Go speed racer!

What a week! I am sick of these hot and humid days already and we are not even in the month of July yet. What is up with this summer? Can we get some 80 degree days again please. The kids have been so down in the dumps and restless these last couple of days. If I wanted 100 degree temps, I would be living in Arizona!!

The temp was somewhere around 100 degrees today, but the kids did not seem to care. I anticipated that they would be itching to get out and run, so I grabbed the camera and let them out around 6:00 p.m. The yard was pretty much all shade at this point. We are hound sitting Lola, so that is why they are all muzzled. My little princess can be a bit of a cranky pants sometimes. ;-)The fun got started with some outside time with the stuffie. Yep, that 's their favorite....good ole yellow lamb. I usually don't allow them to take their "inside toys " (aka stuffies) outside. They have "outside toys", but they keep trying to bring them outside with them, so I just caved. Man I am a pushover!

I have heard lots of folks say that they use their tails as rudders when they run, but I have never seen it (or probably just never noticed with my old camera :)) until today.

If Cueball had a think bubble....I am pretty sure it would say "Eat my dust".



Lola is not quite sure what to think...she runs in the opposite direction towards the gate. She is an only dog, but she is having a good time staying with us. Except for the fact that my kids scare her a little when they start to run. She will get use to it though and I am sure by the end of next week, she will be out there running right with them. :)
I don't know, don't ask, but I guess this is Booyah's best impersonation of a Frog???

What is it?

Can anyone tell us what this is? Mitch spotted this little creature in a tree on the right side of the house last Sunday. We are puzzled as to what it is.

We will donate $20 to Greyhound Rescue if ANYONE can tell us what this is. :)

Girls Night Out

It has been what has felt like FOREVER since I have gone out with friends for dinner and a movie. Last night myself and seven other girls went out. We had a blast!! We met after work at Capitol Ale House for appetizers and drinks. We sat on the patio, enjoyed good conversation, shared stories and laughs, nice weather and good drinks. :) This was my first time going to Capitol Ale House. I will defiantly be returning soon. We spent about an hour and half there and then headed out to the movies to see Sex and The City. I was a huge fan of this show when it was on TV and have been looking forward to seeing this movie for weeks!! FANS of the show SHOULD see this movie! It was VERY well done, in true Sex and The City fashion. I would recommend this movie to those who never watched the show also. Okay, I will not share too much about the movie, but I have to share this.

SPOILER ALERT..... A few of the movies best moments for me.

Most romantic moment - When Big (John Preston) proposes to Carrie (a true Cinderella moment).
Funniest moment - While in Mexico on Carrie's honeymoon Charlotte poops her pants and makes everyone laugh including depressed down in the dumps Carrie.

And if you are are a fashion guru check out this site (click here).


Did I mention we all dressed up like the Sex and The City girls? No pictures, I did not bring my camera with me. So you will just have to take me at my word. :) It was a lot of fun!! We got some pretty interesting looks too.

So which Sex and The City character do you think you are most like? I think I am definitely a Miranda.

	"Do any of you have a completely unremarkable friend or maybe a houseplant I could go to dinner with on Saturday night?" - Miranda Miranda is smart, self-assured and proud of her achievements. She raises the bar for herself continually, be it in her professional or personal life. She made partner in her law firm and was able to buy her own pre-war apartment on the Upper West Side (Take a look inside). However, she's struggled with her love life and, at times, abandoned the pursuit of love altogether. Tough and down-to-earth, she doesn't open up easily, masking her vulnerability with cynicism and self-deprecating humor. Throughout her long-term relationship with Steve, she had bouts of doubt about her true feelings and was constantly frustrated with Steve's laid-back approach to life. His attempts to bring their relationship to a new level only seemed to push her farther away. They gave up, but managed to salvage their friendship. Much to her dismay, Miranda's post-Steve dates haven't panned out. When Steve lost one of his testicles to cancer, Miranda boosted his male morale with a night of passion. Shortly after, she realized she was pregnant. She had every intention of having an abortion, but minutes before the procedure, she had a change of heart and decided to keep the baby. She wondered if this was her last chance at motherhood. As her pregnancy progressed, she feared she didn't have a maternal instinct and struggled to juggle her demanding career with her new identity as a mommy-to-be. Nature took its course, and, with Carrie and Steve by her side, she gave birth to Brady Hobbes. Not shockingly, Miranda grappled with her new role as a single working mom. She had to come to terms with how being a parent would change her relationships with her friends and any new man that might come along. And Miranda and Steve accidentally rekindled their sexual relationship one night, forcing Miranda to take a hard look at her complicated attachment to Steve. A brief relationship with the dashing Dr. Robert Leeds ultimately ended, due to Miranda's feelings for Steve, but fortunately, Steve's feelings proved to be mutual and the two decided to make another go at it. Fashion Sense For pragmatic Miranda, fashion is more about getting the job done than following the latest trends. By day, her lawyerly look tends towards smart tailored suits. This year we've seen her experiment more with color, especially rich wines and purples that accent her fiery red crop. Though she tends toward casual sportswear on the weekend, she keeps up with the girls just fine in sexy slip dresses and funky accessories. Take a closer look at Miranda's style in our fashion slideshows.

