Burn Cream at the Ready

One evening this week Josiah asked to cook our dinner.  On the schedule was Canadian bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches.  Once Josiah indicated that he wanted to help, the other kids wanted in on the action, too.  Henry got to cracking eggs.  Caroline shredded cheese (and toasted the English muffins).  Josiah took the initiative to cook the Canadian bacon.  Cooking with one child can stretch you.  Cooking with three at the same time was a bit ridiculous.  All three talked the entire time.  The ENTIRE time.  It didn't matter if someone else was talking at the same time, on they talked.  The boys were killing me because this was the one and only place where they felt they had to look at the person with whom they were speaking instead of looking at the flaming hot pan over which they were cooking.  Despite the absolute craziness, they cooked a good meal.  It's a favorite around here.  When we sat down to eat only two out of three had their burned fingers on ice. (Josiah is wearing fake glasses that his neighbor friend gave him.  They're Harry Potter glasses and Josiah has been wearing them all the time.  When the glasses are on, Josiah calls himself Wally Wallington.  I don't know where he comes up with these things.)

Caroline's had some tough conversations about Benson.  She wanted to speak with me one night and she talked for nearly two hours about Benson.  Despite all her playfulness with him during the day, she would still rather not have a dog.  She feels he has taken her place because no one plays with her anymore.  She goes to her room and no one knocks on it to see what she's doing because we all stay downstairs with the dog.  She said that she was here first so she should be the one to stay and Benson should go.  It's been tough.  Tough conversations.  We are making it a point to play with her more upstairs, though.  Of course tonight she said that she didn't want to go to bed because she wanted to stay downstairs and play with Benson.  She can be hard to figure.
←She got a haircut this week.  (This was an Erin Special.)

The kids created a new game this week called Security.  Two kids were in the backyard and they had to make a full circle around the house without being seen.  The third kid was upstairs running around, looking out the windows trying to catch them.  At one point Josiah was the Security Detail inside.  He came to find me downstairs and said, "I don't know how it happened.  I was sticking my head out of my window and my screen fell out.  I don't know how it happened."  Do you think maybe it happened because you were sticking your head out the window?!!  I reminded him that it is currently hot as Hades around here and

we needed to keep all windows closed until December at a minimum.  The game was pure mayhem, but still a good workout because the kids were constantly running up and down the stairs.  They were covered in sweat by the end and showers were forced upon them.  These are the good things to come out of quarantine.  They got creative and made some fun (that didn't involve a screen!).

Josiah has been wanting to sleep downstairs so that he could experience taking care of Benson at night and the early morning wake up.  He and Todd had a mini-Netflix binge and stayed up til 10:00.  Todd took the couch and Josiah the cot.  When Josiah went to bed he giddily said that he couldn't wait for Benson to wake him up by licking him.  At 4:00 a.m., Josiah was not quite as excited by the licks.  He commented, "You do that every day?"  Yep.  Adulting.  Because Josiah got to sleep downstairs, Henry and Caroline wanted a special sleeping situation for themselves, so they took over our bed.  Now they are each vying for a night on the cot in the living room.

We had Hurricane Hanna hit this weekend.  It was barely a hurricane by the time it reached us and really we were looking forward to the rain.  Our yard was so dry and cracked that we were happy that it would get a good soaking.  I think I was also looking forward to the rain because in my idealistic mind I pictured sitting on our (nonexistent) screened-in porch sipping coffee while I listened to the rain.  The reality was three energetic kids running through the house and one puppy that has been holding onto the "wet dog smell" all weekend.  But we're glad for the rain anyway.

Funny meme of the week:

Agility Training

In Benson news this week he has shown an affinity for sticks.  He loves to chase them when thrown and he gnaws on them every chance he's outside.

Caroline has done really well with him this week. She has not been hiding upstairs nearly as often.  She's still not keen that we got a dog, but she's been much more interactive with him.  Right now her big concern is the stairs.  Benson has been testing climbing the stairs more and more.  He's made it up to the fourth stair, however Caroline said he made it all the way up to the landing between the two floors, (but she's the only one to witness that).  She (nor I) really want him upstairs.  I love the little guy, but I'd like to keep dog hair to one floor. 
Caroline likes to keep Benson doing the right thing.  She's quick to tell him "no" if he's chewing on something he shouldn't.  She's all up in his business all the time, (which is still much better than her hiding from him).  She has been working on 'Sit. Stay. & Come.' with Benson.  She gets some of his kibble out and works with him.  He's been following her directions really well, which boosts her confidence.  Todd's been working on Down, but he doesn't get that one yet.

Sit. Stay.

Come.

Todd and Josiah got Benson a new elevated food and drink dish.  When Benson is unsure of something, he likes to sniff it out from a distance.  He'll keep his hind legs firmly planted while he inches up with his front legs so that his body is very stretched.  The first day, he ate and drank in a very stretched out position.

