Ahhhh....Christmas!

My week is winding down. One more day of school and Christmas break begins. I'm so excited! I'm ready for some R and R. My boys had their last day of school today. They already look so relaxed. I'm a bit jealous.

I had a good day today. My awesome daughter got an A- on her Social Studies test. She studied so hard! I made flash cards for her and I drilled her and she studied on own. She knew this stuff backwards and forwards. When she showed me her grade I was so thrilled for her! Her daddy is extra proud of her too. He told her he would buy her a special treat for doing so well and working so hard. I was thinking she would want a sucker, a pack of gum, or some gummi bears....NOT MY DAUGHTER. She asked for BEEF JERKY! WHAT?!?!?!?

Anyway, all the students have the Christmas bug. They are talking non-stop of Santa, presents, and going to grandma's house. It's so fun to watch their little faces light up when you ask them what they want to see under their Christmas tree when they wake up Christmas morning.

It's so easy to get caught up in the shopping, the busy hustle of the holidays, gifts, and running from place to place. However, when it's all said and done, I don't want to lose focus of the reason for all the celebration. It is a tradition on Christmas Eve for our family to listen to my father tell the Christmas story, take communion as a family and then head to church to the Christmas Eve candlelight service. Something about celebrating the birth of Christ in such a beautiful and personal way makes Christmas perfect.

I hope each and every one of you have a wonderful holiday. I hope and pray that you experience Jesus in a personal and beautiful way this Christmas!

Blessings to you and yours this Christmas.

My Beautiful Daughter

Wednesday was the Albany Elementary Christmas program. Sydney has been working hard to prepare for this for weeks and weeks. She had quite a lot to do. She had two speaking parts, singing numbers with her class as well as with the choir. All that was left to figure out for the big night was her outfit.

Thankfully, a few years ago, Auntie Brooke gave Sydney a beautiful black velvet dress that she finally grew into. I know you can't really see her hair but I braided the sides and then pulled the braids back to meet in the middle with a big cream colored bow. She looked beautiful.

She did such a great job! The show was a hit and all the Christmas music put everyone in such a festive mood. I just love this time of year!

Zeus and his new home

I know it's been awhile since I've written. Things are outta control busy around here. I did want to let everyone know that our last puppy left a few weeks ago. Zeus found a great home with the Hoppers a week after Oscar left for his new home. Sydney and I went to visit Zeus and his new family last Friday. He is just as adorable as he ever was...with a twist. Zeus is KING OF THE MANOR! He rules the roost and is quite spoiled. It was great to see him and where he lives. Sydney adores Zeus's "big sister" Tressie. She is very glad that Zeus lives with such a wonderful family. We are too!

Here is a picture of Zeus minutes before the Hoppers came to pick him up. Needless to say, he gets even more love at the Hopper's house than he got at our house! Can you say SPOILED? We're lovin' it!

TEENAGER ALERT!

Our house will be the same NO MORE! Elijah has turned 13! I have been wanting to write about this however lately I have had NO time for myself and things have been off the charts busy around here. Since I have a few minutes while my soon-to-be deviled eggs are cooking on the stove for our Thanksgiving feast this afternoon, I thought I would take a a bit to reflect on the life my our oldest son Elijah.

Where to begin? I wasn't exactly thrilled when I found out I was pregnant with Elijah. I had only been married a year and was so looking forward to just being married and vacationing and doing and going wherever we wanted to go...but apparently God had other plans. And to be quite honest, as my pregnancy continued I became more and more excited.

Pregnancy has never been easy for me. I don't carry very well and my babies always try to come early. I was pre-eclamptic and on bedrest and ended up delivering Elijah six weeks early. But OH MY GOSH...when he arrived, he was perfect.

Silver hair (seriously...I'm not kidding) and gigantic blue eyes and the sweetest little face ever. The nurses were all enthralled with him and several times a day we heard how they had never seen a baby with silver hair. He was incredible.

Elijah has been such a fun kid to raise. He is trustworthy, caring, and sweet. He is just so smart and constantly amazes us with his grades and study habits. WOW! He isn't ever afraid to try new things and is very outgoing and nice. When he started up at the middle school, I was especially nervous for him (opening his locker, getting to his classes okay, dealing with all the new kids) but you know what he said to me? He said, "It's going to be fun! I can't wait to meet all these new people."

