Donuts with Dad

A persuasive argument

Our kids have been asking for a dog for a few years now. My responses was always "not until I get my hips fixed." So we've been tossing around the idea. Each kid had a different idea about what kind of dog we should get. Jacob wants a German Shepard. Sarah wants any small dog that will sleep with her. Ethan wants a pug. Probably because he met cousin Samara's pug last summer. Lucas wants a Chihuahua. That's quite a spectrum!

So my mom sent a dog breed book that discussed common health issues, grooming and exercise needs, size, temperament, etc., and we talked about lots of different types of dogs. Mark grew up with springer spaniels. I wanted a small to medium size dog and fell in love with Cavalier King Charles spaniels when the ebola nurse, Nina Pham, and her dog Bentley were in the news. 

Then I saw a woman walking her CKC spaniel and stopped to ask her about the breed and where she got her dog. She lead me to a local breeder in North Texas. But I also love the idea of rescuing a dog and not having to go through the puppy stage for our first family pet. I've been watching Cavalier Rescue USA as well. I'm not in a rush, but the kids are persistent.

Jacob had to complete a blue dog painting project at school based on the works of George Rodrigue. 

This was Jacob's painting. Framed and given as a gift on Mother's Day. Awwww.

Simultaneously, Sarah was working on persuasive writing at school. This letter was given to me shortly after Mother's Day.

Do you think they're trying to tell me something?

Girl Scout Bronze Award Project

Sarah's troop collected towels and blankets for Flower Mound Animal Care Services as part of their Bronze Award project. More than 13 boxes of stuff were delivered!

Earlier in the year, the girls had been given a tour and learned about all the different animals FMACS is equipped to take care of. Not just cats and dogs, but horses, livestock, wildlife - you name it! FMACS planned to pick out the items they needed from our donation and share the rest with other local animal care facilities. The girls were very proud! 

Field Day

The elementary school had Field Day and all the kids had a blast!

Golf on a whim

On a whim, I answered a call for a volunteer photographer for an American Diabetes Association golf tournament. I was told to take shots of each foursome and some candids, and that was the extent of my instruction. 

The guy did say to try and get the foursomes to do something silly for the pictures but clearly there were too many boring folk and not enough alcohol on the course ...

 until....my favorite shot of the day!

Lucas' First Communion

We celebrated Lucas' First Communion with our friends, the Shoup family, whose son Andrew also made his First Communion. We attended the mass together at St. Philip The Apostle Catholic Church and then had a fun dinner at the Bridlewood Golf Club.

 

Easter 2015

Easter morning was a rainy washout but our neighbor, the Easter Bunny, came through in the late morning with cascarones and candy for the kids. So fun to see their surprised faces every year!

One of these things is not like the other ...

Ethan's birthday surprise!

Great Wolf Lodge! Ethan's birthday fell on a Wednesday this year and as luck would have it, the kids did not have school on Thursday or Friday. So I booked a room as a surprise. I picked them up after school and did some errands with them all in the car not realizing the trunk was packed with luggage, magic quest wands and cupcakes! Even when we pulled into the parking lot of GWL, they still didn't realize the surprise - they thought we were just doing an errand there! This is their surprised face.