Thursday, May 29, 2008

Science Night



Today was Alexis' big Science Fair night! We all had supper together at the O'Hara's--the guys headed off to the shooting range, and the gals headed to the school for Science Fair. Alexis did a project on germs and how far they go when you sneeze. It was pretty cool. She had a can of compressed air, and a "nose" for it to blow through, and pepper to shoot across the room. Very neat! We were proud of her. There were lots of other fun experiments too...many volcanoes, as the boys liked things that blew up! The girls had a great time at a generator, where they put the power through them once they connected the circuit. They loved the tingling feeling, and they boys seemed to not tolerate the voltage as well as the girls. (One more reason God had women do the tough child bearing!)

After the Science Fair, we headed to Wal-Mart to pick up some items. We arrived home at the same time as the guys. We enjoyed Root Beer Floats, and a few rounds of cribbage. Lets just say the girls didn't suffer as much as last time!

The younger girls had fun dressing up and taking pictures of each other for their scrap books. Alyona, Ryan & Declan had their own round of cribbage in the living room. Another fun (and late) night!


Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Locks Of Love Day





Today was a big day for three of us gals. Tanya, Kristin & Myself all went to my girlfriend Kellie to donate our hair to Locks of Love. The girls waited until I had enough hair (the minimum was 8 inches) and I managed 9.5 and still had shoulder length left.

Tanya went first...and cut off 10.5 or 11 inches of hair. Her new style is SO very cute!!

Kristin went next...and is sporting such a cute haircut, it makes those of us with straight hair sick. It is very attractive!

I went last, and let Kellie give me the style she thought would look good. She did great, although it has been a long time since I've had bangs on my face, that I am having a difficult time not brushing them off.

We had a fun afternoon, and even Ryan & Bill's barber Shane (who works next door) came over for some entertainment.

Oh yeah, and Declan...you left your coon skin hat again!!

Declan's coon skin hat, modified Kristin Style with a crown!


Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Another Round of Cribbage

Tonight we got together with the O'Hara's on an impromptu visit.....the guys decided to have bible study after all. SO, after supper, we all met up at our house, and the guys headed to Bible Study. Tracey & Alexis worked on her Science Project for her Science Fair, Alyona watched a movie, the other girls played dress up, and the boys of course played a computer game.

The guys came home, and the kids were playing so nicely, that we got in another game of cribbage. Sadly, the girls were skunked...but, let it be known...this is what you end up looking like after a skunking!




In all seriousness--we are thankful this is all Sean got! He was helping a friend yesterday to raise a large post over their drive, and Sean was on top of the beam, 18 ft in the air. The chain binder jumped or let go, and it came back to hit Sean in the hand, lip & face, causing him to have several stitches in his hand & cheek. The picture of the laceration doesn't really do the cut justice, as I saw how ucky it looked just after he did it, and the picture does not give the dimensional look! We shudder to think of how serious (or fatal) this could have been, and Praise God for his watchful eye over Sean.

Now, for more silliness--Declan, you forgot your coonskin hat here at the house! You'll have to pay to get it back now!! (Just kidding...we're just funnin' with ya!)


Monday, May 26, 2008

Our Silly Girls

This is a quick picture of our girls singing in church Sunday AM
Notice the long hair on Kristin & Tanya--it will be donated to Locks of Love this week!

We spent supper & the evening together with the O'Hara's. The kids played outside for quite awhile, despite the cloudy weather. It never did rain, so we were thankful for that.

We enjoyed supper together, and then the adults played a few rounds of cribbage. Tracey & I won the last round, and I won't tell you about the other hands we didn't win. Lets just say that Sean is a happy winner!! WAHOO!!

The girls ended up having a great time dressing up in the silliest get ups that they could put together. There was lots of giggling, and boy, the fun things they put together.....pictures are worth a million words!











Saturday, May 24, 2008

How Times Have Changed

My, how times have changed. It seems we have known the O'Hara family for years, even though it has only been a short 15 months!! We have grown to be quite a family, loving each other as we were truly blood related, but adding two more kids to the mix last October.

Here we are last June, when there were only 5 kids!!



Here we are this May (almost June) with seven kids--all close like brothers & sisters!! (AND oh my goodness...they are lined up almost the same, and we did not tell them how to line up at all!! Funny!!)




