2!

Happy birthday to Henry!

Let the "Terrible 2's" begin...or continue...or whatever.

5!

Happy birthday to Lily! 

Here's an action shot from her bounce party.



Sleepy

I was very tired after my weekend stay at the kennel.

Bunk Beds

Lily thinks bunk beds are pretty cool and was really excited to see that Cami and Rory have some when she visited them in Columbia.  Since she will most likely never have her own set of bunk beds, she and Henry have to make do.

Yes, that's a sofa table and of course Henry gets the bottom bunk.

My Yard!

Our fence was replaced yesterday. It looks gorgeous and was done in lightning speed. The company showed up at 8:00 a.m. and drove away at 1:30 p.m. Wow. I've now reclaimed my yard. I watched over my domain while my people ate their dinner. It was great.

Halloween 2011

The kiddos had a great time on Halloween this year. My people went to the Trunk or Treat at Grandma Gail and Papa Dean's church again. They had a great time getting candy, making crafts and running around on the parking lot.  Of course Lily was a princess, Belle this year.  Last year was Cinderella and the year before that Snow White.  She has every Halloween planned out until she's 11 and they all involve a Disney princess of some sort.  Henry was Superman.  My people figured with the way he runs around, he needed a cape flying out behind him.



The car next to theirs at the Trunk or Treat had a train theme.  The little boy, Eli, is close to Henry's age and they're good buds whenever the kids go to church with Grandma and Grandpa.  They spent most of the night parked in front of the train set.  Eli was dressed as a train engineer.  

Last night my people learned that Henry is scared of clowns.  He wouldn't go anywhere near their car and needed a lot of help to just walk across the parking lot a safe distance away from them to get to the other cars for candy.  They thought they were being very kid friendly, they were happy clowns after all, but he strongly disagreed.  Strongly. 

Mizzou Homecoming 2011

Lily had a lot of fun at Mizzou's Homecoming. My people stayed with some friends who have two girls ages 6 and 4. They all had a blast playing together. Lily enjoyed the parade and the game. Her favorite part was meeting Truman. Since they were in the front row, he walked by many times so she got her picture with him and got to talk to him. I think one of my tall girl's goals is to get the entire family to a game so they can get a picture with Truman for their Christmas card. :)

Click on the album below if you want to see more pictures.

Mizzou's 100th Homecoming 2011

A Zoo

My people are taking Lily to Mizzou's Homecoming in a couple of weeks. They've been talking with her about it telling her how they're going to watch the Tigers play football and hopefully see Truman. The other day she asked "I wonder if there will be any animals to pet." My people were confused until they realized that she thought they were going to "a zoo", not Mizzou. I'm glad they got that cleared up. Otherwise she may have been pretty disappointed when they got to Columbia and didn't find any goats to pet.

Fall Leaves...or Lack Thereof

One of Lily's favorite Fall activities is raking leaves into a huge pile and jumping in them. The other day she asked my tall girl person if they'd do that again this year. The answer came automatically "Yes, of course." Then it dawned on her that all of the big trees that dropped tons of leaves in the yard are gone. That's good news and bad news. No more raking (yea!), but also no more jumping in piles of leaves (boo!). Also, no more pretty Fall colors. What a bummer. Yesterday morning my tall girl person walked the kids over to where the Pattonville Homecoming Parade was going to come by. On their way there, Lily saw a yard with some leaves in it. She said "Maybe we can put some of those leaves in a bag and take them home to jump in them."

Before (picture taken in 2004)

After (2011)


Quite a difference. We'll all miss the gorgeous flaming orange maple tree.

The Whale Monstrosity

Over Labor Day weekend, my people thought the kids should have an opportunity to play in their whale pool at least once this summer before the weather turned too cool. They ended up getting two nice evenings to swim and had a blast in the water. Click on the album below for pictures and please pay no attention to the missing fence sections or broken boards. Repairing the fence is on Baldy's very long list of things to do. :)

First and Last Days in the Backyard Pool

Just Because

We're Home!

