Doing a little shopping.

In two weeks, we will be adding a new member to our family. Here she is!
Briseis is her name (Brisi, for short) and she is a standard poodle puppy. We're all looking forward to bringing her home. I've already started to do a little shopping.
Just today, I had decided (after painstaking research) that we would go with this hemp collar and lead. I thought the lead would be easier on our hands than nylon ones and the collar even has fleece inside it so it would be comfortable for Brisi. When I went to REI this evening, they had exactly what I wanted on sale!
No new event is complete in our lives without reading as much as we can about it. A stop at the library was all we needed.

We'll be visiting Brisi on Sunday, so I hope to have some updated pictures of her next week.

"Frigid" morning

Annie woke up and insisted on putting on more clothes even before she got out of bed.
So she has on a long sleeved nightgown, leggings, socks, and the poncho Aunt Laura made for her.

For those of you counting at home, Michael has on 4 tshirts (3 of them long sleeved), and a cardigan. Why would they need so many clothes, you ask?

Because it was 70 degrees in the house this morning. I can almost hear the chuckles, but you must remember that we keep the thermostat at 81 degrees all summer. We even go to park days until it's 100 degrees!


Yes, that's a "4" in front. 48.7 degrees outside. Michael, who was the first one up this morning, says it was 44 degrees earlier. That's low 40s.

Winter is on its way!

Michael's art

Phew. This blogging every day is taxing my creative ability. While scrolling through my photos, I noticed a couple of pictures of Michael's artwork. I thought I'd share them with you, too.

This one is painted with coffee and ink.


I believe this one is colored pencil and pastel for the sky. I wonder if one of these two will be sent to the State Fair next year.

A Sunday in the Life

I thought of doing this today while I watched Michael eat breakfast. Unfortunately, the camera battery was dead, so I have to pick up later in the morning. Tim went to his spin class this morning and while he was gone . . .

Michael practiced the piano while . . .

Annie played with her seashell collection, and . . .

Jay worked on his novel. After Tim got home, since it's Sunday, it was time for . . .

lunch in front of the football game. After lunch, it was time for . . .

a marathon game of Monopoly. When Tim lost the game, it was time to . . .

mow the lawn. While he was doing that . . .

Annie checked her email (who is she chatting with? Could it be Aunt Kristen? Grandma? Ryan? Who knows?). Tonight is pizza and movie night, but before dinner, there's time for a . . .

game of touch football!

Here's the gluten free, soy free, vegan pizza. It looks pretty good, doesn't it?

The movie was "Spider Man 3." I don't know if they really enjoyed it, but they had seen 1 and 2, so they kind of had to see 3. Then it was time for bed.

Toothbrushing.

Reading.

Sleep.

Visions of puppies are dancing in her head.

Good night.

Knitting projects

As I said earlier, Laura taught Michael and Annie to knit during her visit. I thought I would show you close-up pictures of their finished projects.

Annie's pouch fits nicely on her doll, Amelia. She puts her "squishy" animals in it. I really like her choice of peach colored ribbon for the drawstring.

Michael's Magic cards fit perfectly in his pouch. Not only did he knit and help to form the pouch, but he and Aunt Laura even made the cord for the drawstring!

They're both very proud of their pouches.

Skating

Laura didn't get a chance to see Jay skate during her visit, so I thought I would share some video of the kids' skating prowess.



Annie is learning backward cross-overs. This is not an easy move.



Michael is just plain fast.



Jay is working on stick handling. He has improved immensely since he started working with his coach!

Award Winners

The kids and some of their friends take an art class every week here at our house with their art teacher, Larry. Larry likes to enter their artwork in several competitions, including the Arizona State Fair, which just finished its three week run. It seems the best project for most of the kids was a charcoal drawing of kittens, which they did last Spring.

Annie's drawing won 2nd place in the 2nd grade competition. By rights, she should have been entered in the 1st grade competition. I guess she must be some kind of prodigy.


Michael won 2nd place in the 4th grade competition. This is the second award he's won at the State Fair for his art work. Another boy in their class, Daniel, won Best in Show for his charcoal for the early elementary age group. We were all very proud.

What's that, you say? What about Jay?

He won another "participant" ribbon this year! We're very proud of him for participating.