Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to everyone! We have two excited little girls over here, who can't wait for tonight. Haley was our wake up call at 5:45 this morning, she wanted to go trick-or-treating first thing, then daddy can go to work. Hey, it is dark outside, I can understand her thinking!

Haley already had a dress rehearsal yesterday for her costume. All the kids came dressed up at her Preschool. I even curled her hair! She stood very patiently while I did it...I know, very surprising since she never can stand still for anything! And sure enough, as I was walking her in the building a lady coming out says, "Oh, what a pretty princess you are!". Haley immediately replies back, "No, I'm not a princess, I'm Fancy Nancy.". Good job Haley! I'm sure she'll be saying that phrase a lot tonight!

I also want to give a shout out to my mom. After five weeks, today is her last and final day of radiation!!! She's had to drive into LA everyday (with the help of my grandparents...thanks, you both are wonderful!). And if anyone knows S. CA freeways, you know that they're no fun, especially when you are feeling at your worst. It's very exciting that this stage is over! She has been enduring so much these last several months, and I'm just so proud of her, and inspired by her strength. She still has a few months left of chemo, but she's at the half way mark now!!

Tag...I'm It!

I've been tagged by a fellow blogger!

Eight Various Things About Me

My eight favorite TV shows:

Well, we spend most nights flipping through channels, the never ending search for a good show. But if I had to choose I would say, in no particular order:

1. Dr. 90210, however I don't actually watch the surgery part...that grosses me out!

2. Jon and Kate plus Eight. It makes my day not seem so bad.

3. House Hunters. Ryan hates this show, but I love seeing inside other houses, and what you can get all over the country.

4. Oprah. Say what you want about being a stereotypical housewife, but I love her show.

5. Any cooking show on the Food Network by Paula Dean, Giada, or Rachel Ray.


Okay, eight is really hard...that's all I've got.


Eight things I did yesterday:

1. Took Haley to preschool

2. Costco run

3. Laundry

4. Fold laundry

5. More laundry

6. Folded more laundry (I know this is very exciting to you)

7. Made butternut squash ravioli for dinner, but no one liked it. It did have kind of a funny flavor...too sweet I think.

8. Blogged...of course.

Eight things I look forward to:

1. Having a family dinner conversation without children spilling a drink, dropping food on the floor, interrupting, getting up and down from the table, screaming...yadda, yadda, yadda.

2. Going skiing and sledding.

3. The day Etta is trained and is a perfectly behaved dog.

4. The day Haley and Morgan are trained and are perfectly behaved children.

5. The day Ryan is trained and is a perfectly behaved husband.

6. Thanksgiving and Christmas

7. Holiday food

8. Warm weather again.

Eight favorite restaurants:

1. Burger Supreme, you can't beat having the family eat for under 12 dollars!!

2. Great Harvest. The Cinnamon Burst bread makes the best French Toast!!

3. Blackboard Bistro in Seal Beach, CA. They have the best breakfast!

4. Pizza Picasso's in Sedona...we look forward to it every year!

5. Einstein's Bagels. This time of the year they make the pumpkin bagel with pumpkin smear...YUM!

6. BYU Creamery...hands down, the best ice cream on the PLANET!!

7. California Pizza Kitchen.

8. PF Chang's

Eight things on my wish list:

1. Side-by-side refrigerator with a ice and drink dispenser...ahhh, so lovely!

2. Soft fluffy carpet for our living room.

3. A pair of jeans that fit properly! I'm tired of the dreaded flat butt! Give me curves!!!

4. Shoes, shoes and more shoes!

5. A weekend getaway...just Ryan and me!

6. Boob job...hey, a girl can dream! Although that would go nicely with our weekend getaway!

7. Big SUV

8. Big Home

Eight people to tag:

1. Ryan...might as well.

2. Beth

3. and 4. Jrad and Sleevie...maybe they will finally post something!!

5. Megan

6. The Mop...I just wanted to see if he'd actually do it.

7. Jill

8. The two Jennifers

Whew...I'm glad that was done! That was harder then I thought it was going to be!

