Thank you all sooo much!!!

I got an email yesterday saying Carolina won this month's "kid of the month" I was totally excited! This was the first month I entered her! They said there were A TON of votes and that "it was over before it really even ended." There were so many votes after the first 2 days that the final day didn't even matter. So thank you to all of you out here in xanga land. We had 15 states voting as well as Canada! lol SAVE THE TATAS!!!!!!

My cousin had her highschool voting, my little brother had SDSU voting, Scot had TX voting. Of course Minnesota was voting. All the folks in AZ! Family in MD and VA! My mom had all of her friends helping, Andrew's office, my MIL's office! Thank you all! Im so excited!

She won  $50 gift card, 25% off everything in the store for the month, a bundle me (winter carseat insert/cover) A photoshoot with a free 5x7 & 8x10 as well as a cut and style at a downtown salon for MEEE! :D:D

So now, another weekend is upon us. We're still sick. Were all feeling better but cant kick these fevers. Carolina was fever free for 3 days and now today its back. Taylor spikes a fever like clockwork as soon as the ibuprofen wears off.... *sigh*

Wish us well~

And thank you all for your votes! :) I feel like "I've got people!" and I didnt even have to go to HR Block! :D:D:D hahahahah

And also...

I am in SHOCK about Ft. Hood. Lots of prayers to EVERYONE.  It is such a SAD SAD thing..... I feel a pit thinking of all the people who have lost, the people who are hurting, who are missing the ones they love, and the whole level of trauma that those around endured. Its absolutely crazy... the whole thing blows my mind. And the fact that it happened in a military community. It bothers my being.

Really. Like... these people already endure soo much....

How much does a person take before they get to this point? I don't get it. *sigh*

Wow. I have leaves galore. The yard is covered.

Maple leaves everywhere, with all the red leaves it looks like Im screaming "Go Canada" hahaha

I raked a pile of them together and took pictures of the girls. It was fun. Taylor woke up with a stuffy nose and head, she laid around and took it easy all day. I even got her to take a nap which was VERY nice. Thankfully today was a decent day so she was able to get outside and get some fresh air for a little bit. My mom came by and dropped some things off, Taylor went with her for the evening.

Tonight Andrew and I have to go to school for a parent meeting on the zoo phonics alphabet they are teaching the kids, afterwards were headed over to my mom's for pumpkin carving. I love the jack-o-lanterns, but really dont much care for carving them myself.... I get sick of it right away. With kids though, Im sure I'll be doing it every year. Might as well learn to love it right?

Anywho, gotta get ready to go. :)

Never again.

Ever.

Today is the last day with this shaggy horrid breathed beast. I thought already I was going to go outside and take some really nice pictures of him, just for fun, and then get one done up nice for his owner. It wouldve been cool. I have an 8x10 of Iniko on the wall. Hes part of the family so he should be included in family pictures right? I had plans to enjoy the day. It was going to be playful and fun like "Wow you're a great dog, Thank God you're leaving!"

Didn't happen.

I was laying in bed this morning and I heard some obnoxious noises from the basement. My first reaction was fear.

Im home alone, Andrew had already left for work, WHO is in my basement? And theyre trying to steal my wash machine?

I stop and listen for a minute and then question if I had dreamed it in my half sleepy state. Silence. I close my eyes and snuggle Carolina in and then it happens again. A loud screech across the basement, like the washer is being slid around on concrete. That metal screeching scratching sound.  I shot out of bed and looked out the window into my backyard and theres that damn dog. Playing and pulling and eating the CABLE that goes INTO my house. One cable is connected to Charter Cable, and the other runs all the way up the house to a giant antenna. The antenna worked until today because the dog severed the cable. All the little clips that keep it so nice and tight against the house are broken, the cables are just hanging there all ugly and nasty, some of the clips got ripped out of the siding, screw and all, thus stripping the holes they were in. And the antenna on the top of the house is lifeless now as it has lost its basement connection.

Everyday there has been something. Everyday I think its my fault, like I couldve put this away and that away. Last Monday he got into a box and flung packing peanuts all across my lawn, he pawwed at the basement window and shattered it, throughout the rest of the week he ate the stand to my patio umbrella, destroyed every one of his toys (Never touched the bone though) He ate several holes through and severed the garden hose in multiple places.

The end of the week it rained pretty bad, we left the people door on the garage open so he could go in and out, he found my beach tote bag and chewed up 2 of the kid's sensory balls along with a couple of cheap arm floaties. He destroyed a watering can my mother gave me this summer.

So see, some things could have been avoided, but what should I have done? Put my basement window away? Maybe disconnected my cable and removed the cables from my house for the duration of his stay? I am so annoyed. This is a major major pain in my ass. Now Andrew has to come home and deal with all that crap. Oh joy. And quite frankly its been a major time absorber. I need him, the girls need him and hes really had to devote alot of his "free" time to dealing with that Dog, cleaning up his messes, fixing things he broke and its not very fun to me.

