Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets..

When my wonderful friend, Val, texted me and asked if I could watch her baby, Lola, while they went to Disneyworld, I said of course!  I knew Lola could be a bit on the standoffish side when she meets you, but I knew we’d get through the week with no huge problems…and we did.

I got to Val’s to get Lola and as I was opening the door, she immediately started barking.  I was talking in my baby voice, saying Hi Lola!  Are you ready to come over for a slumber party?  Her return bark made me believe that in fact, she was not ready to party the week away at my house.

She was in her crate, so I unlocked it and called her out, enticing her with ‘wanna go outside?!’.  No, she didn’t.  She just continued to bark at me.  After about 3 mins, I opened the side door of her crate, hoping she would come out one of them.  Nope…

I was standing by the front door and she FINALLY left the crate, by quickly running and hiding under the table.  Ugh.  So, I moved all the chairs and scooted the table…she then ran and hid under an endtable.

Really Lola, this is how we’re doing this?  Everytime I would go near her, she would bark at me.  I knew she was scared.  I took her leash and looped it so that when I could get close enough to her, I could wrap it around her neck.

After about 10 mins, she came out and jumped on the couch next to me.  I tried to pet her, but she declined the loving.  After a few mins, I was able to move quickly and get the leash around her neck.  She immediately ran to the front door, finally ready to go out.

Thankfully she walked with ease and jumped right into my car.  By the time I had walked around to my side and got in, she decided I we could be friends and let me pet her.  We headed over to pick up Cai from practice, and as she climbed into the back and reach forward to pet Lola, she was informed (by Lola) they weren’t friends yet and not to touch her.  HAHA.  I could tell that this was going to be a fun week.

Once we were home, I had Cai bring Blitz around back to meet Lola.  He wanted to play and she was a little intimidated…but after a little bit, she started running around with him.  She also had accepted Cadence as part of the group.

We relaxed the rest of the evening, with Lola sticking close to me, nervous about her new surroundings.  When Dennis got home, he had to wait for her to induct him into the club.  It took about a half hour.  He even tried bribing her with chips!  She would steal the chips and run and hide and eat them.  He was offended. 

The week went much smoother than I thought.  She did accept all of us and liked to cuddle.  At night, she hogged the bed, but she was well behaved.  The only thing she did that drove Dennis crazy was jump at him when he tried to come to bed at night (good girl!).  She wasn’t being aggressive, she wanted to play.  As soon as he would lay down, she would run up to the head of our bed with us and start playing with him.  For 5 mins he would argue with her that it wasn’t play time, it was sleep time, all the while, playing with her. 

The only disagreement we had was I wanted Lola to stay in the crate while I was gone. She apparently disagreed. When I got home I went to let her out and she had already let herself out and was sleeping in my bed. I said, Lola, you're naughty. She barely glanced at me as she jumped down and walked out to the couch and laid down.
Clearly She didn't care about my opinion.

When I finally took her home the following Tuesday evening, I told her she better remember me and not try and eat my face off the next time we see each other.  I texted Val later that evening and asked how she was doing once they all got home and she said fantastic – she ran out of the cage and jumped in Val’s bed and went to sleep! 

 

 

30!

About a month ago, I rec'd an invite to my friend, Andrea's, 30th surprise birthday party.  After emailing her sister and asking if anything was needed, she reached out a few days later and asked if the girls would decorate some poster boards and if they wanted to meet Andrea at the end of the driveway and 'drive' her up to the house on the golf cart.  I said 'Yes!  They would love it!' and they did.
The spent about an hour decorating pink poster boards.  Adding A LOT of glitter b/c, duh, Andrea loves sparkles! 
We got to the house, the signs were taped to the golf cart and we anxiously awaited the call that she was on the way.
When the phone finally rang, the girls jumped on the cart with Stacy and drove down the long driveway from her parents home to the road.  When Andrea & her b/f pulled into the driveway, the surprise was real!  She was shocked.  She switched places with Stacy and (very teary eyed) rode up the house, with both sides of the drive lined up with her friends yelling surprise.
The girls loved every second of it and couldn't wait to drive the golf cart a little more.

Andrea's family is like extended family and they are all so wonderful to my girls.  Her mom, Debbie and aunts talked with the girls and let them drive them around on the golf cart.

In the weeks leading up to her party, I was searching for the perfect gift.  She was turning 30 and it had to be as awesome as her.  Her house is decorated so pretty and her hobbies are concerts and traveling (she had just gotten home from a trip to Greece the weekend before).  What could I find for her? 
I was in Kirklands and ran across a BEAUTIFUL, framed photo of Greece.  It couldn't have been more perfect!

I excitedly purchased the picture and counted down the days until her party.  While, I would never normally buy something that is a. so large & b. a wall decoration (b/c everyone's taste is different), I was drawn to this one.  I felt like she would appreciate it, not only b/c she had just gotten home from a week in Greece, but also b/c she's 1/2 Greek!

She said she loved it and couldn't wait to hang it.  That made me so happy.  She has been an amazing friend and all I wanted was something that was perfect for her.

Happy 30th Andrea.  I hope your next 30 are even more amazing.  We love you!

