Luke's Playdate

A video posted for my aunt...

Looking Ahead

Remember Luke? He's coming back to live with us permanently! The kids are so excited, especially following what happened with Mack when we tried to replace Luke when it was time for him to go back to my aunt. We got the phone call yesterday asking if we were interested in keeping him. He'll be coming home with us when we come back from Chicago after Easter.

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For a couple of weeks now, I've been consumed with researching where we will be going on vacation this summer. We had it narrowed down to Gulf Shores, Fort Lauderdale and St. Pete's Beach (last year's destination). All were within our price range, but we just couldn't decide. Someone up above must have been tired of our indecision, because on a lark we started plugging in Caribbean destinations when we came across an incredible deal for a very kid friendly, all inclusive resort in Cancun.

I am so excited about this for a couple of reasons. One, because I never really thought I would get the opportunity to see another country or anywhere as beautiful and tropical in the near future. Second, because we've booked this trip along with Bret's brother's family. The kids are really excited that we'll be going on such a fun vacation with their cousins.

It'll be really fun having another family there to hang out with. If anyone is looking for a great place in Cancun to take the kids, you'll have to check this place out! The Great Parnassus caters to kids and is absolutely gorgeous!

Spring Fever

There's just something about the first spring like day in March to set of a chain reaction. That day for us just happened to fall on a 4 day weekend. This kids are off of school today and tomorrow and the weather passed the 70 degree mark. Kids up and down the block were out playing with their friends. Families were out taking walks with the family dog and the sunset was toasted with a beer (or two) out on the back deck. The first glorious spring like day of many more to come!

Tomorrow is suppose to be even nicer and I can't wait to leave the messy house and the piles of laundry behind to spend another day outside. But along with this prelude to spring, comes the big question that has been on my mind since the weather began warming up: Where will we take the family on vacation this summer?

Every time this year I start hounding my husband about what we'll do this summer in regards to vacation. The kids want to go back to Florida. I vote Disney, but the savings account says not this year. I think we may have narrowed it down to driving to Gulf Shores, AL or flying back to St. Pete's Beach (as we did last summer) and keeping it low key and relaxing. Either choice is a win, in my opinion.

Spring and summer sports are also getting ready to promise busy nights to come. Ashley starts rec league volleyball at the end of this month. Summer softball practices start next weekend and Ryan has already been out practicing his batting and catching skills. He even got back on his bike today which required me to run about 50 laps around the cul-de-sac. It seemed like he had completely forgotten how to balance and then BAM - he remembered. Whew!

Yep, busy is getting ready to make it's return. Can you blame me for thinking vacation?

Stalker, High Tech Style

How did I not know about this whole RSS feed thing all this time? Last weekend my brother reformatted my laptop due to some problems with viruses. When I went in to set up my Outlook files, I noticed that there was a folder for RSS feeds. I am so loving this! I've got all my little blogger friends added in and now I'll either (1) never miss a blog post of theirs again or (2) drown in a sea of posts that I end up slacking on. I'm betting it will lean towards 2, but I'll definitely try and keep up now!

Well. Hello, Stranger!

I'm back. Not sure if anyone still reads this thing, but I'm back. I'm not making any promises on frequent updates, but here's what's been going on lately.

Our new puppy is now longer with us. (Did you notice his absence in the picture up top there?) A little over a week ago he unfortunately showed us his true colors - or at least what could be expected in the future. I had given both dogs raw hides and Ashley was sitting on the floor next to Mack petting him when with no warning he suddenly attacked her. There was no warning growl, just a lunge to her face that resulted in the need for an ER visit to get stitches.

This was upsetting on so many levels because the one concrete rule Bret and I had made when adopting him was that he was gone after the first bite - no exceptions. I wish I could say we didn't see it coming, but the week before he had growled at Ryan because he had stepped over him while he was eating from his bowl.

It's unfortunate because he had showed so much potential. He really was a good little pup. I'm not angry at him because I honestly think he didn't know he had done anything wrong and immediately wanted to play. Unfortunately, if he did this at 6 months old, I was willing to bet a sizable fortune that he would do it again. We have small children that live on both sides of us that use the playground equipment in our backyard so there was absolutely no way we could keep a dog that had already attacked once.

It was heartbreaking, we took him back to Paws that very next morning. I cried the whole way there and the whole way back. I cried some more while putting his things away. Surprisingly, the kids took it very well. I think they were now afraid of him, so letting him go was a bit easier for them.