Road Rage!

It's a good thing I don't have to commute to a job everyday, I may just loose my mind if I did. And yes Ryan, I know you spend nearly two hours of commute time everyday...you handle it well! I had to drive North, up to Lindon to the Animal Shelter to get Etta's licence. When I got there I found out I had to get it at the Spanish Fork Shelter because I live in Provo...great. Back on the freeway and go all the way South, past my house, to Spanish Fork. Good thing gas prices are going down!

Pet Peeves while driving:

-Huge 18 wheelers in the left lane...I can't stand that! Plus, they are always going about 85 mph. In CA all 18 wheelers and trucks with trailers HAD to stay in the right lane and they have a 55mph speed limit. I know CA has its issues, but that is one law I agree with!

-What's up with people not obeying work zone speed limits?!! Maybe I'm extra cautious since I just got a speeding ticket, who knows. But people are going like 90 mph through a 55!!

-Tailgaters...No matter how close you get to my bumper, I will not speed up! In fact, I'm more compelled to slow down just to irritate you.

-Stopping at traffic circles, when no cars are coming. You YIELD!!!

-People that don't get out of the right lane when you are trying to merge onto a freeway. You end up having a near drag race fighting for the lane! MOVE OVER! I'll fight you, and I will win!

-People that break (for no apparent reason) when they are changing lanes. Don't do that...that just makes everyone else have to break and then result in a traffic jam.

OK, I better stop. I can complain about everyone elses driving because I'm a perfect driver! Ryan, be quite!

Fancy Nancy

Not sure if anyone is familiar with this picture book series, or if anyone cares, but if you have daughters or nieces you should totally get these books for them...they are way cute! My mom got me hooked on them...she always finds the cutest things for my girls! Anyway, both Haley and Morgan are going to be Fancy Nancy for Halloween. They have to be the same thing because Morgan would freak out if she isn't wearing the same thing as Haley (she wants to do everything Haley does, wears, says...EVERYTHING). So in any case, I've been slowly gathering things for their costume, it's really not that difficult since Fancy Nancy basically wears anything that has ruffles, sparkles, pink in it, flowers or butterflies on it...you get the idea. The girls already had the real Fancy Nancy skirt, complete with ribbons and flowers already on it! Very cute! And the last several weeks I've been buying anything that Fancy Nancy would wear...meaning very girly, girly stuff! So we'll see how all this comes together on Halloween. I'm sure everyone that sees them are going to be like..."And you're supposed to be....hmmm, a princess? a diva? a pop star?...". Then I'll shout at them, "FANCY NANCY...don't you know anything?!!!!". Okay, not really...but it'll be funny watching people trying to figure out what they are. But I guess I let the cat out of the bag since I'm blogging about it, but whatever!

Weekend Wrap-up

We have been so spoiled with the weather this Fall, temps have been in the 60's and it's sunny and beautiful! But I'm bracing myself everyday for "the storm" that ends it all. I know it's coming...I just need to stop being a Winter hater and just go with it. But anyway, we'll enjoy the nice weather while we can.

Saturday was the Alan Butler Memorial ride up Emigration Canyon. For those who don't know Alan, he was a cyclist here in Utah. Ryan raced with him for a couple of years and we're good friends with his family. He was tragically killed a few years ago when he got hit by a car in Vegas during the Interbike show. Ryan pulled the trailer with the girls up the Canyon...very impressive if you ask me! The girls were not at their best unfortunately. Morgan cried the entire way up and Haley was yelling, "My ears are hurting!!! Tell Morgan to be quite!!!!!", the whole way up. Yes, good times!

The girls made it up to us Sunday morning...they hiked like champs up Rock Canyon.


They insisted on bringing their stuffed animals...here they are giving them shoulder rides.

No, I'm not strangling Etta in this photo, although it does look like it. She hiked like a champ too, until she jumped all over some family...oops. I am working on that with her, I promise!

