Why We Sometimes Don't Love Our Dogs...

So, as some of you may already know, our dogs have been rather mischievous in the past few months. Some of their escapades have included chewing up a pillow from our new couch, eating a DVD or two, shredding two chair pads from the dining room (plus side to this--I wanted new ones anyway, bad side-she will likely eat the new ones too!) and of course breaking my pampered chef magic pan =). Recently, they have gotten into some more trouble...ripping a new speaker out of our home theater system, eating the Cinderella, Jungle Book and Winnie the Pooh video cassette boxes (apparently she has an issue with the kid movies we have for McKayla) and munching on some magazines.

This past weekend, when Sierra ripped the speaker out, I thought her time just might be up. Justin has been getting continually more frustrated with her, and was very, very close to taking her somewhere....not sure where, but Saturday evening he was ready to take her just about anywhere. Fortunately, I talked him down =). Sunday after church, we went to Pet Smart. We took a look at more crates. Some of you may be wondering why we don't just crate her. Well...we tried that, and she ate her way out of it and escaped (yes, she is a Houdini dog). When we first got her, we had every intention of crating her everyday. However, something in her history has made her absolutely terrified and completely against crating. After eating her way through the first crate, we bought a second one (this was getting expensive). We left her for less than an hour, and she had already eaten her way through part of it and there was blood all over because she was cutting up her mouth and tongue. Eeeesh...so, we decided at that point in time to let her roam free. And, at first, she was great....but she's slowly escalated to all her recent escapades. So, back to Pet Smart. We decided we were sure we were ready for trying the crate again (or to spend $150+ on it), since we don't think she will like it any more now than she did a year and a half ago. So, we opted for buying some 'bitter yuck' spray. We have now baited her by spraying things we know she usually tries to get to. Yesterday, no destruction...so we will see about today. We also got some "calming" pills to give her, to see if that would help calm her down a little. Yesterday, she seemed normal and not any more "calm" than usual...but we'll see. Hopefully, we will soon resolve all these issues, and Justin and I can feel comfortable when we leave the house =).
I've decided there must be a lesson in this for us, and I think it's that we aren't in control, and we have to realize that and accept that. So, though they are quite mischievous at times, I must say I really do love my dogs, even though I cannot always control their every move =). Good practice for children I guess!!



In other news, we were able to go have dinner with Andrea, Kyle and the girls on Saturday. I got some time to play with McKayla while Justin chatted with Andrea and Kyle. She has such an imagination! It was so much fun to just sit and listen to her make up her stories with all her toys. One of the funniest things I noticed is that she is saying some words with an English accent. She was talking about a baby mouse, so picture a three year old saying "mouse" with the English accent. It was too funny. She also was saying "pic-a-nic". Very British and way too cute. I knew that grandma often had her watch some BBC cartoons, so I asked Andrea about it. She had noticed it too, and we figure that she is picking up the accent from watching the cartoon show. Too funny. She also loves to say, "But then, very soon after....". Her sentences just amaze me! She was telling me that Esmerelda and Lila (she names all her toys) were going to have a "pic-a-nic" with the baby mouse, but then very soon after, all the other girls will come for a ball! The best part though was when Kyle came in to join us and she said, "Daddy, you may not stay and play with us!" She was very emphatic. Of course, I felt good because she was having a good time with me...but felt bad for daddy =). After dinner, I did get in my fill of holding the babies too. Hailey is now over 10 pounds, and Abigail is just under 10 pounds. Still so little for babies that were born almost five months ago...though adjusted age they are still just over two months. They are looking more and more alike each day, and I can never figure out which one is which, so it will be fun to watch them grow and see if they continue to look alike, or if they start developing more clear differences. They were fraternal twins, but I have met other fraternal twins who look almost identical...so we'll see!
I'm definitely looking forward to this week since we will see them again on Thursday for Thanksgiving. One of my favorite parts of this year is that we get to see family lots more than usual!

I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving holiday!!!

Fun in Houston

Well, we are now back from our fun little vacation to Houston. Why do vacations always go SO fast? We had a wonderful time though, and luckily Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks are just around the corner-yay!
On Thursday we dropped the two doggies off at the vet for boarding (we were a little nervous, but they didn't tell us that we couldn't ever bring them back, so we figure they did alright). Mozart was quite the whiner about it, and Justin had to help push both of them into the cage. Silly dogs. Anyhow, then we took off for Houston and arrived in time for a late lunch at the San Jacinto state park/battleground. It was supposed to be very sunny and in the 80s...it was very not-sunny and maybe in the low 70s. So, my pictures are a bit dreary. Oh well. After lunch, we went aboard the Battleship TEXAS, which was really cool. I cannot imagine living on a ship and sleeping in those bunks! We even got to climb up almost to the top, which was cool, as long as I did not look down! After that, we went over to the memorial museum and looked around there for a little while. Then, it was off to our super-duper hotel! It was SO cool. We wish we could have taken the bed, linens, and pillows home with us! They were super comfy.
On Friday we ventured back to the Museum of Natural Sci and History, which we first visited last year. We had free passes because I had taken some students there on a field trip. We learned our lesson from last year and didn't go until after lunch (tooooo many field trip kids there in the mornings!). The best part of this trip was going into the Butterfly center. We weren't expecting much, but were totally blown away. It was gorgeous and I got some really cool butterfly shots! We also saw a dinosaur that was 90% fossilized (with the skin and everything). It was pretty neat too, but not as cool as the butterflies!
On Saturday we vegged out in the morning, and while I was surfing our various cable channels in the room (we don't have cable, so this was another fun part about the hotel) I found the movie "27 Dresses" on HBO. I was stoked! Luckily, Justin didn't mind and I got to watch the whole thing! I LOVE that movie! After that, it was time to venture out and meet one of my oldest and dearest high school friends, Catherine Heider. She moved to Houston in April and we had planned to meet for brunch. We both cannot even remember the last time we saw each other, so clearly, it had been TOO long! Justin joined us for lunch, but after about an hour of listening to people he didn't know about, he took off to read a book =). We ended up chatting for five whole hours! It was so great!!! I'm so glad she lives close now, and we can't wait to plan our next get together! Yay for old friends!!!
After lunch and chatting, it was time to head back to the hotel for our last evening. We were able to enjoy the hot tub one last time, and watch some good college football. A great end to a fun vacation!
Some people think we're funny for vacationing to Houston, but they really do have some great places to visit, and I guess since we're not from Texas, it's cool to us =).

