we love our aunt britty

Thanks, Auntie Britty for coming to visit us.

We love you very much.

(p.s. our mom thinks you're pretty cool, too)

thanks grammy jodi!

Perhaps for no other reason then his first date, or highschool graduation...this picture is priceless. Go digging, bubby. I hope you find gold :)

Carter modeling his new hat.

He even gave his big sister a turn!

mom....I think it's fair to say that the new "Cars" hat was a hit...so much so that my son refuses to take it off and I have had to hide it for fear he will want to wear it to bed :)

and while I'm saying thank you...where in the world would I be without you? Every question, times I just need to talk, you are there. For my children, every single day of their lives...you are there. Katie and Carter are lucky to have you as a grandma. I'm even luckier that you are my mom.

alive and kicking! (and screaming)

Just in case you wondered.

They are still here.
Those lovely terrible two's.

giddy up mommy!

this was far less comfortable than it might look.... :)

not a baby anymore...

To make the committment to "rescue" a dog is a BIG one. My first rescue dog, Lucky, was a five year old yellow lab "stud" dog who was discarded on the streets when his owners tired of him. Lucky died last summer...we buried him before the pain got too bad, even though my grief felt so much larger...selfishly, I wanted another year...another lifetime.
My second rescue dog, Scout (who lives with her daddy) came from a litter of 13 and learned to fend for herself with her other brothers and sisters because her mom had been tied to an electrical pole and left to die. Scout and Lucky were inseperable. Now, it appears she's the queen of her home.

And now...my Abby. Eric and I knew that we wanted to get a puppy, and even visited the Humane Society several times to try and find a dog that would fit with our family lifestyle. We already have Caymus, who is an 8 year old golden-retriever, and while he is patient, he's still kinda grumy (can't really blame him...he is 80!). We got word of Abbykins through a friend of a friend of a friend...you get the picture. An impoverished family in Indianapolis had a huge litter of puppies (11 in all) that they weren't expecting and because the husband had lost his job were unable to care for them. We agreed to go look at the puppies, but not to make a committment yet....that is until we saw our precious Abby. Even in the most deplorable conditions, which I shall not describe here...she sat in the middle of the carboard-partioned "room" and as calm as could be just looked at us. From the moment we brought her home, quickly had her checked out...and got some food in her skinny little belly, she has become a part of our family. She loves the kiddos so much! At 10 months old, she is still very "puppy" and can't be left out of her crate if we leave the house, but I think it's fair to say she has stolen our hearts.
The day we picked out Abby. We know that her mother is a pure bred black Lab, but her dad looked something like a boxer/pitbull/something mix. Nope, we were wrong. Turns out, per the expertise of Eric's aunt, who does this for a living, our "little" baby is actually part Great Dane. Great, just great. Her legs are so long! Please let her be done growing...please let her be done growing...
my sweetie baby the night we told the kids that we got them a puppy.

abby-now. wow. that's pretty much all I have to say.

I love this dog very very much.
I am a lucky lucky girl.

You ask of my companions. Hills, sir, and the sundown, and a dog as large as myself that my father bought me. They are better than human beings, because they know but do not tell. Emily Dickinson

these are a few of my favorite things...

[posted in no particular order]

this too shall pass?

I have this amazing, terrible fear that the "terrible two's" may never cease....

This fit was especially nice...I was so over it I didn't even care that he was writhing around on the kitchen floor, which surely wasn't spotless about ten inches from the dog bowls.

this too shall pass....right?