Elijah also has made great decisions when making friends. I am so pleased with his group of buddies. I love when Aaron and Brendon come over and hang out. They are halarious and I always appreciate kids who are kind to Elijah's brother and sister and are respectful and like to have fun with Chad and I. I'm so proud of Elijah.

I can't believe he's 13. He is taller than me. Wears a bigger shoe size than Chad. His voice is getting deeper by the second. So many changes so fast! It's so hard to believe. Soon, he won't want to hang out with us as much as he does now and I hate that but know it's all part of the growing up process.

God bless my little teenager on his birthday. We sure do love him.

Thankful

It's that time of year again. Boy, times just flies by. I can't believe we are celebrating another Thanksgiving already. I am taking a breather from the cleaning and cooking and busyness to make my official list of some things I am especially thankful for this year.

1. My family. I am a lucky girl. I have great parents who raised me with morals and values and beliefs that have made me into the person I am. I also am very blessed to have awesome children who make living life wonderful and fun and exciting. I can't forget my husband who stands beside me and makes this journey through life worth taking. I am blessed to have him in my life.

2. My job. I know sometimes I complain about it and some days are completely exhausting but I am grateful for my job. I do enjoy the students and I work with such an amazing staff. I have such great friends there who completely crack me up and make working there fun.

3. My house. You know how they say that things sometimes comes in three's? Well this past week has been no different. First, the shower drain was leaking, then the water softner broke down and needed a new part, and then my washing machine broke and can't be fixed until Monday. BUT...I do love our home and the beauty and warmth and safety we have in our house. We truly enjoy living here and I am very thankful for our home and a fabulous place to raise our babies.

4. My bed. Is this silly? I love my bed! I'm saying it out loud for everyone to ... read. I love the feeling you get when you first snuggle down into bed and pull the blankets up to your chin. I love that relaxed feeling like "Ahhhhh! Finally!" I love laying in bed and reading or watching a movie. It's one of my favorite things!

5. My mom. I am especially thankful for her. She upholds tradition and family. She has character and I have always thought she was a "cool" mom. We have a great relationship and I am pleased that God allowed me to be her daughter. I hope that I have as great relationship with my children as I do with my mom.

Happy Thanksgiving to all you. I hope you are able to take some time out of your busy day to reflect on all of your blessings.

Going, going, gone!

Three down...one to go!

Today, Oscar went to his new home. He is just so cute and I knew he would be the next to leave us. He has such a perfect coat and an honest face. Adorable! Everyone, including Chad had a hard time letting this one go. The older they get the harder it is to say goodbye. What a little sweetie!

We have one little boy left. Zeus, our brute, is still here. If we find a home for him, it will be even harder to let him go just because the longer he's here the more attached we get plus he's the last one, which is never easy. He's rough and ornery and outgoing and loving and rambunctious...but he fits in so well with my children! If he goes...we'll be happy but if he doesn't....we'll be happy with that too.

Anyway, here is a picture of Sydney with Oscar minutes before they drove away with him.

I know he will be spoiled rotten and will have a great time being loved on by his new owners.

Pumpkin Time

Okay, so even though it's November 1 and I'm a little bit behind....I still wanted to get this put in my blog. Here is a picture of our kids carving pumpkins. We love this time of year. From the middle of October until Christmas is over, there just something magical about it! From carving pumpkins to Thanksgiving dinner to decorating the tree to all the holiday movies to Christmas Eve church services...we just love every minute of it! We enjoy everything about this time of year so much.

Anyway, I'm hoping to take LOTS of pictures over these next few weeks. I hope you enjoy them.

A visit with Leslie

Saturday was a good day.

I got the chance to spend some time with a friend of mine that I don't get to see that often. I have known Leslie since I was three. We used to be neighbors when we were little. We went to the same elementary and jr. high school and had countless sleepovers growing up. It always cracks me up when they tell me stories about when I would come over to their house. In fact, Linda (Leslie's older sister) just told me that they used to love carrying me around in one of those red shopping baskets because I was so little and could fit in it. I honestly don't remember that but it's funny that they do.

