Our First S'mores

This was our supervisor -- HAHAHA -- Dixie was not thrilled that she didn't get to partake of the spoils, but her tummy was glad to not have to deal with all that chocolate.

Here we are in process of getting the dessert ready. The boys did pretty well staying back and only watching from their chairs. We of course made the obligatory coat hanger roasting stick. I'm sure that John would have liked to roast the marshmallows a bit more, but I was concerned with getting any of the melted stuff in our gas logs.

Then came the eating... and some happy boys!

A good time was had by all involved, and I'm pretty sure that the boys will be ready to enjoy them again anytime.

Two Boys and a Puppy

Our sweet dog, Missy, passed away a couple of weeks ago. After having her for 14 years, it was a hard decision to get the boys a puppy. We ultimately decided that it was best for them to grow up with a dog around. So, we got them a chocolate lab puppy that we've named, Dixie.

Here are some photos from our first week of her at home.

Vote For Us

One of my Christmas gifts was a subscription to Everyday with Rachel Ray this year - and when I opened the sample magazine that John gave me with my subscription... I noticed that they were giving away a Pentax K-X camera for their best pet photo contest.

Who wouldn't love one of these beauties?


So, I promptly submitted this photo of my girls that I took a few years ago - this very photo won them a year's supply of Purina One dog food back when it was originally taken - so why couldn't it win this baby for Mama??

Here is the deal though, I need ALL of you to go over to this link and vote for my photo - it would also be great if you'd leave a comment on the photo too so that I'd know you've voted. Thanks so much!!

Silent Post

Ok, or mostly silent anyway... I felt bad for not making it back to the blog earlier...

A lovely sunset on Saturday... this was what we found as everyone was leaving our Small Group meeting.

This is pretty much what I see when I'm working out... man...what I wouldn't give to lay down and relax like them! They're lazy...but they sure are sweet!! (Missy is the little Boston Terrier and Maggie is the Lab mix)

I will do my absolute best to get two good quality posts up for you tomorrow... remember it's not too late to send in questions for Q&A Wednesday... I'll be writing that post around 8 in the morning - so submit up to then!

Furry Kids

Whew! We got home at about 8:30, but I've only just finished getting the photos off my camera... I took literally 600 photos AT the Spring Fling... not including the photos I took earlier today - a few more are below.

I managed to get them burned on to CD's for our Pastor - but that's all I could do tonight. Before I start uploading them to our church photo website... or anywhere else - I need to look through them.

In the meantime - here are the rest of the ones I took before we left.

Random, yes... but let me tell you what is happening here... my husband is in the shower getting ready to go to the church... but didn't want to miss out on any of the baseball game he was listening to - SO he propped the laptop up so he could multi-task. Sick, isn't it?

The photo I used the other day of my dogs was old... it just was one of the best that I've got - and it's won a couple of photo contests... BUT here are a few of how my kiddos look now. This is Missy - she looks intense because John is shaking a toy behind my head.

On this one the toy is above her - but it makes me laugh because if I didn't know better - it looks like she might be praying... HA! Sometimes I wish that I knew what they were thinking.

Maggie looks old here... but she's just such a sweetie! She's much more photogenic... or well - she'll sit still and look AT me when I want to take her picture... the little one - not so much.

I still can't believe it's been 11 years since I got her... not only that, but it's hard to believe how much has happened in her lifetime - I mean when I got her - I was in college... and single...

Alright - now I'm about to go fall into my bed and not move until the alarm rudely awakens me... and I start pleading for 10 more minutes of sleep... tomorrow morning - I'm going to wish that Starbucks delivered!

I'll also be praying that a massive sunburn doesn't come out overnight - so far it looks like I've avoided the major pain... but you never know once you've taken a shower and give it a little time. I guess I'll know in a little bit - depending on if my body radiates heat in the bed.

Anniversary/Birthday

For those of you that have been with me for a long time - you might remember last year that I was laid off for the summer... today officially marks 1 year since I was liberated from the WORST job I've ever had.

What a difference a year makes, right? Whew!

Today is also our dogs' birthday - both of them were born on the same day - one year apart. How strange of a coincidence is that?

Maggie the yellow lab mix (or mutt as John likes to call her - along with MANY other nicknames that I'll spare you from hearing) is turning 11 today... she looks pretty much the same with the exception of her face being a LOT whiter now. Those adorable pale tan eyes are still just as sweet as they ever were.

Missy the little Boston Terrier, also has a much whiter face... is turning 10 today... she has only gotten spunkier with old age!

We don't go completely nuts with the birthday thing... but they will be getting a new toy tonight - so that will be fun... and at their age - maybe it will burn off their energy quickly and we can get some nap time in!

