Suzanne McGrath Photography

Six on Sunday

Hello!  I'm sitting here at my desk, with a glass of red wine, and most of family home now.  It's a good night.

1.  This weekend I was home alone.  For three nights!  Can you believe that?  While I used to crave a weekend at home alone, now that I'm home during the day, I really didn't need it like before.  Don't get me wrong, it was nice.  But I was so ready for the family to get home today.  I definitely made the most of three nights, though!

Thursday evening I watched Say Anything.  I randomly bought it at Target last week because it was only $5.  It was just as good as I remembered.  I seriously LOVE that movie.  I don't know how many times I've seen it and I never tire of watching it.

Friday morning I got up and did yoga.  I also stained a couple tables I'm redoing for a friend.  (They are so pretty!)  I met an old friend for lunch and it was so good to catch up.  Plus, I got to try Pie Five and it was really good.  Now I need to take the kids.  I finished this week's training for my CASA class and had dinner with another friend.  I'd say that's a pretty productive day, wouldn't you?

Saturday morning my friend, Carmen, and I ran the Miles for Melanoma 5K.  

I wasn't sure if I could run since my Runner's Knee flared up really bad after last Monday's Boot Camp class, but it was great!  I had fresh legs from taking the week off and really enjoyed the run, despite the awful humidity.  It was a nice start to the day and a great way to show support for our friend, Jen.

After the 5k, I was staring down an entire day with NOTHING on the agenda.  That NEVER happens.  What did I do?  Well, I decided to build the barn doors for the opening between our master bedroom and bathroom.  I am in love with how they are turning out.  They are rustic yet modern - the perfect compliment for our bedroom.  I'm so excited to finish them - hopefully this week!  (I'll post a sneak peek on Instagram when I have decent lighting for a picture.)

Today I finished sanding the doors and hit the grocery store.  And let me say, I did all of this while taking care of Winston.  Oh my, it's like having a toddler again.  Phew!  He wears me out.

 

2.  That brings me to Winston, our new puppy.  He is so adorable but a major handful!

It's so much easier to take care of them when there are 5 or 6 of us to watch him.  But when it was just me, I had to be on my toes!  

I've gotten quite a few questions about how Darby is doing.  Here is the look she gives Winston most of the time:

Basically, she is saying "I'm too good for you and you shall bow down to me, dumb dog."  However, I have to say, she is doing much better than I expected.  She hisses at him and has bopped him on the head a few times, but that's really it.  He is finally figuring out that she doesn't want to play with him and in fact does not like him.  At all.  

She waits until he goes to bed at night and then she sits on lap and enjoys our company.  I'm really pleased with how she is putting up with him.  They even sniff every one in awhile.  Phew!

 

3.  I mentioned last week #2 was flying to Dallas.  She comes home tomorrow.  I'm so ready for her to come and tell me all about her trip!  She has had an absolute blast.  She's been totally spoiled and had so much fun with Addy and her family.  Plus, she and Addy were able to spend the night with the hubby's sister, Erin, and hang with Erin all day Wednesday.  #2 has been texting me pics as has Addy's mom and I've loved my daily updates!

I love this picture so much.  Addy is so tall and #2 is so short.  But they are so adorable!

 

Here they were swimming at Aunt Erin's house:

 

#2' birthday is on Wednesday (the 15th) and she celebrated it twice while in Dallas.  Once with Addy's family (an ice cream cake!) and then Erin and her husband took the girls out to dinner to celebrate as well (creme brule).  Isn't she lucky?

 

4.  We had fun back here this week, too!  We walked to lunch one day:

 

#3 and her cousin now have matching Olathe Cyclone's swim suits:

 

The cousins came home with us for an afternoon after swim practice and had a lemonade stand:

Can you believe they made $40?!  Yeah, me, either.

 

It wasn't all fun and games.  We cleaned the house, too.  

I still hate cleaning the house as much as I did the first week I did it.  Seriously, HATE isn't strong enough of a word.  Blech.

 

5.  The whole reason the family was in Omaha this weekend was because #1 attended a swim camp at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Friday through today.  It was a Starts, Turns, and Break-outs camp.  While she was a little disappointed that she as the oldest swimmer in attendance, she seemed to actually enjoy it and she learned a LOT.  I'm really proud of her for attending an overnight camp where she knew absolutely no one.  She made a few friends and really, really liked the coaches.  All is well that ends well!  (I have to admit, it was really cool to have her meet all the Husker people since the hubby and I both went to college at UNL.  I loved that part!) 