Anyway, Leslie moved away to California while we were in jr. high and now lives with her husband and four adorable boys there. Leslie made a trip home this past weekend to visit with family and introduce Price, their newest addition to friends and relatives that hadn't met him yet.

Leslie's dad, stepmother, and sisters threw an open house for her and invited all her girlfriends. We had so much fun! We got to visit, meet Price, and we did A LOT of laughing. It was so good to catch up with Les, meet her gorgeous little boy, and eat some incredible food! They must have cooked all day! There was a ton and it was all so delicious!

It was so fun and I had to include a picture of "the girls" as well as one with Leslie and her little boy. Isn't he cute?

The Hand!!!

Here are some pictures of Noah's hand. We took him yesterday (Tuesday) to have the stitches removed and he is doing pretty darn well! It looks pretty ugly but we are so thankful he is doing well and hope he will regain complete mobility soon!

Thanks to all who sent up prayers for Noah. We sure love this kid and know God had his hand on his!

Eight Inches!

I took huge and drastic measures last week. I got EIGHT INCHES cut off my hair! It is very short. Shorter than any haircut I've had since I was sixteen! I had been thinking about cutting it for awhile but the final straw that broke the camel's back happened last Wednesday.

Wednesday morning, I arrived at school at 7:30 like usual however knowing that today was a little different. You see, today was school picture day. I had spent quite a bit of extra time doing Sydney's hair, picking out the perfect outfit for her, as well as carefully applying my make up and doing my own hair. I was ready and so was my daughter.

One of my duties at school is working the breakfast shift. I take money for breakfast from the students, cross of their names, wipe down tables, help open Captain Crunch cereal boxes and milk containers. After breakfast duty, I head back to the library and do my job in there. However, on this particular morning, after breakfast duty, I had to get my picture taken as well.

I posed, I smiled, I blinked, I posed again, I smiled...perfection! I'm off to the library to shelve books and help students in the world of literacy!

As I'm checking my email, I notice this white stuff in my hair. Blech! What in the world is in my hair? I look at it and think "OH MY GOSH! Was this in my hair for pictures? Are you kidding me? What is this crap! What did I drag my hair through while I was helping Kindergartners open Pop-Tart packages and cleaning up spilled juice?"

I cannot make out this substance. I can't tell what it is. It isn't crusty its more gummy. I feel it and can't make out what it could possibly be. So...being the brave librarian's aide that I am, I bring it to my nose and take a sniff.

HOLY COW! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!

It was deodorant! Which means as I was putting on the deo for my b.o. (hahaha!) my hair got into my armpit and I deodorized that as well.

Needless to say, my hair didn't sweat all day and smelled rather like flowers... at least in that particular small section of my strawberry blonde locks.

So, I continue to rule the Land of the Geeks as the most high in geekdom!

I will let you all know how my school picture turns out and if retakes will be necessary.

It should be noted that this was and will be the last known picture of me with super long hair. That evening at 6:30, I got it chopped off.

P.S. The aformentioned appointment had been set for three weeks already. The deodorant in the hair was just the icing on the cake. Boy, did my stylist laugh her butt off! Today isn't a good hair day but I will post a picture soon of the new 'do'!

Very Good News

Noah went to see the specialist on Tuesday. It was good news. He did cut into his tendon but the damage was minimal and will heal on its own. We are THRILLED! He will have to keep it wrapped for another two weeks and then hopefully he will get the stitches removed. He does have very limited mobility right now and it is very tender. He continues to take some pain medication (especially at night) and is now on an antibiotic to help with any infection that could occur. Today we changed his bandage and it was really starting to look good. He returned to school Wednesday and is doing well.

To all of you who were praying for our little guy, thank you. I know that once again, God has his hand on our family.

An eventful Sunday

Well, once again...Noah proves to us that he is our busy boy. We thought maybe we were done with runs to the emergency room but we were wrong.

