Bye Cody Bear

Yesterday we had to put our big, sweet bear of a dog, Cody, to sleep. We found out a few months ago that he had cancer, but he had been having pretty intensive treatment to keep it from spreading. I took him in for another round of shots on Monday and his vet was very optimistic and suprised at how well he was doing. We took him home and he was doing great, but then got very sick Tuesday night. By Wednesday morning he couldn't walk and I had to carry him inside :(

We knew that it would happen eventually, and said we'd only keep him around if he was healthy and happy and comfortable. The vet knew pretty much immediately that it had spread, and there was nothing we could do. It was so hard to say goodbye to him, but he was an amazing dog and deserved not to suffer. Tiff and I went up to tell him bye, and just layed by him and pet him. He was absolutely the best dog that anyone could have. If I could have cloned him, I would. Don't gt me wrong, I loved my Yoda Monster, but was well aware of the fact that I loved her more than anyone else did, and vice versa :) Everyone loved Cody Bear, and he had just as much love in him to give back. I will miss him so much. Bye sweet boy.

It's the Great Pumkpin, Ava Deats!

These are some pictures Tiff took from our trip to the Arboretum Saturday. We went out to let Ava run around and be a kid in the gorgeous fall weather we've had the last few days (fingers crossed that it sticks around for a while!). She had a blast and carried around pumpkins that weighed as much as she does. It was the 1st time we'd been, and it was a perfect spot to just let her run and play...and be her crazy little self! She was mesmerized by the huge 715 lb pumpkin. I'm sure she would have tried to carry it off if we had let her!

Such a Tease!

One of Ava's favorite things is to give the dogs treats. She will act like she's going to let them have one, then psych them out and take it away. As you can tell, the Stella Monster is not all that amused by this little game. Ava, however, thinks it's hilarious!

What Makes You Happy?

This question was posted the other day in a forum. While it seems like one of the easiest questions to answer, I always hate "Why" questions when they apply to me personally b/c they are hard for me to answer. I think I realized today that it's because I usually have more than one answer, and can't give a single concrete reason. Like Jon asking me a bazillion times "Why do you love me?" My answer for the last 7 years has been...."I just do." And that's it...I just do, but for a ton of little reasons, not just one big one. I'm digressing....so I attempted to answer this and surprised myself when I came up w/ a bunch of little things in just a minute or two. I looked at my list and thought....well those things would make most people happy....and I'm lucky! I've always been a big "It's the little things that count" kind of person, and now I know why: There's a lot more room in your life for a bunch of good little things, than a few big ones!! W/ that said...here's my list of what makes me happy:

My daughter and husband

My dogs

Naps

Reading

Cooking

Travelling

Italian food and red wine, or mexican food and a margarita

The beach

Fall and Spring

Talking to my long distance friends, who I miss like crazy (Tiff and Ang....love you)

Having friends over for dinner (2 or 20!)

Music...especially live.

Doing new things (especially ones that I didn't know if I'd be brave enough to do)

Driving anywhere that's got a good view.

Visiting College Station...especially in the Fall.

Holidays w/ family and food.

Decorating for said holidays!

All the kiddos in our family, especially when they are all together.

My house, b/c no matter how messy it is, or how many things need to be fixed....it's HOME!!

My Sister

I know I could come up w/ so many more things, but the list would be a mile long.

Having too many good things to count is a good thing itself :)

What a Slacker ;)

Yep, I've been horrible about updating this this the last few months...but I have an excuse, I promise!! My camera crapped out and I couldn't download anything. Tiff to the rescue....she put all of my pics on CD's for me to download! I heart you Tiff!!

Anywho, our lastest news is that we got a new puppy, Piper. She is super sweet, but is definitely in that hyper-crazy puppy phase! She's almost 3 months old, and is some sort of mix (The shelter's guess was Beagle/Chihuahua, and the vet couldn't come up w/ anything better).

I'm sure you all know that we lost Yoda a few months ago and it really just sucked not having a little dog in the house. I had a cuddle buddy for the last 13 years, and couldn't really get used to not having one. I stole the puppy neice, Stella, about once a week to fill the void until I was ready for a new one. I think Piper came along at just the right time!

Here are a few pics:







More fun news:
Ava started Mother's Day Out last week! She's just going one day a week for now, but maybe 2 in the Spring. So far, she's liking it. I'm thinking this will be good for both of us, since she's been seriously attached at the hip lately. Her teachers said she did great, except for naptime. Not only did she not want anything to do w/ naptime, she felt the need to wake all the other kids up as well. Apparently she would go over to their mats and tell them "UP, UP!!!" Sounds about right, huh!

On her 1st day:

Our trip to South Carolina

Ava and I took our annual trip to SC in the beginning of May to visit Angie. Maybe it's not really an annual trip yet, since we've only been twice and she's only lived there a little over a year.....but still, as long as she's there we'll go!! It was so much fun with Ava this year. She was still so little last time I went. She had a blast playing with Angie's dog, Molly. I think they bonded :) She's such a little water baby that she played in the pool even when we were wusses and thought it was too cold! Next time we will have to hit the beach!! Thanks for letting us come play Ang....can't wait to come back :)

What's for Dinner?

Ava's newest hobby is playing in the pots and pans...pretty usual for a 1 year old right? But is it normal for them to want to be the main course? I look over as I'm cooking dinner the other day, and this is what I see.............

Coldest Easter Ever!!

I'm not sure what was up with the whack-a-doo weather, but Ava had to forego her cute Easter attire, and bundle up in her winter coat to go egg hunting. I had just finished packing up all of her cold weather clothes, thinking I was safe. Still, she had a blast......even if it was colder than Christmas. If it wasn't her 1st real Easter Egg Hunt, I might have said "Um babe, I think it was too cold for the Easter Bunny to come this year.....he's still hibernating!"

Friday she went with Hannah and Hunter to the Gillis' Easter Egg Hunt in and had so much fun. She pretty much took over an entire end of the "field" and had the whole "pick egg up and put it in basket" thing down in record time. They were all so cute....who needs candy with those little sacks of sugar running around? Saturday it snowed on us as we were driving to Paris. I'm guessing there were alot of fingers stuck in ears and some "bllaaaa bllaaaa, I can't hear you" going around from all of the global warming peeps when they heard reports of snow in Texas in April......I'm just saying ;)

Sunday we had Easter at our house and the kids were hilarious running around the front yard. Ava and Hunter are young enough that just eggs are cool.....Hannah will promptly discard any empty eggs. They are of no use to her if there are no goodies inside.....She definitely has that one figured out!! I loved that they were all old enough to run around together this year, and watching them try to steal what was in each other's baskets was priceless. They are without a doubt the 3 cutest kids I've ever seen in my life......not that I'm at all biased or anything ;)