Happy 3rd Birthday, Clementine Sunshine!!

Clementine turned 3 whole years old this past week and we had a fun party on Labor Day weekend to celebrate! There were balloons, food, games, but most importantly swimming! Her friends Leah & Gabriel came over and Gabriel was so excited had his shoes off and most of his shirt before his parents could let him out of his car seat! They all had a blast. Clementine took a wonderful nap afterwards and was showered with attention from Grandparents the whole weekend. She was in heaven!!

So this is what they were talking about.

Darn it! I was really hoping I would get to be one of those smug parents that gets to say, "My child never went through the terrible twos or threes". But it looks like that is not going to happen.

Father's day fun & friends

It's amazing how fast time goes by. Clementine is growing and accomplishing new things everyday! It is so amazing to watch her continually progress and transform with new skills and abilities right before my eyes. Yesterday we had a playdate at the house with two of her daycare friends and had a fun time! We wanted to bring out the water slide, but it was wet from the rain the night before and was threatening to rain the whole day. So we just played with trains, turtle jumpers, cow rockers, race car slides, and talking zoos instead! The kids seemed to really enjoy themselves. It was also nice to chat with other adults and get to know some friends a little better. I wish I had taken some pictures, but there was so much activity going on I completely forgot. Sorry. For father's day I took Clementine to the Aquarium in Corpus Christi and to the mall. Yes, I said it. The mall. Personally I preferred the aquarium, but it's always nice to get out and explore, right? She LOVED the dolphins and watching them from the underwater deck.

The dolphins were actually taking a nap when we were there. They would rest on the bottom and when they needed air just ascend to the surface and then slide back down to the bottom. It was pretty neat! That's also how I got the picture of Clementine with the two dolphins behind her.

Finally at home

We have been traveling for the last 8 weekends and are so relieved to be back at home. We have been working on the 4-plex the majority of the time, since one of our tenants we kicked out basically trashed the apartment. We also got to visit family which was a nice change from painting and repairs. But when you are away from home for many weekends in a row some things start to get ignored at home, like laundry, and cleaning, and so much more. So we spent some time everyday this week working on cleaning the house and it has really paid off. Our house is now cleaner than it's been in months and we are looking forward to some well earned rest. In other news, Clementine's school (daycare) is closed on Fridays so we will have her at home and we decided to try to do something new during those days to keep it interesting. We decided to get a water slide splash pool and finally got it set up yesterday. We actually got it about two months ago, but have not been here to set it up and try it out. So here are the pictures & let me tell you I LOVE having a big yard!

I would also like to add that we plan to invite Clementine's friends over and use this for her birthday. We are just doing a dry (or wet) run this weekend to make sure it's as awesome as we imagined. Which it is! :)

How to get skunk smell out of your house

So I should probably tell the whole story because it was traumatizing and I still can taste the skunk smell a little, but what's the point if you don't get the whole scoop, right?

Last night I had just put Clementine down for bed when I smelled the skunk. I was thinking, "Great. Someone hit a skunk out by the road. Lovely." But the smell kept getting stronger & stronger. I then started to worry about the dogs. That one of them decided to bother a skunk and then got some on them. Well, I didn't know how right I was. I left the back bedroom and headed for the kitchen (this was only, maybe 60 seconds after I first smelled it) and was accosted by the worst smell IN THE WORLD!!!

You "think" you know what skunk spray smells like, after all you've driven by it on the road, right? You are dead wrong. I mean you are so wrong you don't even KNOW the extent of your wrongness. The smell is worse than anything I could have even dreamed of. Take a mixture of burning rubber, onions, and vomit, then multiply by 100. I was so close to retching I had to leave the area immediately.

So anyway, what apparently happened was Peaches had found a skunk and they exchanged words. Thank the good Lord up above, Clementine had previously closed the door to the laundry/mudroom (see previous post). If she hadn't Peaches could have come inside the rest of the house and we *would* have all been retching. But for the most part the stench was contained to the laundry/mudroom, kitchen, breakfast area, office and dining room. Yes. ALL those rooms were bad and she didn't even go in them. The rest of the house was bad, too, but not AS bad. We managed to make sure she did not come in the house (or garage) again and yes, she slept outside.

