Accomplishments

This has certainly been a very busy, past few weeks for Brooke. She has made some of life's milestones and I am proud to share them with you! A few weeks ago she lost her second tooth and her new 2 front bottom teeth are coming in nicely. Shortly after loosing that second bottom one, she learned to whistle!!! This is something she has been trying for some time now, and I guess the extra space in her mouth made it possible!! Brooke also learned to blow bubbles with gum last week! Chase is now jealous, as he still can't grasp this maneuver!! Her latest accomplishment this past week is jumping rope!! You should see how she focuses with the rope held behind her head as she preps herself to swing the rope over her head. She can only do it one jump at a time, but she is off to a great start. My baby IS growing up too fast!!! I am so proud.
Chase has been taking guitar lessons for the past 2 months and is really doing great!! He can play the begining of lots of songs...smoke on the water, James Bond theme song, When september ends, Sunshine of your love, stairway to heaven. He is currently saving up for an electric guitar!! we'll see how that goes!!
Hopefully one day SOON, I will have an accomplishment myself......weight loss. As of now, not so much!!!!! Have a good day all!

Appropriately named

As you all know, our new, sweetie pie of a dog is named Dewey. This came after narrowing down all the options that Mike, the kids and I had. Dewey is after one of Brooke's favorite places to eat, Deweys pizza. We all thought it was the cutest name, and therefore the winner! Well, today, Mike and the kids were out and about, since I had to work nights at the hospital last night, and was sleeping. They decided to take Dewey shopping with them at a local pet store. While there, they discovered they were giving nail trims with buffing for $5.00. Mike decided to have this done, as Dewey has never had his nails trimmed before. (My parents recently bought us a Pedipaw, nail groomer, but it is a gradual process when you first use it, as you have to introduce it a few times without doing anything and offering a treat, then eventually do only 1 nail, then 1 paw, etc). ANYWAY..........He needed all his nails done now. Well, the ladies at the pet store thought Dewey was the cutest thing - can't argue with them:) - they also said he is a very RARE dog. WHY?? you ask??!! He has a DEW claw on his BACK paws. Which is very uncommon??? All dogs have them on their front paws, to help hold things, but NOT on there back. Those of you out there can check out your dogs back paws and let me know if this is, indeed, true or not! So long story, short.....Dewey turns out to be a great choice for his name, because of his unique dew claws on his back paws. Who'd a thunk it!!

Oh RATS!!

Yesterday, was our monthly Club HOPE mtg at Chase's school. HOPE stands for helping our pets and environment. I am co-leader, with my good friend Chris, and I have to say, we have been challenged. This is our first year having this club at the school, and we have 45 kids! For the most part, they are all super kids, that are really excited to learn about animals and how to be humane and care for them. There are those constant "few" who drive us crazy each mtg, but I think we are getting used to them. Anyway....yesterday, we had another guest speaker. Her name was Ginger (she looked a lot like the actress Joan Cusak!) Well, she brought her pets and little friends...............RATS!!!! [Kelli, I am sure you and Lee are wishing you could have been there]. They actually were quite cute. One of them is a hairless rat - never knew there was such a thing - and it did resemble one of those hairless chinese dogs. So ugly it was cute. I thought i would share a few pics from our meeting for your viewing pleasure. And for those of you with kids, check and see if your school offers such a club, and if not, why not start one yourself?! You will be helping to educate our little ones about all the animals in our world, and that they matter too!

encouragement

As we all know, this is one of the worst economic times, since the Depression era. We keep hearing how dismal things are, and will continue to be. Why is it then, that when I drive around and run errands, it looks like business as usual??? Is it just living in West county, USA, that makes it appear like all is the same?? Are others in the area being impacted like we are in our home?? Many of you know that Mike builds foundations for big homes.....so, as you can imagine, things have changed for our household. I know that some of you followers of this blog are in the same boat, and I just wanted to share some words of encouragement. Things here have gotten pretty dismal (to use a word of the times) at times, lately. But this I know, my continued faith in the Lord and His unending intercession, on our behalf, has kept us afloat. There have been some tears shed, anxiety felt, doubt, doubt and more doubt. But, with continued faith He has once again, given us all that we need and then some. I am working part time now at the hospital, Mike has been getting about half his normal hours, but we are excited about ANY hours he gets!! My classes for the next 2 months are FULL and we are continually blessed with the love and support of family and friends!! I am here to exclaim "God is GOOD". If you know Him already, don't forget to TRUST IN HIM, He loves and wants the best for those whom He calls his own!!! Are there more dismal days ahead, Oh, I'm quite sure there are, but with God on our side, whom or what shall we fear!!!!

no comment

We have all been going stir crazy lately. We just got done with another cold snap, and it was freezing outside up until yesterday. Here are some pics from our indoor "fun", i have no comments for them.....only that we are strange at times. Sorry it's been so long since my last post and this still really isn't even a REAL post, but it's a start.