Go, Go, Goers!

This is a post that I'm not very excited to write.  As you probably know, our oldest dog, Spanky, had struggled with health issues (ear infections, seizures) his whole life, and recently, his health had severely deteriorated.  He hadn't been eating, his ear infection was so severe his face was swollen, he had a hard time getting up the stairs, and he very rarely wanted to play.  Last week we got a few tail wags from him, and he ate a few bowls of food, but it was a 50-50 chance that he would actually keep the food down. On Thursday, we made the decision that if he wasn't any better by this weekend, we were going to put him down.  I know Scott didn't want to make that decision as Spanky was a very special dog to him - he truly was his little buddy, following him around everywhere, wanting to be wherever Scott was, and howling his sadness whenever Scott would leave him. Throughout Friday night, it became clear that Spanky wasn't going to have a miraculous recovery...

The good news: The house will be listed this Friday, 2/22 - hoping that the third time is a charm for this listing! The house projects leading up to the listing are winding down, and now it's just time for a good cleaning and some de-cluttering.  The fireplace renovation looks great - way to go, Scott! We survived a one-hour wait for dinner on Valentine's Day, even though we had reservations.  We made friends at the bar, so it wasn't all bad... Ava and I managed not to kill each other while signing her name to her Valentine's Day cards for pre-school.  You'd think that with a super short name like hers, it wouldn't be a big deal.  But, it was painful.  Another reminder that I would not make a good teacher...lack o'patience! At the same time we were signing her name to the cards, she was reading the list of classmates to me.  And I mean reading !  She read the names to me in order that they were on the sheet!  And we've been working on soundi...

I have to say...our new TV is pretty awesome.  Normally I wouldn't say that, as I don't want to encourage excessive TV watching, but this TV deserves those accolades. We hadn't bought a new TV for seven years or so (nothing was broken, so why would we?) but a few months ago, we decided to start looking for something bigger, brighter and shinier.  And we found it!  I love, love, love how easy it is to stream from Netflix, Skype with my parents, and watch movies in 3D.  I even found an app that helps teach reading!  I am constantly amazed at how technology evolves and changes our lives.  It'll be interesting to see what the differences will be in seven more years... Even with this fabulous new addition, I still cherish the rare silence that I sometimes find in our house.  Yesterday afternoon, Scott took Ava on some errands, all three dogs were sitting quietly, the TV was off, the washer wasn't running, and it was QUIET.  I sat in a patch of sun on...

I often feel that our lives (and our office) is overrun with paper.  It can become overwhelming, as things get misplaced, notifications go unread, etc.  This past week I took both Monday and Friday off of work, and got that paper monster under control!  The biggest pile to go through and determine what to discard was Ava's preschool craft projects.  She's brought home so many cute crafts over the last several months, and it breaks my heart to throw them away, but if I don't choose my favorites and discard the rest, we'd be up to our eyeballs in glitter, construction paper and paint.  For now, it's under control and the office is on its way to being neat and tidy again! In addition to the fun crafts that Ava is bringing home, we're also beginning to see some homework.  I am very grateful that we're not dealing with the super heavy-duty homework yet...I'm beginning to have flashbacks of the hours of calculus (not sure why I'm fixated on that - after ...

What.A.Week.  I will not complain about being busy, as I am thankful to have a job that I genuinely enjoy.  I will not complain about Ava's dramatic tendencies, as we are blessed to have such a bright little girl.  And I will not complain about the frigid cold (this is a hard one), as we could choose to move to another state if we were that miserable. So, all I will say is...what a week.  Glad it's over and that there's a new one awaiting us! Scott and Ava have been having fun with the toy shotgun Scott bought Ava for Christmas.  It's giving her an early glimpse into gun safety, which makes me happy.  Imagine my glee when she came out dressed like this, ready to go pretend-hunting (for rabbits, no less!)  Scott might need to introduce the concept of mossy oak/blaze orange to this little girl. Even though we were super busy this week, we still found a few minutes to snuggle... Yes, we still have three dogs...they just don't get featured t...

Last week was the first 5-day week we've had in a while, and wow...it was loooong.  We certainly weren't looking for additional things to do, as the days just flew by! Ava was very happy to be back at Maple Tree with all of her little friends, and has started bringing home pictures that the girls have drawn for each other.  It's neat that the pictures are actually beginning to look like things that we recognize - no more blobs on the paper that we have to pretend to know what they are. One of the items that she brought home last week was a sealed envelope.  When I opened it (even though Ava was telling me no-no-no!) I discovered a picture with Scott and I on it.  I was dancing and Scott was planting a garden.  Seems nice, right?  Until Ava proceeds to tell me that it's a picture she's going to give to me when I die.  Ummm....hm. Hoping she's not plotting something in her sleep... Ava also seems to be focused on blood these days.  On our way to...

Well, 2013 seems to be off to a good start...we rang in the new year with great friends, we all went back to work/school as planned (it's a sick, sick time of year!), we just had our last Christmas party last night, and we even got our nice new TV all set up so we could enjoy larger than life entertainment.  Seriously, we skyped with my parents today (using the TV), and they were life-sized.  It was GREAT!!  No more crowding around my laptop to say hello! The three of us headed south for New Years, and we had an excellent night catching up with old friends, and getting to know new ones better.  All of the kids behaved well, neither Scott nor I fell asleep prior to midnight, and no one broke anything.  I consider that a very successful night! Spicing up the peach wine with HUGE strawberries...it actually tasted good! Darren refused to listen to Tiffany regarding making jello shots - he was convinced his way was the right way... Let's just...