We had a great trip to the Science Factory on Wednesday after work. The kids saw all the displays in a matter of 30 minutes,(they were very spoiled by OMSI) and were ready to go--until they found the dress up clothes. They had a blast dressing up, while Tracey & I envisioned lice...yikes. Thankfully, everyone is fine!!



After our Science Center adventure, we headed to Goodwill--boy was that exciting with seven kids. The girls had a blast, while the boys got bored....good thing for lap tops & DVD Players!!

Sorry about the pictures...they are from the cell phone...and no, I did not forget my camera. My camera broke while we were at the Science Factory. Unfortunately, I don't have a card reader to get my photos from, so will ask Sean to please download them for me, as my camera is on the way to IL to be repaired (thank heavens for warranties!). So, in the meantime, I'll be stealing Kristin's camera again to keep you in the loop of our happenings! Look for more pictures when I get the ones off the camera! (I will add a separate slide show to this post).

Here are the rest of the pictures from the camera that broke!


Sunday, May 18, 2008

Saturday & Sunday

Last evening, after supper, we had a huge "cleaning effort"! With seven children, two adults, three dogs, and two cats, the mess in the the house was incredible!! While at the dinner table, we assigned jobs and everyone took off in their own directions to get things done. Since we had used the slip & slide...there was grass everywhere, and I mean everywhere! Declan swept the main floor, Alyona handled the worst mess-the bathroom, I think she had a piece of sod when she was finished sweeping in there! Tanya, Kristin & Kim cleaned up the dress up mess in Kristin's bedroom, Ryan emptied & refilled the dishwasher, Alexis & I cleaned up the kitchen & supper leftovers, and I can't recall what happened to Bill?!!

After we were finished, the boys headed out to play, since it had cooled down to 85. They purchased rifles at the Civil War re-enactment, and had so much fun playing with them.





The girls, exhausted after a full day of playing outside,asked for a movie, so they watched Jim Henson's Jack & The Beanstalk...I had forgotten how long it was!! They enjoyed the movie, although we stopped it for showers, and then allowed them to watch the end of it with the promise of everyone heading to bed as soon as it was over. Before long, we were all in the livingroom, enjoying it together.









We headed to bed, and the talking and singing didn't slow until almost 11--but everyone was great about getting up and getting ready for church this morning. It was a beautiful morning, and everyone was ready, had their things loaded, and in the car by 9:30 to head to church.

The girls bought fans yesterday at the Civil War Re-enactment, and they showed off their fans this morning....



Alyona finished her bridge after some frustrating attempts with the string....thankfully I remembered to catch a picture with my cell phone before she left with it....





Shawnna & Bill had a great nap this afternoon in a quiet house. We love to have the kids...they are like our own. It was a great weekend...and everyone got along so well! Praise God for blending our families so well! (Sorry, not pictures of the nap!)

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Civil War Again!

Today started off warm. The kids all slept until after 8--some until after 9:00. Alyona was on the couch and the last one up at 9:15. We've decided she can probably sleep through cannon fire!!

Bill & I enjoyed coffee on the porch until it got to hot to be out there--by 9:30, it was 80 degrees. We had talked with the kids, and they really wanted to go back to see the re-enactment with the 400 guys instead of the couple dozen we had yesterday. So, the kids & I decided we'd better get to the early battle, because the afternoon one would be way to hot. Bill was worried about getting a headache in the hot sun, so he stayed home, and I adventured out with 7 kids on my own. I say "adventured" because that's exactly what it was, an adventure! Actually, the did really well, and I received more sympathetic looks than I thought possible--along with many offers of sunscreen for myself & the kids, since we were so red from yesterday. We did slather up with SPF 30 before we left.



The battle was great. It was actually too much to watch. 400 guys on the field were tough to keep up with....and I have to say that the learning we encountered yesterday, was certainly more than we would have had today, had it been our only time there. It was good today, but it was geared for everyone, and they did not have the learning stations set up like they did yesterday. It was a living history, and everyone was in character, but you had to seek each one out, and we were hoping to catch what we missed yesterday....but we couldn't locate the bugler, and the medical center was not open. Bummer. We did however, find some folks to chat with, and enjoyed what we did learn.

We were able to catch the guy who had the amazing horse from yesterday, and chatted with him for awhile. He explained how he trained his horse to side step...it was an amazing animal, and nuzzled the kids while we were there. Ryan got a nudge, and was a bit uncomfortable, until the guy chatted with the kids about the horse.