As Little Things Grow

My uber amazing friend, Cortney, and her husband, Josh, started their own company two years ago.  They make wood signs.  Originally, they started with pallet signs and the measuring stick growth chart, but moved away from pallets to lumber.  Their signs are AMAZING.  She hand paints them all.  I thoroughly impressed with everything she does.

A while ago, she posted this pretty neat baseball sign.

 

Our family does not play baseball…but, we have cheerleaders.  I asked her if she could switch it up a little to fit our life.  And…of course she did.  And it is amazing!  The colors we decided to use are their school colors.  I am so happy with how it turned out!  Now it sits outside our front door and I smile every time I pull up to the house.

 

She has made me countless things over the last two years.  I also got a measuring stick/growth chart, which I love.  The girls measured themselves one day, while I was at work.  I wouldn’t have cared, except they wrote random mesgs, ‘I love mom’.  At first I was upset b/c that isn’t what it was for – they were only supposed to mark their height & the date.  The more I thought about it, the more I smiled.  In 10 years, when Cadence is off in college (she better be!) and Bryleigh is in full teenage mode, looking at the ruler and those little notes will probably make me tear up with memories. 

 

I ordered a sign, with clothespins attached, for my mom to hang pics of her grandkids, for Christmas one year.  I also had one made for my cousin & his wife for their wedding. 

She has donated twice to the apraxia walk. 

 

I had three made for the girls.  Each one special b/c it was what reminds me of them.

 

Two of my favorites were signs I ordered for Quinceañeras we went to.  I sent Cort pictures of the invitations and she was able to create these beautiful memory signs for the girls.

 

I wish I had an ounce of her creativity! 
 

She also made this very touching sign for my mom when Greg passed away.  My mom cried when I gave it to her.

If you are EVER looking for a unique gift, check out As Little Things Grow, b/c I’m fairly certain she can ship if you are not local. But trust me, you will NOT be disappointed! 

 

Friends

My mom’s best friend, Terry, was always in my life.  Turns out, my mom had met her once…maybe it was in lamaze classes…I don’t remember for sure…but then they met again when my mom was in the hospital for her bp while she was pregnant w/me and while Terry was there having her daughter, Shannon.  I’m not sure when their friendship blossomed, if it was at the hospital the 2nd time or if it was when they were both waitresses at the same place.  Either way, they've been friends forever.
Her daughter and I are both the same age, so we played together and became friends too.  I can remember staying the night at her house (where she tortured me telling me there was a man in the window - uh, hey thanks for the nightmares Shan!) and her staying at mine. 
One time we were lying on my bed w/our feet against the wall and we put our feet through the wall.  My dad was pissed!  He was screaming at us and smashed my doll-house.
Huh...after typing that last part, it sounds like my dad was a monster…he wasn’t, really…but he was reallllly pissed! And maybe I should add...we didn't just have our feet on the wall - we were actually pounding our feet against the wall.  [insert my sheepish grin here]
When Shannon went to a different hs, we didn’t see each other much. I still saw Terry a lot just from being w/my mom went she went over and Terry coming to our house…then I ended up at the same high school as Shannon my junior yr – only she went to the vocational hs in our district, so again, we didn’t really see each other.
Terry found out she had cancer a few years after we graduated.  Shortly after...maybe before her diagnosis, Shannon had a little boy, Anthony, that was the spitting image of Terry.  It was insane how much he looked like her!
In 1999, while pregnant, I remember babysitting for Anthony.  Shannon was taking me home and she told me how her mom had lectured her to drive carefully w/me in the car b/c I was pregnant.   
A few days later, on 8/16/99, I miscarried.  I was heartbroken.
The next day, on 8/17/99, Terry lost her battle after a long hard fight.  I cried all the time.  Hormones, mourning my baby and mourning someone that was like an aunt to us, it left me with headaches and heartaches. 
One of the best pieces of advice I read shortly after my miscarriage was to name my baby.  I chose Terry Bryce.  Knowing my baby was being cared for by someone I loved so much helped the hurt in my heart.
Fast forward 14 years later and my beautiful daughter, Cadence and Shannon’s beautiful daughter, Kennedy, are now friends.
It makes me happy to see them together…it brings back fond memories of my childhood and every once in awhile, I feel like Terry and my dad are watching their granddaughters play, over a cup of coffee.

An evening vacation...

va ca tion (noun) 1. Break from work…a period of time devoted to rest, travel, or recreation

We have not been able to take a real (at least in my book) vacation in awhile – but any time we can get away and rest is a good time indeed. So a couple of weeks ago we loaded up the girls, Cai’s friend Mackenzie included, and took them out to my girlfriend’s campground in Indiana. It’s a little over an hours’ drive on the turnpike and once we arrived – we could put into words, how worth the drive it was!
The campground, while VERY little, was so quiet and serene. The lake was warm and thankfully, did not smell. The heat was not unbearable and the food was yummy.

The girls swam and ran and were fast asleep when we loaded them up 5 hours later. I cannot wait to make the journey out again – hopefully for longer than 5 hours.

on the road

cheesin it

awwww..

Buddy swimming

How does he get out? Like everyone else - he climbs up the ladder!

Sunset ride

 

MacKenzie & Cadence

Beauty

Bry is a little tired

mid-yawn

my girls

my princess

I hope you have been able to enjoy a time of rest as well!