Early Sunday morning, Chad and I were just getting out of bed, cleaning up the room, making the bed, etc when we heard Noah run through the dining room yelling, "I'm bleeding, I'm bleeding, I'm bleeding!" I ran into the bathroom to see Noah holding his hand over the sink and there was blood everywhere. I couldn't tell exactly where it was all coming from but once he moved his thumb over, I could see that we had a big problem!

To back up a bit, we had just bought some Cutco knives recently. For those of you not familiar with Cutco...these are the knives that can cut pennies and pop cans in half. VERY SHARP! We had always wanted some of these knives. My parents have some and we love using them when we are there helping with big family meals. They are so great! However they are very dangerous because they are so sharp! When our order arrived at our house, we explained to our kids that they were not allowed to use these knives because they are so sharp and we even put them in a separate drawer.

Well, Noah wanted an apple for part of his breakfast and decided to use the aforementioned knives he wasn't supposed to use. The end result: He cut the web of skin between his thumb and forefinger. The cut was so deep that the doctor thinks he damaged some tendons and nerves due to his lack of mobility and the fact that he failed the sensory test they gave him.

However, I have to say that I was very proud of Noah. He was so brave and endured many tests, poking, and prodding. He got approximately eight stitches (4 inside and 4 out) and only winced while they were giving him injections to numb the site.

I am nervous about today. Noah will be seeing a specialist. He will be checking out what kind of damage he endured and what, if anything, we will need to do about that. They will be taking the stitches out today and the doctor will be checking it thoroughly which will probably be pretty painful. If you think about it, say some prayers for him. We are hoping for no little to no damage and a quick recovery.

OH...just an FYI...on the way to the hospital Noah kept saying, "I'm so sorry I used those knives. I know I'm not supposed to. Please don't be mad!" We explained to him that accidents happen and we weren't mad. We also told him that the entire reason we didn't want the kids to use them was because we didn't want anyone to get hurt. I'm pretty sure he learned his lesson (the hard and expensive way, I might add!) I doubt he will get near these knives anytime soon!

This picture was taken this morning. Even with a bandaged hand he's still such a handsome young man!

It doesn't get cuter than this!

Look at this adorable face! I love this puppy. This is Zeus. He is so cute and so fun. I can't believe I got such a good picture of Elijah holding this little sweetie!

Book Fair

One of the biggest reasons why I haven't written much in my blog lately was due to Book Fair. I was very nervous about it because a) it was my first book fair ever b) I was afraid I would do something wrong c) I didn't want to screw up the first big responsibility given to me in my new position.

Anyway, all the stuff arrived a week before. No one except me was excited that it arrived so early. I was thrilled. That just meant more time for me to get things ready. I began setting up and the more boxes I opened the more nervous I got. I swear...this stuff was breeding! There were TONS of books, software, pencils, erasers, pens, games, posters and the list just went on and on and on. What was I going to do with all this stuff?!?!

In the end, I got everything set up, displayed, and decorated. AND...as it turned out, it was a smashing success! Our end dollar amount was more than we had ever made at the book fair. WhooHoo!

I can't say I'm ready for book fair to come around again anytime soon (it was so exhausting) but I am glad my first one is finished and under my belt. At least next year I'll know what to do, what to expect, and what to do different to make it even easier.

The Ladder

I know it's been forever since I've blogged but life keeps moving forward and lately it's been at an incredibly fast pace!

Anyway, I talked in one of my blogs about the ladder I made in my library. Well, here it is. I know you can't see all of it because of all my book fair stuff to the right of it, but you get the idea.

One Down...Three to go!

Well, our first puppy left on Saturday. While it was very sad to see her go, she is going to be one well-cared-for pooch! She is already so loved that I've heard that her feet haven't hit the floor much in the last 48 hours. Her first night was spent on the couch with my friend's husband curled up in his arms. He just didn't want her to be sad at all. SUCKER! heehee!

It is so good to see our puppies going to good homes. I just placed an ad in the Indy paper so maybe we'll catch some interest of some families who will just spoil our little boys rotten! Here is Noah and Elijah holding Belle just once more before her new owners arrive.

Calling All Moms!

Ooooh...too funny! Kind of reminds me of the everyday going ons at my house! Enjoy!