OK, this photo cracks me up! Every time we try to get Haley to pose for a photo, this is what she does. She reminds me of Chandler, from the show Friends. There was this one episode that Chandler and Monica were trying to take engagement photos and Chandler could not do a fake smile. Every time he tried to smile for the camera it came out all goofy. Anyway, that's totally Haley. She'll be smiling away, and then you face a camera at her and this is how it comes out. She's so weird.

So she gave up trying to smile, and kissed her daddy instead. Works for me!

Haley doesn't know how to smile and Morgan gives grumpy face when a camera is pulled out...what's up with my kids?!!

I have to take a ton of photos to get one good shot...thank goodness for digital!!

Una and the American Doll

Let me introduce Haley's prized possession...Una, a lovely purple unicorn. She takes this thing with her everywhere!! Una has been her show-and-tell item at school for the last several weeks. When we are out running errands she introduces Una to EVERYONE! "Hi! This is my unicorn Una...she likes to be called Una...she's a purple unicorn named Una!". Luckily, everyone that she introduces Una to has been very pleasant and humors her. One day some cranky person is going to shout back at her, "Get that mangy thing out of my face!". (Haley does have a tendency to hold it close to people when talking to them.) And if you knew where this horse has been you wouldn't want it very close to you. It's been in the mucky river water, Etta's water bucket (that's how Haley gives her a bath), the mud, in the gutter, dragged behind her tricycle, it's been Etta's play toy (that's was on accident), it's gone with us on several road trips, and most likely drooled on when Haley sleeps with her. Yes, I've washed it several times. In fact, Una used to have long flowy hair, but it shriveled to nothing once it went through the dryer. Oops! Haley was pretty upset, but she has since forgotten all about it. The funny part about this whole thing is that it was given to us by the hostess at the Red Robin about 1 1/2 ago. It was sitting by the hostess table, and Haley noticed it immediately as soon as we walked in. So the hostess ended up letting Haley have it...they have been inseparable ever since!

It seems that the toys that parents go crazy about and can't wait to give to their children, or spend loads of money for, are the toys that are kicked aside and nearly forgotten about. But the cheap toys (or free in this case) are the toys they can't live without! This leads me to the next photo.




Yesterday, we got the American Girl doll catalog!! Yes, very exciting...as I had one as a child, still have her for that matter, packed away safe in my closet. (Mine is the Samantha doll, in case anyone was wondering.) Haley and Morgan went crazy for this catalog, looking at every page in detail! And of course my immediate thought was "I can't wait to get this for them!!". Just to let you know, the average price for a doll is around $100, and that's not including all the accessories you can get!! But, I have to tell myself to slow down (I'm kind of excited since Christmas is right around the corner). Because I know that if I bought this doll for Christmas morning, it would entertain them for about 5 minutes, and then they would toss it aside and play with the wind-up toy that cost about a dollar they got in their stocking. And of course that would make me go crazy, "Girls, play with these dolls! Look at how nice these dolls are, why don't you want to play with them?!!". We've all been there! So I'll be patient, and wait to buy a doll like this until they are old enough to appreciate it...even though I'm dying to buy one!!

I needed a break...

...and I got one! What a fabulous weekend!!

We started it off with a mountain bike ride (just Ryan and I) up South Fork area. It was absolutely beautiful, and the weather could not have been better! A perfect Fall Day! My brother and his wife watched the girls for us...Thank you guys, we needed that break! I wish I could mountain bike more, I just love it! And I certainly could use more practice, that's for sure!


We also went to the World Cup Short Track Speedskating Championships (wow, that's a mouth full) this weekend. It made for a great family outing!

I'm not sure what was going on that night, but the girls were so good (I know, that rarely happens!). This lady sitting near us commented on how well behaved my children were. Yeah, you heard me right...a STRANGER (not my mom, not my friend) a STRANGER said MY children were well behaved! I nearly choked on my drink! I get comments like, "Your girls are so cute!" Or my favorite from a pharmacist at a grocery store, "Oh, your daughter's hair is so beautiful! I've seen your hair color before, but HERS, hers is so pretty!". But anyway, rarely do people comment on how well behaved they are, so that lady made my day!! It's the little things that make moms feel good. So if you see someone frazzled looking mom with her kids, tell her they are well behaved...she'll be talking about that for a week!!

