Saturday, July 30, 2011

Wine & Wii Weekend- 2011 edition

So it's Saturday again. Can someone please tell me what happened to the week? I'm in the process of trying to pack for BlogHer, and feeling more that just a little overwhelmed. With taking vacation time comes the effort of getting my office prepared for me to be gone. I've been training one of the part time girls to do the bare minimum of what needs to happen. People, strangely, want to get paid even when I'm gone. Hmmm, go figure. I've also been trying to get clothes ready. I stress about what I'm going to wear to work, can you picture how many combos of outfits I've tried on? The guest bed is covered in clothes. Oh, so that means I have to get that cleaned up too. 

Courtney Dawn came home Thursday! Woo! When she left  in April I knew it would go fast, but I'm so relieved that basic & tech school are finished & she can be home with her family. I know 3 little girls & a daddy that are happy too!

Last weekend we had our 4th annual Wine & Wii Weekend. I really can't believe it's been a year since the last time I wrote about it. And what a difference a year makes. This year was more of a baby commune than anything else. It's the first time we've had Grehyor, Emerson & Myla together. After this weekend I can't wait to watch them grow up together. 




As always, there was so much good food. 

Most of these hot little beauties came right out of our garden

This is my favorite go-to salad. Pretty sure I could live on it for quite a while.


Christina made this oh so yummy corn mac-n-cheese.

Brats are from the butcher shop that Jake's step-dad owns. Delicious!

Why do itty bitty wings when you can do full size chicken legs?


So I guess most of Columbia had no idea it rained. Well it did, right when Adam was trying to finish up the grilling! 

Rain + sunshine= rainbows  :o)

Food coma, coming right up!

Annie thinks she needs to play too!

Most of the time was a big baby exchange.

Gabi & Olivia took over the man cave & had a Christmas movie marathon.


3 Amigos

Even Adam got in on the baby action

On to a little Wii. Here's our Mii roundup. What a motley crew we are!  



So another great family weekend is in the books. Life is good.

xoxo

Lissa

Friday, July 22, 2011

How Annie got home

I said that I would explain the product that, I feel, is responsible for Annie being home. 

When she came home with us I looked for a name tag for her, and although I don't remember how I found it, I decided to get this too. Little did I know it would be such a good call. It pretty much amounts to a doggy Facebook account. You put in all the contact info a picture, etc

Her name tag with my phone number is worn almost smooth so the " ID tag" is what her rescuers used.  




.



Couldn't be easier. On her profile is a red button that I can report her lost- where, when etc. 
There are 3 more pages to this of all the shelters etc that were emailed with her profile. I wouldn't have known where to begin .

It's even better when you report them found! 

They are even sending a free replacement tag to replace the one that's a little worn.


The yellow pin at the Southwest corner is where she started. She ended up Northeast across a few farms  & a highway


I know there are great tags of the same type. But I'm giving props where they are certainly due.

xoxo

Lissa

Saturday, July 16, 2011

A Myla Weekend

 So Miss Myla came to visit last weekend. Just a few days short of 3 months while she was here I really wasn't sure what to expect with this baby girl. What I didn't expect was that she would sleep all night when she wasn't in her own bed. Night #1 was a 9:30 to 7.10 morning. Night #2 she was asleep at 10:15 then woke up at 6. I'm thinkin "Yeah, that's more like it." Until she had a bottle and went back to sleep until 9. Danee doesn't know how good she has it.! 

She's smiley & is absolutely fascinated by TV. Harry Potter marathon was on the agenda for the weekend. Hey, don't judge. 

It's fun to watch Adam with the girls. He's getting used to babies being around. He's never been around them so I'd say he's adjusted well over time. 
I couldn't figure out if she was giving him some big news or a lecture

I love sleepy smiles. Wonder what she's dreaming about.


Danee couldn't get through the door fast enough to get this baby back & just like that, my Myla weekend was over. Can't wait for the next one!

xoxo

Lissa

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Rewind- July 4th visit

So now that things are back to "normal" around here. Here's what we were up to 4th of July weekend. Gabi was here, yay! Just her this weekend. I planned on going to the pool so a 6 year old was much easier to handle than adding a 3 & 2 year old to the mix. I'm good, but not that good.