My Best Girlfriend

Last night we hung out with my best chick, Holly. We have been best friends since seventh grade. When our two elementaries merged in jr. high we just kind of clicked.

She is such a crack up. We laugh so much together and always have so much fun together. She braved the maternity waters recently (she is so brave...pregnancy has to be so much harder when you're 35!) and here is the outcome of that. Baby Lukey Dukey! He is so cute and says the most adorable things (Bitey, Bitey, Bitey!)

Holly and her husband, Craig and their little guy Luke came over for pizza last night. It was such fun to catch up. We both have three kids and it is so hard to find time to get together. Everyone is just so busy all the time.

Anyway, everytime I think of Holly, I think of all the hysterical stuff we've done together. We went skiing together when we were 15 (it so hard to look cool when you've never skied before...NOT GOOD!) and I have to say after that experience, she is the ONLY person I'll ever snow ski with again. Talk about funny! We decided not to go to ski school and together thought aloud, "How hard could this be, right?" HA! We instead skied right THROUGH ski school. Later, Holly skied right into a line of fir trees. We picked pine needles out of her hat and scarf for hours afterwards. After three hours on the slopes, we decided to hang up our poles and head to the lodge for hot chocolate, video games, and flirting with cute boys. We agreed it was a much better decision.


Even though we only live ten minutes from each other and don't get to see each other as much as we like, we talk as much as we can and try to get our families together as much as our schedule allows. She has a great husband and sweet kids and I'm forever grateful our friendship has endured the last 23 years. She is so amazing and I'm so glad we are close.

Cute Feet

Okay so the polish isn't perfect but looks at those shoes! They make the CUTEST stuff for girls. I want shoes like that...without paying $45, please! Anyway, Sydney got these from Kohls and I just couldn't resist taking a picture of them.

OH MY GOODNESS!

So cute! Here is one of our puppies posing for the camera. This is Zeus. He just got his toenails cut and the hair around his eyes shaved down. Now we can see those eyes and find out what exactly he's up to!

All puppies will be ready to go by Saturday, September 15. It's kind of sad because we have had such fun with them.

Awww! Couldn't you just eat them up?!?!?!

The Last Day of August

Tomorrow is it. The last day of August. I don't know what happens, but it seems that once August ends, summer is officially over. In fact, Chad just said last night, "Well, I guess we should think about closing down the pool this weekend." What?!?! Close down the pool? Are you crazy? Let's not go nuts here! If we close down the pool, that will definitely be the end of summer. Let's take it day by day. Breathe in, breathe out.
Okay...better!

Some big things have happened over the last few weeks. Life-changing, mind altering things such as:

1. Noah got his first zit.
And...
just in time for school pictures...
..........which were today.

2. Sydney got four inches cut off of her green hair.
No one noticed the drastic change in length, even though it used to stop at the top of her
backside now it stops at the middle of her back and is curlier than ever. However, now if she wears just the right shade of turquoise or green or blue....man oh man does the pool greens ever stand out! P.S. Everyone notices that!

3. Puppies, puppies, everywhere.
That's all that needs said on this subject.

4. Elijah's voice keeps getting deeper and he is now taller than me. *sigh* I can't stand it!

5. Noah officially has the hardest head this side of the state line.
I know this firsthand.
I have the bruise to prove it.
It's in a very noticeable place.
Front and center, above my eyebrow.
Here's a tip to all you moms of rambunctious boys..... wrestling with your sixth grade son
can be very dangerous to your health.
(I am still taking Advil and it's been more than 24 hours since the "incident!")

6. I have never been afraid of heights but found today that I am liking heights less and less
especially if a very tall ladder is involved! I realized this while making a new program layout/ display for the library. It was twelve feet tall and I had to use a ten foot ladder to staple, mount, layout, and perfect the display. Thankfully, I didn't wobble, trip, or even fall but I can honestly say that I didn't enjoy one second on that ladder! The very ironic thing about this entire situation is this; while I was fearing for my life on that ten foot ladder, the display I was creating was a TEN FOOT LADDER! (I know this doesn't make sense, but picture a tagline like this: Reach new heights while reading! Catchy, huh?)