The girls had fun showing off their dancing skills during intermission. Pure entertainment!

Aaahhhhh, don't we look refreshed after such a great weekend!! (You better say yes!)

They were giving away these cool ear warmer bands, the girls loved them! Haley even wore hers today at Walmart, with her awesome cheerleader jersey over a long sleeve shirt and jean skirt (she was looking pretty sweet).

OK, I tried to get some speedskating action shots, but it's nearly impossible. They go so fast, the pictures came out blurry every time, but you get the idea.

I know this picture is crummy too, but that's Apolo in third. He may not have won, but it's was a great race to watch!

Sleep in...Please!

It seems that every Winter Haley's internal clock somehow gets messed up and lives off of very little sleep. No matter what time she goes to bed, she's always up between 6:00 and 6:30. Actually, a lot of the time she's up earlier then that, but we can usually get her back to bed for a little while. Anyway, this morning she's up at 6:20. Ryan and I are already in the kitchen when she comes stumbling in. "Haley, it's not even light outside yet! Whey don't you sleep some more" I say. She's looks out the back door window and says, "Oh, it is dark outside...well, I'll just turn on the porch light!". Problem solved!

So this weekend should be good! My brother and his wife are watching the girls for a little while on Saturday so Ryan and I can go on a mountain bike ride! It's been forever since we've been able to do something together with no kids. So that should be fun, nothing better then getting dirty together!! Oooh la la! Oops, did I write that! Uh um, anyway...

Also, the World Cup Short Track Championships are going on at the Olympic Oval this weekend! So I've got to pull out my T-Shirt that says "I love Apollo" on it and get out there to cheer him on! Yes, it's true...I have a crush on Apollo.

Anyway, so it should be a pretty good weekend!

Here I go again...

As cold and flu season rapidly approaches, I'm so glad that I have Parents magazine to give me advice on how to "Germ-Proof My Child". Let's see how I'm doing...shall we.

1. "Have your child wash hands before meals, after using the bathroom, or whenever she touches other kids, pets, or communal toys." OK, I do pretty good at this one...most of time.

2. "Always keep baby wipes or a sanitizing gel in your diaper bag, your purse, and the car." Still doing good with the "rules"...I'm still with you Parents magazine! Although I think I only have the gel in the car, but I do carry around wipes in my purse.

3. "Teach your child to sneeze or cough into a tissue. If he doesn't have one handy, he should use the crook of his elbow." Well, I was doing good... Right now I'm just trying to get my kids to stop picking their nose and eating their boogers (I know, gross). But, maybe when they can master that, they'll be ready to get a tissue every time they need to sneeze or cough. But at the pace we're going they'll probably be teenagers before they accomplish that one!

4. "Clean toys weekly with hot soapy water or a sanitizing spray." HA!! What mother has time for this?!! Okay, the spray may not be too bad to accomplish. But trying to remember that on a weekly basis on top of all the other things that need to get done...yeah, right! I'm already feeling guilty because I never ever remember to give the kids their fluoride pills, or giving myself time to look for that stupid Winnie the Pooh DVD that was due back at the library forever ago (it's in the house somewhere). Note to self: Find out how many times you can renew something at the library before they get suspicious. I could go on and on with all the things I have to do in a week, yet still forget to do them...cleaning toys are at the bottom of the list!!

5. "If a bottle, sippy cup, or pacifier falls on the floor, always wash it before giving back to your child." HA, HA, HA!! I maybe followed this rule the first month of being a mother. However, it's just not realistic! Confession: When at a store (such as Costco), and Morgan should drop one of her crackers she's eating as a snack, she goes crazy! She wants it back sooooo bad. So I pick it up and say "Oh, no! It got all dirty you can't have it." Yes, I'm faking it for all the "good mothers" around me. Because I admit, once a turn onto the next isle I give it back to her. I don't want to hear her scream the whole shopping trip!! And yes, Haley has been known to eat the Jelly Belly samples (from Costco) off the floor when she dropped her the little cup they came in. And yes, I look the other way and pretend I didn't see it happen. Confession over!

