Whoops

A friend just pointed out to me that my blog was not enabled for comments from the general public. Here I am welcoming comments on my blogs and I didn't even grant you all the ability to do so. How very inhospitable of me - I must not have learned the true ways of the South yet.

I think I fixed the comment block, so once again, I invite you to comment as much as you like on our blog, and I will try to keep up my end of the bargain by posting more often. Mea Culpa-

Fresh Air! Another perk of having dogs

Although I spent most of my Spring Break in my office trying to catch up, I did get a chance to get some fresh air with these three:

This is Lake Ella which is about a mile from our house

We logged some patio time in the evenings

Yep, Sawyer still loves the lap
And for some reason Lady really likes beer and wine. Don't worry, we are looking into a 12-step program for her

And we even carved out a day for a beach trip!

Lady now knows that whn we get in the gold car, we are going on some kind of adventure (I use this term loosely). She doesn't care which seat she rides in, she just jumps in and starts whining impatiently

Although we can get to the coast in about 30 minutes from Tallahassee, the beaches are better on St. George Island which is about 2 hours away

We hoped the dogs would like splashing around in the tide,

but they were pretty terrified of the water

We got them extended leashes and tied them to a stake so they would have a bit more room for exploring. I wish we could let them totally off-leash, but they are neither courteous of other people's personal space, nor aware that birds can fly further than they can run

Nap time
He uses his cuteness against me

A little jog on the beach

Eventually we let Sawyer run loose a bit because, unlike Lady, he is good about coming back when we call him
Chasing after birds on the beach was the highlight of his entire puppyhood
A, A, S & L wishing you a Happy Spring!

I love my family every day, which includes Feb. 14th

The celebration of Valentine's Day is just a touch over-hyped in our culture, wouldn't you say? Every year, we hear stories of single people rebelling against the date and/or wallowing in chocolate-covered self-pity. But Valentine's Day doesn't have to mean just a celebration of romantic love- it can be any expression of love- familial love or even the love between friends (and yes, puppy love is included).

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My favorite childhood memory of Valentine's Day (aside from a decorated Kleenex box full of sugary candy) was seeing a special Valentine's novelty- some candy or a stuffed bear with a heart- sitting at my place at the breakfast table. My mom gave us a treat to add a little extra love to our day. So, now that I have a little family of my own (do dogs a family make?) the love was expressed in puppy kisses on this day:

Sometimes they kiss each other, which is a nice break from when they spar like little wolves on the living room floor

But their favorite thing is to attack our faces with those little dog-food flavored tongues (yum)

Aside from the puppy love, Drew and I did get a chance to go to dinner and finish off the night with a nightcap:

A delightful evening

So let me use this arbitrary holiday post to say: I love you, Andrew, Mom & Dad Isaac, Mom & Dad Mitchell, To & Mo, Matt, Leah, Lizard, family out East, family out West, friends close and friends far, and of course, our pretty girl, Lady Bug and our little man, Sawyer.

Dressing Up Baby

Dogs are supposed to be graceful, outdoorsy creatures that can detect the scent of a squirrel long-gone and dig holes in the ground with amazing quickness. I never thought I would be the person that dressed them up in human clothes. And then I met Sawyer. While Lady fits the previous description of a dog, Sawyer seems to fit the description of a human toddler. He wants to be held all day, every day- and belly up, which is very unusual for dogs. He shivers and shivers indoors at the first sign of cool weather, while Lady is outside exploring. And while Lady gets all riled up at the dog barking on tv, Sawyer rolls over indifferently, wondering when his next belly scratch is coming. Dressing him up started with the idea of the dog snuggie in an attempt to keep him warm, but then we realized how funny it is that he seems so natural in these little outfits.

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So, sorry buddy, if the human clothes fit...

Now, don't get too worried, I'm not going to be that person that puts him in a tiny Burberry coat to try and make some sort of skewed fashion statement. We mainly do it to get a laugh and then take it off him, but he may have a Halloween costme next year!

If we took a holiday...

...It would be so nice! Hopefully, that Madonna song is now stuck in your head. Well, since it's January 18th, I figured I should probably get around to doing a holiday post sometime soon. The holidays this year were all about spending time with the family we don't get to see on a regular basis.

