Nanny is here! Nanny is here!

And indeed she is. With her, of course, is the magic suitcase. Once Nanny arrives, there is a gathering around this little carry on suitcase that holds untold adventure, bewitching items and tantalizing treats. One is never disappointed with what comes out. And perhaps the hardest thing is the suspense in what seems an eternity to unzip this little treat of a bag. The zipper of course going ALL the way around, undoubtably catching on something along the way to delay it. This particular suitcase always seem to get searched so of course the surprise is never where she left it. Hence some FURTHER rummaging around until, VOILA! it is found. The squeals, laughter, jumping up and down for joy that follow are only what one expects from a 38 year old. Yeah, yeah - you thought this one was about the kids didn't you. GOTCHA! No really, the kids like it too! HA!

Our own little Willy Wonka

I can't take the credit for the title or the picture - thanks to Jenny for that! She had us over for a wonderful dinner and braved 2 kids, a dog and a husband all in her apartment. Turns out Evan is a big fan of the chocolate covered strawberry. The napkin didn't fair so well though....

Lavrador the Portugese stallion

Well I don't know who is more excited - Kiira or I. We have a real life Breyer horse in the barn where we ride. For those of you who don't know what a Breyer horse it, it is only the very thing that reminds me of my childhood! Little plastic horses that my friends and I (hello out there Ruth and Catherine!) would make little blankets for, make bridles, halters, leg wraps and even lead ropes for. Then we would name them all, make a program and have a pretend show. Surprisingly, everyone seemed to get a blue ribbon at some point or another. Well, not only had my Breyer horses been saved (and some are actually worth a bit!) but we have since added on to form quite a collection for Kiira. Our latest - Lavrador. He is truly amazing. Just look at his color! You NEVER see this color. It's beautiful. If you ever saw the Lippazanor stallions - well, he does some similar "tricks". So anyway, he is who they have modeled the Breyer horse "Lavrador" after. Lavrador being his real name and all. I couldn't resist having Kiira hold her Breyer horse next to the real Lavrador. Geez, I get all excited even thinking about it. It seems a once in a lifetime opportunity here! Ok, ok, I know most of you are rolling your eyes at me here, I can't help it though! I'm still horse crazy!

Good morning!

Just in case anyone wondered, there is no personal space in our house. Every spot is open for the taking. First come, first serve. Sometimes, biggest one, best serve. And then again, sometimes littest one, loudest one, best serve. You just never know. Usually Calvin is on the bed too. Oh yeah, and me.

Takin' some heat

All righty there, I'm glad that my blog gets read! I've been taken some heat lately for not updating it so be sure to read several posts as it is going to come in a flurry....

Back in the game

Well, for awhile here, the happy go lucky, dance when he saw you/especially to his food, main greeter (and main keeper away at the same time) was a bit under the weather. Poor Rennie boy had to have surgery. It seems the 'ole tummy is not what it used to be and he just kept bloating up. The docs recommended surgery (to tack the tummy to his sides to prevent any torsion), and while we took it under consideration the first bloat, by the second bloat, we really took notice. They got him in in record time and he came out like a champ. He had the surgery around 1 pm and around 9 pm was quite vocal about wanting to come home. They had said originally he should stay the night but 'ole Rennie boy had other ideas. They called for a pick up and I went on up. He was still quite uncomfortable so I pulled an all nighter with the pup on the floor trying to get him to lay still and rest. Felt like college again but without a hangover the next day. I'm happy to say it's been about 3 weeks now and barring a bit of a scar, he is back to normal. He's even eaten a whole loaf of bread with no bloat. That's our Rennie boy!

From the giant to the peanut...

....the cousins are here...the cousins are here!!!! echoed through the house when Kiira awoke on February 15. They got in late on the 14th. Jonah (aka Pony) and Isaac (aka Bear) and Auntie Ann. After months of asking when they'd come and days of the countdown, Kiira could finally subject her 14 yr old and 12 yr old cousins to "pee pee" games, playing on her rings, silly songs and plays and endless 5 yr old chatter. You would be in awe of the patience these boys showed (although as you can see by the photo, I think they secretly got into the plays...). Evan was the official tour guide in the car, pointing at even the most remote, abstract attraction ("attraction" to a 20 month old being a relatively loose thing). Many hours of playing later, they left Sunday night on the red eye. Kiira moped around and, break MY little heart, even starting crying when she said she missed them so much. Luckily we had taken many a good video and have watched them over and OVer and OVER!!! Perhaps I'll figure out how to get the darned thing on the blog (yeah, likley story I know...). Well, we got some photos of tallest to shortest while they were here. There was a bit of discrepancy there....