Todd has made each kid pick up one of Benson's poops this week.  None were too excited.  I was watching from the window when he was out with Caroline and she was so very reluctant.  She had her hands firmly planted behind her back.  When the deposit was found, she picked up one small piece and was DONE.  She was not happy to do it.  We may have to invest in a pooper scooper to make the task slightly more palatable.


Most of our outside time has been in the mornings because it gets so crazy hot by the afternoons.  The kids wanted to play dodge ball with Benson's many tennis balls.  We broke up into teams - Henry and Caroline against Josiah and I.  The problem is, only one out of the four of us has good aim.  Henry can pelt us like it's nobody's business.  He has both accuracy and power behind his throws.  Most games have ended with injuries he's inflicted.  What?  I was just playing the game.  Henry came up with a new game as well.  He called it, 'Agility Training.'  He stood with his back to the fence and asked the three of us to throw tennis balls at him and he had to dodge them all.  We had fun trying to get back at him.  Then Josiah wanted a go at the wall.  Next Caroline wanted a turn.  We warned her not to do it.  We told her Henry's balls hurt.  She wasn't going to be intimidated.  She wanted a go.  And he hit her.  Hard.  And she cried.  I had enough wisdom not to go to the wall.  But despite the injuries, we still have played both games nearly every morning this week.

Henry hit Caroline and he's looking back to see if he's in trouble. And Caroline's face quickly turned to tears.

One evening this week, Henry said that he wanted to put on a concert for us.  It was an unusual thing for Henry to put on a show.  Typically he's a supporting role in Josiah's shows, but never one of his own making.  I went upstairs.  The boys turned on the record player and started dancing to the music.  I didn't recognize the song at first til it got to the refrain, Shake Your Booty.  Caroline was sitting next to me dying laughing.  They got Todd up for a show later and he, of course, recognized the song right away.  It was his old record they were playing.

It has been really hot here.  The kids have had several water gun fights to cool off throughout the week.  Today we made it out to our neighborhood pool.  Typically the boys wear swim shirts because they have such fair skin.  Henry wanted to take his off today, which was fine, but once the shirt was off the frat boy came out.  He was beating his chest like Tarzan.  He was playing with his tiny belly like it could talk.  When we got home, they were invited to their neighbor friend's pool, so they were over there for another hour.  They should sleep well tonight.

During church service this morning, Caroline was singing along more than she's ever done before.   We are still at home watching it on TV and they have the words of the songs at the bottom of the screen.  Caroline decided to sing all the words as quickly as possible.  So if the woman on TV was singing a long drawn-out worshipful, "Ohhhhhhh," Caroline went on singing the rest of the words ahead of the singer.  I heard Henry astutely remark, "You sing fast."  She continued her quick singing, not paying a bit of attention to the music or beat, for all the songs.  At one point she turned to Todd and said, "I finished before her."  No doubt.  I was sitting at a table behind them trying not to laugh out loud.  I was happy to see she was reading the words so well, though.  Her reading has gotten exponentially better in the past couple of months.  It is really cool to hear her read with much more fluidity.

Carrying Pineapples

Benson has had a good week.  He has definitely learned the command 'Sit,' but he still prefers to be near a carpet when doing so.  I was taking pictures of him sitting on the wood floor and I noticed that as the pictures progressed, his hind legs were slipping further apart.  He has also gone a week without an accident indoors.  Yay!  I'm still on high alert, much to everybody's delight.  Whenever he barks (and I'm upstairs), I yell down, Take him out.  Whoever is down there will yell back up that he's barking at his toy or something else.  I don't care.  Take him out.  This week our goal is to get him to sleep all night long.  Currently his bladder wakes up at 3:00 a.m.  Todd and I have traded off nights sleeping on the couch to be in the same room with him and curtail barks and whines all night long.

Henry loves the smell of Benson's dog food.  It doesn't smell good.  It smells like dog food.  But when he feeds Benson, he'll open the package, pause and inhale, then say, "I want to eat this.  It smells so good."  Every. Single. Time.  Henry, our child with the most diverse palate.  He just needs to refine his tastes a bit.

Typically each week before writing the blog, I'll check my texts to Todd for the week to see if there were any funny things the kids said or stories about them.  There haven't been many texts during the quarantine since Todd's been working just upstairs, but it's still my habit to check.  Right before sitting down to write tonight I checked.  Nearly every text back and forth was, "Benson pooped.  Back fence line near the rose bush."  "Benson peed."  "Benson, #2, 12:30, by school room."  Our lives have shrunken down to potty training.

COVID has spiked in our area and our state.  We have good friends who tested positive several weeks ago.  We had had contact with them, so we had been under an even tighter quarantined for three weeks.  Basically we're always quarantined, but we had been letting the kids play with the neighbor boy.  The stricter quarantine just meant they couldn't play with him.  This past week the three weeks were up and we were very, very blessed that none of us showed any symptoms or got sick.  Now we're back to our regular quarantine.  The kids can now play with their neighbor friend, though we're keeping it strictly outside/open air play.  It's pretty rough because it is crazy hot right now.  The heat index has been 110° most days and it feels every bit of it.