 

6.  I'm getting geared up for our epic road trip!  Everything that needs to be booked is done.  (i.e. the horseback riding and white water rafting)  I've started buying snacks.  I need to do laundry and just start rounding everything up for 10 or 11 nights away from home!  I'll be sure to write a detailed post when we get back - all the good, the bad, and the ugly.

 

Phew!  This felt like a long one tonight.  I hope I didn't bore you.  But with that, have a great week.  Or two.  (Not sure when I'll be here due to our road trip!)
 

 

 

Six on Sunday

Hello!  I hope you had a good weekend.  We had a nice one but it went too fast.  With that, I'm just going to get started...

1.  Well, we did it.  We got our puppy!!!  You may have seen this picture on FB, but I'm going to post it again here because it sums up how my girls feel about Winston:

You guys, he is SO CUTE!  All 2 pounds 5 ounces of him.  For reals.  He is that small.  He looks like a stuffed animal.  We are all smitten - even the hubby who was the last bastion between us and a puppy!

The hubby and the three little girls picked him up late Friday afternoon.  He has been an angel.  Of course he isn't potty trained yet but I am hopeful it doesn't take long since he is a toy poodle.  And poodles are supposed to be smart.  (I am seriously hoping that is true!)  With all six of us around to take care of him, it's gone really well.  He's like a toddler.  When he's awake someone is always watching him.  We have to keep an eye on him because he's so small we don't want him to get stepped on by one of us.  And when he conks out, we all sigh with relief and take a load off - at least for a little while.

He loves his crate and goes in there to nap.  He's too small to be allowed on the furniture or in our beds.  So he is sleeping downstairs in our half-bath at night.  I haven't heard him cry at all.  Fingers crossed that keeps up.  He loves to run around in the grass, bite our feet or hands (we bought him chew toys), and check out Darby, our cat.  (She is tolerating him but has hissed a few times.)

I snapped a few pics with my big girl camera tonight.  Here is one:

The breeder is going to watch him for us when we go on vacation which is a relief.  I am so glad we decided to get a dog.  He's awesome!

 

2.  #2 flies to Dallas tomorrow for a week!  I am so excited for her.  She is going to see her BFF, Addie, who moved away in third grade.  They are now going into eighth grade.  I think it's so cool that they have stayed in touch for five years.  Of course I'm a smidge nervous for her to fly by herself, but I know she will do great!

 

3.  We have spent some time at the pool this past week but not as much as I thought we would.  I think the desire to play with Winston has won out the past two days.  I did manage to get a new pool toy for the girls, though.  Isn't this frog cute?  And of course, so is #4!

 

4.  The Littles started swim team this week.  They are both swimming for Olathe Cyclones again this summer.  They swam on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday last week.  #3's had a friend for the first day which helped but then Addy drove to Ohio for the remainder of the week.  And #4 was super nervous because she didn't have a friend with her, but she did great!  Her cousin, Grant, is swimming pre-competitive but they are not in the same lane so it's almost like he isn't even swimming.  #3 has her other cousin swimming with her now and that is wonderful.  I love that we get to see Grant and Sydney every day!  

Here is #3 with her Addy on their first day:

 

5.  We had a great week of summer vacation.  #1, #3, and #4 are all now on their regular swim team routine.  Tuesday we hung out around the house and just played.  Wednesday we went to the museum at Prairie Fire and loved the Brain exhibit.  It was really cool but almost too much information to absorb in one visit.  We also hit up Sonic and then Pet Store to get ready for Winston.  Thursday we saw the movie, Alice Through the Looking Glass.  It was good but I was so tired from getting up before 5:30am for three days that I may have taken a little siesta during the middle of the movie!  Friday I spent the day in Topeka with #1 for her swim meet.  

 

6.  #1 swam in Beach Bash on Friday and Saturday.  She wasn't too happy because none of her teammates were there.  But it was her only option to swim in a meet during the month of June since we are going to be gone for the big meet in Columbia, MO later this month.  While she did not swim fast (I didn't expect her to - it was long course so a 50m pool), it gave her an opportunity to see what she needs to do at her next meet in July.  

She didn't love the venue but I did!  It was outside and the weather was simply beautiful so it made sitting at a meet for 6 hours much more bearable than normal!  Here she is swimming the free on her 200IM:

 

And that's about it!  I'm looking forward to another fun summer week.  My Boot Camp starts tomorrow so maybe that will motivate me to eat a little healthier.  (Although I sort of doubt it!)  Have a fabulous week.  Talk to you next Sunday!