This was the guy (Ken), and the amazing horse "Bill"
that we met yesterday, and chatted with today.

Our next stop was one of the cannon loaders. He had various types of "stuff" that they packed into cannons. Here we thought it was only "balls"....they used some similar to buckshot, some grape clustered items, and other's that looked like huge bullets. The boys really got into this table, the girls on the other hand were a bit bored after awhile. The gentleman that talked to us allowed Alyona to hold a sword.

We hit the Medical tent, but it was closed...however, there were lots of items left out for the kids to observe. We looked at all their crude tools, and were amazed that more didn't die from infection, or sheer fear!! There were some scary tools!

We wandered through the tents (there were literally hundreds of tents) and everyone in the family was in period dress. It is the rule of this club to dress from 6am on Saturday until 6pm on Sunday to be in total period dress..including food, cooking, sleeping & living quarters. Even their SOCKS had to be wool. The women were in full dress...including corsets. We talked to several people who were hot, but said that they were probably cooler than us, because they wore all cotton or wool, and these fabrics wicked the sweat away from them. I'm not convinced that my one layer tank top and my 'undergarments' and capri pants were warmer than their 12 layers of clothing!!

We looked for our friend Andrew because the kids all wanted their photos with him, but we could not find him. We wandered through both the Union and Confederate camps and did not locate him, but we saw some neat things.

The kids went to the tents to purchase their goodies....Kim missed getting a purse that she really wanted. Today a fan was more appealing to her! The girls (all but Alyona) bought fans, and the boys pondered and pondered over the black powder guns. The walked away twice (once yesterday and once today), then as we were on the way out of the gate...the boys decided they had better have those guns!!

We headed to the dollar store to get more soap to make the slip & slide REALLY slippery. We had lunch, the kids changed, slathered with sunscreen and were back out to the slip & slide. With temps at 92--it was the only place to be cool. Unfortunately, when you use soap on the slip & slide, it washes your sun screen off. All but our Ukrainian born kids are burned to some extent tonight. They all claim it was worth it. I've spent quite a bit of time rubbing aloe after sun lotion on them.

Enjoy the battle pictures. We will certainly do this again next year!!


Friday, May 16, 2008

Kids, Kids, Everywhere!

Today, after our Civil War Field Trip (check it out two postings below!), we headed to drop off Tracey & the kids. Sean had planned a weekend away for he & Tracey, for their anniversary, and we took the kids. It took a bit of planning to get everything into place, but we pulled off the surprise (EVEN when Jeremy almost blew it last night!!).

Bill bailed us out by warning Sean we were on the way home early...and Sean was able to bail out of the house so it was empty when we got there. It couldn't have played out more beautifully, as Sean pulled in with a dozen pink roses, and a nice card. She was very surprised. I headed to pick up the girls from school, and they took off.

We got everyone packed up, and headed back to our house for some good ol' Sweet Home Slip & Slide. It's amazing what fun some heavy black plastic, a bottle of dish soap and a hose will create. It was great fun for them.



After Alyona had some cooling off, she asked Bill for a piece of wood for a bridge she had to make for science. They headed off to the barn, and before we knew it, there was a full scale project going on!! She worked hard on her project , as well as Bill!! She will finish up tomorrow...we'll try to remember to take a picture.





We wound down the night with a movie....boy, that new couch holds all seven and then some (not that we need anymore!). You can see where Bill took to hiding! Sean fixed him up with some shows to watch on his laptop...so he's hiding in the bedroom!!
It has finally dropped to 80 degrees at 10pm...maybe we will sleep tonight! Thankfully, those temps don't include the humidity....so we're thankful for that.

Enjoy the pictures....and look for more fun this weekend!

Butterflies Away!

It was 94 degrees when we got home from our field trip today. Kristin decided that it was time to let her butterflies go. With the heat, they could certainly cope better outside, than in the mesh cage they were in, with flowers wilting faster than we could keep up with.



It took about 10 minutes to get them all out...some hung around on a hand for a short time, but most of them just took off into the air. They were beautiful, and it was a fun project. Five caterpillars into five butterflies...all perfectly made by God!

We hope to see them around!

Civil War Field Trip 05-16-08

OK, it was hot, but it was fun!!





We started our morning out with beautiful sunshine, temperatures at 8:30 were in the 70's, but by lunchtime, we were well on our way to 80 degrees!! Some were smart enough to use sunscreen, others of us (I'm not mentioning any names!) were not!

