Dylan - Our Newest Family Member

Meet Dylan. Doesn't he look happy? This is driving home for the first time with a pit stop at Petsmart to pick up a collar that fit him, as well as a name tag with my cell # on it.


I know I had shown you Chance before....we were contemplating naming him Samson or Wilson or a handful of other pretty cool names. But then Todd met Chance, who acted a complete spaz (who could blame the sweet boy? he had been penned up in a 4x10ft space for well over a week due to kennel cough and no exercise time). Todd teased that with Chance's jumping, he would knock our piano over.


So Dylan was brought out next and all this sweet boy wanted to do was to sit by our feet and be petted. Dylan didn't jump or dance. He just sat. Very patiently. Waiting to be petted and told how beautiful he was. Dylan wasn't a name we had contemplated, but all four of us liked the name chosen by the rescue and agreed to keep it. After living with us for a week, I think he knows his name now. :)

Dylan weighed in at 68 pounds, which is about 40 pounds underweight. We are feeding him four times a day, instead of two with extra helpings of puppy food thrown in to fatten him up. During his first week with us, he has gained six pounds. He has also started the beginner training class at Petsmart with me on Tuesday nights. And is learning that going up the stairs is not scary (many rescue dogs are scared of doorways and stairs).

Friday was day 8 with us and that was the first day he ventured upstairs on his own (as opposed to me carrying his stubborn/scared self up all the stairs to go to bed each night) and visited Todd over a dozen times throughout the day. He is learning to stay out of the kitchen when we are eating meals and that he must show his manners and sit first before his food bowl will be put down in front of him.

Dylan is a super sweet boy. He is quiet and unassuming; content to sleep most of the day in any cool spot he can find (in front of the fireplace in the family room or out on the back porch). He and Maggie get along well together. She is having fun joining our little 5 minute training sessions throughout the day and is learning with Dylan how to "Watch Me" as I hold a treat in front of my face. We are so glad we found Dylan and look forward to many wonderful years ahead of us with him in our family!

Embarrassing Moment

See this goofy girl?


This one right here?

Yes. The Beanarina.

She embarrassed me good over dinner.

Todd missed out.

He was in Mobile, Alabama with his Men's USTA team for sectionals (where all the state championship teams/winners play the other state winners).

But my boss didn't miss out. She was over for dinner and enjoying getting to know our kids better in their natural and sometimes wild environment.

While we were eating, Owen complained that his tongue hurt.

From the hot chocolate he drank.

A week ago.

I told him his tongue didn't hurt from the hot chocolate, but probably from constantly running his tongue between his snaggle teeth. Those snaggle teeth that are still brand new and razor sharp because they're so new (he's got four of them in now and space for the 5th to push through). Ozanna (my boss) echoed that those new teeth are sharp as razors.

Owen wanted to know what a razor was, so I reminded him it is was Daddy uses to shave his face. Owen nodded knowingly.

Then Chloe piped up. Or like what Momma uses to shave her buh-gina.

Oh.

My.

Gosh.

My child? Just said that? At the dinner table? With my boss?

I'm sure my face was red as Christmas. But we laughed. We laughed hard.

Chloe thought she was pretty clever and sat with a smug smile on her face as she looked from Ozanna to me and back at Ozanna as we laughed. Then Chloe said, "I said that because I wanted to make you laugh."

Ha. Ha. Ha.

Ozanna thanked me for a wonderful evening and told me she loves our kids before she left.

While I was getting the kids ready for bed, Chloe and I had a chat. She now knows the difference between bikini lines and buh-ginas. And that we probably shouldn't talk about either at the dinner table.

Boosterthon Fun Run

Here is Owen, running out of the tunnel with his classmates as each team/classroom is introduced prior to the start of the Fun Run.


The leaders of the Boosterthon got the kids warmed up with dancing before the run. Which got Owen waving his arms in the air like nobody's business.

"Hi Mommy"

More dancing. Check out the hard rocker in the background. From this alone, he must have cool parents.

O's favorite dance move of hopping in place with the right leg doing double-time hops. Arms are normally out in front, like he's holding the reins to a horse.

The boy has speed!

Look at him go!

Oh yeah, the pedal is to the metal.

This boy ran almost non-stop for 30 laps. That's 3 miles. Can I please get half of this energy?

They did a Buddies lap, which was cool to see Owen running arm in arm with his friend Nate.

Checking out the number of laps completed.

They stopped counting at 35, but Owen went around the racetrack at least 40 times. Wow!

They were tired, but very happy boys.

Best friends since they were close to three years old. Matthew is on the left of Owen, then Preston and Miles. I love these boys. Good kids, all of them.

Aquariums

Here is Owen's new tank. Henry was fascinated with the fish inside. He didn't leave the tank for a good hour. But that was only to run to Chloe's room and check out her tank.

Chloe picked out one of those boggly-eyed black gold fish for her tank. For some reason, her tank didn't hold a ton of bubbles to the glass like Owen's, so the pics turned out better.

One of the best parts of each day for the kids is when they get to feed their fish each night before going to bed. :)

January Snow Day #2

Day two was much colder. Temps were in the teens and we last all of 9 minutes outside before going back inside. The snow was no longer slushy, but rock hard.
The driveway was slick from the rain the night before, followed by a light dusting after that.

But that didn't stop Owen from chipping away at the snow on the driveway so he could throw his own little snowstorm up into the air.

Owen didn't mind the bone-chilling cold.

On this sunny day with a quarter inch of snow on the ground, Owen found complete and total joy in being outside.

Chloe chipped snow from the driveway to eat it.

She thought it was mighty tasty.

Chloe had fun pushing her stroller around in the snow.

January Snow Day

These two had to stand on the window sill in my office to watch as I walked out in the snow to take pics of flakes on snow leaves.


No one has to know this Christmassy scene was a week into the New Year.


Owen had fun sliding down the driveway in the snow.

Snow angels in the driveway.

The kids hit a handful of driveways to make snow angels up and down the street.

Chloe had fun making snowballs.

I liked the light on his face in this pic...from headlights down the street.

The start of an Atlanta snowman.

Chloe's Christmas outfits

The first costume change after pajamas to Santa's ballerina outfit was into this pink leopard print jumpsuit.
Every girl should have leopard print clothing. In pink. Especially paired with a light pink tutu.

LOVE the matching jacket & bottoms! Note-to-self: m&m's go well with pink leopard print clothing.

After opening the next outfit, there was no time to remove the leopard print clothes.

It was time for some Sponge Bob action.

Next was a hot pink on chocolate princess outfit with lots of ruffles and polka dots. Notice the Sponge Bob pajamas peeking out around the seams?

Ruffles ruffles everywhere!

Last came the Vikings shirt and a purple skirt from her birthday. This was the last costume change which took place sometime after her nap. Since she had stripped down to next-to-nothing over her nap, she didn't have to continue the layered effect with the purple. You can see Chloe is rather enamored with how large she is making her stomach.

Thank God for Grandparents and all the clothes they bestow upon our little clothes horse. She just loves it!

Chloe in her Christmas Bath Robe

Chloe seemed to be particularly thrilled with herself for putting her legs through the arms of the robe. She would squeal with delight anytime someone mentioned she had it on the wrong way.
I think the ballet tutu hanging out the back makes it.

She thought holding the robe up & out made her look more like a butterfly. We kinda thought she might fly off for as fast as she was running circles around the house.