Doggie Update

Well, after looking at the adorable photo of Birdie for a week or so on the computer, Rob asked- "How much does she weigh?" I got on it and contacted Gretchen, the person taking care of her, and found out that she is 60 lbs. Not quite as big as I thought which is a good thing. She offered to bring her by for a visit if we wanted to do that. I loved the idea, and Rob agreed to it right away. We have contacted Gretchen and are now waiting for her to find time to make the visit (she lives about an hour away). I keep showing the photo on the computer to Rachel and Cole and talking about the dog and how she might come for a visit. They seem to like the idea. Hopefully they like the reality as well!

Yes, this is the same photo; I just wanted to remind everybody how cute she is. Doesn't she look soft? I just want to hug her and give her a kiss on her squishy cheek. Which, by the way, is what Rachel said when she looked at the computer photo today. "Doggy! Hug n kiss me?"

Bush Twins Advice To Obama Daughters

I received this link from email and thought it was worth posting here. I hope President Obama's kids remain kids through all of their Dad's work in Washington.

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Today's Activities

More creative juices have been flowing today (following the tent building this weekend). Sculptures and food out of play-doh. No pictures of these creations, although there is some purple that managed to get smooshed into the carpet that I could capture on "film" for you. Coloring has been done. Music has been played, including a music parade performed to make me smile . . . it worked, by the way. And last, but definitely not least, is a train track set up in our entryway. Robbie did most of the work, and the others did most of the playing. It was nice to see (for the first time), Rachel and Cole were able to productively participate rather than destroy the tracks.


You may be thinking how did they get all this done on a school day?! The answer would be that our school dismissed early due to icy weather conditions that were making traveling treacherous. On a side note, sometimes I laugh at weather they call bad around here because southerners tend to be a little soft when it comes to "bad weather", but it was pretty icy today. It was quite slick, and it took me almost twice as long to get home from school than it normally does. We are unlikely to have school tomorrow as the ice continues to accumulate and it isn't likely to improve until mid-day tomorrow, I guess. We'll see.

Another side note, while this post makes it sound like we had a really nice family day of playing and creating, you can check out my other personal blog to get a whole view point from our day. As I write this post, the only sound I hear is my dishwasher running as Rob has all the kids holed up in a bedroom entertaining them for the moment. Aaaaah . . .

Any votes?

The Hunt family is officially trying to expand our numbers- of the canine variety, not the human. Yes, we are looking into getting a dog. Our Jersey girl (a chocolate lab) died a little over two years ago, and we -at least the kids and I- are ready to get a new dog. We have been "shopping" at the Humane Society the last few weeks trying to find a dog that fits our family. I mentioned at my mom's group that we were pursuing this adventure, and a friend has a cousin who has taken in a dog that she can't keep. So said cousin sent to our friend Angie this photo and a little info about the dog. Other than being a bit bigger than I was hoping for, she seems perfect. I also feel good about the fact she has been in a home that we can get info from the owner rather than the somewhat sketchy information that the Humane Society tends to have on their residents. Birdie (the afore mentioned dog) was a stray, so we don't know her age or her breeds, but we do know temperment and that is what I am most concerned about with bringing a dog into our already full family. So, anyway, the title of this post was "Any Votes?", so I am interested in hearing what people might have to say about this cutie . . . you know the 5 or 6 of you that actually read our ramblings.

To summarize, what I am really looking for is a lot of people to say how cute she is and what a good thing it would be to welcome her to our family because as you may or may not have noticed, I left one person in our family from the list of those ready to welcome a dog. This person has approved the search for a dog, but I don't think he has quite reconciled the fact we hope to actually bring a dog home someday.

Tent dwellers

What is better than

making tents using blankets and furniture. The kids have been busy with it for at least 45 minutes now and having a grand time!

Irony, perhaps?

I forgot to mention this is our (Rob's and my) "first date anniversary". In 1993 as seniors in high school, we had our first date. It seems so long ago, but I remember most of the day in vivid detail. One major fact: Although we had planned to actually go out for our first date, I hurt my neck at gymnastics practice that morning so he ended up just coming over to my house to hang out for the evening. It was the best first date I have ever had, and I think he started to win my heart over from the very beginning.

The irony you ask, our daughter is out with him this evening instead of me!

And an interesting side note- before she left she said, "I wish I could marry Dad, but I know I can't because he is part of my family and already married." My response, "You're right about not being able to marry Dad, but I hope you find someone just like him!"

Friday Fun

This Friday evening finds our family having fun, but not altogether. Robbie was picked up from school by a friend to catch a movie, eat pizza for dinner, and then enjoy a night cap playtime at the friend's house. We don't expect him home until close to bedtime. Alexa, who got all dressed up, has been taken out for a night on the town by her handsome Dad. I am at home with Rachel and Cole. I have already given them baths, they are in pj's and eating a gourmet dinner of turkey dogs, green beans, and raisins. They did get the treat of chocolate milk (barely flavored) and some fun background music to enjoy with dinner.

all is well

I know we dropped off there again for a while. Just too much fun going on. We finished out our San Diego trip with a visit to Sea World, walks around Sea Port village near our hotel, attending the balloon parade (in fact I have a post started that covers this but never seemed to get back to finish it), good sleep and good food, and an unfortunate loss to the Oregon Ducks. In Alexa's words as she was talking to her classmate that we carpool with, "You know, we almost beat the Ducks. We just needed two more [scores, not points] and we would have won." Sometimes her awareness of what is going on in the football world impresses me because as it is actually going on, she doesn't seem too engaged.

Anyway, we made it home from California just fine on Dec. 31. We celebrated Christmas and New Years with my mom, Brian, and Nenya (his new bride) with dinner, gifts, and a Greek tradition involving a cake and hidden coin.

We then left home again on Jan. 1 to return to West Lafayette to celebrate Christmas with Rob's family. Fun always occurs when you throw this group together which includes seven kids (7 and under), seven adults, and a dog. A highlight for the adults -other than watching the kids play so well together- was having a Wii Fit contest one night after the kids all went to bed. We played as couples and had a great time. Most of us were novices with our first attempts ever being our turn in the competition. It proved to be fun for all.

We are back into our routines this week with a few exceptions: Rob doesn't have any players back yet or practices/work-outs going on so his days are shorter and lighter which leads me to my days being a bit lighter so far because he has taken the kids to school each day this week so far. How spoiled am I?!