6. "Steer clear of toys and books in the waiting room at the doctor's office, which are loaded with germs. Take your own instead." Please, no kid wants to play with toys from their house when there is an array of "new" toys layed out in front of them. Give me a break!! And yes, I've tried it...it never works!! They throw what ever you gave them aside and go play with the kids.

7. "Don't share personal objects with your child-including utensils, toothbrushes, cups, washcloths, towels, and combs-and don't let siblings share them either." Do these magazine people know what it's like in a house with children?!! We have sippy cups everywhere in this house! I can never remember who's is who's, they're always just grabbing a sip in what ever one is laying in front of them. Gross? Maybe, but that's how it is! And Morgan is always swiping Haley's toothbrush. And don't share combs?! I understand toothbrushes (I'll do better with that one), but COMBS?!! Whatever... stupid magazine!

I'll just make sure everyone gets their flu shot this year. Thanks for nothing, Parents Magazine!

Computers are a pain!

Let's see...where do I start? Maybe with the negative stuff...

So yesterday I go to turn my computer on (the exact same way I do every morning!) and something goes wrong, I get impatient and start pushing buttons. Well, turns out I pushed a button that apparently resets my computer. I don't know computer stuff so I don't have any idea the terminology, but in any case I end up loosing EVERYTHING that was saved to the hard drive! Yes, EVERYTHING!!!! I was so upset...so say the least. Luckily, most of my pictures I had already saved to a disk, but everything else is gone. So now I'm left with the task of trying to figure out how to get back our Microsoft Office, and Norton security and to reinstall the printer stuff. AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! WHY!!!!!! It's just so frustrating, especially for me, who clueless with computers!! So I had a "moment of rage" yesterday morning...not fun! I'm still trying to recover.

In better news...I bought myself a new vacuum!!! A Dyson Animal!!!! I'm just so super excited about this vacuum. I've been wanting a new one for so long now. Our old one we've had since we've been married, it's been across the country a couple of times. The poor thing has been held together with a shoe lace. One day when I was using it the compartment that holds the bag broke (I very well may have kicked it or something, I don't remember) so I guess a shoelace was the only thing nearby to hold the bag in place. Anyway, I have been "cleaning" my house with that stupid vacuum long enough!!

Something else that I wanted to blog about...

It took about a week for Haley to realize that Cassidy was gone. She asked where she was, and I explained that she's in heaven with her Heavenly Father and Jesus. And Haley asked if they had toys for her and bones to chew. I said yes, and that she had other dogs to play with. She was glad that she Cassidy was having fun. Then just a couple of days ago as we're driving around she says, "Mommy, how long is Cassidy going to stay with Jesus?" I tell her that she's going to stay there from now on, and that she's happy there. Well, Haley just starts breaking down in tears, "No, we have to go pick her up. She lives with us! We need Etta and Cassidy together!!". That just broke my heart! Now, every so often she'll bring it up out of the blue and start crying...I just feel so bad.

I hate to end the post with a sad story, but I guess that's just how it goes. You can go back up and read the paragraph about my wonderful vacuum again if you need to...

Sick kid, and Ryan gone...Waaa!

Imagine the following in a VERY irritating, slow, whiny voice:

"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy..." That would be Morgan. I could even be holding her in my arms and she still does that. "What?!! I'm right here!!". I guess that's what happens when a kid has a cold, nothing really makes them happy. Poor thing is coughing the majority of the night, and I'm back and forth checking on her. She never cries for me to get her or anything, I just want to make sure she's still breathing. Luckily, it doesn't phase Haley a bit, she can sleep through anything these days. In the evenings when the girls are in bed I bring Etta in the house for a little while. She has discovered that she can push the girls' door open (it doesn't latch properly). Anyway, so she pushes it opened and races into their room straight to Haley's bed. By the time I get in there Etta is on top of Haley licking her face. Never once (and it's happened on several occasions) has Haley reacted from it...she's out like light!! And of course I'm clapping my hands and yelling, "ETTA, NOOO...NOOO!". Both kids sleep right through it...so that's good. Although, I have recently been using a shaker (a little Rubbermaid bowl with a lid filled with pennies) to help train Etta in the house. I really don't want her going in any of the rooms or the living room, basically all carpet is off limits. So when she goes onto the carpet I shake this thing...boy oh boy does that get her attention!! She hates that thing. I don't even have to shake it anymore, I just put my hand on it now and she goes running for her bed. I have heard of this method through training courses. I remember we used it with Cassidy and it worked like a charm.