All of us last night did agree on this....we all wished we could be more like Samantha. ;-)


Fashion Sense
Samantha's high-power lifestyle demands a wardrobe ready to make a statement at every occasion. For work, she gravitates towards body-accentuating suits in bold colors and at night she turns up the volume with racy ensembles that show off her bombshell figure and personality.

To read more about the characters, click here.





When I finally did get home around 11:30 p.m. last night, the pups were thrilled to see me. I of course was thrilled to see them!!! Mitch said they had been on the lookout for me since 6:00 p.m. Maggie of course had to give me a really good sniff to try to figure out where I had been. And, I got lots of kisses too! This was the first time I had been away from them for such a long period of time since our vacation last August.

update: Patio Progress

There has finally been some progress on the patio. All you do it yourselfers know how much work goes into projects like these. I did not expect that it would take more than a year for this project to be completed. In all fairness, Mitch has not been working on it for 12 months. There were many months that NOTHING was done to the patio. And, he has had to fix the upper portion several times because of the heavy rains and the washout that has occurred. We think that we finally have enough sand to prevent this from happening again. Only time will tell.

I am hoping that Mitch will be able to finish it by the end of July. Fingers crossed!! Now that he has finally decided on the stone he wants to use, hopefully the momentum will pick up. He decided on bluestone. I think it matches very well with the red pavers on the upper portion of the patio and blends in well with the deck and back steps. We already have the patio furniture and a chimenea. We bought the set a year ago. I will be glad when it all comes together and we can enjoy it! The hardest part of laying the stone is piecing it all together. It is like a huge puzzle. I am glad Mitch has the patience for this, because I don't. :) It is going to be an awesome place to chill when it is complete.I will leave you with a couple of pictures of Booyah. It has not been a good week for photo ops. I am not sure what he is up to in this pic, but I thought it was cute anyhow.

Our handsome boy. He is so photogenic. It's a good thing, because I am really starting to get the hang of my new camera. And, now that temps are getting back to normal for this time of year, I am hoping to get the kids out in the yard and capture some great shots.

Hope everyone has a great week. The weather is going to be gorgeous this week (highs in the low 80's). Whoo...hoo!! I will be sitting on the upper portion of the patio in my lawn chair enjoying a nice glass of wine. :)

Heat wave

There has been no fun in the sun this weekend for us. The temp's have been in the 100's. It has been scorching hot!! And, the kids are quite depressed and moody. They go out to potty and are forced to come back in. Cueball has not been able to run in days! Maggie and Booyah are not bothered by not being able to run. But, Cueball must run at least once a day. Although we have not been able to be outside, we have kept busy.

Mitch had to work all weekend. :( Progress on the patio has come to a hault due to the weather. I went on a HV on Saturday in VA Beach. It was a long day and Cueball was exhausted when we got home. We left the house at 8 a.m. and got home a little after 2 p.m. Traffic this time of year heading to and from the beach is a nightmare!! And, it will continue to get worse throughout the summer. I don't know how Northern Virginians tolerate all that I 95 traffic. I was a cursing sailor by the time I got home. I guess that is why we live in the country, if I had to drive like that every day, I would turn into an EVIL person. I had the AC in the car blaring, but poor Cueball was still hot. The windows in my car need to be tinted, seriously!!

Today was adoption day for Susie Q, who is now known as Iggy. She has a super nice family and a great home!!! We will miss her, but we will see her again soon. :) My mom stopped by this morning, which was a nice surprise! Booyah enjoyed laying his head in her lap. Suck up! She bought the kids a new dog bed. We also got the kids some new dog beds from Costco. I don't think you can ever have too many. We have 6 downstairs and 4 upstairs....oh and the old blue couch is upstairs too. So they have plenty of places to lay. Spoiled monkies!!! =)

Cueball in his happy place dreaming of cooler weather.

There is nothing like........

There's nothing like the natural position of Cueball's ears. He has the best ears!!There's nothing like having a mommy's boy.....
And a mommy's girl.
There's nothing like home grown tomatoes. When ripe simply pick, salt and enjoy.
There's nothing like soaking up some sun on a nice spring day.
There's nothing like the smell of ribs cooking for hours in a smoker.
And, meat that falls right off the bone.
There's nothing like home made ice cream. Yummy!!!
There's nothing like fostering. Susie Q has been the PERFECT girl in every way!! If we were able to add another member to our family now, she would be the one for us. Unfortunately, we are unable to at this time. But, VAGA has found a nice home for her right here in the Richmond area!! She will go to her forever home on Sunday. We will miss her lots!! Best of luck Shugs!!!! :) It has been incredibly rewarding helping you learn the ropes.

There's nothing like a jacked up truck. Mitch bought this truck from his brother Mike in October of 2006. He has enjoyed it very much! It does not really work well for the kids and it is a gas guzzler, but other than that it has been a great truck. It suited Mitch really well.
But, as nice as that Toyota was, there's nothing like a brand new car. A couple of months ago when I got the Impreza, I told you that Mitch had "caught the bug" and to stay tuned. Well, on Tuesday his 2009 Forester finally arrived. When I got home we loaded up all 4 kids and headed out to McDonalds for dinner to celebrate. He has been waiting patiently for months for his new car to be built and sent over from Japan. Now we have 2 vehicles that hold 4 hounds! Nice!! It is one sweet ride too. And, the sunroof is awesome!! The kids love sticking their little heads out the top.