Hello, December

Two of Lola's favorite (non-people) things:

warm laundry and sunbeams.

When I'm carrying the laundry basket

she will race me to the bedroom and jump on the bed in anticipation

of freshly laundered, warm clothes to snuggle in.

I always pretend to be irritated,

but who doesn't love warm clothes from the dryer?

And the only sunbeams that come into our house in the afternoon

happen to fall right across our bed. Conveniently.

Spoiled rotten.

celebrating eleven!

This kid turned 11 a few days ago. He's pretty much been doing this since.

His big gift from us this year: his own cell phone. Heaven help us. The kid loves to be on the phone. He loves to hold it in his hand. He loves to open and close it. He loves to text. We are very glad for unlimited texting.

We had the family over to celebrate last night after his first indoor game (they won!)

This cake might not look that impressive, but don't let my frosting skillz fool you. This is truly the best chocolate cake you'll ever eat. I've made it twice now, and it's received rave reviews both times. Gather ingedients and make it immediately. You won't be sorry.

I only had 10 candles, so we used this tall one in the center. It was blazing away right after I snapped this picture. I thought we were going to have cake flambe.

Lola was very into Max, especially when we pulled out this squeaky giraffe. She kept leaning forward and trying to take it from him, ever so gently.

Max was waaaay over tired so this was the best shot of the three I could get.

He started getting silly and laughing/hiccupping at his Grammy, which made us all laugh.

Evan had a good day, and got pretty much everything he asked for.

Here's to hoping 11 will be better than 10!

Happy Halloween! v.10

Happy Halloween!

Another fun year of trick or treating in the AP with Greg & Tracey...and little Max too!

Evan the bull rider. He dressed as a hippie at school on Friday, but I love this costume.

Angel and devil. Seriously, she ate 2 pairs of devil horns.

Max looking good in his skeleton suit :)

Max, Greg & Emma

Looking very angelic...

Max did not want to sit on the Great Pumpkin. Poor Binkster.

Bart came out of the house dressed to kill. Literally.

Time to re-fuel with a little True Blood!

Emma didn't trick or treat...she was all about walking around with Lola. They were going to dress the same, but Lola really did eat 2 pair of devil horns, so at the last minute Em pulled together the angel costume. They were very cute. I still can't believe she didn't get one piece of candy. I take that back...she ate from Aunt Tracey's bucket but didn't get any of her own. Brat. That means I don't get to raid her stash.

Good thing Evan had a large bag.

what's new in my 'hood

Somehow it's the end of May and school is only in session for 20 some days. Crazy. The weather hasn't helped put me in 'summer mode' at all either. I was closer to feeling it in March when we had that 6 week stretch of goregous weather. Now it seems to rain every other day and has been chilly. I hope we are finally over the hump and I can start to plant some stuff!

Life with a puppy is very challenging! I love her to death but MAN is she a lot of work. I must have puppy amnesia, because i don't remember Buddy being as active as she is. He must have been...Jack Russells are an active breed. She gets into everything! Today had her chasing her first chipmunk and bumblebee. And another first-she licked a toad on the patio. It made her foam at the mouth and make her shake her head. Just about gave me a heart attack. I'm sure the people at the vet's office got a good laugh out of it. She was foaming because toads don't taste good. Naturally.

I pulled weeds for an hour today. Things are growing fast from all the rain. I have a lot of purples and yellows in bloom right now. Beautiful. Tomorrow I'll be heading to the farmer's market to pick up a few new lovelies. Friday and Saturday will bring the downtown flower sale as well, where I always find something unique and neat. I can't wait!
We also have 5 games this weekend. Aiyiyi. That's what ya get when you have almost 2 weeks off! I hope they are good ones :)

FO-twisted ovals in mystery lake

pattern: Twisted Ovals

yarn: Diva Sport in Mystery Lake colorway

needles: 4 & 6

another pair finished!

This pair came about a little backwards...I bought the yarn because I loved it. No plans what to do with it. I don't often buy sportweight...I usually need more yards than are in a single skein. I researched patterns and found one that required my exact yardage. It's a toe up pattern, so I got a chance to work on my Judy's magic cast on. I still prefer top down socks, but this time was really glad that the pattern was written the way it was. when I put the sock on, it was so tight around my ankles, I would never have worn them. After thinking about it for a few days while working on sock #2, I decided to go up in needle size after the heel, and it worked! I went back to the first sock and ripped it all the way down to the ankle and started over. I even had some yarn leftover, so it the right decision! It would be a shame to not get to wear them!

Things have been super busy again, and I forgot how difficult that life with a puppy can be. She consumes all my time and energy right now. If you would like to follow, I am doing a 365 day photo blog to document her first year with us. That way I can also post lots of puppy pix and not clutter up this blog :)

my poor baby

My sweet little (ok, crazy and rambunctious) baby went in for her puppy checkup today and to get the remainder of her shots. Just a little while ago I picked her up to carry her outside so she wouldn't have to go down a step and she yipped bloody murder. Now she is shaking like a leaf and won't let me touch her. Quite a difference from the little girl who wants me to hold her all the time. I'm so sad and hope this passes quickly. I did call the animal emergency number and they said it sounds like she is just reacting to the shot and to just watch her. But I don't like it one bit.

Life sure is different with a pup around. It's just exhausting. Potty training is not going as well as I'd hoped, and she's decided that Ben is a really fun play toy, so I have to constantly make sure they are seperated. I love puppyhood but dang is she a handful!

super busy weekend!

I will finish my 'week in the life' posts next week. I have been keeping up with pix and documenting, but this weekend was crazybusy and I haven't had two minutes to absorb it all.

What were we doing, you might ask?

adding a new member to the family...meet Lola Blue. She's a 14 week old Jack Russell girlie of the highest cuteness factor!
and winning soccer tournaments...
and sliding in the mud to celebrate...
and playing fiercly...
and scoring 4 goals, with a half dozen assists.

We are spent. Life is good.