I thank God everyday that the damage to Ashley's face was pretty minor compared to other dog bites that I've seen before. Hopefully there won't be any scaring. I've learned through this process that it's probably not a good idea to get a puppy from the pound. You have no idea what they've been through or how they will turn out. I'm sure we'll adopt again (and not until Daisy is gone, if I can help it) but next time we'll stick with a dog that's already a year or two old that hopefully would have already showed any aggression by then.

Keeping Us Busy

The New Year has brought busy times with it. Ashley's Volleyball Team's games have started. They are 0 for 2, but have come so close to their first win as their new school's first team. They're having fun and Ashley is getting tons of play time. She is the second tallest girl on her team.

Mack continues to grow and Daisy continues to tolerate him. This shows just how much she has to tolerate:

Mack has slept in his crate in the family room at night since we got him last month, but lately he's starting to understand where Daisy sleeps and has been trying to invite himself in. We gave in this weekend and brought Daisy's downstairs bed up for Mack and he slept throught the night in our room on it both nights! It seems there will be no more crate for the puppy at night anymore!

Exhausted.

Pinewood Derby and Puppy Updates

It's been super busy around here since the New Year rolled around. I'm planning Rock The House again this year and since it's next month, I only seeing myself getting busier from here on out.

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Mack is 5 months old now and has now put on a total of 10 pounds since we got him almost a month ago. Look at the size of his paws in the picture below. Yes, I'm nervous, too. He's pretty much housebroken now and is very well behaved until visitors come over. He assumes anyone that comes through the door is here to see him and gets super excited. When that happens he forgets all manners and doesn't seem to hear me when I try to control him. That would be our big challenge right now. He and Daisy get along fairly well until he gets these little hyper periods where he runs around the house at 60 mph and tries to engage her in play. She's an old lady and is just not having it. We're working on that right now, as well.

Today was Ryan's Pinewood Derby race. He and Bret built Two Faced a set of wheels and while it didn't break any speed records, it did come in second place for best looking.

Since bringing Mack home from the pound last month, we've had him sleep in his crate in the family room. He also stays in there when we're not home or just plain need a break from all things puppy. I've been cleaning the house today and have let him follow me around for the most part. After some time I realized that I didn't know where he was or what he was up to. (Panic!) I quietly looked for him and found him - all snuggly warm in my dark (my camera has a super bright flash) bedroom sleeping in Daisy's bed. I have a feeling this means he won't be sleeping in his crate for much longer.

Sweet, isn't it?

Reading

I received this book as a Christmas gift from my aunt last week. I had declared yesterday as a lazy day, picked up the book and started to read it, and wasn't able to put it down until I was finished. I have to say that I was under the impression that this was a true story after reading the foreword and continued to believe so throughout the book, which may be why I was able to read it so quickly. While I was relieved that the little girl in the story was not real and did not go through the unthinkable, I felt a little betrayed by the author when I went to the book's website and found that none of it was real. That said, this is still one of the best books I've read in a long time. I won't get into the details of the book for fear of ruining it for someone that still has yet to read it, but it really makes you think on a deeper level.

Happy New Year!

Christmas was wonderful, but boy am I happy for it to be over. Tonight we'll be ringing in the New Year with good friends, but I thought I'd post some pictures from Christmas while I've got a few free minutes.

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Christmas Eve at Bret's Dad's house...

Christmas morning at home....

Mack, who continues to grow at an alarmingly fast pace. I took him in for his last round of boosters today and the vet says he's going to be a very big boy. I'm told that there is a dog that comes into the clinic that looked exactly like Mack as a puppy and that he's a German Shepherd/St. Bernard mix. He's also 130 pounds. Yes, I got a little light headed upon hearing this. Only time will tell, but he's already found a place into our hearts so we'll accept him whether he's Daisy sized or Monster sized.

Late Christmas morning we hit the road and made the drive to my mom's house to celebrate Christmas with my family.

Wiped out, Cubbies style!

Christmas Presents Secured

Bret and I took Ryan to see Santa tonight so now we're officially ready for Christmas. Ashley missed out since she wanted to go to a friend's house instead. It's kind of sad when they get older. I'm also afraid that this could be Ryan's last "magical" year. He hasn't asked any questions yet himself, but last week when I went to help his classroom in the library, a lot of his classmates were offering up opinions. I wanted to hush them, but couldn't think of a tactful way to do it. So, here's hoping this isn't our last year...

Attention: Long Lost Blogger Found

It's been awhile. I realize that. Things have been so crazy around here since we got this puppy. It almost feels like we brought home an overly hyper and curious toddler last weekend. Things actually got pretty stressful around these parts.

