While the Cats Away...

...the wife gets flower rings from her son.

And cute teacup cactus thankyou gifts.

And early morning hugs from warm bodied little boys.

And gets to finish 4th grade mission projects.....

I'm missing Rich.
He better get home quickly.........

Star of the Week

Cannon was star of the week. Such fun!

He got to share all about himself, some favorite things from home, his little sister, and chocolate chip cookies with the class.
He was a pretty happy kid!

New Puppy

Knowing that Treks is getting older and older, we have been looking for another dog.  I can't imagine life in our house without the clickity clack of nails on our floor, or the tails wagging and knocking things over, being constantly followed throughout the house, the piles of dog hair when I sweep, or the warm furry bodies laying at my feet. A dog is just part of who we are! 

We met this girl in March, through a rescue group.  She was skinny, and mangy looking, and came with a puppy that maybe wasn't hers.  She was scared of everyone, and scarred from someone beating her.  

And because of all that, we decided to try her out.  

Yep.  A broken, beaten, teenage mom. 

Awesome.

She's a mutt.  Chocolate lab, pitt, spaniel mix (says the dog trainer that I had come over and help me with some of her behavior issues.) We quickly learned that a rescue dog comes with a whole different set of rules when it comes to discipline.  She's fearful and submissive and we are working on getting her confident and less scared that she will be shuffled around or beat again.  (I know, I know, she's just a dog.....) 

She's still a puppy, and we have had our fair share of destroyed stuff.  Lots and lots and lots of destroyed stuff. Many shoes, quite a few stuffed animals, some clothing, two insulated panels from the garage door, and other miscellanous items.  

Treks has accepted her as one of the family.  He's the boss, but they hang out like old friends.  Occasionally I have seen them playing....which is hard for his old man hips to do.

Welcome to the family Lily!!!

Easter 2014

Rich took off this morning at 2:30am.

The Easter baskets were prepped and ready, and I'm ready to face the next two weeks as single mom. 

Once again. 

In order to take this "family" picture, I had to drag Nolan across the church lawn.  

Not kidding.    

Really. Not kidding at all.

We headed to my parents for the annual chaotic egg hunt. 

The one where they find an egg, shake it to see if it's got money and drop it if it's just got candy. 

And then the annual candy exchange...

Grateful for a family to spend such an amazing day with. Grateful for a church body to celebrate the joy of our risen victorious Savior with. Grateful for kids who make the loneliness of a traveling hubby/daddy easier to deal with. Grateful for peace, joy and the hope of salvation and resurection. 

Craftcation 2014

I feel like a totally blessed girl as I was given the opportunity to go to Ventura for Craftcation 2014.

Not only do I get to work in a pretty cool environment...

and for an amazingly creative boss, my hours are a perfect fit for the family. It doesn't require much time, and my first priorities of being wife, mom and household manager are not compromised. It's a job just for me. A place to be a little creative, a little task oriented, and to learn a lot!

I spent a couple hours creating some social media signs for the conference, so I felt like I was playing a huge part in the whole thing.....

My boss gifted us the hotel stay, and the conference tickets, and so we packed the car up and headed down.

Had to stop a couple times for #1 thinking that she was going to throw up...but whatever.

Ok.  First off.
I've never been to Ventura.  (Embarrassingly enough, I actually thought we were going to Venice Beach.....until I was gently corrected on that one.  Awkward.)
It's beyond cute! I loved it there.


And secondly, I was WAY outside my comfort zone being surrounded by all these amazing creative types! I mean, there was some serious talent there.

Business owners, chefs, photographers, TV personalities, crafty entrepreneurs, popular bloggers, authors, publishers, etc.
Really creative peeps!

So, I'm totally new to this "conference" thing, but I'm sold.
The swag bag was enough to sell me actually.
(say what?!?!! they give you stuff??? like really cool stuff????)


 
I took some classes that would help with my job, and some classes just for me.
There were activities for the kids too! Crafting, creating, eating.....good stuff!


I spent time alone, and I spent time with the fam.











 
Rich even got to sneak in a couple of early morning surf sessions.
{love}


I learned a lot, and was inspired to do some new things.

One of my social media table signs....and two of my creations from a workshop.

 

Bottom line...we were all really sad to leave.

 
It was such an amazing opportunity, and I really hope to get to do it again!!!

Jokester

Cannon: mom take a picture of me pretending to be sick from eating too many gummy worms.

Me: uhhhhhhh.....ok. 

I guess this is fun?