As always, art supplies are the first things to come out.

Bubbles have got to give the most bang for your buck. She blew every last drop of that bubble solution.

Nana, did you know you can see yourself in bubbles?  

Pool time. I love the pool so I'm glad she does too. 


The 1st screening of 3D. We chose Tangled  




Buddies

xoxo

Lissa

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey... Annie Style


What a difference a week makes. 

Last Thursday when I wrote this, I could not have asked for a better outcome. She's a little rough around the edges, but Annie-the grey hair causing dog is home, and that's what matters the most! 

The kids watched this movie over & over and, even though Adam used it to make me fell better, I got less hopeful every day.

Myla was here from Friday to Sunday & Adam was out of town so I was pretty tired. I was in bed by 9:30. At 10:38 the phone rang & I thought it was mine so I jumped up. Not my phone, Adam's & it was his mom. I'll be honest, the first thing that came to mind is "Oh no! Something has happened to John." He answers, listens & says "No shit!!" That was all I heard. I LOST IT. A week of scared & sad was over. As tired as I was I knew it wouldn't be a brilliant move to drive out to get her (although that's what I wanted to do) so we decided to wait until Monday. And what a loooooong day it was.

Tuesday brought a day at the vets. I felt bad leaving her again, but there was no help for it. Janie had pulled more than 100 ticks off her back, neck face & belly. But they filled her ears too. Enough so that the vet was grossed out right along with me. I took pictures, but I'll spare you those. She is now on some "super" antibiotic to help with the odds of tick borne illnesses. Eye drops for her gooey eyes, cream that goes in her ears for the itch and swelling from the bites, benadryl for itching and swelling cause there is plenty of that. Poor baby girl.

They also found "puncture wounds" on her neck. My first thought was SNAKE. These, after cleaning and a little shaving, ended up having a matching set under the other ear too. So no snake. Either a dog or a coyote had her by the neck at some point. 

She is not chipped, but that will change. One Saturday, when she's recovered a bit we'll take her up to lizzi & rocco's  & I'm sure she'll even get a treat out of the deal.

I'll explain the super great tag & system that got her home later this week.

So for now I'm going to go snuggle with this sweet girl & be thankful. Now, not just that we are her people, but that she's back.  

Tick bit belly. You can see where there are patches of hair gone too. 

Puncture wounds on one side of her neck. There is a matching set on the other side.

xoxo

Lissa

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Broken hearted


I've sat down to write this more times than I can count this week, but haven't been able to do it. If I write it, it's true. And it's just too hard for me if it's true. 

We stopped at Adam's parents farm to pick up a lawn mower on Sunday afternoon after dropping Gabi off. I let Annie play outside with Elsie the basset hound like she has done countless times. This time though she found something to chase. Adam said she was standing out beside the horse trailer & then she was off. She loves to run after bunnies, birds or hell, even butterflies, but she comes when you call her.

I don't know what made this different. She didn't come back. We walked 80+ acres and called until we were horse. We drove the roads & back into bean fields. We have cuts & chigger bites. But we couldn't find her.

So my Annie is lost. I can't say she's gone although the logical side of my brain knows the odds. I can't make that brain stop thinking either. Bad things. Guilty. I wish so badly that I could shut my brain down

Adam, because he's always trying to take care of me, tells me that maybe she's on an "Incredible Journey". That's the thought I would really like to hold onto. So her stuff is still out, food still in her bowl. I just can't put it away.

So many people struggle with horrible things in their lives & although I realize that some would say that she was a pet, she was my baby. And my heart is broken into a million tiny pieces. 

I miss...  
  • How she licked my legs when I got out of the shower
  • She raced you up or down the stairs. And always won
  • She would wait for you to put the warm laundry out of the dryer on the bed and wanted to lay in it
  • She barked 1 time when she went out the back door to tell the neighbor dogs she was coming out
  • She ALWAYS snuck in between us in bed
  • Telling her "no face" because she LOVED kisses