Mack came home last weekend and by Monday morning he was running a 104 fever and very lethargic. I took him to (a very expensive) vet appointment to find out that his kennel cough had progressed into a secondary bacterial infection. He's been taking antibiotics (which are *so* fun to shove down his throat twice a day) and he seems to be almost over it. His cold like symptoms are still around but I think he's at the tail end of it.

Daisy got sick, too. The same day I took Mack to the vet I brought home some Nylabones for the dogs to chew on. Daisy chewed hers up into chunks and was throwing them up by 4:30am the following morning. We were getting pretty worried about her, praying that she didn't have a blockage. Two days of vomiting later, she had gotten over it.

Mack is doing awesome in the house training department. He's had no accidents in the house over the past 4 days and is the sweetest thing. Daisy seems to be tolerating him for the most part, but when Mack tries to initiate her in play, Daisy goes ballistic on him. We have no idea how to handle that. I know we have to let her assert herself as dominant dog, but my gut tells me that we should only be letting her "respond" to him to a certain aggressive level. We were given the number of a animal behaviorist when we adopted Mack and I'll be calling her tomorrow. Those times stress us out a lot and we really need to figure out how to deal with it if we want Mack to work out.

Last, but not least - we all have horrible head colds. For the last few days I've thought that maybe Ashley and I were fighting allergies, but Bret and Ryan both started getting the whole sneezing, head congestion, stuffy nose thing today. I'm hoping we're over it by Christmas later this week.

Three days until Christmas Eve. How the heck did that happen? It seemed like it was so far away and now all of a sudden it's about to be here and gone. The kids are starting to get really excited. We caved and opened up gifts between each other tonight which made the kids really happy to get a gift each ahead of Christmas.

Thankfully, we're ready for Christmas to come. We're anticipating that it may be a little sad and hard at times since this will be our first Christmas without Bret's mom, but we've worked hard to make sure it's a good one.

If I don't get back here before - Have a Merry, Merry Christmas!

Adjusting

Mack came home yesterday morning and things are going very well - busy, but well! Housetraining has been a lot easier than we had expected. He goes every time we take him outside. We found out instantly that he's a beggar the minute any kind of food came out. Funny how he automatically sits on his own when someone has food, but doesn't know how when you ask him to.

He's very playful, which Dasiy doesn't seem to be doing so well with. He constantly tries to engage her in play and her response is to growl at him. I may call the animal behaviorist number they gave us just to see how they recommend dealing with that. I'm not sure if we should let her deal with Mack on her own or if we should keep him away from Daisy. It seems to me that Daisy is trying to teach him manners, but Mack isn't get it.

Still top dog.

I was prepared for a rough night last night, but was nicely surprised that he let us sleep until 6:45am with no accidents. That's huge in my book!

Preparing For Baby

While we anxiously wait for tomorrow morning to come, I'll be busy puppy proofing around here. First on the list was finding a safe place for him to be when we can't be watching him. Not my idea of home decorating, but we don't really have a choice and didn't want to buy 3 different size crates, so that left us with one big one that comes with a partition. See that pretty little tree by the fire place? That would be just one of the many things that's going to have to go.

I don't even know where to begin when it comes to the Christmas tree and the Lego Train. Also, family members can probably expect presents this year with puppy teeth marks.

This plant that I have somehow miraculously kept alive since my mother in law's funeral just screams "Play with me, puppy!" Where on Earth am I going to put this where I won't forget about it?

I may leave this guy out just for some comic relief. If Mack takes on the snowman, who will win?

So as you can see, I really have no idea where to begin. I also noticed him nosing around at the electrical outlets in the visiting room at PAWS yesterday. At least I still have the plastic white plugs to fill those in with from my babysitting days.

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Daisy is clearly trying to figure out what is going on here. She's been watching our every move for the past couple of days and keeps going over and sniffing the crate. (She refuses to go in it, though.) I can already see the look on her face when we bring Mack home. It will say, "What in the hell is this and what I am suppose to do with him, huh?!"

Meet Mack

Meet the newest member of our family. We officially adopted Mack today. Tomorrow he will see the vet at PAWS to be ok'd for neutering. On Saturday morning, we'll pick him up and bring him home.

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Bret and I went and spent some time with him this afternoon. He's really a good little pup. He's already got quite the cute little personality. We took some pictures and video for Ashley, who still has yet to meet him. With volleyball practice and school going on right now, she's never home during their visiting hours. The excitement is really killing her.

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Upon spending almost and hour bonding with him today, we've come to the conclusion that he looks an awful lot like Daisy. It's almost like looking at a baby version of her. While I don't want him to get big too fast, I'm looking forward to seeing just how much he ends up looking like Daisy.