We've moved back home! The inside of the house was finished a week ago Thursday (8/11/11). My big people spent that weekend unpacking and getting ready for the kiddos to come home. The kids moved home on Tuesday (8/16/11) and I came home on Thursday (8/18/11). I would've come home on Tuesday, but once the rest of the stuff from Grandma and Grandpa's house was packed in the car, there was no room for me. I see where their priorities are. I have not quite settled in. My wooden fence is still missing large sections and the electric fence has a break in the line somewhere, so that means I have to go out on a leash. Not fun. My people can't put area rugs on their newly refinished wood floors yet, so there's not a good place for me to lay down in the living room and dining room. They went ahead and put my new dog bed down in the bedroom, but it doesn't compare to the Sleep Number bed I got used to at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I sometimes get so nervous I start shaking, which isn't new for me, but it happens quite a bit now. I think I'll settle down soon though.

As far as the house goes, the inside is done. My people just need to finish unpacking and decorating. There's still work to do on the outside. The fence needs to be fixed and the house still needs to be painted. There's still a ginormous dumpster in the driveway and a ton of stuff in the garage, making it hard for the kids to ride their bikes and such. It'll all come together eventually though.

We're all very happy to be home and would like to give a huge thank you to Grandma Polly, Papa Jerry, Nome and Hawkeye for letting us crash at their house for four months!

Kiawah Island, SC - 2011

Here are pictures from my people's trip to Kiawah Island, SC. They went with Grandma Polly and Papa Jerry and met Uncle Eric, Aunt Melissa and the kiddos there and had a blast. My people forgot to pack an extra camera battery and the battery charger. When they got to South Carolina, they had 2 bars of power on the battery they had with them. So, they had to be more conservative with their picture taking than in years past. Also, the first day they went to the beach they carried the camera in its bag in the cooler. They failed to remember that the lens would fog up when they first got it out. As a result, there are a couple of would-be really good pictures that are foggy. It looks like some sort of photoshop effect, but it isn't. Just poor planning on their part. :)

Enjoy!

Kiawah, SC 2011

Pictures (but not of vacation)

Our camera is currently MIA, so until it's found and charged, vacation pictures will have to wait. In the meantime, here are some albums with photos of things we've been doing during our extended stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Enjoy!

Extended Stay at Grandma and Grandpa's, Summer 2011

Strawberry Picking 2011

Marine Week 2011

Attack of the Dishwasher

It turns out Grandma and Grandpa have a very dangerous dishwasher. I was licking dirty plates the other evening (which I'm not supposed to be doing) when my collar go caught on the bottom shelf. When I couldn't pull myself free I freaked out and tried to run out of the kitchen except I was still hooked. I ended up pulling the entire bottom shelf and the dirty dishes in it across the kitchen with me. It was loud and scary! I vaguely remember this happening once before, which is probably part of the reason why I'm not supposed to be over there when it's being loaded, but I forgot. I've learned my lesson...for now.

18 Month Check-Up and Other Updates

Sorry for my absence. Surely a tornado is a good enough excuse, no? Let's start with the fun stuff...

Henry is 18 months old! He went for his check-up yesterday and the doctor says everything is good. He's 27.9 lbs. and 33-1/2" long. That puts him in the 75th percentile for weight and 80th percentile for height. These numbers are foreign to all of us. Lily has never seen these percentiles before or anything close to them. Ha!

I had an extended stay at the kennel last week while the family went on vacation. They drove to Columbia, SC to visit Tim and Gretchen and the kiddos for a night and then continued on to Kiawah Island, SC to spend the week with Grandma, Grandpa, Eric, Melissa and their kiddos. Henry's not much of a traveler right now, so I hear the drive there and back was...interesting, BUT the kids had a blast in the pool and on the beach. They had a ton of fun seeing all of their cousins. The best part is that Henry wasn't left on the side of the highway during the long drive. :)

As far as the house goes, things are moving along. They started on the inside right before the South Carolina trip, so my people scrambled to get all of the non-furniture items packed up and moved out of the way. The new A/C and furnace have been put in, drywall has been installed on the walls and ceiling, the first coat of paint has been put on, the hardwood floors are scheduled to get started next Wednesday, new carpet for the basement has been chosen and replacement ceiling fans/light fixtures/etc. have been purchased. There's still a lot of work to be done, but is that a light at the end of this very long tunnel that we see? It's been 11+ weeks since the storm, but who's counting?