It all started with Thanksgiving in Tallahassee. Just a quiet day with Mom, Dad, Me and Drew and Toby and Monica (in from Austin) and three beagles. We pretty much just played with the pups, watched football and ate. A much more peaceful Thanksgiving than the "Orphan" Thanksgivings we would throw in San Diego.
I'm not sure where the pictures from this day are, probably on my parents' cameras. But here is a cute one of my bro and sis:

Early December, we took a little family trip to the Havana Christmas Tree Farm. The pups were in new-scent heaven- this might be the only picture with their noses off the ground.

The pictures don't show that it was raining. My feet are sinking into the wet ground here. Sawyer is the only one allowed off the leash because he will come when called.

We needed a small tree this year, for both money and doggie purposes (we put it on a small table away from paws). We found a good one, and Drew sawed it off in about 30 seconds- this was my first time cutting down a fresh tree.

The girls, after we got the tree all decorated.

I never posted the card we actually used. Here it is, Merry Christmas!

Unfortunately, Drew and I got sick about two or three days before Christmas Day, so we missed the Candlelight Christmas Eve service and were still feeling rotten on Christmas. No pictures on my camera from that day.
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Somehow, we still managed to get ourselves on a plane on the 26th to go visit our California family. Must be love. We had the best airport welcome, ever!

For our West coast family Christmas, we went to Clovis and the boys played in the annual Extreme Croquet tournament

The winner this year was Sammy. He is very proud of the new Chevron with his name on it

Elizabeth, with her cheerleading plaque

This year, we did something special for Drew's Grandma (pictured). We all contributed an object the represented a memory with her to a bowl of blessings. Here, Jane is reading her message to her Mom, and Grandma is modeling the cape Jane made for her!

I think we're trying not to cry.

The rest of the week was spent playing with Drew's cousins (and Nate)

We went to see Avatar in 3D. Fun experience,

but I'll let someone else comment on the movie itself- I'm too picky, I guess.We took a family trip to the Clay Cafe to paint

We each did a tile that will get fired (the colors will get much deeper) and will be put into a mural to mark our 09 Christmas together

On New Year's Eve, Curt and Jane took us all out for a fancy dinner at The Vintage Press

Then, we dressed down and headed over to Leah's boyfriends house for a bonfire

We are a "special" family in all senses of the word

Happy New Year! I have a feeling it's going to be a great one!

Clothes made with love

My beautiful friend Tina Fransson (pictured with husband, Johan) has recently begun to sew custom-made clothes, inspired by the love of God.

A snippet from her bio:

"God gave each and every one of us gifts. Some can sing, others are kind, some are good listeners....I believe one of the gifts he gave me is the passion to make clothes for others. At this point in my life, it feels like this is something God wants me to do. So my purpose for now is to love others and to spread the word of Jesus Christ and his love to all who buy my clothes and let everyone know that they are loved!"

I must be loved, because I received one of the first (if not the first) dress made by Tina. She let me design it myself (because I always have an idea for a dress in mind and can never quite find what I'm looking for) and she did the bateau-neck, party dress exactly as I had imagined it!

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Because it was the inaugural run, Tina cut up an old bridesmaid dress for the fabric and did all of the construction before she had her dress form or any of her patterns- and look at how lovely it turned out! I was so impressed with her work that I decided to get some pictures of me in it to showcase her talent. Drew took the pictures in our yard last Saturday:

I guess someone felt left out:

So Sawyer got in on the pictures, too

I am so embarrassed to post this one, but the dress looks so nice from this angle. This was in response to Andrew saying, "Do something. Anything. Put your hands on your hips and strike a pose." He was right; it's better to be ridiculous than awkward and bland!

Tina did such gorgeous detail on the back:

On Facebook, she has been referring to her project as "Ta Ta Tina," so here's a little logo I put together (in the prehistoric "paint" feature of my computer!)

If you or any other fashion-forward ladies you know want a custom-made piece, check out Tina's website:

http://www.wix.com/tfransson/custom

She charges just a little over materials and shipping (if you live outside of the San Diego area), and does more than just dresses. Here is a recent jacket she did:

Tina, thanks for letting me be part of your mission to spread His love! And thank you for my darling dress!