I am now begging, pretty please with sugar on top... if you haven't already, just click this link and vote for my summer time photo. Please? Did I mention I'll be your best friend?

The WWC is brought to you by Tink at Pickled Beef. Go check it out and play with us next week.

Drama's cement pond in her backyard is finally ready to swim in.

My daughters were playing "Chair of Pain" this morning to amuse themselves.

My messy... um, tomboy older daughter just insisted her little sister wash her hands before touching the Wii-mote.

My husband is telling me of 50% sales in children's clothing stores.

I am more than likely going back to work part time.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 premieres Aug. 6th.

I can no longer stand the mess in my house and have declared this afternoon, Cleaning Party Time. Bribery... um, incentive in the form of an early evening pool trip has even been offered to assure more cooperation.

Hubby got a new job. He is in CA for orientation today. From Daddy 24/7 to no daddy cold turkey. Expecting tears and withdrawal systems to begin at bed time EST.

Wipeout is set to record on our tifaux.

Hubby bought me my own domain, for now it's redirecting blogspot. Look at your browser you are now at Blog For the Love of Pete dot com!

For the Love of Pete dot com has been owned by the same person for 7 years and there is nothing there. Damn it!

While looking up info on the Summer Olympics I saw a slide show on beach volleyball called: Cracking the code. Go look, really. Go now.

I'll admit I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel this week. Good thing we only have 2 weeks until school starts here. We have almost SURVIVED the summer. Where's my t-shirt, damn it?! And although I don't recommend this plan to anyone who would like to eat fresh fruit and pay the mortgage, having daddy unemployed and home ALL day, EVERY day has been hella fun for the girls! So I suppose that's not really a suggestion as much as an observation.

I realized while looking back on my suggestions that apparently most of my ideas are girly-centric. Sorry, but I have 2 girls. So this week to help the rest of you out I am adding this advice for those of you with little monsters...um, children with penises. Don't worry it's sage advice from a mom of boys with a proven track record. Hey, she's managed to keep them alive well into the teen years, so this woman knows of what she speaks. And according to Jenn at Juggling Life, "mothers of boys just barricade themselves in their rooms and let the boys shoot each other with nerf guns." Why did I want girls again? That sounds way easier than the stuff I've been coming up with.

A Dog's Purpose (from a 6-year-old)

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are
shorter than human lives.

Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, "I know why."

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation. He said, "People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life - like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?"

The six-year-old continued, "Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long."

We are saying goodbye to KBHR in a few hours.