A Month Later

We've been out of the house for a month now. I haven't been back to see how things are going with the clean up. I've been too busy learning the new electric fence boundaries of my temporary yard and then busting through them anyway. It's great fun to see either Papa Jerry or Katie sprinting across the lawn yelling my name. Good times. I heard that one morning Lily was looking out the window and told Grandma Polly, "Papa Jerry's running across the yard!"

I've been told that all of the storm debris, tree and structural, has been cleaned up from my yard. It took almost 2 weeks longer than planned for the contractor to get a building permit from the city to start repairs, but he now has one and the roof was completed at the end of last week. No more tarps! I'm not sure which project will be tackled next, but my guess is the siding and gutters. There's still a lot to be done, but it's a relief to know that water can no longer get into the house.

We're all extra skiddish with severe storms now. Yesterday one blew up and I hid under a barstool. Lily crawled under with me and said "This is a good place to hide."

Meanwhile, Mr. Henry turned 17 months old the other day. Time is flying!

Easter 2011, The Not So Good Stuff

Here are a bunch of pictures of the tornado damage to our house and neighborhood. Click on the album to see them.

Easter 2011, The Not So Good Stuff (Tornado and Storm Damage)

Easter 2011, The Good Stuff

Before the chaos of the storms and tornado on Easter weekend, my people were able to do some fun things for the holiday. They had breakfast with the bunny at the Zoo and the kids had a blast. Well, Lily had a blast. Henry still wasn't so sure about the characters that were walking around. Lily and Baldy also dyed some eggs. Here's a picture Grandma and Grandpa took on Easter Sunday before church. Lily loves fancy dresses, even if you can't quite tell from looking at the picture.



Click on the album to see pictures from the other activities.

Easter 2011, The Good Stuff

Tornado

I got my paws on Katie's phone to give everyone an update on our situation. It's very hard to use this touchscreen with claws, so I apologize for any typos. I also have no idea how the formatting will work posting from the phone, so sorry if everything looks goofy.

Anyway, our house was in the path of the tornado that hit the area this past Friday. We're all ok. Lily was with Grandma Gail and Papa Dean at the time. Me, Greg, Katie, and Henry were in the basement. We felt the pressure change and heard a loud noise. When we looked out the basement window we saw drywall, our first clue things were not good. Greg went upstairs with a flashlight and yelled down "Katie, there are gumballs in the hallway.". Once we all got upstairs we saw that our neighbor's gum ball tree was in our bedroom.

We were able to get the outside debris and downed trees cleaned up yesterday. A company is at the house today to help us get started on the inside.

The neighborhood's a mess, but we're fortunate there were no injuries. The house is a wreck, but can be fixed and the majority of our things have been spared, though Greg and Katie will be doing a closer evaluation of the inside items in the coming days to know for sure. They're calling for more severe weather tonight, so hopefully the tarps on everyone's roofs will hold up. Fortunately, we have a place to stay in the coming days/weeks/however long it takes to make our house livable again.

Thank you for the prayers and offers of help. We'll keep you posted. My people have taken a ton of pictures and will hopefully be able to post them soon.

God is good and will be glorified through all of this.

I know they had to throw away my dog bed. Bummer.

Rude Wake-Up Call

Last night around 12:15, the carbon monoxide detector started beeping because the battery was dying. That is a nerve-wracking sound! I don't think Katie appreciated me shaking like a leaf while literally standing on her head in bed while Greg changed the batteries.

Spring Snow

On Tuesday, March 22, Katie took the kids to the zoo to enjoy the 70+ degree weather (and forgot the camera, of course). On Saturday, March 26 we had snow. Only in St. Louis. The blooming daffodils were not happy about it.