7. Last but certainly not least... Chad has more patience than I've had in my entire life.
And...
I'm a tiny bit jealous of that.
I have the patience of....
well....um...
I don't have much patience. There!

Okay...enough, enough. I've got to get some shut-eye. I mean this in a literal sense...my eye is killing me because of the head-butt I received from Noah yesterday. I'm telling you...his skull is made of steel!

Our little puppies are five weeks old! I can't believe how fast they are growing! We are enjoying them. They are eating canned food twice a day and soon we will start them on a moist kibble. They LOVE their food. The second picture is of Belle and Oscar. Belle's face is very messy because she had just finished eating. They are getting teeth so being nibbled on can sometimes be a little painful! Belle is still our tiniest. Ace comes in at a close second and looks like a snowball with a head. Oscar and Zeus are nearly the same size however Zeus weighs more....he should after all he eats!

All the puppies can get out of the box now. This isn't exactly a good thing even though it is so cute to watch. As soon as they get out, they run as fast as their short, stubby legs can carry them only to slide and tumble on our wood floor. So, we scoop them up and kiss them and put them back in the box. If you'll notice, this picture is of the puppies ready for escape. Two seconds after I took this, Oscar tumbled out of the box. They also cry and whine when we put them in the box and walk away from them. They are such affection hounds! They love to be cuddled, loved on, and held. That's a very good thing because we can hardly keep our hands off of them!

They are so amazing and we are having such a good time playing with them. It is so fun to hear them bark and growl and watch them wrestle, jump, and run. This has been such a fun experience for us. We have loved every second of it!

First Day of School

Here are the May children getting ready to walk out the door for their first day of school. They all had a great first day. We were especially nervous for Noah since it was his first day in the middle school. But he is doing great and is loving it. Sydney is our only child left in elementary and while I don't see her much (she is in a different part of the building than me) I hear she is doing great and she is enjoying fourth grade.

Elijah is just happy to be back with his friends. His classes are going to be harder this year (he is taking honors English and Math as well as Spanish plus his regular classes) but I think he will have a great year. Oh...Elijah also made his competitive company hip hop class and is thrilled. He will start dancing in two weeks!

Get Inspired!

Wow! I read this today and it just completely struck a chord with me. I have to credit my friend, Scott whose wife, Deanna, is a daily blogger. Her blog is fun to read just because they are where Chad and I were a few years ago. They have two very young boys and I can see so much of my young parenting (frustrations, joys, and concerns) in her. Mind you, this is not a quote from Deanna but from a pastor at a church up north. Anyway, I hope it inspires you as it did me today.

"Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshipping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion!"

New Puppy Pics

I've been getting lots of requests (mostly from my husband!) about getting some new pictures on here of our adorable foursome!

They just keep getting more and more fun. Everyone has their eyes open now. Because of this new fact, Gidget gets completely attacked as soon as she steps in the box. It reminds me of a parent bringing take out home to four starving teenagers. "Mom's here!!! Time to eat!" I did start feeding them canned food once a day. They love it. Our biggest boy and our little girl get the most into it. After most feedings we have to wash them down with soap and water. We have one puppy that is the most vocal. He barks a lot when he plays. It's so cute. Their ears aren't open just yet but I know they will be any day. Life will change drastically when they are able to hear. I'm sure they will become a lot more vocal.

We are loving just being able to watch them and see what they do next. They are also starting to get their own personalities. We have named them just so we can tell them apart. Here is the lowdown so far:

Zeus - he's our biggest boy. His lips and nose are the darkest so far in color. He is also the fuzziest and fattest. He also dives right into to meal time and gets the messiest. He is the most playful and likes to nibble on fingers (or tails if they are presented the right way.) He also tends to growl during play which is so cute! Zeus loves his tummy rubbed and will lay on his back anytime.

Oscar - not quite as big as Zeus but close. He is very shy and sweet. He's not as active yet. He's the most shy around the canned food. He likes it but doesn't act real interested. He tries to chase Zeus but rarely catches him. He's very content to sleep cuddled up to Ace. The top of Oscar's nose is still pretty pink. He and Zeus have many of the same features.