I'm really, really anxious for Ryan to get home. He had to hear a bit of my ranting on the phone this morning...sorry Ry, I'm OK now. It's just hard when he's in (of all places) HAWAII, going surfing every morning and evening! Yes, he does work in the day, but he has a lot of time for fun too. I mean come on, I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me...of course it bothers me!!! However, I do also know how hard he works, so he certainly deserves it! He'll just owe me for the rest of his life!!

So Far So Good!

Ryan's been gone for three days so far and I haven't completely gone nuts yet! Woo hoo!! We've been running around constantly so I guess I really haven't gotten the chance.

Haley has been quite the social butterfly this week. Yesterday we spent a good chunk of the morning at our neighbors. Megan has two little girls about the same ages as my girls. So they can play while us moms got a chance to chat, gotta love that! Then that afternoon, another friend from down the street invited Haley over to her house to play. Pretty nice for me! I love how Haley is getting old enough to do more things away from me. Wait, that sounded bad! You know what I mean! Then, today she went over to another friends! So Morgan and I have been having some quality time together.


Ryan has been able to rent a surf board while in Hawaii. However, he ended up getting a pretty bad cut on his leg from lava rocks under the water. I guess he was looking pretty gory walking back to his hotel with blood pooling up in his shoe. He must have been a sight to see! That certainly hasn't stopped him from going out and giving it another try. I just kept saying "Please be careful!!". Gosh, that just sounds horrible to me, surfing with jagged lava rock under you...NO THANKS!! Anyway, I'm sure he'll blog all about when he gets a chance. I just hope he comes back in one piece!

Ryan left again and I finished a book.

Ryan left at 4:00 this morning for Hawaii..I'm super jealous. It feels like he just got back from his last trip to Vegas...oh wait, he did just get back!! Hopefully he'll get to enjoy the sun and sand while he's there!! So I'll be holding down the fort until next Monday. Hopefully I won't go completely insane in that time!!

I finally finished reading the Poisonwood Bible. I think I'm one of the last to finally read it, it seems everyone has read that book! My mother-in-law loaned it to me forever ago, and I kept meaning to read it, honest! So anyway, I'm glad I did...it's a great book! Thanks Sandy! It took me about an hour to read the last four pages. Haley had a friend over and they were playing in the playhouse. I thought perfect, I'll finish up those last few pages that I almost got through this morning. Well, it seems after every paragraph I had to get up for something. Morgan would bonk her head on something, or they needed a snack, Morgan would need more milk, or a diaper change, break up a few fights, so on and so on. "Come on!!! Just let me finish these last two pages!!". So I finally did...yeah for me!

Dreary Weekend

It wasn't the greatest of weekends...it rained pretty much nonstop. I just wanted to mope the whole time, I'm sure I wasn't any help with the girls...I just wasn't feeling it. Saturday I was always on the brink of bursting into tears (I hate that), it was just awful. I'll try not to let this post get too depressing...I just miss my dog. I miss walking out in the yard and seeing her layed out in her usual spots or seeing Etta and her all curled up together. I think it will take awhile for me to get over this.

