Carmel Apples!

Me, I Want a Hula Hoop!

Busy Weekend!

We kicked off a busy weekend with the Storybook Character parade at Corry's school. I guess its the public school's solution to not being able to celebrate Halloween - they let the kids wear costumes to school. They are supposed to dress up as their favorite story book character & bring the book with them to school. Our little Rapunzel looked beautiful!

Drew wanted a picture with Reese & his otter.

Saturday we went to the pumpkin patch at Drew's school - the kids took a little trian ride around the parking lot

We took a few pictures with some pumkins and this was about the best shot we could get!

After the pumpkin patch we came home and got ready for Calyn's kid party followed by her family party.  No pictures were taken at these events - I was in charge of glitter tatooes at the kid party, and after that fiasco I was ready for alcohol. 

Sunday I felt like garbage all day, so didn't do much other than pick up the house, do some laundry, and sleep.  I did manage to get a couple cute pictures of the queen on her throne.

Today was school picture day at Children of the Woodlands.  I had Drew dressed all cute this morning, but apparently his teachers let them paint before pictures.  One of his teachers got him a nice new Children of The Woodlands shirts to wear for his pictures.  It has the Jesus fish on it and everything.  Not quite what I had in mind for picture day, but he's thrilled with it.

When he got h ome he wanted to wear a Santa hat and got some bubbles to give himself a beard.  He's a nut.

This week we will be hiring a pool company!  Hooray.  I believe the final decision has been made to pay a little extra for the company that has had exceptional customer service throughout the sales process.  We know of a couple of people who have used them and were 100% satisfied with their construction experience, so we'll keep our fingers crossed and hope they come through for us as well.  They are taking us to see some of their completed pools this week, and as long as we still love what we see, we'll hire them.

Still in the bidding process on the covered patio, but we'll need to make that decision soon too if we are going to have the pool company & the construction company work together on the decking, etc.

We're getting excited to finally get the ball rolling.  I think we've been in "research" mode since July or August (and when I say "we" I mean Jimmy).

Fun times ahead!

Attack of the killer weiner/rat

Potty Training Success!

Miss Reese finally decided it was okay to go out the doggie door - even if it meant there were no humans out there with her.  She's been spending her nights sleeping in the laundry room, and we keep her in there when we leave the house.  She really seems to like it in there - I think she considers it her room.  The other day Maddie had the audacity to try to go in there to get a drink of water & little missy chased her out.

Reese in "her room" with her dog bed & the Christmas blanket she loves

The Payne kiddos came over to help us cheer on OSU vs Texas Saturday afternoon.

Corry relaxing in her Halloween Costume - she's going to be a pink Supergirl this year.

Calyn showing me how strong she is

Jimmy told Drew he needed to go put on his orange for game day.  He had on his Pistol Pete t-shirt, but disappeared upstairs and reemerged in this ensemble.

Mom had taken the kids to the Wildflower Festival where each one got a butterfly net.  The butterfly nets didn't last too long - handles & nets were separated and used for various tasks.  Max found an interesting use for his....

This morning Drew was waiting for Grandma to arrive to pick Corry up for church, so he wheeled the office chair into the entryway and parked his naked rear end right in front of the door.  Makes you want to come over & sit on our furniture, huh?

We went to a birthday party in Kingwood this afternoon & decided not to confine Reese while we were gone.  It appears to have been a success, but this evening she pulled her beloved blankie out of the laundry room dog bed & drug it into the living room.  Jimmy & I are taking this to mean she thinks she's ready to sleep elsewhere tonight.  We'll see how that goes....

On a Human Kid update - We have our first Parent Teacher Conference for Corry on Thursday.  Her first nine weeks are up at the end of this week, so we'll be getting her first report card soon.  At progress report time she had a 100% in Language Arts, a 99% in Math, a 100% in Social Studies & and 89% in Science.

Drew's loving his transition class.  He went for his vision, hearing, and speech screening the other day.  We haven't gotten the results back yet, but when he got back he told his teacher that he could hear great.  He can hear everything everyone tells him, but sometimes he can't hear what God is telling him.  He's such a goose.

Other dog updates - Maddie could care less that we've added another dog.  As long as she gets her biscuits every morning, she's good to go.  Mocha isn't sure what to make of this little creature.  She was all over him tonight trying to get him to play & he just stares at her.  Maybe one day he'll losen up!

Photos from Reese's Past & Drew's Playground Brawl

Reese will be so excited to be able to layout by the pool if/when we ever get ours completed. In order to have it completed, of course, we will have to hire a pool company to build the pool.

