Mike's Birthday!!!

Today was Mike's birthday!!!

He requested a funfetti cake with dinosaur sprinkles.  I'm not a master baker but I think it came out quite tasty!

I only put one candle on it because we didn't have enough candles.

You can do it!  Blow out the candle!

Way to go!  Time for cake!

Sadie helped Mike open his cards and gifts.

Sadie was very interested in what Christine and Alex sent.

Sadie claimed the bubble wrap and didn't like it when we tried to pop it.

Mike was very excited about his DCI dvd.  Sadie was indifferent.  Thank You to Christine & Alex, Mom & Dad, and Grandpa.  Happy Birthday Mike!!!

Valentine's Day & TMEA...

Valentine's Day is not really a big deal for us since we are loved all year...and Mike is always out of town.  We did celebrate the holiday in small ways.

I sent a cookie bouquet to Mike at school the week before since he would be out of town at TMEA most of Valentine's week.  I like receiving gifts at work so I thought it would be nice for Mike to receive something too.  It was a combination Valentine's and Birthday surprise.

Mike sent roses to my school on Thursday and the school library aide brought me a box of candy because I'm "so sweet".

This is what Sadie and I did most of Valentine's Day while Mike was in San Antonio.  I did manage to do some work for school and wash some laundry.  Mike made it home a little before bed time and we made room for him to join us.  We hope everyone had a great day whether you went out on a fancy date or cuddled at home in your pajamas!

Beagle Love!!!

Mike saw this in a Houston Beagle & Hound newsletter and I thought it was cute!  

10 Reasons to Own a Beagle

1.) Beagles are amazingly cute. We could stop the list here, but there’s more!

2.) Beagles will work for food - you never have to find another way to motivate this dog!

3.) Beagles are generally a wonderful family dog and great with children.

4.) Beagles have deep, thoughtful eyes, and they seem to know what you're thinking.

5.) Beagles offer loud, baying barks and cries; it’s hard to lose your Beagle! (See, we’re turning lemons into lemonade.)

6.) If you're hunting rabbits, your Beagle will help you find them.

7.) If you lose Thumper, your pet rabbit, your Beagle will help you find it.

8.) If you lose a cheese sandwich, your Beagle will help you find it.

9.) Did we mention that Beagles are so darn cute?

10.) Beagles give unconditional love (especially if you have a snack in your hand)!

Carrots, Eggs, & Coffee

Typically I'm not found of cheesy e-mails but I thought this was interesting!  It probably isn't any less cheesy than all the ones I usually complain about but I had  a tough day.

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up, She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.'

'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.


Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?'

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?


Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

May we all be COFFEE!!!!!!!

Cotton...

My sister and her husband are celebrating their second anniversary today. Since they both like to save money I decided I would help them by coming up with some appropriate and affordable gift ideas. Cotton is the traditional gift for the second anniversary.

For the serious penny pincher, you can purchase some reliable and versatile cotton balls.  You can purchase hundreds of these for a few bucks.  If cotton balls just aren't your thing you could invest in some cotton swabs.

If you would prefer a gift that is brighter and more cheerful you could give the gift of yarn.  It is a gift that keeps on giving!  You can use it for craft projects, sweaters, pot holders, scarfs, or a giant ball of yarn.

If you prefer getting clothes that are already put together for you, a cheesy generic t-shirt could be perfect!  Designer t-shirts are expensive and plain t-shirts are too ordinary.

The ultimate gift of cotton for a person with a sharp sense of irony would be the Cotton Bowl.  The players wear polyester and the Cotton Bowl stadium will no longer be hosting the Cotton Bowl game.  You may not think this would qualify as affordable but with the new stadium opening in Arlington soon I'm sure the Cotton Bowl stadium people would probably love strike a deal with you to book an event or a quick tour.

Congratulations Alex and Christine!  We love you!

Wrapping Up The Holidays!

We had a great Christmas and New Years!  We traveled to Dallas and enjoyed lots of time with family and friends.  As Mike finishes taking down and putting away the decorations I will give a short recap of events with many pictures!

December 19th was a great day!  We had a half day at school, a joyful staff lunch, and got to leave early.  I was already finished wrapping but I was glad to have the extra time to finish cleaning and packing.

