.  Monday-Wednesday was Reading and English. Thursday and Friday is math. We missed Monday because I nor Chris had money for me to get gas to go out to Tampa. So, Tuesday she did the usual test with the other 1st graders plus she stayed after to finish the Monday stuff. There was two 30-minute sections that they did on Monday... Elaina finished them both in less than 10 minutes. This girl is going places. I got the usual talk afterwards about how smart she is and the teacher already knows that Elaina has tested into the gifted program. She said Elaina is at a 4th grade reading level.

So, Tuesday I got money and I brought Jessica and Ashley home with us because the school is only 5 minutes down the road from their house. I bought some stuff for our puppy: food and water dishes, toy rope, chewing sticks, T-bone treats, and this football/frisbee/rope thing. Check it out....

Chris also visited Lloyd and Joanne yesterday afternoon, since he was working out in Ruskin and they happen to live in Ruskin so I asked him for a better picture than the last one he sent me (which was also the first picture I've seen of the puppy so far), so he sent me this...

I specifically asked Chris "Can you PLEASE take a picture with nobdy in the background? Like, maybe next to the mom or laying on a blanket by himself?" and he sent me the picture above, so I reiterated myself and he sent me another one of the puppy sitting on his lap....

This boy needs some picture-taking classes. Lol. He has a NICE LG phone, I don't understand why he's not taking S6-worthy pictures. Whatever. I guess I'm probably not going to be able to see him until Chris brings him home. Just as long as we have a 100% guarantee that we WILL be bringing him home then I guess it's not the worst thing that I won't see him for another 4 weeks. It's hard but I will live.

Then there's Jessica's friend Katie who has a blue nose pit mom who is pregnant by an American bulldog dad. Her due date was apparently yesterday but Katie's kids keep running into Katie's bedroom which is where the mom dog has been trying to start pushing and they keep distracting mom dog and so she keeps getting delayed. I messaged Katie and to my relief, she messaged me back and was super nice and told me that they had brought her to the vet the other day and mom is dilated so Katie has been walking her daily to get things moving along. Katie already knows I am looking for a female so now it's the waiting game. Waiting for the puppies to be born and then waiting another 6-8 weeks before bringing her home (hopefully). I guess Pixie only got locked-up once so that's why she only had 2 puppies. I asked Jessica if Katie has felt on the mom's tummy to try to feel how many might be in there and she said roughly 5, maybe more. So, I hope there's a good chance that she might have a couple females. Gotta wish, hope, and pray HARD! I am just SOOO happy omigosh that Chris is on board with me getting a female to go along with his male :D For so long now, I have been wanting to get a male and female dog basically at the same time so they can grow up together and be lifelong companions. Now it can finally happen. I am so overjoyed.

Oh, and here's an update on my health: I finally started my period today. My last one started January 25th. And this afternoon at 4pm, I get to see my PCP, Dr. Elizabeth Biggers and I am seriously hoping she prescribes me some thyroid medicine. Fairy wishes and big kisses! XOXO

Kayla Dobbins

Kid's Adventure Time

Nothing really happened today. I didn't get my money this morning like I was supposed to so me and Elaina had to stay home from testing and she will make up for it tomorrow or the next day. Jonathan got a ride to and from school because my gas tank was basically empty.

This afternoon was slightly eventful. I got a call from Gail asking if I could check on Violet at the bus stop because she was afraid her son's girlfriend would forget since some people do forget that Monday is early release, an hour early. I was walking up to the bus stop and I didn't see the red vehicle so I continues to walk until right when we got there, the bus got there too. I walked Violet almost all the way down to her driveway before the girl finally came out and she said she was having car troubles so that's why she was late.

On the way down to Violet's, she was telling my kids that she got a pool and that they could stay at her house after school and play in it. I told her "I'll wait for your grandma to get home before they go to play". So, about 30 minutes later, I got a call from Gail saying that they could come over (actually it was Violet from Gail's phone. Lol. She's so silly on the phone).

I think they were gone about 2 hours or so? When Gail was ready to send them back home, she called me to let me know to be ready outside to watch for them. Jonathan was the first one I saw maybe 10 minutes later, after I got that call. Just as Jonathan was rounding the corner and almost to our house, Chris passed him coming down the road. He was laughing when he pulled in the driveway. I think he was tickled that I finally allowed the kids to venture away from this property.

You'll have to squint. Lol. My phone camera is terrible. I REALLY need a new one!

So, once Chris got home, he gave me some grocery money and I was able to get gas and run to Save-A-Lot to buy dinner for tonight and provisions for the next several days until Chris can re-stock the kitchen. That was my day.

Then, me and Chris had some puppy talk which I love doing :D I have to find some female names because Chris was saying he wants to see pictures of Katie's puppies. Squeee! I texted Jessica to see if she could talk to Katie but it looks like I may just have to write her a message myself. Peace and hair grease!