Today I read to Drew's class.  I had called Mom to let her know that I would bring Drew out after I finished reading, so she didn't need to sign him out.  She sent me a text to let me know she was in "traffic hell" because Garden Ridge was on fire (VERY sad about Garden Ridge being completely consumed by fire, but that's another story).  Since she was running late, I took Drew to the indoor playground at his school so he could play with one of his classmates while we waited for Mom & Max to arrive.  He was having a blast playing with  Connor - running around through big play structure, until a little twirp in a Batman shirt started picking on Connor.  It didn't really seem to bother Connor that much, but Drew came down to let us know that kid was being mean to his friend.  I stayed out of it since my kid wasn't really involved.  Drew went back up into the play structure.  Mom & I were visiting when I hear Drew yelling at someone to "Stop!  Leave me alone."  The little Batman kid was after my baby!  He was throwing punches, hitting him in the face.  Drew was trying to walk away and leave the situation, all the while telling the kid to stop.  When Drew turned his back to walk across the rope bridge to get away from him, the kid shoved him and he fell down.  I glared up at that kid, pointed my finger at him, said "NO! You knock it off."  The place was packed.  I have no clue who is mother was.  Drew made his way down out of the play structure and I held him.  I tried to find out how the fight started, but Drew was too upset to talk.  The turd came out of the playstructure & went over to his mom who was yacking away to other mothers & was completely oblivious to anything that had just transpired.  I was so pissed, but mainly I'm pissed at my self for being a complete spineless weenie and not standing up for my kid.  I said nothing to the mom - I just puffed up and held it all in.  Wonder when my time is going to come to blow my top?  I feel sorry for the person on the receiving end if and when that ever happens!

Drew has completely forgotten the whole scene, but of course I keep replaying it in my head.  Yuck.  What a crummy end to an enjoyable bit of school time with my little man.

1st Grade Picture

The hair could have used a little work, but overall a pretty cute pic of the little princess.

Reese Take Two

Saturday was great - the weather was awesome, and the guys had gone to golf, so Deachi, the kids, dogs & I all hung out at home so we could pump Reese full of positive reinforcement on the potty training front - she's a pro and coming inside through the doggie door, but she wants nothing to do with going back outside.  The only time we saw her do it all on her own was when Max was sitting out there coloring on the patio with sidewalk chalk.  She flew out there & showered him with kisses.

All afternoon & evening Reese never had one accident in the house - every time she would go potty she would get so excited & knew she was going to get her mini beggin strip.  She slept great in the laundry room last night with the fleece Christmas blanket she claimed which we lined in her dog bed.  This morning when I got her out she hadn't had one single accident!  Yea Reese - she went right outside & did her business.  It was a beuatiful morning, so we spent quite a bit of time outside exploring the yard & picking up all the toys & balls that were scattered everywhere.

We headed over to Grandma Connie & Grandpa Jack's house to paint a wall in their living room, and Miss Reese joined us.  She was a bit intimidated by the 3 yipping schnauzers at first, but they soon all became great friends & she loved getting them to chase her around the living room.

It started pouring down rain while we were at their house......bye bye progress on potty training!  Reese wanted absolutely nothing to do with going out in the rain to pee.  When we got home she went right to the back door & peed on the tile.  A while later I decided I would take her on a walk in the rain to try and get her to go - no such luck.  Anytime I would take her in the back she'd just shoot right back in through the doggie door, so I finally blocked it, and sat out in the back with her.  She finally peed, but did it on the covered back patio.  Oh well - at least it wasn't in the house. 

I'm thrilled to have had rain all day today - goodness knows we needed it - it just didn't work well into my potty training plans!  All part of having a new addition, I guess.

Here are a few more pictures of the little lady.  She has to be one of the most affectionate dogs I have ever met.

Exploring the backyard

Big Dog, Little Dog

Pretty girl, with paint on her head....the kids got a little carried away painting on Saturday afternoon.  Miss Reese got a bath this morning.  Can't say she was a fan, but at least she doesn't have paint on her ear & neck anymore

Checking out the playhouse

The only time we've heard her bark was when she saw this intimidating looking cat sitting on the kitchen table.

Okay, so not a Reese picture, but this is a rarely seen event - Maddie actually let Drew touch her.

Happy girl

So Patriotic!

Reese

The latest addition to the Dautrich family arrived this evening.  Reese is a tiny little lady - just under 10lbs, she'll be 2 in January.  She is a sweet little girl - she loves everyone but Mocha.  She likes to snarl & growl at him every now and then, but nothing too bad yet.  Love that she likes to pick on someone 6x her size.

We're working on figuring out the doggie door - she'll use it if someone holds the flap open for her.  Couple of piddles in the house, but at least we don't have any carpet downstairs, so it's an easy clean.  We'll focus more on potty training this weekend, but tonight we've just enjoyed getting to know her spunky little personality.

She loves her chew toys, but does not love for anyone to touch her while she's enjoying them.  She'll give you a quick little growl to let you know you've overstepped your boundaries.  I love a little girl with attitude!

When we were eating dinner this evening she was pacing all around the table - before we knew it she had hopped onto my lap and up on the kitchen table, heading right for Jimmy's enchiladas.  Shhhhhh...don't tell Jimmy, but I saw her walking around on the table a couple more times throughout the evening.  As long as the kitchen chairs are pushed in, she can't get up there, so problem solved.

All the grandmas and grandpas came over this evening to meet their new granddog.  The kids are beyond thrilled with this little girl!  Pictures of this little lover are below.  Such a patient little girl & FULL of kisses!

No training wheels!

When I watch the second video directly from the memory card it looks okay, but from the blog it's so dark you can barely see anything :( I'll try to get a video tomorrow evening before it gets too dark!