The stations were set up to change every 25 minutes, and the kids learned about sharp shooters, medical attention, calvary, infantry, how to stand at attention, how to handle your rifle, how to march, and how the bugle was so important. We learned about the photographers of that era, and those with Dana & Shawnna's group sure did understand why we have no "action" shots--it took 15 minutes to prepare and take just 1 picture! Now we understand why no one ever smiled...you were told NOT to, as the exposure time was five seconds! Who can not move in that amount of time? The weird thing...Shawnna was on the left side of Dana....these images were always flipped. So, Jesse James was not left handed!



We also learned a very interesting fact--Gettysburg was never a site that was supposed to be for battle. Everyone was heading there for shoes!!! The regiments literally bumped into one another. (I wonder if anyone ever got their shoes?)

The battle at the end was small, but the kids sure got the idea. We can only imagine what the full battle this weekend will be like. I'm sure that many of us will be heading back! It was amazing to watch the different parts of the battle.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Butterfly Adventure--continued

drying his/her wings
JASON--CHECK IT OUT!! THE CATERPILLARS HATCHED!!

Yesterday, we had one lonely butterfly hatch. We were
worried about the other four, since we could see no movement. Within an hour this morning, the other four hatched. Amazingly, we didn't see one of them escape the cocoon. Bummer! We did see how they sat & let their wings dry, and how they were able to extend them to get used to having them. It must be weird to got to sleep as a worm, and wake up with these large things on your back.

sitting on a leaf just after hatching


From the back, they look brownish with eyes...but when opened, they are beautiful red-ish orange with spots. They are painted ladies variety, and very pretty. We will keep them inside for a day or two, and plan to release them on Saturday. Watch for more pictures! It's been hard to get them in the habitat, since it is mesh, and the camera picks up nothing but white mesh. The pictures you can see, and through the door that we can put fresh flowers in for them. Bear with us, and look for more pictures on Saturday!

These guys just hatched...still sitting next to their cocoon


Friday, May 9, 2008

New Furniture

The section where the sunshine is will have another piece in a few weeks.
It will fill up to the windows



Yes, it wasn't so long ago that we had a new couch & love seat in our living room. Unfortunately, it met with a disaster, and although it could have been repaired, the fabric was discontinued. Long story short, we had purchased fabric insurance and this time it paid off! They refunded the ENTIRE purchase price of our couch, and we were able to choose another one.

After hitting the Lazy-Boy store three times, we finally decided, ordered, and waited this week for our new sectional. The first time we went up to Lazy-boy, we "thought" we knew what we wanted--thankfully, we slept on it, looked at fabric samples against our love seat, and chatted with Jen & Brady, who just purchased this same set we ended up with. We decided we were "settling" for something to try
to match our love seat. So, back to Salem for a second trip, to look at something else, deciding that we need to look at what we like, not what will match what we have. It just wasn't working! Needless to say, we had seen a piece on our first trip that we liked a lot, but didn't think a sectional would work for us. We did some measuring, and lo & behold, it looked like it was custom made for our area. So, we ordered it, and just had to wait for our credit to arrive at the store for the old couch.

Tuesday after Miss Millie's funeral (our neighbor passed away the 25th of April after a short battle with cancer), we received a call that our credit was in, and we could order when we could get there to sign the credit. Being that Bill was home early for the funeral, off to Salem we went, surprised that they had the piece in stock (with the exception of the special order piece that will lengthen the other side) and could be delivered Friday! Wow....how exciting.

We spent Wednesday night deciding what to do with the old love seat.....Bill took off with the tape measure to the trailer. I knew what he was thinking...he's always hated the couch that came with the trailer. Guess what, it's a perfect fit. Now there is a love seat that is much more comfortable in the trailer, the only loss is that we can no longer use the sofa bed...BUT, we've slept plenty in those recliners, so they will serve as a good back up for extra sleeping if need be. We loaded the recliner in the trailer, and spent Thursday cleaning, moving furniture, and spring cleaning the living room. It looks great.Margaret & Linda....look how good Nain's table & Mom's chair look together!

