The Birthday Girl - 6 Years Old Today

Just a quick shout-out to wish Zoe a Happy 6th Birthday!

This picture was taken in the first few weeks that we had her. It's one of my favorite pictures of her.


It seems like we've had her longer than six years because it's hard to remember a time when she wasn't with us. Since I had to work today she spent the day like she does most days, sleeping. I did give her an extra cookie this morning.

Happy Birthday pretty girl!

Good Weekend...

I love a weekend that when it's over I feel as though I've accomplished most of the things I had on my list. This was one of those weekends. I think part of the reason for my success was that I managed to get out of my pajamas and get going before noon. That always helps. Some weekends I just sit around reading magazines or blogs until noon, then decide it's time to get going, then while I'm getting ready I might watch a couple saved shows and then before I know it, it's 1:00 or 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon and the day is almost over and I haven't really accomplished anything substantial! So on Saturday I was dressed and ready to go before 11:00 and my first stop was to the local nursery. I wanted to check to see if the lettuces were in yet. They weren't so instead I ended up buying my herbs, both for the back deck box and for my garden. Usually by the time I'm ready to buy them they have already sold out so I figured I better get them early. I bought Rosemary, Basil and Thyme and Parsley. I also planted some onion seeds, zucchini seeds, pumpkin seeds and cucumbers. Hopefully everything will come up and thrive until I can get them planted some time in May.


Here's where they will stay, in a bright windowsill, until it's warm enough to put them outside. I also bought some seeds to start in the sunny basement window to try to get a jump on things to go in the garden. Now that I have two plots I hope to plant some new things this year. I'm already thinking about what to plant but now I need to start thinking about how I want to set the plots up.

Since the pansies were in I decided to purchase a six-pack for my window box. It's nice to look out the window the see their bright little faces.



Saturday was a nice enough day that I was able to take the pups to the high school field for some frisbee but I didn't take the camera so no new pictures. They had fun though and as always, were so happy to get out and run.

Today was a different story. It's been raining most of the day, just a nice gentle rain. I wish it had waited until tomorrow but we do need the rain.



Since it wasn't a good day to get outside I decided to bake some Easter cookies.



This little tray will go to my Rainbows group tomorrow. The kids really like it when I bring in a snack for them. These little sugar cookies are pretty much bite sized. I bought these little cutters a couple months back but only used about half of them. They are all Easter or Spring related. So cute.



Somebody is hoping her Mimi brings her some Easter cookies!!

Oh wait, she's got no teeth. Maybe she can just suck the icing off!

Only 4 days of work this week and I'm thinking of taking one day off sick, maybe Tuesday or Wednesday. That'll make it an even shorter week. And the weather is supposed to be great this week with temps near 70 by the end of the week!! Woohoo!!

Happy Spring?

Quinn is looking like I am feeling! After an absolutely beautiful week here full of sunshine and warm temps, Spring sprang cold and gray just in time for the weekend. Of course, on Monday, when we all go back to work and school, it's supposed to be beautiful again!!


But I did see this at the park the other day so I know the real Spring can't be far behind.

The last week seemed endless, especially when I could see how gorgeous it was every time I passed a window but couldn't go outside to enjoy it. H was sick with a bad head cold so he spent a few days off work, trying to recuperate. I think he's finally turned the corner now and seems to be feeling better.

Friday night we had bowling but Bill had to work and H wasn't feeling up to going so it was up to Judy and me to carry the team. The good news was we were bowling the last place team. The bad news was we had to give them 124 pins! Yikes!! The first game was a struggle but we only lost by 13 pins. I, unfortunately, didn't quite bowl my average. If I had been able to do that we would have beat them. The second game was even worse as they ended up beating us by about 40+ pins so now they had us by a considerable amount of pins. Well, that just pissed us off so we really rallied that last game. Judy pushed it into high gear and bowled a 201! I, at least, got my average, plus a few pins and managed to squeak out a 148. We won that game and somehow, with just the two of us and our guys average (-10 each) we bowled an 800+ series, won the game and took totals! We were thrilled. We ended up splitting the 4 points so all and all we walked away happy! The next time we bowl will be on Good Friday and we will have a full team as Bill has the day off. Last night we were in 5th place but all the teams above us were just a point apart so we aren't too far out of first though it will be a long shot, I admit.

Even though it was freezing on Saturday I took the pups up to the high school field. They were so happy to get out. We played frisbee for a while and then I just took them on a walk from the soccer field over to the baseball fields. They so enjoyed running around smelling everything.



Today was nicer with the sun coming out around 1:00 so I took them out again. This time as soon as we got there Charlie took off again and didn't come back for quite a while. I was not happy. He stayed on the leash for a while, practicing walking, before I let him off again and then we played a little frisbee. They will be going to the groomers this week as they as very shaggy and getting stinky.


I've let them go 3 months this time instead of 2 in an effort to save a little money but they are really looking bad.


Tyler is celebrating his 25th birthday today. Last we heard he had been offered a teaching job in South Korea and was just awaiting his contract. Once he has that it's a done deal and it will just be a matter of getting his final papers together, purchasing his ticket and sometime around mid-April he will be on his way. Of course, nothing is final until he has that contract and it's been signed.

Amber has been enjoying getting out with Quinn much more now that the weather has improved and Quinn's a little older. She had a little setback when her infection in her incision returned last week. Hopefully it will be brought under control soon and go away once and for all! The most exciting news, for Amber and Andy at least, is Quinn has been sleeping through the night lately, from 9:30 until 7:30 or so in the morning. Of course, Amber still wakes up to check on her, to make sure she is still breathing, etc. She still doesn't always take a nap during the day but at least she is sleeping during the night! It's a good thing because Amber will be returning to work in a couple weeks now and will need her beauty sleep.