We had our own little Christmas in Houston before leaving for Dallas.  Each of us opened a few gifts before meeting a friends for enchiladas.

Sadie got into the Christmas spirit by dressing as Santa Beagle.  She was very happy with her gifts because they were all edible!

Mike was excited to finally get the sunglasses he picked out a month ago.  I'm very lucky because he has a bad memory when it comes to remembering things I buy for him.

I wore my pink Santa hat and was excited to receive some new ornaments and kitchen stuff.

Christine and Alex (my twin sister and her husband) flew to Houston to visit a friend and hitched a ride back to Dallas with us.  They are living in Pittsburgh right now and Alex works very long hours as an accountant.  This is the first time Sadie met them and the first time she had to share the back seat.  Sadie and Alex were napping buddies most of the way to Dallas.

We made many trips to Starbucks with family and friends.  Christmas cups make me smile!  Overall, Christmas was fairly relaxing and low-key.  Early in the trip we went to see a King Tut exhibit with Christine and Alex at the Dallas Museum of Art and it was great!  Our last day in Dallas we went to the Dallas Aquarium.

The boys were slightly critical that not all of the animals were aquarium dwellers but they got over it quickly.  I don't remember what this animal was called but I think it is related to a kangaroo.

There are little penguins that swim along the side of the entrance and gift shop.  They are so cute and swim really fast!

They have beautiful birds from all over the world.  This was one of my favorites because of its bright colors.

There were things to look at everywhere!  You start at the top level and slowly work your way down for a closer look.  This is a tank of turtles and stingrays.

I could sit and look at the waterfall all day!  Maybe this will be my new happy place I can think about when I am not having a good day.

Mike got to feed a berry to this toucan and I was surprised how gently the bird took it from his hand.  The bird played a solitaire version of catch with it before eating it.

They had many different monkeys in the top level of the aquarium.  They were very active and hard to take pictures of.

Christine and I had our picture taken with a sloth.  The sloth didn't feel the need to smile much less poke his head out for our picture.  (We really are twins.  Most people don't believe us until we provide legal documentation.)

I couldn't believe how huge the crocodile is!  I can't imagine anyone being willing to wrestle this thing.  I was hoping for a better picture when we got to the lower level but by then he had decided to nap underwater.

Sadly, the otters were not out that day.  Alex was very disappointed so I took a picture of an otter picture for him.  Their picture was a little blurry so it didn't come out very good.

There were manatees swimming with geese, turtles, and fish.  I love how graceful and beautiful manatees are.

Mike had trouble spotting the animal in this exhibit.  Apparently he didn't even notice the big anaconda staring at him!  I think it was plotting an escape plan.

I've always wanted a pet turtle but they aren't very cuddly.  They are also a little smelly and get too big for a living in a small tank.  I've also thought about having a pet frog but they are known escape artists.

Stingrays are cool but I was surprised when I saw lots of people trying to touch them.  I've seen touch tanks before but this wasn't suppose to be a touch tank.

This giant fish was swimming with the manatees and turtles.

One tank had a couple of tiny starfish.  I couldn't believe how small they were so I decided to take a picture with my finger next to it for a comparison.

This seadragon has natural camouflage.  Most people thought it was just a tank of floating leaves but Christine enlightened us.  When we were little she wanted to be a marine biologist but now she is in psychology.

I think this stingray is much prettier than the others.  He is much smaller too.

This is a cuttlefish.  They are typically found in the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean near Japan.  I learned that from the field guide book they gave us with our admission tickets.  I thought it was a small squid.

I'm not sure what this animal is called but he was pretty grumpy!

The monkeys continued to be difficult to photograph because of their speed and energy level.

The sharks in the shark tunnel were very difficult to take pictures of too.  The only exception was this lazy sawfish who was trying to nap on top of the tube but kept slowly sliding off.

They have lots of pretty flamingos!

We started with little penguins and ended with bigger penguins.  They don't mind living in Dallas because they are native to South Africa.  The fishy smell was a little overwhelming since we had already eaten lunch.  Before leaving we made sure to visit the gift shop but didn't find anything worth purchasing other than postcards for the grandparents.  We had lots of fun!