Puppy Update

We are super excited! The puppy is ours. I called the shelter just before they closed today to see if the first hold ever came in to adopt him. The lady said no one ever showed up and that he was ours to adopt now. We'll go in tomorrow to finalize the adoption, but it will be a day or two before little Mack can come home since he has to be neutered first.

Then the fun begins! We can predict that Daisy will probably be extremely jealous, but Mack is still small enough that she can assert herself as dominant dog. Our hope is that she will be a tremendous help in training him because she doesn't put up with crap from other dogs.

It's nice to have some time to get prepared for him, too. We've already been out shopping around for dog crates and other essentials. The fact that we don't have a puppy in our arms right this minute means we don't have to go out and spend a fortune in a hurry.

Now I've got a day or two to learn as much as I can about puppy training. Any suggestions?

Waiting Game

Since returning Luke to my aunt, we've been looking into adopting a new dog. We've made a few trips to the animal shelter and have come up with nothing...until now. Last night we put a hold on a 4 month old puppy and now we are waiting to find out if he'll be ours.

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There was already a 24 hour hold put on him by another person and they have until this afternoon to decide. We were told that holds are put on dogs all the time only to have no one come back and adopt them, so we took the fact that they didn't adopt him on the spot as a positive (and hopeful) sign.

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I've tried to stay calm and not get too excited, but he's just so stinking cute!

This may be the longest day of my life.

One Year, And A Life Time Ahead

A year ago today, I embarked on a life long journey. I became a nonsmoker. So many times I had tried to stop smoking and had failed. This time was different. This time I had an army of supporters - family and friends - both online and off. This time I had Chantix, my miracle drug. The drug that helped me to finally kick the habit. One year - the longest I've ever been able to quit in my 12 years of smoking.

Besides taking Chantix, the one other major reason why I believe I have been so successful with this quit is because my husband quit as well. We stuck in there together and are all that more successful because of it. His one year anniversary will be next Wednesday.

It's amazing how great I feel today. I can take a deep breath and not feel like my lungs are going to explode. I will never miss smelling like an ashtray - and kidding myself when I thought that spraying myself with a yummy smelling spray could hide that smell.

I no longer feel the guilt that I use to feel when I thought of the years I was robbing myself of. The years that I might not have had if I continued to be a smoker. The years of my children's (and grandchildren's) lives that I might have shorted myself of.

Tonight I asked my daughter, who was the one that was always on me to quit, if she knew what tomorrow was and she had no idea. Another person might have been disappointed, but I was glad that she had no idea what I was talking about. I was glad because cigarettes are so far from her life now that it doesn't even register to her anymore. Glad because by quitting, I have probably made it more likely that she will never pick up a cigarette herself.

I did it! And I will continue to do it - for myself and for my family.

Haven't Laughed This Hard Since...

Oh my freaking hilarious. I'm laughing at this so much, I'm crying! You have got to watch this - you'll be rolling on the ground about 1/2 way through it!

Click here!

Downtown Chicago 2008

We made it safely to my mom's house last night after dropping Luke off to my aunt's new house last night. The kids are sad that Luke is gone and are now begging for a new dog to replace him. We were able to take their minds off of missing Luke by taking them downtown for the day. We had a lot of fun seeing the sights and are now back at my mom's until we leave for home tomorrow. We ended up taking over a hundred pictures, but I didn't think anyone would want to sit through that many - now matter how good looking we are! Ha! So here are some of my favorites...

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Just outside of the train station. Same place, same picture, every year.

We took a carriage ride around the city. Here are my mom and Ashley.

Ryan thought Festus, the horse who pulled our carriage was pretty cool.

After our carriage ride, we walked over to the Daley Plaza to see the pretty tree outside.

We then made our way over to Macy's food court for lunch where we spent a fortune to eat. Then it was time to head on up nine levels of escalators to see the Macy's Christmas tree. But first we stopped off at FAO Scwartz so Ryan could look around and beg for toys. In fact, he's still smiling here because he thinks he's going to be able to talk us into buying something.

By the time we made it all the way up to the tree, he knew our "No's" were for real.


He was able to get over it, though.

The day was winding down but we still had some time left and none of us had been to Millenium Park yet, so we went to check it out.

The Bean is just plain awesome. We could have spent hours there having fun with our reflections.

Ryan holds up the bean.

Ryan really wanted to go ice skating, but seeing as he's never attempted that OR rollerblading/rollerskating before, I pretty much told him we'd take him to our local rink to teach him. which means I've got some pretty painful falls to look forward to in the near future.

While waiting for the our train to board, we were a little freaked out my this abandoned paper sack. I took a picture in case the train station was no more by the time we got back to my mom's.

I think it's time to see if my brother's got any beer around here...