Kayla Dobbins

Our Puppy

Chris finally visited Lloyd and Joanne and got a first pic of our baby! Although I am a little perturbed at him because he didn't actually get a picture of the puppy's face, but he says mama Pixie was getting mad so they had to hurry and set him back down.

Awwwww. He so wittle. Chris' caption of the picture was "5 more weeks. Cute little guy". Lol dork. I wonder if he looked at him long enough to be able to figure out a name yet, or if he's waiting for the puppy to get a little older and he will be able to think of one then. I don't know, I'm a mom. Naming things is a big thing for me. And doing my best to be prepared. I want to buy him stuff but it's difficult for a medium or large dog because whatever you buy them during their puppy times is only going to fit for so long before you have to upgrade to larger stuff. I've looked between Amazon, PetSmart, and WalMart and honestly everybody has basically the same collar designs at basically the same prices. I think I'm going to stick with WalMart shopping. If Chris wants to pick up the puppy when it's ready and then make me go to the store, I'm not supposed to bring an animal in WalMart that's not a service animal, so I may have to swing out to Brandon to PetSmart. Like, man, I wanna bring him everywhere. He's going to be our new baby! Maybe this is what I've been missing. I have been feeling so incomplete. Maybe I don't need a 4th child... maybe we've just been missing the family pet. And I still want to get a girl too. I REALLY hope I can get one from Katie!! I hope! We will see. Stay tuned... Hehehe!

Kayla Dobbins

Late Night Post

It's 11:09PM on Saturday April 2, 2016. Today, I have been brushing up on my chicken knowledge.
I have a brief history with trying to incubate chicken eggs. It was the happiest time of my life. Until it was just before lockdown time and Chris and I left for ONE night tgo stay at a hotel just to get away for a company Christmas party and my neighbor fried my eggs. I was so heartbroken, I had to get away from the chicken website I was a part of. Everything you'd ever want to know about chickens and it's also an online forum for people to discuss anything from chickens, ducks, geese, even other types of farm animals that live alongside their chickens.

Backyard Chickens

These people that use the forum to talk about basically anything and everything are SO helpful and understanding. So, here's my quick chicken story:

Chris' dad, "Big Chris", had an incubator at his house for awhile (not sure where he got it from) but one day he got some fertilized eggs from a friend and he asked me if I would be able to incubate them. I read up SO much, I crammed in so much in like 2-3 days, I felt like I knew everything that was going to happen to them. Days went by, I candled everyday, Candling is when you put a light at one end of the egg and shine it through so you can see if the chick is developing properly. I believe they only incubate for... 28 days? See, I was on such a long chicken sabbatical that I can't remember. So, roughly 4 weeks from starting incubating until they hatch. Even if that's not the right number, let's say it is. So, I was heading toward something called "Lockdown". Lockdown is the last 5-7 days (I don't remember the amount of days either) where you don't lift the lid to the incubator to flip them over anymore. You HAVE to flip the eggs at least 2-4 times per day or the chick will grow onto the side of the egg and grow abnormally which will make it born basically handicap OR not peck out of it's shell and end up dying. Anyways, I was doing SUPER good with the egg turning everyday and I had them all marked so I knew which side they were on (X on one side, O on the other side).

So, Chris' company Christmas party came around at the time he was working for Olympus. We stayed at the Westin hotel out in Tampa for the night and I asked my very ditzy (and frankly just plain stupid) neighbor to flip them overnight. She was the only one I could trust and even then, the trust was very small. Like, grain of sand small. So, we come back the next day around noon or maybe 11am. We had swung by the feed store on the way home because Chris got his Christmas bonus check so we swung by some places and bought the kids stuff for Christmas and then we swung by a feed supply store and we got them chick feed, feeding bowls, water bowls, a heat lamp and a bulb. We came home to find them overcooked.

My heart was completely broken. There was 3 of them. It was like they were my first set of children and I lost them right before lockdown time. I was with them for 3 whole weeks, watching them grow everyday. It was hard. Then, "stupid neighbor" found a friend from down the road who owns Rhode Island Reds and got 3 of her eggs. One of them looked like it was probably in the middle of lockdown, one was probably 2-3 weeks, and the third one was barely just fertilized. All 3 in different stages. The youngest one, I watched it grow for maybe a week, but the other 2, I never saw them get any bigger when I candled. So, I lost 2 sets of eggs. The 2nd set I wasn't very attached to. It was like someone gave me their baby because I just lost mine. It wasn't the same.

My first set of eggs was supposed to hatch on Christmas morning.

 I actually started with 5 eggs but one of them had a crack. I tried to duct tape it, but it just wasn't working and started smelling bad so I had to chuck it.

Then, one of the eggs just stopped developing. Apparently that's normal for them to do that sometimes, so then I was left with my 3.

