We're officially crazy

So the story goes like this:

Adam and I had been toying around with the idea of getting a dog. We kind of looked here and there at adoption events in town, but hadn't really commited to anything. It was mostly on our "eventually maybe someday" list.

Enter Carson Elementary's restaurant night at Menchies froyo. We were sitting there, minding our own business, eating some frozen yogurt to help out the school. And we notice a guy in the parking lot nearby selling puppies, so we wandered over and took a look. He had Scottie Poos (a mix between Scottish Terrier and Mini Poodle, although the mother also had some Pekignese in her). There were two left, a male and female. The male was all black, the female brindled (black with brown undertones).

Aaaaand, Adam and I did what we always do and bought a female puppy as an "impulse buy." Like, seriously, I was not ready for it. We named her Lucy. She was absolutely adorable and I loved her, but holy cow we were not ready for a whimpering puppy in our room all night (she now sleeps in her crate downstairs), or the endless cleaning up of her "accidents" or figuring out how to potty train her.

But at the same time, I am so glad we have her. She is so fun and exciting. She is learning so much! We went to puppy class with her and she can sit, stay and "leave it" (we use this like when we drop medicine or something on the floor). She waits for the command to "take it" when we offer food. She is bell trained, so she rings a bell attached to the wall when she wants to go out. She doesn't have any more accidents, and she actually likes to sleep in (yay!) so we get plenty of sleep at night. We love Lucy and she is so fun with the kids. She loves to wrestle with them and wake them up in the morning by licking their faces. Yes, we're crazy, but it's definitely been worth it!

Ah! She was so small! When we first got her she was about 6 lbs.

And she looooves Adam. Like adores him. He is definitely the "alpha" in the house. She likes me (okay, she probably loves me) but she will choose Adam over anyone else in the house, hands down.

First bath! She had it in the sink because she was so small. She tried to escape a few times but was so good!

Such a sad little face!

See? I even rescued her from her bath and she still prefers Adam. Not fair :)

The kids love carrying her around. She's a little unsure about this but doesn't bite and is very patient with them.

I took her to my parent's house and my Grandma Betty was in town too, so I had to get a shot with the grandkids and Lucy. I was seriously worried that my mother would be mad that we bought a dog (they're expensive, they require a lot of attention, etc), but she was so excited. And Lucy looooves her. I think more than she loves me :) 

Jack loves Lucy too. He loves having something to wrestle with and Lucy loves wrestling with him. Especially because she can bite his toes and she doesn't get in trouble.

That one time I actually won something on the radio...

So.... When I was working full time in March I was headed back to the office in Tacoma and listening to the radio. I heard them announce a contest- the 20th caller got 4 tickets to see Yo Gabba Gabba Live in Seattle that night. I thought, hey, why not? So I called. And won. And then called Adam and said, "You aren't doing anything tonight, are you?" He was such a champ! He got the kids from school and headed up to Seattle to find the radio station to pick up the tickets. He got stuck in traffic multiple times and was literally running the streets of Seattle with three kids in tow to find the station before 5pm (or they would forfeit his tickets). He had me on the phone so I could tell him directions from a map online and he even called the station to try and find them. He seriously made it with 2 minutes to spare :)

The kids had a blast! We used to watch the show when Jack and Olivia were little and Madelynn definitely got into it too. Adam (sadly) knew all the songs and said he danced right along with the kids and the characters. I never really win anything, but I'm glad that I got something (free!) for my kids to do that they still talk about! Thanks, Adam (and 100.7 The Wolf)!

Outside the Paramount in Seattle. If they look disheveled it's because they were trying to keep up with Adam for 30 minutes while he was running around!

They had pretty good seats and came home that night with stories and smiles, which was all I could ask for.

Some words of advice from Yo Gabba Gabba:
"Don't bite your friends"
"When you have the sillies, you need to Jump Shake Shimmy them out!"
"Try it, and you'll like it"
"You have to wait in line. It's only fair to wait right there!"

Daddy Daughter Dance

Adam and Olivia went to their first Daddy Daughter Dance at church. It was soooo cute! We apparently missed the memo that he was supposed to get her a corsage and take her somewhere to dinner (next year!!) but they dressed up and he at least took her to McDonald's. Olivia had a great time, despite the fact she had to have been exhausted because the dance was the same day as sledding at Hyak. She came back with so many stories of people dancing and getting to dance with Daddy. It was a sweet moment and I'm sure Adam will be taking Olivia (and eventually Madelynn) to many more Daddy Daughter Dances!