In other news I tried to find a pair of jeans this weekend, I'm in desperate need of a new pair. However, I failed miserably! I must have tried on a dozen pairs, and not one fit me right! I'm not a fan of the jeans that go to my belly button (I don't care what Sarah Jessica Parker says)! I like the lower rise jeans, but I don't want my crack to show!! And I hate, hate, hate the skinny jeans...some people can pull it off, but I am not one of those people! I'm also not a fan of the jeans with a lot detail all over the pockets, I'm not twelve!! I used to always go to The Gap for jeans, but I think they're screwing around with there sizes because I haven't been able to find a pair that works! Jeans are made for people with curves, and I'm lacking in that area!! It's just so frustrating!! I'm having flashbacks to when I was in search of a swim suit that worked on me...it took forever!! So after the failed shopping trip I went home and ate a brownie, I think I need a little more junk in my trunk!!

Farewell Cassidy...We love you!

Here are some things I will never forget about Cassidy:

-The first night we had her (she was eight weeks old) she wouldn't go to sleep in the dog run that my dad had built. She howled and whined. I set up a cot with a sleeping bag in the kennel with her and slept there for the night. I woke up with her curled up on top of my legs...I was sixteen.

-She always wanted everyone to stay together. When we went on hikes with the family she would always be constantly running around trying to corral everyone back together.

-She hated the mailman!

-She also howled, and went crazy when the UPS truck drove through the neighborhood. She wouldn't howl when any other truck came by (fed-ex, etc) only the UPS truck.

-Her favorite treat was bread...the girl loved her carbs! If I threw a hunk of meat or a piece of bread, she would go for the bread first!

-When she got nervous she drooled like a faucet. When I took her to the dog beach in CA she would get really nervous around all the other dogs and drool like crazy! Or at the Vet!

-She failed at doggy training school. I did my best, but she's a stubborn girl!

-When she came inside in the evenings she would always have to lick Haley and Morgan's chairs...that drove me crazy!

-She was always the best at putting up with Haley and Morgan antics. Haley would stick big leaves in her collar or layer towels (from my kitchen!) all over her back, or pile grass all over her...she never cared a bit.


After they put her down I just couldn't bare to leave her. I just sat there twirling her ear in my fingers, I couldn't grasp the fact that she was gone. It's just not the same around here without her. She was in my life for nearly half of it...she will be missed.

The end has come.

Cassidy can't walk anymore...this is definitely the end for her. I made an appointment at 2:00 this afternoon to have her put down. I'm just so absolutely broken hearted...I'll miss her so much. But she just can't go on like this...she's miserable. This will be one of the toughest things for me to do. I'm not looking forward to it.

Always read the directions!!

The girls got a play kitchen this week to go into their playhouse. It was an early Christmas gift from the girls' grandparents and us. Super cute...you may have seen it at Costco. Anyway, I started to put it together yesterday, and finally finished today...it was a nightmare!! You would not believe how many pieces there were! Then about a third of the way into it I realized that I put one of the boards on backwards, so I had to take the whole thing apart just to put that one piece in right. I guess that's what I get for not reading the directions carefully. At one point Haley came in from the yard and Etta came flying into the house and slid out into my tray of screws making them scatter all over!!! AAHHH!!! Parents should get some kind of award for completing tasks like these...as I screwed in the last screw fireworks should have gone off, or confetti...something! I guess a "Thanks, mom!" should be good enough right? So anyway, it's done and they love it! Thank you grandparents!!

No, this is not my kid!

In other news, I had to go to court this morning for my speeding ticket. It was such a horrible experience!! I never, ever want to do that again!! As I was sitting in the courtroom with all the other offenders waiting for the judge my heart was racing. Then I really started having a panic attack when I realized I would probably have to be first in front of the judge since my last name is Barrett!! That is one of the things I had to get used to after I got married... I went from always being last (last name was Wilson) to now always being one of the first. So I was just hoping that their was someone in there with an "A" last name. Not only did I not want to be first, but I also was very curious as to what the other people did to have to be there. I wouldn't have minded just to sit there and listen to their cases. But anyway, didn't happen, I was first. I thought my knees were going to give out as I stood in front of the VERY stone faced judge. He was very intimidating! To make a short story even shorter, the judge gave me a 26 mph in a 20, instead of my original 31 in a 20mph zone. So my fine was knocked down 100 dollars...yippee!! So I paid my fine and then got the hell out of there, never looking back!!