I'm doing my guest posting over at From the Desk of a Princess - today's post is mainly an introduction to her readers - but there is some funny stuff coming up this weekend - so you might want to check it out. Tomorrow's post and Monday's post for sure ought to bring a smile to your face.

Rainy Day Randomness

Today has been pretty much spent working while hanging on the couch... no one left the house or got out of their pajamas, and with the exception of the pesky working - it was a gloriously wonderful gift to be able to stay home when the weather was craptastic!

We officially got 12 inches of rain here, and 99% of that was dumped in two storms... one between 4PM-6PM and the other between about 2AM-4AM... the second being worse and I'm pretty sure it involved some hail. Parts of the city were completely flooded - and being that we had such a hard time getting home last night... it was for the best that we chose to stay in.

John's cousin's husband (HA!), Philip works with the diving team with the Houston Police Department... and he apparently had to go on a mission today to search for a car that went down a 10' storm drain with the driver inside. The searched, but never found the driver... she had been down there since yesterday - so there is at least one family out there tonight mourning the loss of a loved one from the storm. They will go back tomorrow when the water recedes at little more, and search again.

With that - the rest of the post will share some pictures that I've been meaning to put up for a few days, but hadn't gotten to just yet....

This is Missy doing what she does best... sitting on Maggie... poor Maggie - at least she doesn't seem to care that she gets used as a personal lazy boy recliner!

We put this guy out in the garden this weekend, so that he could scare off the birds.

The owl from far away, but really the goal of this picture is to show you guys that I mowed the grass this weekend! I got tired of watching the NFL draft, and wanted to help John not get so tired/dehydrated doing the yard work... so I mowed... I know that some of you have no clue how big of a deal that is... it's HUGE!


A little more photographic evidence that I mowed... HA... I was/am proud!

A week or so ago, I went to my friend Danielle's for a Stamp Camp... we made cards and all sorts of stuff - this is a little box that has 4 chocolates inside... super cute!

A Father's Day card...

A "thinking of you" card...

A birthday card... I messed up the design a bit, but it's still cute - the Happy Birthday stamp is inside instead of where it belongs on the outside. Oops! The petals on the flower were stamped on white card stock... and cut out... it was VERY FUN! I loved that stamp set...

This is a Mother's Day card...

So that's about it for today - I would really appreciate it if you guys could keep my friend Jenn, From the Desk of a Princess in your prayers tonight - she has had a rough day or two, and needs as much lifting up to the Lord as we can provide. Pray for her to have strength, peace, patience, and wisdom to work through the troubles she is facing tonight.

I'm going to be guest blogging for her this weekend while she goes to Florida to be the photographer for her friend's wedding - so I'll let you guys know when those posts go up.

One Thing...

is for sure... Missy likes the new furniture. :-) I came out to the living room this morning after getting dressed and this was what I found.

She's a mess... but we love her.

Christmas Haircuts

Missy and Maggie got their Christmas haircuts and baths today - so I got a couple of shots of them running around showing off their pretty new style.

Maggie looks like a whole new dog after a haircut - it's amazing how much smaller she looks - not to mention how the color of her overall look is much lighter too.

Entertainment

It's no secret that my house is a haven for some pretty interesting characters - not only are John and I interesting in our own right. On top of that though, our dogs are at times a complete riot as well.

Our Boston Terrier, Missy, is probably the largest in the "character" area of our lives. She is a mess: she snores louder than any man I've ever known, she loves rolling on the carpet to scratch her back, she grunts a lot if she disapproves of the weather, and most of all she can make a game out of anything.

Somewhere along the way - she loves it if you swat at her with her toys - in fact, she won't go get them if you don't torment her with them first. She loves water/coke bottles in the same right - she'll work at them for hours until she can actually carry the empty bottles back to you in order to play fetch.

One of her favorite toys is a paper towel roll after all the paper towels have been used from the roll... take it off the holder and swat her with it - then she's in heaven until the roll has disintegrated all over the house. At some point in her life she's decided that wrapping paper rolls are just giant versions of her favorite toy... she'll even try to steal the roll before the wrapping paper is gone!

Well, a couple of nights ago - I had an empty "roll" sitting by the trash, and it got stolen... brought into the living room, and naturally - you can't help but play with her after she's gone to that much trouble. Here are some pictures...

Baby, It's Cold Outside

It's finally getting cold down here in the armpit of the world... only kidding, I really do love Texas, but we just don't have seasons down here... we have HOT, REALLY HOT, and winter lasts for about 4 weeks... which means that it's in the 50's and 60's for our daily high.

That being said - I am not as accommodating with the temperatures anymore... I get cold REALLY easily... and Missy does too. So this is how she spent most of the day today.