Because of the heat we've stayed indoors more often than normal.  Josiah has been painting with water colors all week long.  Every morning he eats breakfast then sets up his paints.  He's crazy good with water colors.  Whenever I use them my paper looks like washed out colors.  He somehow can get intense colors and does his shading.  He amazes us with what he produces.  If you saw the characters from the book, they look just alike.

Mr. Shark from The Bad Guys book series

Petey from Dog Man

Todd was able to help out at his university this week.  The Houston Food Bank set up on his campus for a drive-thru grocery pick-up.  Todd said that they were told that it had to be completely contactless.  That meant the drivers had to pop their trunks from inside their cars and if they could not pop them, then the workers would have to leave the groceries next to the car, walk away, and let the drivers put the food in their own cars.  Todd said they got good food - cabbages, oranges, bananas, pineapples, bread.  I was glad to see they were getting fresh produce.  Todd said they also had some day-old pasteries and bread products that they were handing out.  Some people got birthday cakes or a dozen doughnuts.  He was glad to get out and do some good.  He has been working from home for four months now.

Todd carrying pineapples like a pro.

Learning to Sit

Week two of having Benson.  Whew.  We are worn out.  He is very much like a toddler -- if he's too quiet or we don't know where he is or what he's doing it is not a good thing.  He has taken to chewing this week.  He chews the furniture, the blinds, the carpets, and he tries to nip our heels.  He has definitely gotten more comfortable in his surroundings.  He has also been waking up at 2:30 a.m. or 4:00 a.m. to use the backyard facilities.  Todd's been doing the early morning call outs for which I am grateful.  (I am also grateful he is using the outdoor facilities.)

This is how he sleeps - head on the floor.

Caroline has still been requesting morning walks.  Todd and I have traded off, though we've still managed to make it out most days.  On several days we've taken Benson out for a "walk" right after.  He walks a bit, sniffs a ton, and doesn't cover a very long distance.  However, right now it is getting so hot that both walks will probably stop.  Between the heat and the mosquitoes, it is not fun to be outside.  The mosquitoes are really, really bad.  They usually spray for them once a week around here, but the spraying is past due and it is not pleasant to be out.  Whenever I have to take Benson out after the sun's gone down, I don a long sleeve sweatshirt with hood to try to keep them at bay.  Todd's and Henry's legs look like they have the chicken pox they have so many bites.  

Todd took Benson to the vet last weekend.  That appointment was a free one through the SPCA system, but our intention was always to see a vet closer to the house.  We had an appointment set up for early this week because Benson has been scratching like crazy and has hair loss because of it.  Then the morning of the appointment I was outside with him and saw worms in his excrement.  Very squiggly, very much alive worms.  Todd brought a sample into the vet and they were hookworms.  So Benson got the works that day.  They did skin scrapings to

see why he was itching so much (that turned out to be benign - just mites that got more active because Benson was probably stressed to get adopted and change living facilities).  The worms were hookworms.  He got a shot and pills and he came home and slept it off for most of the afternoon.  He woke up only to throw up.  They said the pill works nearly immediately and fortunately it did for him.  When Henry heard about the worms, he exclaimed, "I've had worms in my poop for years."  What?  I told him that was really bad and if he really saw worms he needed to get me immediately.  Then he backed up and said he hadn't seen them since he turned nine.  Just tell me if you see them again.  Literally the next day he's in the bathroom and I hear, "Worms!"  I go in, look in the toilet, and say, "Henry.  Those are carrots.  You're fine."

The vet gave us the okay to give Benson a bath.  It was all hands on deck.  Josiah designated himself as shampoo squirter.  He was a bit too generous in his handing out of shampoo, so we are likely to switch jobs in the future.  Henry was in charge of the hose.  Caroline was photographer.  She preferred close ups.  Benson's coat was much softer to the touch and looked much shinier by the end.

Todd is also teaching him to sit.  Benson's been picking up on it fairly quickly.  The only thing is he tends to slide when he tries to sit on our wood floors, so when Todd says, "Benson, sit!" Benson looks for a carpet to sit on.  The kids are enjoying getting him to sit for them.  They get a handful of kibble and give him a piece when he sits on cue.  Benson loves his food, so he gets all excited when he smells it in their hands.  

Besides Benson, the kids have done their regular things.  Josiah did some chalk drawings from Captain Underpants.  

Harold with a face mask

The three of them gave a very moving Beatles lip-syncing concert.  Henry does everything with intensity, even playing the light saber guitar.

They got to use their Pop-Its on the 4th of July.  They ran around and threw them at each other.  Henry threw them in the air and hit them so they'd pop in the air.

Then they watched fireworks from our bedroom.  We could hear fireworks from 9:00 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.  There is never a shortage of fireworks around here.  And fortunately they didn't seem to bother Benson at all.  He sat up and looked alert for the first ones, but then settled down and slept through the majority.