Windy day!

All night long the wind has been howling. This morning when the boys were getting ready for school, a huge gust moved our picnic table and chairs over, slamming it into our grill and breaking a piece off it (the grill). This is a heavy table with a thick glass top! Dave has to go to Buffalo today. I hope he doesn't blow off the road!

Isn't it lovely?

A stone fireplace in the works!

Dave started putting up the mesh stuff for our stone fireplace today, how exciting! He put one piece up, said it "was too much work", and started playing with the dog.

Not Feeling Well

In this picture I was probably just teething, but maybe I felt something like I did today. I woke up with a very sore throat this morning, and have a nasty cough and stuffy/runny nose. I just have that overall headachy feeling that comes with a bad cold. Luckily I don't get colds all that often. I am convinced that tomorrow will be a better day.

My, how they've changed!

One of my friends has offered to watch Koty while we're away this year. I am very grateful for this. She has 2 dogs of her own.

The Beach

This is Dave and I at the beach last February break. In only 3 more weeks or so we'll be there again!! Today I feel cold, have a scratchy throat and a cough.

Happy Birthday Steven!

Steven is 14 today! I can hardly believe it. Here are 13 things about Steven...

1. He loves to draw and is quite good at it.
2. He swam on a swim team for 2 years.
3. He really enjoys swimming, but prefers to get his homework done rather than have it hanging over his head.
4. He's always been grossed out when our previous and current dog got their saliva on his skin, although he will let them lick his hands if he can wash them right after.
5. He's a very hard worker in school.
6. He's very kind to others.
7. I hear he's quiet in school, but he's not at home. I sometimes tease him that I'm going to videotape him and play it for his teachers.
8. He used to love to sing when he was little and could carry a tune quite well!
9. He loves sweets and is often heard saying, "Mom, we need some goodies around here!"
10. He loves to "push Michael's buttons".
11. He's very competitive.
12. He's good at bumper pool.
13. He cares about others.
14. I am proud to call him my son! Happy Birthday, buddy!

Koty's entertainment

Koty is pleased as punch just to sit and watch Dave cut every segment of his grapefruit with a knife and then eat it. When Dave was finished he tried squirting Koty with the peel, which made Koty feel very playful. He ran around the room like a crazy dog!

Ouchie!

This is a picture of my lovely thumb (with neosporin all over it), which I just found out has an infection in it from our little Koty getting it with his tooth 9 days ago. It didn't feel like much then, but today it is very angry. I now have a prescription for antibiotics and had to get a tetanus shot. That little stinker.....

Wind

I guess our unseasonably warm weather for the last couple of days comes at a cost. Today the cold air is moving back in, so with the warm and cold air colliding comes WIND. These are a couple pictures from our local newspaper.

Steven's Falcon

Steven, my almost 14 year old, drew this falcon about a month or so ago. He looked at a picture of it while he drew it. I think he did a great job!

It's warm outside!

It was like a balmy spring day today. It is 11:15pm and it seems like it keeps getting warmer outside. An hour or so ago it was 60 degrees and now it is 62 degrees. The kids are getting nervous that we won't have a "real" winter, but I'm enjoying it...I know it won't last.

Special friends

I am so thankful for the small group of friends that we meet with every other Thursday or so to study the Bible and pray together. Tonight we ended up just praying together...that's actually all we had time for, but what a blessing it was! I feel like these people are family. I think everyone should have friends they can talk deeply with and pray with on a regular basis.

Koty meets someone new

Today a dog trainer came over with her 15 week old puppy to meet Koty. He will be starting puppy Kindergarten in the middle of January, so this was like a little introduction. Koty was a little nervous about this new friend at first. When she came in the front door, he ran and squealed a little bit, then came back and looked at her like in the above picture.

This is them playing together.

He even shared his new chewy stick, and quite nicely I might add! He just watched a little, but didn't growl or try to take it from her.

Merry Christmas from all of us...Koty too!

A little confused puppy

Here's Koty opening his Christmas present. (I know it's early, but we couldn't resist)

Once the gift was opened, it just fell out on the floor, and Koty ran off with the paper in his mouth.

Here he decided that the gift was actually much better tasting than the wrapper it was in.

A visit to my parents

Tonight when we went to visit my parents. They were frosting Christmas cookies together.

Later in the night, my mom laid on the floor because she wanted to see what Koty would do. This is what he did...he climbed all over her head, messed up her hair, licked her face, and then play bit.

This is what she looked like when he was finished...well actually she took one quick swipe at her hair just before Dave snapped the picture.

An early Christmas present!!!

Tonight my honey gave me my Christmas present because he said he couldn't wait. I think I was one of the few people who still didn't have a cell phone, and I had talked to him about getting one for a while, but every time the subject would come up he would insist that I didn't need one. He has one only because he has to for his job and his employer pays for it. Anyway, there have been many many times where it would've come in handy... like when I hit the deer last August, and when I went to Vegas for my job in March (I had to borrow one of my coworker's phones or go into a smoke filled casino to use a pay phone so I could call my family.), etc....

Chocolate baked macaroni and cheese?

A few nights ago Steven put some meatloaf and homemade baked macaroni and cheese on his plate, and then proceeded to go get some Nesquik to put in his milk. We always harass him because he never fails to get some on the place mat while he's putting it in his milk. Well, this particular night he was bound and determined that he wasn't going to get any on his place mat. Just as he was about to put it in his milk (and oh SO carefully) Dave scared him by making a loud noise. This is what happened to the chocolate. He immediately looked at his plate and said, "I'm NOT eating that!" It was pretty funny so I had to take a picture. He did get a new helping of mac and cheese. (Notice the few granules that made it into his milk)