Oh, ya'll... she's a mess. She certainly feels pretty and extra spunky in her sweater... but I think she stayed toasty warm today too... and enjoyed a relaxing day at home with John and I.

Pretty much the only thing I've done other than read magazines, cook, blog, and watch football today was to go to the grocery store. I love days like this more than anything else... and today it was a much needed treat.

I talked to my friends at the pharmacy today as well - I used to be a frequent flyer there, and they've known me by name for several years... but I don't shop in the store anymore unless I need prescriptions - because I've been moved into shopping at Wal-Mart for our groceries ever since I got laid off in May. All that to say that the actual main pharmacist hasn't seen me since my surgery - and she was really excited to see me today.

I asked for her help on my allergy issues that have been hanging on for about a month... a box of Benadryl, a bottle of Children's Claritin, and some Day-Quil haven't done a thing for me... so she gave me something else to try. We talked a lot about the problems that those of us post Gastric Bypass face with medications not being absorbed in our systems if they are given in pill form...

I pray that this new medicine helps me so that I don't have the constant nagging cough and drainage that I've been dealing with lately.

Paco Update

Since Allie asked...

Paco was spotted yesterday in the grass... being tormented by Missy, and after I made her leave him alone - I think he flew off again. Poor little guy - I looked at him after she moved away and I think he was having a heart attack... or just breathing REALLY hard.

I didn't see him tonight, but I was gone all day and normally I see him earlier in the day. So maybe he's off flying somewhere - I'm going to fill our bird feeder tomorrow in case he's looking for a meal and can't find one.

Umm...WOW

We found this little guy yesterday in the yard... it appears that he's just learning to fly, and John picked him up with some gloves and carried him over to one of the open lots around our house. I found him again this evening on our patio furniture making a mess... but I think I've named him Paco. If I can keep him away from the dogs - he'll be fine and continue to grow.

After finding Paco tonight on the furniture out on the patio - I got a call from Maria, my best friend that is in the Navy. I haven't talked to her in a couple of months, but as usual nothing changes - we just pick back up like we talked an hour ago. It seems that she graduates from her Naval Officer training in August, but just found out today that they are sending her to Japan for her first tour.

Japan is considered a fully deployed area (combat area) and she'll be there for 30 months. Of those 30 months, she'll be out on a ship for 18 months. She got this assignment because she and her boyfriend asked to be deployed together, and in order for them to make it happen - this is what they have to do. So now she's got a million things to figure out over the course of a month - do they go ahead and get married now or do they wait until they come back... do they take their cars or let the Navy store them... where are they going to live... when do they need to report for duty?

You can see how for a type A personality - this can be a VERY stressful situation. I pray that she will be safe, and that this is actually a good experience for her. I pray that she'll be able to email and communicate with those of us here in the States as often as she is able... so that we all know that she is safe. I have a feeling that a web cam might be in my future - so that we can talk over Skype when we can.

The good news is that when she graduates - she'll be able to come home through Texas on her way to the next assignment, and she's planning on spending a day or so here with us!! I haven't seen her in almost 4 years... so I'm thrilled about that part! She also thinks that I could potentially fly to Japan to visit on a military cargo flight (which is very similar to our normal flights - just not quite as luxurious) and only have to pay the taxes which would amount to $20 to get to Japan!

So I am shocked and scared for her, but trying to be strong because we knew this was a possibility. It could be a lot worse, but it came as a big shock to her today - and was not what she expected. She thought that they'd be assigned to Virginia... which I can see how this option is quite a blow compared to Virginia.

Maria, we're here for whatever you need... and we're praying that you and (your) John are safe in your travels. We pray that you'll be able to safely complete all your assignments and duties, and come home to us as soon as possible. We love you, and know that Japan will be a better place for having you both there temporarily. If you need tastes from home - I'll become great friends with the Fed-Ex people... and send you refried beans or whatever you need. Pop Tarts? Hamburger Helper? Whatever other ultimate American products I can think of... HA! Maybe ya'll can send us some sushi in the meantime...

Missy's Debut

I'm just testing how the video thing works from our camera... so just a little fun to get us started. She loves playing with empty plastic bottles, so when my Dad left - he left us this bottle because he couldn't take it with him on the plane... so after we drank it - we let Missy have a little fun.

Girl's Yard

Missy and Maggie seem to like their new yard. They were scared of the fence at first, but all seems to be adjusting. It rained tonight pretty hard, and they seemed to be a little unnerved by the noise from that - but we made it through that as well. John and I were both surprised at how it sounded hitting the metal thing on top of our fireplace as well. We've made it through Day 2, and we've gotten everything cleaned out of the hallway. You can click on the link on the right side of this page to see our full album of moving photos.