A December to Remember

Taylor had her first band concert and she did amazing! She is our little clarinet player and we couldn't be more proud of her. Blake came along to support her band career and it made her a little nervous that "the pro" would be judging her. He assured her that she has to start somewhere and he kinda coached her...love that. Evie got to join us and she did amazing at her percussion parts too! They played........It was a great concert followed by a treat at McDonald's with Max and Mandy.

December days filled with puppies playing, fighting, cuddling on the couch, watching Christmas movies and overall, just being cute.

ONE time of getting to go with Billy & Milo...she
is ready and waiting with her collar! lol!

Finally, peel the fridge day! lol!

Blake also had his holiday band concert and it was wonderful too! The jazz band played a rendition of Sesame Street, while much of the other songs were fold/holiday songs from around the globe. They were long, very intricate pieces...we have a very talented group of band kids here!

Blake will do just about anything if it has to do with band...even bake and shop for the annual band Christmas party potluck and secret Santa gift exchange! We took some time that afternoon, to bake our famous crispy sugar cookies and wrap the gift he found for Wren. She loves the color yellow, cocoa, peppermint and blankets. We found a way to envelope them all into one cool gift...a no-sew yellow floral blanket kit, a chalkboard mug with Starbucks cocoa and a peppermint spoon to boot! Score! And when he came home from the party, he said she really loved her gift, I am so happy! He got a Starbucks gift card and a Spiderman plush...he was really happy too. It's really awesome that Mr. A plans all these cool events to do with the kids. He really loves his job and it shines through. Love this second family Blake has become a part of.

Me and my girls got to do our Christmas thing too...I sure love these ladies. These are the friends that love you for who you are. There are few and far between and I am blessed to have them as my friends and neighbors! LaShana is pointing to the table let because, before I got there, the table was wobbly and she KNEW it would bother me so she asked for extra napkins so I could put it under the leg to stabilize it! lol!

My work Christmas party was at Top Notch Axe Throwing! Shane made sure to feed us well with bbq and special cake. It was a fun time! He is very generous, we all got Christmas bonuses and gifts from the sales people...everyone is so great to work with. Go J&S Tool!!

November to Remember

The first weekend in November began with an early morning performance & clinic at the Gateway British Brass Band festival at Ritenour High School in St. Louis. The Bulldogs did amazing and brought back such fond memories when they played a piece from The Pale Blue Dot! I literally had to hold back tears, they are amazing.

Seems like many of our pictures are of these silly pups just livin' the life! Tay and I went on a shopping day together & went to Madi's 1st bday party. We also took both pups to the dog park together...it was Millie's first time ever and only Milo's second visit. It started out really rocky, but after a long walk on the leash to wear them out, they eventually got to go inside the doggy part and meet some friends. We are gonna try to take them more often so they can be used to other dogs.

Tay and Mayven at Madi's bday!

We had our first snow of the winter on November 11th. It was Millie's first ever snow and Milo sure showed her how a snowday is done! He is my winter pup and was tiny during last years blizzards!

Since the kids aren't at Progress South anymore, we don't get to participate in the wonderful assembly that honors our Veterans so well. We still honor our own WWII vet, my Dad, and are thankful for all who have served. Such a special holiday.

More pictures of the kids with these silly fur babies...they sure are entertaining! Looking back through the photos to do this post makes me realize that we did spend quite a bit of time in the family room, eating by the lit up tree & fire. I didn't post all the food/tree pics but there were quite a few. The only food pics are the ones that were on Thanksgiving eve, we had all planned on having company that day, no one came, so we ended up having a quiet evening, eating pizza while watching Christmas Vacation...perfect night.

Thanksgiving eve, enjoying pizza and lights! 

The picture below has a funny story! We mess with Tay so bad...we just went to Petsmart to buy a training collar for Millie. She barks at everything out back and hasn't responded to any other training methods. After much research, we decided to try a shock collar. Anyways, we come home and are reading the instructions, Billy is reading it aloud, so all of us can follow the same procedure. (Trying to be responsible here) Billy reads, "to ensure proper amount ofo shock is being administered, place collar on youngest child, turn voltage to highest possible setting, press and hold the red button". Taylor is over here, on the couch with her jaw dropped, jumps up and insists on seeing this in writing! It's so funny messing with her! BTW: no pets OR children were harmed during this joke..lol.

Taylor and I did our annual black Friday shopping trip...5am we were headed out! We hit Walmart, which was empty. Tay ended up buying a pack of good markers, that weren't even on sale..lol. Then we had breakfast at Chic-fil-a before heading to Target and Michaels. Tay bought a little pound puppy from Target and more markers/pens at Michaels....whoa, big shoppers we are! lol! The last picture shows what an early morning shopping trip causes...pure exhaustion!