Here are some pictures from the trip!

Justin and I in front of the Battleship TEXAS


Justin, in front of the VERY large and foreboding battleship




Some beautiful butterflies, including the one that liked Justin's shirt


Justin and I in the butterfly house


Catherine and I (can you tell we're Husker fans? we didn't even plan it!)

Vacation Time!!!

Yay! Justin and I are FINALLY taking a vacation together! We are doing sort of a repeat of our fall vacation from last year, because I had some free museum tickets that we felt we really just had to use. We're heading to Houston tomorrow for four days! And the best part is that we are staying in a super, super nice hotel-the Crowne Plaza Suites. We are normally the Super 8 or Comfort Inn type hotel people, but not this time! Justin and I had an agreement that if he did not go to Memphis with me for my science conference, then we could book a really nice hotel for our Houston vacation (I actually stayed in a Crowne Plaza hotel in Memphis too, and they are so cool!). So, part of the fun is just staying in a really nice place and taking some time to hang out, read books, and sit in the hot tub together! Yay! Plus, we're doing a little sight-seeing too. I will post pictures when we return.

It's very rare (as I am sure it is for most people) that Justin and I get to take a vacation together. (I don't consider family trips for Christmas as a real vacation...I LOVE them...but it's not exactly good couple time!). It is especially hard for us because we have almost exact opposite vacation times. Justin's job is very busy in the spring/summer (when I have spring break and summer break), while I'm very busy in the fall and most of the spring when Justin is less busy. That pretty much leaves Christmas (which is usually reserved for the aforementioned family visiting trip) for extended travel times. We've been blessed the last two years that I have gotten an intern in the fall, so I get two "free" personal days off. It makes for a great time to travel within TX since the weather is so nice, and it's a nice fall break for me since we don't have one here at TSD. Anyhow, we're both super excited for some time away together, with no dogs and no work to think about!

I hope all you Northerners are enjoying your cool fall weather, we'd appreciate it if you would send some our way...we're honestly a little sick of the 80 degree days...really, I swear, we just want it to cool down already!!! I'm actually looking forward to being up North in seven weeks, and am crossing my fingers for some good snow!!!

Halloween Fun!

Just had to write a quick post about the most fun Halloween I've had in a LONG time! We were able to go to Kyle to see our nieces and have dinner with everyone. When we got there McKayla was quite excited and finally wanted to take a spin on her new bike (yay!). She refused to get up onto it herself, but wanted to get up onto it with Aunt Michelle's help. So, I lifted her up and we "drove" around the living room and kitchen. She hasn't quite caught onto the pedaling part yet, but she enjoyed me driving her around. "Keep driving Aunt Chelle, keep driving!" It was pretty cute, and I was just glad she did like it! After our 'drive' around the house, we all enjoyed some pumpkin soup while McKayla informed us all what numerous words started with (I think this is her favorite 'game' right now), and told us all about trick-or-treating and getting candy. She was ready to eat all the candy Justin and I had brought to pass out, but we convinced her to wait and get her own later. After dinner it was time for costumes. McKayla's was a really cute CU cheerleader uniform that her aunt Tracy in Colorado sent her (her mommy and daddy both graduated from there...they were quite proud.) She also had a super cute "Ralphie" stuffed buffalo to carry around (yet, somehow, Aunt Michelle ended up carrying him...hmmmm). Anyhow, I told her "Wow, McKayla, I LOVE your uniform." She promptly replied, "It's NOT a uniform." I said, "Oh, really?" She said, (sighing at me) "It's a costume!" Ahhhh...silly aunt Michelle! Anyhow, while she was getting ready, the twins were getting into their costumes. McKayla picked out who would wear which costume and decided that Hailey would be the cat and Abigail would be the doggie. They were pretty darn cute!
Then, it was off to trick or treat time! I had originally planned to stay and help Justin pass out candy, but McKayla decided that I should go trick or treating as well. It turned out to be good that I went because Hailey slept quite soundly while Abigail was not a happy camper in the stroller. She definitely likes to be held! So, aunt Michelle was of course happy to oblige her and carry her around for the trick or treating fun. She promptly fell asleep once she was happily being held. McKayla did fairly well with the trick or treating, until the SECOND house. The silly man opened the door with a creepy Joker mask on, and she was totally freaked out. Poor kid! After that she was very timid and wasn't sure about the whole trick or treating thing. We were able to convince her to go to a few more houses, but then she was definitely ready to go home. All in all, it was a great time, and she did get quite a lot of candy for only hitting a handful of houses!
One of the best parts of the night was that McKayla decided it was alright for aunt Michelle to read her one bedtime story (she's been very stuck on ONLY mommy reading stories lately).
Definitely the BEST Halloween I've had in a LONG time...I LOVE being an aunt!! =)
Here are some pics from the evening.


Cheerleader McKayla


Aunt Michelle and Kitty Kat Hailey

Super cute family picture!


Hailey (sleeping contently) and Abigail (VERY unhappy)


Aunt Michelle "driving" McKayla on her new bike