The kids had a blast though.

Hopefully that'll be the last time we see snow until winter.

I Like Sitting in Chairs!!

Steamboat

About a month ago, my people took me to my cousins' house to stay for a week. The kids came and stayed a couple of days too and then left to visit with their other grandparents for a few days. It turns out my people went on a vacation. They were itching to go on a ski trip and decided to celebrate their 10 year anniversary early and fly to Steamboat Springs, CO.

It sounds like they had a great time. They skied for 4 days, had their first experience snowshoeing, ate out way too much, slept in, and were able to sit on a couch without zombie babies coming after them. (Whenever my people sit next to each other on the couch at home, the kids will undoubtedly stop whatever they're doing and head straight for the couch while making noise. My people now lovingly refer to them as zombie babies whenever this happens.)

While they missed the kiddos like crazy and the friends they've skied with in the past, it was a nice break and escape from reality, just the two of them. They have now been back for about 3 weeks and are settled back into their routines. The kids had a great time with the grandparents and I enjoyed my time with my cousins. I get chicken on my food! And one side of a sleep number bed to sleep on at night! It's glorious.

Here are pictures from Steamboat, if you're interested. As usual, click on the photo to see the whole album.

Steamboat Springs, CO 2011

Matching Jammies

My people got Lily a pair of new pajamas. The store had an adult sized version also, so they got them thinking Lily would get a kick out of it. They were right. She thought it was really funny that she and Katie matched. "We're twins!"

Babies and Bellies

Sarah has a baby in her belly. We're all very excited about this. I insisted on feeling the baby kick. I think it made Sarah a little uncomfortable because she kept moving my paw, but I kept putting it right back on her belly. And then I looked directly at the camera and posed. I need to work on my smile a bit though.

Upside Down

I see you!

Wanna Hear the Most Annoying Sound in the World?

Remember this scene from the movie Dumb & Dumber?



Behold dinner the other night.



You're welcome.

Typical Day

When I'm outside, I'm digging.


When I'm inside, I'm sleeping.

Baldy's not too happy with me. Not only am I tearing up his yard, but I've also claimed his side of the bed.

The Carolinas

The day after Christmas, I was picked up and taken to Nome and Hawkeye's house to spend the week. It was glorious! Not one kiddo was around to bother me. While I was there, my people headed to the Carolinas to visit their brothers and Lily and Henry's cousins. They drove to Columbia, SC and stayed for a couple of days to play with Ben and Sam and then headed up to Cary, NC to play with Maddie, Nate and Avery. It sounds like they had a lot fun and my tall people are very thankful and surprised that the car ride(s) went so well. Like usual, you can click the album to see pictures.

The Carolinas

My Cousins

Nome

Hawkeye

Winston

Snowmen and Sledding

With the snow we got for Christmas, Lily was able to enjoy a couple of firsts....building a snowman (or two) and sledding. She loved it! The snow was a great packing snow for building snowmen and my cousins, Nome and Hawkeye, have an excellent sledding hill in their backyard. Here are some pictures.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Snow 2010

Christmas 2010

It's hard to believe Christmas has come and gone and it's already 2011. My people enjoyed the holidays and learned that Henry is not a fan of Santa.

Maybe next year, bud.

They went to Dinner with Santa at the Zoo and had a lot of fun (even if Henry was afraid of jolly old St. Nick and all of his character friends that joined him at the dinner). After dinner, they got to walk around the zoo and check out all of the lights and decorations. Click the album for more pictures.

Dinner w/ Santa and Zoo Lights 2010

The rest of the week leading up to Christmas they decorated sugar cookies (I won't even tell you how much my tall girl person cheated with the cookies this year), saw Grandma and Grandpa Stewart, went to Christmas Eve service at Papa Dean's church and spent Christmas Day at Grandma and Grandpa Wagner's. Click on the album below to see pictures. We had a white Christmas and the kids, especially Lily, LOVED it. I think she expects it to snow every Christmas now. I'll save those pictures for another time though.

Christmas 2010