Ace - (aka Active Boy) Noah and Sydney picked the name for this one. Ace is our tiny male. He was our third puppy to open his eyes. He is a cuddler and loves to be held but HATES to lay on his back. He sleeps a lot still but loves meal time. He and Zeus love to wrestle and Ace usually ends up being the one flipped over. Ace is also our most vocal puppy. Lots of random barking!

Belle - She is our only girl and the last to open her eyes. She really loves meal time. She gets right in there and it's fun to watch her and Zeus fight over the food. She's pretty quick and is the one that probably covers the most "mileage" around the box. Belle sleeps on her back a lot with feet straight up in the air. She loves to have her tummy rubbed. She has a very sweet disposition and at this point acts the most like Gidget when she was a puppy.

Anyway enjoy the pics. They are three and a half weeks old. They are getting big fast. I will be getting them registered within the next week. For those of you that are interested, the puppies will be ready by the end of September.

P.S. Last night when we were taking pictures, the only puppies awake were Zeus and Ace. I'll try to get pics soon of the other two!

Good Weekend

I had a really good weekend. I turned 36 on Sunday (that part of it wasn't the greatest...after all, I'm on the downward slope towards 40!) however I got to spend my birthday weekend with lots of family which is always fun!

On Friday, my brother, his wife and daughter came over. They brought an ice cream cake and we played cards. We had such a good time laughing and being silly. If you know my brother, Todd, then you know how incredibly hysterical and completely rotten he is. We played euchre (and endured Todd's feeble attempts at cheating!) ate cake and had the best time together!

Saturday, Elijah had dance company auditions. I dropped him off and got to do some shopping of my own while he was dancing his little heart out. I needed shoes desperately and was so pumped when I found not one but TWO pairs of adorable slip-ons. I also got to browse the isles at Hobby Lobby and picked out some really cute fall decorations for my room at school.

Sunday, we went to Mom and Dad's for lunch and just spent the afternoon hanging out with them and catching up. It was a really good day and a very nice and relaxing way to spend my birthday.

At 9:12 p.m. however, it became official. I was 36 years old! So far I have really enjoyed my thirties. I am hoping as I slide towards 40, these years get better and better. I am forever thankful for my amazing family and the support system they lend to my life. I am very blessed!

It's almost time!

I can't believe school starts next week! Yikes! I still have so much to do and my time to do it is dwindling quickly. Most of my anxiety rests in the simple fact that I have school supplies yet to purchase. Last year we had a prong folder emergency and had the worst time trying to find all the colors we needed. This year I started a little earlier so I have all the prong folders I need HOWEVER now I'm missing the other necessities such as pencils, erasers, steno pads, and buying the dreaded Trapper Keeper folder!

I worked yesterday and today at registration at the school. It was really fun to get to see all the students, answer phones, and catch up with the staff. But my favorite part was getting to tell the students who their teacher was for the year. In most cases, they were excited and it always cracks me up to watch their little faces beam with excitement as they look up at their parents waiting to see if they have the same excitement. However, there are always a few that are disappointed and they will look up at their parents and plead silently as if telekinetically (is that spelled right?) they are saying, "Please, Mom. Do something about this!"

Our staff at Albany Elementary is amazing! They are all such great people and do such a fabulous job with the kids. I feel very blessed to be a part of such a fun group.

At any rate, even though I am sad summer is quickly drawing to a close, I am ready to get back to work. I miss my friends at school and I miss the students. It will be good to get back into the swing of things again.

We have eyes!

Yes, it's true. Our puppies now have eyes and they are open! Both of our big boys opened their eyes Friday night and Saturday morning. ADORABLE! They are so cute. They are becoming more and more mobile and it is so fun to watch them move around the box.

The smallest boy hasn't yet opened his eyes but it will probably happen very soon. Our little girl, Belle however, acts very content with her closed eyes and it looks as if it will be a couple more days for her.

They are really getting big and have started to get so fuzzy! Their tummies are so fat and they are starting to make actual barking noises. It has been so much fun to watch them grow and change.

Here are a few recent pics. Enjoy!

