Mary Evelyn's Early Birthday Gift

She got to pick out a pooch at the Humane Society. (although I said no to her first few choices for a variety of reasons.) Meet Foster. He just turned one year old and seems to be a terrier/lab mix. Mary Evelyn ADORES him. He is very friendly but needs lots of training. Rose keeps barking but Foster just stands there and looks at her like she is crazy. Maybe Jason and I are the crazy ones!

I am not crazy about his name. Jason and I had a dog pre-kids named Foster and I loved it for that dog...that and this dog has had about 4 names today. I insisted that the name he had at bedtime tonight was the final answer...so I guess we have Foster Jr. Sweet pooch though.

Happy Referral Anniverary!

To all of our travel mates and their Spicy Girls, Happy two year Referral Anniversary!

Our first look at sweet Xiao Ying Hong from Zhuzhou, Hunan, who would soon become our little Betsie. My dad's reaction was: She's either really fat or really warm!

More Party Stuff

Okay...my sister Laura has better pictures of the party at her blog so go here to see more!

Pre-Party Pictures and Stuff

Well, the party was very successful. So successful that I didn't take a single picture during the party. I was too busy helping with food and spending time with friends and family who came to celebrate surviving another tax season with us. Here are a few pictures from before the guests arrived.

Rachel in front of the jump castle. You might be able to see her face paint too. We had the jumpers plus cotton candy machine, a face painter, and a sound system. It was great!

Mary Evelyn getting more and more excited while she waits for her friends to show up!
I felt this slide was a tad obnoxious since it was taller than our house, but no neighbors have complained yet so I guess we're okay. The older kids loved it and I even went down once. My sister made me go with her. I have a terrible feeling that someone else took pictures of that but I wouldn't count on seeing it on this blog anyway.

Mary Evelyn after sliding

Rachel getting ready to slide.

The jump castle. Some of the younger kids loved this one. But not the littlest ones like Betsie and my two year old niece. They were a bit overwhelmed.

Rachel in the jump castle

Jason working two grills with hamburgers and hotdogs

Mary showing me her face paint

Just What We Needed Two Days Before A Party

Did I mention we were having an outdoor party here in a few days? And did I mention we needed a plumber? Well, that call to the plumber has resulted in a bulldozer thingy in the front yard digging a huge hole today. The plumber couldn't get our line clear so he called the utility people and they ended up breaking a pipe...meaning they had to dig an enormous hole and replace the pipe. Oh the joy. The culprit in this whole thing is the big beautiful maple tree in our front yard. Its roots seem to be causing lots of problems and I think that, sadly, it will have to go in the next couple of years.

But for today, here are a few pictures to amuse you. By the way, Mary Evelyn is desperate to get out there and see if there are any worms in our lovely red mud pile. The first picture was taken from inside my bedroom window early this morning. It was a lovely way to wake up today.

About 6 weeks to go

I just counted to see how close we are to achieving the required 180 days of school this year. Somewhere along the way, Rachel did an extra day of school. I don't have a clue how that happened, but apparently she needs only 31 more days while Mary Evelyn still has 32 days of school left. I wanted to finish up before June but I just plugged in the remaining days on the calendar and it looks like we will finish up on June 4th. We can't take many breaks for that to happen so it's time to buckle down and finish these last weeks. Hopefully we can stay healthy and get our work done.

Today Was...

The Last Saturday of Tax Season '08!!!!

I think Jason has worked at least a part of every Saturday since early/mid January. But this was the last one for a while. (He knows there might be a "conflict" if he tries it for a few weeks.) We only have a few more days until the 15th and then he is off for a few days, including the weekend. We have a party coming up Friday to celebrate. Lots to do between now and then, including calling a plumber...another post for another day.