New couch arrived today about 1:00---check it out!! YAHOO!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Kristin's Butterfly Adventure




Butterfly Magic

Kristin received a butterfly kit for Easter. We mailed off our certificate a few weeks ago, and on April 25th, the caterpillars arrived.
They were about 3/4 of an inch long, and not very big around. They came in this nice cup which will feed them for the 7 - 10 days that they will be in this stage. We literally watched them grow from 3/4" and fatten up to well over 2"--and then they all crawled to the top of the cup, and within 12 hours of each other, curled up and formed it's cocoon, and entered the pupa stage or resting period. The chrysalis turned iridescent and we can see some of the changes. The first one to cocoon has a wing forming.(looking like a clock, it's about 4:00) Pretty amazing. We took them from the cup tonight, and put them in their 'butterfly habitat' which is where they will hatch, and after a few days we will release them. Check back, as we will update pictures on this post. This pupa stage will last another 7-10 days. We are on day 3 of this stage. We had to wait for their chrysalis to harden before we could move them. Here is Kristin during the transfer!




UPDATE Friday May 9th--We were in the kitchen, clearing up from breakfast, when Kristin called us--one of the cocoons was shaking like crazy. We watched for over 20 minutes while it shook, struggled & wiggled. We thought for sure it was going to crack open. No such luck. Ryan thought maybe it was dancing, so turned the stereo off....it stopped. We laughed!! He turned it back on, and it jiggled for a moment, then has been still since. We can only figure that it was undergoing something at that time that made it shake and wiggle. We will keep you posted!


**For those of you who asked about where we got this....we got it at Walmart, although ours is out. It was around 20.00, plus another 6.00 for our caterpillars. It has been fun though. I would be happy to share our habitat so that the only cost to you would be the caterpillars.

Cascadia Caves Field Trip 05-07-08



The day started off misty and cool as we gathered at the Forest Service to wait for everyone to show up. By the time we reached Cascadia Park it was clearing off, and although we were bundled up, we were all warm enough after some shared coats!!

Clad in rain gear and mud boots we started down the path, anxious to hear what Mr Farque had to tell us about the Indians that lived in this area.

Along the path we learned about the plants that we could eat, and what we shouldn't, we saw the Indian Fishing platforms, their Camas beds and the old prairies that are almost grown over. It was a very informative walk, and very beautiful.

As we neared the caves the path got much smaller, and more brushy, along with more muddy. We are all thankful it had not rained much over the last few days, as we could imagine how much more mucky it could have been. We crossed small creeks, and trudged along, until we arrived, first at a small cave, which the kids had a blast checking out, and then finally the actual Indian Cave which is more of an overhang than a cliff.

Mr Farque talked to us a bit about where to find the drawings, and then passed out "maps" to show us the three areas in which to find the petroglyhs. We found many, but many also had to be shown to us. We also found some that weren't on the maps, but could have been just our own vision or interpretation. Needless to say, everyone had a great time searching the wall, learning what was there, and learning about the area. We took a break for lunch, sat and looked around, and enjoyed being outdoors. The sun even broke out.

After lunch, we listened to Mr Farque tell us more about the area, and share with us the beliefs and meanings of the wall. He also shared Indian customs, and how the children went from youth to adult. Ryan and Miranda were chosen to represent two 12 or 13 yr olds...and they started as Little Elk and Dancing Elk. Ryan went into his vision quest and came back Howling Elk and Miranda came back from her vision quest as Dancing Raven. Very fun!! We learned about the Bear Clan, and even saw the FISH. Just remember, its not always about the bear!

We had a great walk back, and we watched as kids grazed all the way out of the forest. What a fun day, and I certainly have to say that I think it was one of our greatest field trips ever!!

Thanks Mr. Farque...we're up for another walk through the forest!

Sunday, May 4, 2008

One Full Weekend of FUN!

The weekend started off on Thursday night, with Jen & I IM'ing one another. She said that Jason had woken from his nap, and said "We need to take the back roads and go to Sweet Home to see Aunt Shawnna, Uncle Bill, Ryan & Kristin since I miss them". I first said, we should meet for dinner, then I said, or we could meet for the day, then it was "Come for the weekend"!



Pictures from Friday & Saturday

Bill & I had some errands to run, so we accomplished those before the Noffsingers arrived on Friday night. We had a great evening of visiting, kids playing and pure silliness!! The kids went to bed around 9:15, with Kristin following at 10, and Ryan, who was busy saving the Universe with Declan, Sean, Jeremy & a friend, didn't come to bed until 1:30--shortly after the rest of us headed to bed. It's not very often the big guys (Sean & Jeremy) play with the little guys...so it was a treat for all of them to play together on Friday night.