Harry Potter Mania

Ohhhh yeah! Love, love the Harry Potter books. AND...can I just say that I am completely sad that the series is over? I won't reveal anything especially for those of you who are not big readers or will wait for the movies to come out. But....this book was so great! I love the way Rowling writes and how children and adults alike are sucked into the incredible story lines. WOW! I highly suggest this book. I bought it and read it in five days...which means, I didn't get much else accomplished during those days, but hey! It was vacation! I'm allowed!

Installing New Windows

Chad installed our new windows in October 2005. I know I keep bragging about him but it honestly made such a HUGE difference in the look of our house not to mention our heating and cooling bills. He did such a great job and did most of them himself. Again, John Bailey (our home repair superhero) came the first day and helped Chad with the windows on the north side of the house. He was so knowledgeable and gave Chad confidence and good info about the process.

Here he is in our dining room taking out the windows that are the focal point of the room. Thank goodness he had decent weather and it wasn't very cool that day or we would have froze. It took most of the day to get these windows in but it looked fabulous when it was finished.

Twister!

Noah had a couple friends over today. Sam and Drew came to play video games, swim and play TWISTER. Talk about halarious! We had kids falling all over the place. Here are a few pictures of their escapade!

Drew was the spinner in game one and Sam was the master spinner in game two.

House Repair

Owning a house is so much F-U-N! We moved in five years ago and have redone every room except our bedroom (of course!) We have taken down walls, put up walls, drywalled many rooms, new carpet, new wood floors, new water heater and softner, all new paint, gutted bathrooms, new windows, new garage doors, deck, pool, landscaping....and what's more....we haven't hired out any help to do any of this. Chad is amazing when it comes to "handiness." I am thankful for everything he has done and continues to do to make our house a home. Plus my parents are great with helping and Chad has a great friend, John Bailey, whom he works with that is a marvel with home repairs. He has helped with tons!

However, with every job we take on with our house, we realize the age of our home. Our house was built in 1891. It is gorgeous with an open floor plan, original wood floors and trim around the windows. We have been wanting to take down the wallpaper in the kitchen for quite some time but we have been leary. You see, when we scraped wallpaper in the living room, we scraped 8-10 layers of paper off to get down to the original plaster. It took forever!

Anyway, we are tackling it today! I started in at about noon and both Noah and Sydney have helped. Chad also joined us later. We are about halfway done but with the shape of the original plaster (in spots) and some older drywall, we are probably going to have to treat the walls with something. We'll see...we're still in the beginning stages of the project.

I'll try to dig up some pictures of Chad replacing our windows! Talk about a mess!!!! Unbelievable!

More Pictures

The puppies have already started changing. They have all grown so much since the first day we brought them home. We have two males that are the brutes (the two on the far right) of the litter and a small male (the one laying upside down) and a small female. The female has already sold. Her new family has named her Belle. She is really cute! When I pick her up to change the linens in the box, she sticks her paw in her mouth and starts sucking on it. So adorable.

We are loving having them. We can't wait until their eyes open. The kids are dying to play with them. I am a little tired of doing dog laundry however. I am having to change their bedding every couple of days. I'm sure that won't get better in the near future.

To Be Outside

We are completely enjoying this weather. Isn't it beautiful? We can shut off the air and open the windows. We are loving the cool nights too! Ahhh!

Even Gabe is begging to sun himself out on the deck. Here he is waiting in our sunroom at the french doors to be let outside.

Gerber Daisies and a Sago Palm

Here is my prized Sago Palm. I love this and I know once I transplant it in a bigger planter it will take off and get even bigger.

Every year I plant Gerber Daisies in my planters beside my deck steps. These are my very favorite flower. I would rather Chad send me a dozen of these than a dozen roses. They are gorgeous!

First Puppy Pics

Here they are...in all their glory! The female is in the middle on top. If it looks like they are a little green-tinged, they are. They still have delivery stuff on them that Gidget will clean.

Gidget is exhausted and is passed out on the opposite side of the box. She hasn't nursed the babies since she's been home so we're hoping that will change SOON.

P.S. They are only 3 1/2 inches long!

More pics to follow!