These were 2 of the ones that my "stupid neighbor" brought to me and I numbered them by how far along they were. The #1 egg was basically in a lockdown that never finished so it got discarded. But eventually, these just stopped growing.

So, I learned that some eggs just stop developing which is sometimes normal. I learned that in incubators, you have to clean them out WELL before using it again because they hold onto bacteria well and the best thing to do is to set them outside in the sun for a day. The sun sanitizes (as some say) just as well as bleach just without the harmful chemicals.

So, going back to today, I was researching again at my BackYard Chickens website that I love and I came across an article that said to check with your city ordinances to see if chickens are even permitted in your area. I scoured for hours on the internet through the city of Mulberry and after everything that I read through, your property doesn't need to be designated under agriculture to have chickens at your house. Only if you're planning on selling their meat and eggs for profit. If we ever have a certain number of chickens that lay so many eggs daily that we can't eat them all or store them all, I'm sure I can make a sign out front of our house that says "Fresh eggs for sale". Something like that. I just won't be running a daily stand.

It is officially midnight now. Good Sunday morning! It rained all day Saturday so Chris wasn't able to go to work. So, he plans on working today (Sunday) and I have NO idea what I'll be doing. Clean up day maybe? I dropped Lily off with Gina right before noon on Saturday and Gina said she will bring Lily home around noon on Sunday (today).

I am going to hop off of here because I made some gnarly shredded curry chicken tacos for dinner and I have this insatiable fire in my throat that I need to get rid of before Chris starts falling asleep and leaving me in the living room alone! Sweet Dreams!

Kayla Dobbins

4 Days and 4 Nights...

Right? It's been that long since I've written a post? To be frank, though, I haven't really had much to write about. I haven't had anything going on this week. Today, Lily finally had her birthday check-up. 85th percentile in height AND weight. And this girl is not fat, I don't understand their scale. Look here...

This was Lily at her appointment waiting for her doctor to finally come into the room (OMG this place takes forever!). Does she look overweight? Does she look like she might be 85% bigger than her classmates? Idk, like, maybe she weighs more than other kids her age by a bit but she's tall. Josh, her dad, is 6'2". She's going to be tall and skinny. I guess that satisfies my thirst for that knowledge. She's taller so she may weigh more but she doesn't show it BECAUSE she's taller. Alright, got it down pat :)

So, I hopped on BzzAgent earlier this week (I mean, I hop on there every day) but this specific time was because I just remembered that I had got the Horizon fruit squeeze pouches last weekend and I've been meaning to write down my reviews on them. The kids (and I) tried the orange ones and the strawberry ones. Strawberry ones were like strawberry yogurt (probably would've been a little better cold), and the orange ones, I don't know what I was thinking it would taste like but it is definitely not something I would buy again.

I still have the Cascade dishwasher pacs that I need to try out at my mom's. I was going to last weekend and that fell through and now Chris didn't get paid today and he won't get money until Monday so I may have to wait again until next weekend. Urg.

OH! Did I mention that Chris' friends, Lloyd and Joanne, have a pit who was pregnant? Well, Chris asked them if he could get a male from them and they said yes!! The mom dog, Pixie, had her puppies (I believe it was the day before yesterday) and she only had 2 puppies. There's one all white like Pixie, and the other one is the male that Chris was promised and he is a brindle with white spots. I am so excited!! Here's some more news on the topic of dogs: My best friend Jessica has a somewhat new neighbor who lives down the road from her and she's having some puppies right now. The mom is a pit, the dad is not a pit, but the dad LOOKS like a pit. Whatever, I'll bet they're still way cute! So Jessica asked Katie how much and she said only $50! I told Chris about it when he got home today but he said to hold off on trying to bring home a female since he still has to figure out the living arrangement for his male first. He says "I didn't get paid this weekend so I'm low on funds and that pushes back whatever our moving date may be". He said he was going to ask our landlord, Jim, if he (Chris) could build some little pen/cage next to our front steps to keep the puppy in overnight until we move. I mean, these puppies were JUST born. We have 8 weeks until we can even bring them home. Who knows where we will be in 2 months from now. Beginning of June... I would hope we are settled out there. I mean, everytime I talked to Chris' dad, "Big Chris", he's always talking about how long it takes for permits to finally be approved. I sure hope things move quickly for us... like fiber through an IBS sufferer. Haha! I love making up similes. 

Oh, and also, we saw a humongous spider in the front corner of the house next to our tv this morning and it ran away and we haven't been able to find it since. I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight. I saw Jeff and Mat walking around the back corner of our house this morning when me and the kids ran outside and I asked Jeff to come in and kill it but he said he couldn't find it anywhere. Urrrgggg. I am SOOO hoping that it crawled outside of whatever crack it crawled inside through.

It's past 7 and these kids have not had showers so I am hopping off here and into the kitchen for some food and baths. I'll hop on here when something else noteworthy happens. Stay safe and God Bless, everyone.

Kayla Dobbins