And while this was going on.....

When I first saw the dog doing this I hit the window really hard so he'd stop. I took Carolina to the changing table and got the wet diaper off. I wanted to just let her air out for a minute, so I buckled her on the changing table and went outside to PUT THE DOG IN THE KENNEL and call Andrew. When Im finished with those things, I go back to get Carolina dressed. I walk in there to find she had pooped all over the changing table and then proceeded to kick her legs around and wiggle/roll around in it. It was lovely. The table was covered, the baby was covered, the wipe container was covered...

And to make everything worse... this is just the start of my week....

Andrew and I took Taylor to see Where the Wildthings Are tonight. :) It was adorable. We loved it! I wasnt sure what to expect because theres been mixed reviews about it, saying it wasnt child friendly and whatnot. It ended up fine.

It was a yucky rainy day. I feel bad because no one went outside to play with Jack in the rain. :( Poor guy. Tomorrow is suppose to be even worse weather wise. I dont think I'll be going out much. Tomorrow Andrew is hosting the Windows 7 launch party. :) I picked up a bunch of snacks for that tonight. :Hopefully that goes well. Not sure who is all coming or what it will turn into, with the weather it looks as though there will be no fire, so it will probably end up guitar hero into the night for those that stay.

My back is really bothering me.... and Im really tired. So this is the end.

So here Ive been neglecting xanga again...

And today Im going to blame facebook. Serious. I tend to keep that one updated because its fun, I communicate with a lot of friends and family that way. And then Ive used my computer time and feel like I've "connected" in whatever way I needed to, and on goes life. However, that means xanga gets overlooked, my xangans get left out and the people who I don't have on facebook get nothing.

Im trying to stop this. Xanga is more of an art than facebook is anyhow. Really. When you think about it, random status updates and photos really doesnt fill in the blanks, it seems to create blanks really... that are filled in with assumptions and then somehow everyone knows your business because they "saw it on facebook" But really... they only saw a sliver, which you intentionally put out there for them to see, and they filled in the rest with whatever nonsense... and its not the truth. More like the rumor weed.

Im not even mad at facebook or anyone on there, its just the truth. Ive done it. Feel like Ive "kept in touch" with people because I can see what theyre up to online... but really I know nothing. And I suppose this can all be applied to xanga as well, but it still has more content and is a bit more personal.

BLAH BLAH

HERE I AM!

This week we are dogsitting a newfoundland named Jack. He is a huge dog as seen in the picture below. Its been interesting. If you know me at all you know how I feel about dogs. I am OCD to the maxxxx over animal hair. Hate it. Hate it. Grosses me out. I like to pet them, but after touching them I have to immediately wash my hands before I can do ANYTHING. And thats a pain, so I avoid touching them. I dont like barking. I wont pick up animal poop. I am not cool with being jumped on or licked....

So do you want me to dogsit for you? Probably not.

I do make exceptions from time to time. And this was one of them. It was asked of Andrew, by some really special people that we really couldn't say no to. And I knew it was us or the kennel, and Im cool with the kennel for vacations and such, but I feel particularly bad for "BiG" dogs that have to be there. Theyre too big to be in those small places. Their bones need to move. Outside dogs are used to just running outside all day, and then to have to go there.... its like dog prison... and even I have a heart. (besides it was 10 days, and thats too many for a kennel) So end of the story is he ended up here. And we're pretty happy to have him for the most part. Hes a good guy. Taylor actually really likes him, hes like a friend to her. They run around in the backyard playing together. Its really precious.

Precious until the dog breaks a window or throws an entire box of packing peanuts across your lawn. Yeah. I wasnt happy about that. Not really at all. Fortunately my husband is a wonderful man and he dealt with the situation promptly. The peanuts are few now and the glass is replaced. Ergh.

Tomorrow night Carolina is going to Grandpa and Grandma's and we are taking Taylor to see Wildthings. Im really excited. Ive been reading reviews saying it isnt really a "kid" movie. People are saying its too serious, too emotional, over their heads and even scary. Ive talked to Taylor about it quite a bit, trying to get her prepared. I'm brave enough to take her because I really think she'll handle it fine. Hopefully I'm not wrong.

Life is good. Kids are good. We've got another busy weekend coming up. Andrew is hosting a Windows 7 launch party at our house on Friday, it will probably just turn into a hang out time, not sure what else.... and Saturday hes helping his mom move into her new apartment. It will be closer to us again. 3 miles instead of 25. Then some friends of ours just bought their house, we're going to try to make it to their open house/housewarming on Saturday as well. Fun stuff!!