What lovely hair you have

I really wish I had a better angle on this first picture. It looks like Troy is trying to attack Sage, however, that is not exactly what is going on here. Sage is warning that large dum-dum that he needs to step away. There is just something in all three Great Danes we have had that makes them want to smell Sage to the point of harassment when she first gets home from the groomer. If we have been through three Danes in Sage's lifetime, that makes Sage almost old as dirt, but she's still got enough spunk to tell a Great Dane off.

I guess it is pretty obvious what is going on in the second picture. That is Troy's "Uh-oh, screwed up again" face. Sage is giving him the hairy, but freshly groomed, eyeball.

How rude!

I really should not be surprised by this, but still I find mother nature to be very offensive this week. Last week, I was running in shorts, wearing t-shirts and the kids could not get enough play time outside. That all came to a screeching a halt last weekend and escalated to the white stuff this morning. Yeah, it's pretty.... for a moment. I thought I'd get ahead of the weather this morning and set out for a run with Troy after Evyn got on the bus. We were quite surprised when snow and tiny little ice pellets starting pounding us in the face. Troy liked it and tried to drag me through the neighborhood doing his frisky snow dance. I hated it and could barely see where I was going. Just when the daffodils thought it was safe to start blooming, mother nature does this.... she is not my friend today.

Thankful Friday

* The extra meetings and extra things I had to do this week turned out to be a really good thing. Forced me out of my routine and into some fun social opportunities. Need to do this more often.

* The kids are old enough to let cats and dogs in and out, feed the dogs, mop the floor AND they are still young enough to think it is fun. Bwahahaha!!!

* We have to decide by Tuesday whether to reserve a spot in Reed's pre-school for next year, just in case he does not go to kindy. I emailed his current teacher to get some perspective on his progress and she responded to my email with a phone call today. What she said was music to my years.

* The kids and their school Valentine's Day parties. I used to love exchanging valentines when I was a kid and this totally takes me back, way back, but I do not remember bringing home as much candy as they have. Not exactly thankful for the crazy kids on a sugar high, but maybe I'm just jealous that sugar does not affect me in the same way.

* Our adorable little overnight guest. She had a hard week and then her daddy got sick. We gladly took her. E and R just love having her around. She is completely entertained by them. She is absolutely sweet and so good it's unbelievable.

* Although it's at the bottom of my list, we without a doubt are most excited to hear that the next new member of the family is going be be a girl. We could care less about the gender - we are just thrilled that things are looking so great so far. 16.5 weeks and counting.

The 100th day of kindergarten, now what?

Since Evyn's first day of kindergarten, they have been counting each day. Today marked day 100 and the whole school erupted in celebration. I really had no idea the 100th day was such a big deal. Now I know.

After taking the handsome little tyrant to pre-school, I went to help in Evyn's class where they were doing anything and everything a kindergartner could do that relates to the number 100. They made hats that said something about 100 days of school, strung 100 Froot Loops onto a necklace, 100 dominoes, 100 piece puzzles, 100 fingerprints. You get the idea.

Evyn has been waiting very patiently for this day. She knew it was going to be a big day, a lot of special activities, had a special dress picked out to wear and everything. I guess with all of this 100th day planning and the performance that the kindergartners put on yesterday morning for the students and last night for the parents, showing off things they have learned, she thought today was the last day of school. This morning she asked, "Now that it is the 100th day and kindergarten is over, what am I going to do now"?

Training Group

I took this picture of Troy with my phone this morning at our training group. The group just started three weeks ago. I was hesitant to go at first but I find my self enjoying it, and our Troy Boy is a work in progress, so it couldn't hurt.

This morning was particularly interesting, as this 100 pound St. Bernard, 'Bear', with socialization issues was being walked causally through a group of about five of us. 'Bear' then lunged at one of the women, jumped up and bit her face. He did not stop there. As he was being pulled back, he took a chunk out of her jeans. It was crazy and scary for the poor girl who got attacked. After that incident, the class went really well.

I was later informed that 'Bear' has been suspended from class and his victim ended up with a couple of stitches in her chin. I never imagined dog training class would be this dramatic. Wonder what next week will be like.

Thankful Friday

Reed's bus watching perch. This is where he sits, lies or leans Monday through Friday to get the best view of the school buses that pass the house all morning.

See anything wrong with this picture?

Mother nature has been sending me little signals of hope. The days are getting a tiny bit longer and the temperatures are heading in the right direction, up. We are going to have a warm-sh weekend.

Evyn has been doing random, overly nice things "big sister style" for Reed lately. I love it when they are nice to each other. I really love it when they go beyond nice.

Holly and I bought a basketball hoop years and years ago as a anniversary present to ourselves. We have maybe used it but a handful of times. It was recently discovered by Reed. The net was lowered and it is now his latest obsession. Actually, they have both been enjoying it.

Evyn's friend from school came home with her today. They requested a tea party with a snack. After serving a protein rich snack to counteract the sugar high, I followed it with pink heart shaped cakes that matched the pink tea set. They thought that was cool.

It's Time to Freeze Time

So today while I was volunteering for Kindy lunch at Evyn's school, I witnessed something disturbing. One of the girls in Evyn's class was leaning halfway over the lunch table with her cute little brown eyes focused, glaring toward another kindy class across the room. The three girls around her were giggling and saying some things that kind of freaked me out. I'm sure you can imagine what was going on here. The cute little brown-eyed girl was staring at a boy. She was saying something about being in love. Do boys not have cooties anymore in kindergarten? All kindergartners have cooties. I hope they ALL realize this before the school year is over. The L word should not be allowed in kindergarten, or elementary schools in general, unless they are talking about loving their parents, family, their dog even.

I'm happy/relieved to say that Evyn was at another table and was not part of this love fest. I'm also thrilled that she has not had an interest (yet) in High School Musical, Hannah Montana and all of those other silly shows that promote young love and all that other crap that kids watch. We are still into commercial-free TV viewing that is made for pre-schoolers and maybe even toddlers. Not that I will shelter them forever but you can bet I will for now. There is really nothing sweeter than the innocence of a child. There is plenty of time for the boy crazy, girl crazy, I want a cell phone, everyone's doing it, I'm in love drama. The reality is that school is the gateway to all of the above-mentioned crap. Oy! I'd almost want to have another baby if it were not for the fact that they all grow up - and wayyyy to fast.