Great Day for The Arboretum!

We decided to take Grandma and Grandpa to the Arboretum to see the Chihluly exhibit (and take advantage of the nice day!). Look who we ran into...

This is not a great picture but Ray and me together in a pic is a rarity so I had to share :)

Grandma & Grandpa with some cool sculptures in the background

Grandma lovin' up Chloe

Miss Chloe trying her hardest to smile after stepping into and getting bitten by some nasty fire ants. It was a traumatic experience - her first time getting bitten :(

 It took forever to get them out of her shoe. Stupid fire ants! 

Poser!

He did give me a couple of good smiles though!

One of my favorite sculptures and of course, some of my favorite people!

Here we all are in front of a really cool one!!

Our Little Driver

CG is getting pretty good at driving the golf cart. She's little to be driving but doesn't she look so grown up?!

Cowboys Game!

The kids got to experience their first NFL game on 11/17 when we went to the Cowboys vs. Browns. It was a great game that they ended up winning in OT. Unfortunately we left moments before the Cowboys tied it up to go into OT. Parker fell asleep in my lap and Ray had to catch a plane so we needed to beat the crowd out of Arlington.

We spent about $60 on a burger, chicken fingers, two beers, cotton candy and a soft pretzel. Given the face value of our tickets and parking pass were $1,300 and we got them for FREE we aren't complaining! It was a beautiful day and a really awesome venue, built to take advantage of great Texas weather in November.

Thankful

Today we are Thankful that Grandma and Grandpa were willing to drive 10 hours to be with us on Thanksgiving! We are eternally thankful for all of God's graces, especially two beautiful, healthy kids.

Miss Bella

So while Ray was in Prague (but with his blessing), the kids and I picked up a new Gibson on a whim. This is Bella. 7 lbs (or HALF the size of our cat) when we got her but I'm pretty sure that she's put on at least a pound since Chloe has been feeding her.

We got her about a week before Gracie passed away. I've been so sad about losing Gracie that I haven't wanted to write about Bella. She's really Chloe's dog, Chloe picked her, or she picked Chloe - not really sure which. She was at PetSmart with a local rescue group and Chloe asked to hold her. Bella curled up right on Chloe's lap and it was all over.

It's been quite an adjustment - we're a "big dog" family. This girl does everything differently - she grazes instead of inhaling her food, she insists on sleeping in bed, under the covers, pees if you grab her too abruptly and she chews up shoes :(

On a positive note - she patrols the backyard like a big tough Doberman (she even caught a rabbit), she NEVER barks and she is sweet as can be. Oh, and Beau really enjoys having a playmate!

First Day of School - 2012!

Here's our little second grader! Chloe is really looking forward to having one of her Kindergarten friends in her class again this year. In her grade, the boys outnumber the girls by more than 2 to 1. I dread the day that she deems that a good thing!

Parker was not in the mood! This little man officially started private Kindergarten at his daycare. He's too young for it to count but he was ready and since he was already in the school, they took him. He'll go to "regular" Kindergarten next year. Somehow this kid already knows how to write his name. Silly mom never even tried to put a pen in his hand - boy did I feel like a loser when he brought home his first paper!

Still not in the mood :(

Parker's handy work:

More of Parker's picture-taking! Beautifying my girl :)

Sad Day

I woke up in the middle of the night to find Gracie not feeling well. She had thrown up, her breathing was labored and she barely wagged her tail when I approached - a telltale sign that something was seriously wrong. Thank goodness Ray made it home from Prague yesterday so that I was able to take her to the vet at 3 am.

I took her to the emergency room where they determined she had fluid around her heart, most likely from a cancerous tumor that had erupted. The pressure on her heart was preventing it from working properly so she was very weak. 

The prognosis was not good as there really is no treatment for that type of cancer and they gave her a few weeks at best. Sadly, we decided to end her suffering. I couldn't stand to see my sweet spunky girl so sick. 

We love you crazy Grazie and we will miss you terribly.

The Pool is Open!

Yay! We swam in our pool tonight! Parker and Chloe actually swam yesterday - the water was pretty yucky after the concrete work but they just couldn't wait! Chloe was the first one in! We still need to tile the inside border of the pool and stain the concrete but that's not going to keep us out of the pool!

Here are some of the final construction shots. This is when they were getting ready to bring in concrete.

They brought it in by the wheel barrow. Our pool builder told Ray we'd be surprised at how fast they get it done and he wasn't kidding. 4 wheel barrows made quick work of it!

Finishing it up from inside the pool.

After all of the major construction was done. Note the green mucky water. This is what the kids swam in on Sunday!

All is Quiet in the Backyard!

The pool is installed, plumbing is connected and yard is back-filled. We're ready for electrical and concrete this week. We also have some beautiful perimeter tile to install around the top of the pool.

Mother Nature was kind and brought us some good rain today. We think she knew our lawn and landscaping was thirsty given our sprinkler system was pretty much destroyed in the back! We are ever so grateful! Ray called someone to come and look at the sprinkler and they have a two-week wait for service :(

We got a little bit of rain last night too and got to enjoy this pretty rainbow over the backyard!

Enjoying the Mess!

The kiddos had so much fun playing in the big sand pile! It was pajama day at school on Friday, hence Chloe's attire. I'm still trying to get her pants back to white!

Heavy Equipment

Silly contractors. They should know better than to leave keys in the Bobcat.

Backyard Adventure - The Pool Arrives!