Saturday, the kids all slept in until after 8AM!! It was a great treat for all of us! We enjoyed a leisurely morning, made cinnamon rolls, had a nice visit on the porch enjoying coffee and watched the kids play. Around 1pm, Bill, Brooklyn & Jason went for a nap, Brady & Ryan went fishing, and Jen & I pulled the pots out of garden shed, cleaned them out, and put them on the porch....I see a few things that survived the winter. I had blooming fuscias and Martha Washington Geraniums until at least January, when we had the cold freeze. Oh well....we'll see what survives!

After the kids naps, Jason & Kristin watered my pots, then painted rocks for the rock garden. They did a great job, and had a great time! Brooklyn slept almost 4 hours, and was a very happy girl when she got up.

Bill put up our new ceiling fan, and Brady assisted with moral support when he got home from Fishing. It took Bill (according to Brady's calculations) less than one half beer to complete his job! Brady enjoyed that beer while chatting with Bill after a hard afternoon of fishing and getting a sunburn! Thanks Brady, for taking Ryan fishing--he sure enjoyed his guy time with you!

We had an early supper, grilling outside, then went for a ride around the lake. Kristin had a headache, so we asked her what would make her feel better, and of course it was Dairy Queen...so well all had a treat after supper and our ride.

Home for bathes, and a little playing before bed. Shawnna & Jen worked on donkeys ( a craft for Sunday school lesson!)...and we finished donkeys at 11:00! It was a much earlier night for us,as we were all tired from the late night before, and we had church in the morning.

We woke on Sunday, the kids again sleeping until after 8--Brooklyn slept until 8:40--and we all headed out to church after a smooth morning, and were there early! After church, we headed home, enjoyed lunch together, before Jen & Brady headed for home. It was a great time of fellowship for us, and such a wonderful idea Jason!! Don't let us wait so long to do it again!

After Jen & Brady left, we headed out for Audrie's FIRST birthday party! We had a great time and enjoyed being a part of her day. There were a lot of people there, and we enjoyed catching up with the people we knew.



Audrie's 1st B-day pictures

After the b-day party, we headed to Salem to the Lazy boy store. Our couch had an accident and we placed a claim with our furniture insurance policy which we purchased when we bought the new couch. Needless to say, the fabric has been discontinued, so we had a choice to make a cash settlement for a lesser amount, or do a "re-select" with a credit for the full amount of the purchase prince. Needless to say, we've selected a new couch! We should wrap all that paperwork up in a few weeks, and be on the way to sitting in comfort again! We enjoyed a beautiful drive home from Salem the back roads, and arrived home in time to feed ourselves, the animals, and get ready for school & work tomorrow! It was a great weekend...all the way around! Check out this photo we took on the way to Audrie's b-day party! It was a perfect day!




Thursday, May 1, 2008

A Day with Audrie


Who could resist smiling at those bright eyes?

On Monday afternoon, Nate called and was taking bids for anyone who would watch his daughter Audrie for the day Tuesday. He was up to twenty-five cents--and I won with a bid of thirty cents-although, I'd have paid much more! Daddy was going to work on the house, and he remembered he couldn't get much done with Audrie "helping"....so she came to Aunt Shawnna's for the day.

She arrived about 7:30, and was sound asleep when Nate brought her in. It didn't take her long to wake up, and hang out on the couch with Kristin to have some "Clifford" time!

They hung out & played with Ryan, the fisher price barn and the house. She was so funny, once she saw the kitty she helped with the "Meow"--but we were only getting "Ow-Ow-Ow"....too cute! Of course she watched Sesame Street before falling asleep on Ryan's chest while watching. She napped as short time, was up and ready to go again.

Here's the puppy's nose....

Ryan brought out his stuffed animals, and she was having so much fun. She showed us where the puppy's nose was, and she found one of Ryan's small puppies...she latched onto it, and would not let it go the rest of the afternoon...she even napped with it!

See how tightly she's got that puppy??!!

We (yes, we!!) took a nice nap this afternoon....I got 45 minutes, Audrie had two and a half hours! We got her up, got her dressed (it was jammie day at our house today!!), and then went for supper at Nate & Katies....
You even have to hold the puppy while you have your bottle!

Audrie finally did let go of the puppy....who knows Ryan, maybe it will come home again someday. Until then, Ryan was more than happy to let Audrie hang onto it!