Fine. Is This Better?

Girl Scout Cookies Are In

I Realize...

... that I've been a slacker blogger about the important things in life. For example, I have yet to explain under what unfortunate circumstances this happened:

Because I just know that you are all just DYING to know about it!

Or what went terribly wrong here:

Or what the heck this was doing on my couch:

And though I'm sure that you can figure out what this next one is about... it's only part of the story!

So, in the meantime, until I can get my act together you'll get more pictures like this:

Break It Down

As I looked closer to the picture in my previous post, I noticed a couple of things that I thought were interesting. Now, you may not find these interesting. But I did. And this is my blog and I can do what I want. So there.

Because it's a little hard to read I thought that I would blow them up for you:

Anyone who uses Google Chat will know what that is. If you don't you should. And now, I'm going to let you in on a little secret.... I ALWAYS have mine set to invisible. Basically, this means that I can see anyone who gets on to chat but they can't tell that I'm really there! Clever, huh? I realize that I will have to probably change this way of living now that I've told you but that's okay.

I realize that I have a problem with letting go. Over 2300 emails in my inbox. At least I've read them. But for one reason or another I've kept them. Fortunately, Gmail just made it possible to have folders. So, maybe I can get a little more organized and start filing away all those critical emails that I'm sure I will need later!

With the click of a button I can invite anyone I'm emailing to start chatting. The email above was from Google Calendar. I should just try it and see.... k. I did it. Now I'm just waiting to hear back!

Feel free to note any other quirky things about this screen shot!

I Love Days Like This

And Now The Real Fun Begins!

THIS is what I came home to after a morning out with the kids: At first glance I thought maybe AJ just tore the screen off of it's track. But upon closer inspection I realized that he actually ripped the screen to shreds. Nice. I guess he was paying me back for leaving him out on the patio in the rain. But really, how could you not love this face? Crap! I've become one of THOSE people! You know. The kind that talk about their dogs all the time!!! It used to drive me batty... and now I'm one of 'em! :) But he's so DANG cute!!

Ainsley's Baptism

What a beautiful little girl!

We held Ainsley's baptism on Saturday. She has been looking forward to this day for an extra long time because she actually turned 8 in November. We probably could have done it then but we really wanted to have more preparation to make sure it was a special occasion. Not to do it just to be doing it! It also gave me some time to find her a dress. My mom made Aspen's dress when she was baptized and I really wanted to have her make Ainsley's too but my poor mom was sick with just about anything you can imagine for about 2 months over the holidays. There was no way she was going to be able to make it. So we checked around at the local consignment shops and this beauty turned up!

As we were getting her dressed and ready she looked up at me and said, "Mom, I look so beautiful!" It was worth every penny to hear her say that. I made her a necklace and a bracelet and purchased a really pretty pair of earrings. She was especially excited about the 'high heels' that we picked out.

When we got to the church she had to change into a jumper for the actual baptism. She looked up at me, once again, and said, "Mom, I don't look beautiful anymore." (Referring to the silly jumpsuit.) Like a good mom, I told her that her beauty didn't come from that dress that she was just as beautiful without it.

The baptism went great. Mostly just family members attended and a handful of people from the ward. A peaceful, happy feeling was felt by all. Thank you to all of you who came and participated in this great occasion with us!

A.J. Doesn't Stand For Anything

The story behind our new member of the family.

We adopted him from The Humane Society. Our original intentions were to go there a few times and get to know some of the dogs until we move into our new house. That way we would be really familiar with the one we brought home. Well, it SOOO did not work that way.

We went one Saturday and spent about an hour and a half playing with a dog named Preston. He was sweet, gentle with the kiddos, and super cute. The kids loved him. Then we left. For the next 6 days they begged to go back and visit him. He had just been up for adoption for a few days. The director of the HS reassured me that he wouldn't last long. He was very adoptable (and adorable)... just what people were looking for in a dog. Geoff and I understood but knew that we couldn't have the dog in our townhouse... there just wasn't room for him... it would be a lot of work... we didn't want and inside dog... you name the excuse we had it. We just told the kids that there would be another dog. Just like buying a house... no need to fall in love with one - there will always be another one. Right?

Well, the next Saturday we gave in to the kids sweet begging (it really wasn't the annoying kind of begging) and went back to see if Preston was still there. He was! We were actually very surprised. We stayed almost two hours again playing with him and other animals. We overheard lots of folks saying that they were interested in him and Geoff and I started to get worried. We were sure at this point that he would not be there when we wanted him. So, we talked about it while the kids pestered the other animals and decided... what the heck!! We filled out the application, got the low down on him, and paid our $80 bucks... Preston got to come home with us. The kids were ecstatic! I was trepidatious. And Geoff was trying to hide his excitement behind his uncertainty that I was okay with the decision. No turning back now!

As it turns out he is a fantastic dog! We really got lucky. He's a German Shepherd/Catahoula mix and around 9 months old. He's so smart! The HS didn't have any background on him because he was picked up by Animal Control but Geoff and I are thinking that he had to have been trained by someone. He stops immediately when we say 'no'. He sits (most of the time) when we tell him to sit. He ALWAYS comes when commanded to do so. And we've only had a couple of instances of him wetting the floor and each time it was from sheer excitement on his part... not on purpose.

He DID NOT like being put in the laundry room to sleep the first night so we laid down a rug for him at the foot of our bed... not a single peep from him till morning and NO accidents! It's almost too good to be true!

Oh. You're curious about the name change? Well, I have a nephew named Preston and really didn't want to go through the whole "2 people with the same name" thing AGAIN (my husband and brother-in-law have the same name) so I encouraged the kids to help me come up with a different name. The HS just slapped that name on him when they brought him in so it didn't really bother me to change it. The hard part would be correcting ourselves for a while. We batted around a few names while we were outside playing with him. But, I really felt like if he was really going to fit in he had to have an A name! A.J. came out of my mouth and the kids loved it! Geoff, was helping someone with there car and wasn't a part of the name change. I think he was a little miffed about it. He asked, "What does A.J. stand for?" I said, "Nothing. We just like it."

Bottom line, were SOO happy to have him!

FYI, I have been the only one in this family holding back on getting a dog. My job is heavy laden as it is and I wasn't looking for more work. But, I realized that we weren't probably going to have anymore kids and Andyn is 2 1/2 so I felt like I could handle it. He has made it a dream! Welcome, Buddy!

New Bundle of Joy! {an update}

Oh dear. Silly me. Did I forget to give you additional information?

He's 4 legged not 2 legged but he might as well be! It's almost like having another kid!