We did a few quick internet searches and discovered this "dog cleaning" solution. Mix hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dish soap in a bucket. We used 16 oz of peroxide, about 1/4 cup of baking soda and 2 tbp of dish soap the first time. We doubled it for her second and third bath. We also used that solution to mop the floor in the laundry/mudroom. That solution breaks up most of the oils in the skunk spray and worked pretty well. I also pretreated Peaches' coat with a spray bottle filled with white vinegar that night. We didn't give her the baths until the next day when we could catch her. She kept running away, so we gave up.

Next take the spray bottle of white vinegar and spray, spray, spray. We sprayed everywhere we thought there might be skunk oil and all surrounding areas. And then kept going. Febreeze also worked well for the air and curtains. We used up a whole bottle. Then today, we used more febreeze and then incorporated Lysol. The Lysol worked great. Also, I put out small bowls of vinegar all throughout the house and left that overnight. That helped absorb some of the smell.

And, here we are 24 hours later. The house is very well aired out and doesn't smell like skunk anymore! Yay!! Every once in a while I catch the faint scent, but it seems to be going away more and more. Peaches still has the aroma and therefore will be spending her days and nights outside for the next week, probably.

Oh, yeah, be sure to wear gloves while doing all this cleaning and washing of dog. We got that tip from here: ‎de-skunk your home along with others and were so glad we did!!

Providence

Providence- that is what happens when your 2 year old daughter randomly chooses to close the door to the laundry room, which cuts off access to the rest of the house from the dog door on the same day your dog happens to get sprayed by a skunk thus preventing the dog from running through the house.

Forever

This is from Chris' FB page:

I put Clementine down she was laying in her bed and I was laying beside her on the floor. She was holding her turtle and she gave me her rabbit and said, "Hold rabbit daddy". So we were laying there and she was holding my finger and she starts saying "Forever daddy, forever". First time I have really heard her use forever as a concept so I said "Forever Clementine?". She replied " I love you forever daddy". Choked up I replied " I love you forever too Clementine."

Time goes by so fast

We have been doing well since Christmas and just gotten back into the grove of things. We are working and Clementine is doing great in daycare. She is always coming up with new and funny things to say. For example, she has begun asking questions...lots of them. Mostly it's, "Zat Mine?" (Is that mine?) or "Zat Yours?" (Is that yours?) and she will ask until she gets an answer. Usually she wants it to be hers, but it's not always. :)

She asked me the other day if the shower was rain. I told her it's not exactly the same, but the principal was close. "Now go get under the rain so we can wash your hair." :D

She now pedals her bike around and loves to go outside on it. We ride around the driveway. Sometimes she still likes me to push her, but not usually.

The garden/atrium is starting to look good. Chris has planted several trees in pots, topsy-turvy strawberry plants and rose bushes. I've also put out a few indoor plants, mainly herbs and aloe, but a few flowers too. I'll post pictures soon. As soon as we clean the house up nice I'll take pictures and post. I probably need someone to come visit so it will happen. If anyone is interested just let me know!!

One of the movies we watch is Gnomeo & Juliet. We were at Hobby Lobby the other day and they had little Gnomes of the characters, so we got them and put them in the atrium so she could "discover" them. When she spotted them she asked, "Zat Gnomeo? Zat Julia?" She was very excited & went over to them, making sure we were close behind. Then she had fun moving the smaller gnomes we bought around in different pots. She checks on them everyday to see if they are still there.

We also finally broke down and got a new (used) truck. We have been working with only one vehicle for about 6 months and we were managing, but because we have to travel for work and had a couple of almost-not-making-it-to-pick-up-Clementine-from-daycare scares we decided it was better for us to buck up and get another one. That way if the car is 2 hours from home we don't need to sweat so much about getting her from school.

So that is a brief update and I'll get some pictures to post so you don't have to rely solely on your imagination!!