That's about all the news worth reporting around here. Oh, on Saturday morning I did see this guy slogging through the now melted pond. He joined two of his buddies for a quick game of tag but I was too slow turning the camera to video and missed it. It's odd to see them out here in the middle of the day. Since this pond is surrounded by houses I wonder where they went after they left the pond.


Have a good week and I hope the weather is nice where you are!

Happy Birthday Tyler!

Tyler is 25 today, a quarter of a century.



I know that probably sounds old to you son, but your life is really just starting to take off. College is finally behind you and we are so proud of you and happy for you.


Good times last summer at a Tiger's game.

If things work out the way you hope you will have some pretty exciting adventures in your near future. We can't wait to hear all about them.


Happy Birthday Son. Hope you enjoy this day. Wish we were together to help you celebrate it.

Wet and Gray, Go Away!!!

We had a pretty decent week, weather-wise. It was warm enough to melt all the snow and I was able to put away the winter coat and get away with just a sweatshirt. We also had plenty of sunshine, though I was inside each day so didn't really get to enjoy it. It does feel like Spring is just around the corner though. It rained all day Saturday, we sprang forward and there was a little green coming up in the yard.

I'm still waiting for the "official" sign though, the first Robin. So far no luck there though I have seen the ducks return to the pond.


But we have had a few other exciting things happen around here. After much searching Tyler thinks he may be getting a job offer. It's been kind of whirl-wind process and it's not finalized yet but he's hoping things work out. If they do, he will be leaving for South Korea in a few weeks to teach Korean children how to speak English in either a private academy or a public school. He's applying through a recruiting firm so there are several different job opportunities. He's looking forward to learning a new culture and traveling. On the down-side, he will have to sign a contract for a year. I will really miss him and I hate the thought of not seeing him for a whole year. I'm trying to just focus on what a great experience and learning opportunity this will be for him and down play the whole away for a year part.

This week is our little sweetheart, Quinn, celebrated her 2 month milestone. Look how adorable she is!

Her little personality is starting to come out and she's a girl of many moods.


Amber says things are going better now that Quinn is starting to sleep longer at night and she's also taking more regularly scheduled naps. That can only be good for everyone concerned! I am wishing the next 3 weeks to fly by until it's time to visit her again. We simply cannot wait!! Amber posted an adorable video on her blog with Quinn sucking her thumb and then her fist and another of her cooing and we watch them several times a day. It's one way to feel like we are staying close to her and not missing any of these little milestones. We v-chatted with them this afternoon and she was so alert and happy. It's almost like being there, almost.

Today the rain finally stopped long enough to take the pups out. I was planning to go to the high school but when I got there a guy was there with a couple dogs so we went in search of another place. We finally ended up at an elementary school down the road but since things were so wet we opted for just running around instead of playing frisbee. I so love watching Zoe and Charlie just run flat out.

They play tag and bump each other, jockeying for position. They came back with wet legs and that yucky wet dog smell.

Nothing special going on this week, just getting through another week of work that brings us closer to Spring Break. We do have bowling Friday night but right now that seems so far away. One plus is the weather is supposed to be really nice this week with some sunshine and officially Spring is just a week away!

Have a great week!

Just A Little Bit...

Just a little bit of Spring in the air this weekend.


You can feel it coming, even though in places in the back yard there is still a good 6-7 inches of melting snow. The sun was out both days and it was warm enough to only wear a sweatshirt to the park with the pups.


Friday afternoon we had conferences at school. I find myself thinking things like "this will be my last conference during the day (I can't say last conference since we still have some Tuesday evening). They went well and I was able to leave in plenty of time to get ready for bowling that night. Thank goodness Bill was able to come to bowling too! That always helps us and we were bowling the first place team so we really wanted to take some points (plus they are always talkin' trash so we wanted to beat them!). The first game we really sucked and they beat us by more than 100 pins and they were so smug about it too. They figured we were gonna be easy to beat so that pissed us off good. We came back the second game. Everyone bowled well (except for me; didn't get my average first or second game) so we took that game by 25 pins or so. Third game we all bowled well, even me, so we took that game too. We got two games, they got one and totals. We just couldn't come back from that first game when they got so many pins. I really wasn't happy with myself for bowling so badly the first two games. Just couldn't get my ball to curve or anything. We were happy to get two points though.

Other than taking the pups to the high school field both days I haven't gone anywhere else this weekend and it's been nice. It's been nice to putz around the house, do a few chores, read a little, just hang out. I made pizza for dinner Saturday night and I think I've finally mastered the art of the crust. I made three individual pizzas and they were pretty good. This one is H's.

I also tried making some beef jerky today but that was a failure. I either cooked it too long or the temp wasn't low enough. In the end they were just crunchy, salty beet sticks. Guess I'll have to try something different next time. Thankfully the meat I used was some skinny pieces from the beef we bought last year so I didn't waste some expensive cut or anything.

The pups really enjoyed their time outside today. They came home pretty wet from all the melting snow. It's pretty slushy out in the field but not muddy yet which was a bonus. The deep slush makes running hard though so they tired out pretty quickly.





Amber is finally over her infection and Quinn is over her cold and cough! Now that the weather is warming up in Virginia maybe they will be able to get out for walks soon.

Tyler is still on the hunt for a job and trying not to get discouraged. He's had a few interviews and handed out many resumes and filled out lots of applications but still no job so far. I know he's going to be feeling a time crunch pretty soon as he needs to make his rent money for next month. Keep looking Ty. Hopefully something good will happen soon.

Scott and Charlie hangin' out in the sunshine.



Zoe, checkin' out the squirrel action down below the deck.


Zoe, after the park.

This afternoon I was out on the deck enjoying the warm
sunshine for a few minutes when I heard this wonderful sound.



Can Spring be far away??