Leeloo

Yes, we got a dog. An eight week old puppy to be more precise. She's a mix between a Border Collie and a Labrador. She's itty now but she'll be probably around 50lbs when all's said and done. Not the huge bear of a dog I had initially wanted but still a formidable size.

We named her Leeloo after one of our favorite movies The Fifth Element. Milla Jovovich, one of our favorite actresses, plays the character "Leeloo" but the resemblance ends there.

Milla as Leeloo.

Leeloo as, well, Leeloo.

She's been here since Saturday afternoon had fits right in. She's a good girl, easy with the kids, only accidents when she's overstimulated or isn't let out in time. We're crate training her and she barks a bit when it's bedtime but will calm and wimper when it's time to go out again. She's able to hold it for up to 6 hours at a time, though mostly goes between 2-4.

We're looking into a vet, natural feeding and giving our own shots. Before anyone gets in a tizzy about it, we'll be out on our land soon (please God!) and the vet won't be close. We need to learn if it's something we can do. Besides we'll be practicing vet on our goats, chickens and other livestock, why not the dogs?

Anyway, I'll leave you with a few photos of Leeloo's first photo session we did Sunday.

An Introduction

I'm a mom. I'm an artist. I'm a woman, a wife, a lover, a child, a reader, a procrastinator, and many other things that make the individual that is me. Just like everyone else.

I'm Crystal. If that were enough to say I'd have an easy job blogging. We're a family. We homeschool and attend Unitarian church when I can get enough energy about at 8am on a Sunday to get all 5 or 6 of us there. I love to create, pretty much anything and everything. If something catches my attention I at least like to try it out. We live in the city though I'd be happier in farm land so we're making our own little oasis in the middle of the hustle and bustle of urban life. I'm trying desperately to find that perfect center between technology and ancestry, the right mix of now and then.

I'm married to a LT in the Nat'l Guard, Rob, who is my better half. We're celebrating 10 years this October though he'll be deployed overseas during it. This will be our first Anniversary and birth we'll be apart for. I have four wonderful little lives I helped bring to this world though I can't imagine how I managed to make such extraordinary beings. I'm also baking another due December 25th, 08.

Alex, my oldest, is 6 and probably my most inspiring (at least right now) and uses his time to read Science Encyclopedias and watch "How It's Made" on the Science Channel sometimes simultaneously, while building amazing Lego models. He's the first born and currently the only grandson.

Olivia, my oldest girl is 5 and we call her our "Glamazon". She's a wonderful reminder of how to NOT take life too seriously. Mainly, because she's always overreacting. She's a strong, tall, beautiful girl that I foresee becoming a strong, tall, beautiful woman. Though later rather than sooner if her father and I have anything to do with it.

Cordelia is the "baby" of the house though she's a big sister almost 2 times over now. She is 3 and quite a precocious little thing. Even when she's being naughty (and she knows when she is too) it's hard not to melt under her huge doe eyes with their almost full inch of lashes.

Amelia is the current baby of the house and is a toddling fool at the age of 14 months. She's a peach in her own right and has taken all my preconceived notions about having and raising babies and thrown them all in the diaper pail.

Our next baby is currently gestating and due to arrive Christmas day. We're not sure if this is it for us or not. We love being a large family, and the kids love having lots of siblings but we're still working out the logistics of it. Either way, Rob will be gone until late 2009 so there won't be any baby making (or serious thinking of baby making) until after he gets back and we settle back into being a family.

I imagine this blog to be about our journey through life. My hopes and dreams for the future. A place to display my art and a reminder that the Solidity of a Rainbow is never certain and to cherish it when it comes.