I love that Adam was so excited to spend this time with Olivia. He even made to sure to "match" her dress with his tie! We went out and bought this dress for her specifically for Easter, but she got to wear it early for her special date with Daddy.

She's so pretty! She told me she felt like a princess (*tear*)

I found this super easy 'do on Pinterest. It made her hair look like a bow. She absolutely loved it and got a lot of compliments. It really only took about 20 minutes to pin it, curl it and spray it. Love!!

Sledding at Hyak

In February, we came up with the crazy idea to go sledding. Adam and I borrowed snow gear because we are not skiiers or snow people in any way or form. I found snow boots on clearance for the kiddos (thank you Target!) and had some snowbibs in my garage from a few years ago when I found them on clearance and thought "Hey, some day my kids will fit these and we'll go sledding." Well, that day came!

We joined in with Celeste and her family and headed up to Hyak. We planned on being home before dinner, so we left early amidst reports that parts of Snoqualmie pass was closing due to snowfall. We made it through and I am soooo glad Adam was driving! It snowed the entire time we were there and it was very cold and icy.

It was a wonderful day though, despite the fact I couldn't feel my nose or my feet within 20 minutes. The kids (including the dads!) had a blast and if it wasn't snowing they probably could have stayed longer. Hyak was super fun and we just had to buy a pass online for pretty cheap. It was definitely something we'll do again!

Olivia fell off her sled her first run down the hill. It took a lot of convincing to get her to go again but once she did she was unstoppable!

Madelynn didn't care for the hill at all and refused to go down at first. She was totally content sitting at the top digging in the snow.

Adam went down with Bryce while Bryan gave them a starting push. He had them going so fast!

Bryan pushed them so hard he ended up on the ground most of the time!

Celeste and Jack went down together too. It was fun and we fell off sometimes, but it was worth it. The sleds were another clearance find (did I mention I love clearance?!)

Don't let this fool you. She making that face due to snow hitting her in the face. She loved sledding!

See? That's her in the yellow tube at the bottom. The kids had to trudge all the way back up with their sleds. They were so tired when we left!

Jake was a little marshmallow. He didn't like the sled or the snow, but he liked hanging out with whatever parent was at the top watching the gear :)

Aaaand Madelynn fell down. A lot. But she got right back up each time.

Cole looked so cozy in his getup. I think the coat was a little big but it looked so warm!

Loving Jack's curly hair! He was a machine, going up and down so fast!

Rix did amazing too and was always the first up the hill. But he also shared his sled and went down lots with his brothers.

Bryce is in there somewhere :) He went down tons of times and never really complained about the cold.

Proof. I caught him in the act!!

Jack and Liv went down together a lot. It was funny, kind of like bumper cars :)

Adam and I on the top of the hill. I was soooo cold!

Maddy would only go down with someone, so I took her down... and then let her fall off at the end. She was so mad at me!

Cole is serious about his sledding.

Still playing with snow... she was so easy to entertain!

Bryan and Celeste getting ready to go down....

Thumbs up from Celeste! She could never stay straight and always ended up backwards.

We survived!!

Finishing out January (aka I'm being lazy)

January is always such a weird month for me. I'm coming down from the "Christmas high" and still excited about a new year with new possibilities. But the weather is always really hard for me (I hate driving in snow and ice) and I find myself wishing spring and summer would come faster!

So anyway, we had some fun the last couple of weeks of January. Working full time was hard on me so I tried to fit in as much fun as possible in the evenings and weekends!

Jack, I mustache you a question..... Aunt Celeste had some fun fake mustaches for the kids to play with. They thought it was so funny!

Madelynn loved this old man 'stache. She looked kind of like a bunny?

Aunt Kelli came to visit from Albuquerque and completely confused poor Jacob.

Aubrey and Madelynn were BFFs from the get-go. They are only a couple months different in age and get along great!

My lovely mother had a birthday in January too! Madelynn "helped" blow out the candles.

Happy birthday Mom!!

We joined the Pearson's at a skating rink for their school party. It was lots of fun and I realized very quickly that I can't skate. At all. And I passed that gene onto my children (soooo sorry kids!) Bryan, though, is a skating machine. He apparently grew up in a hick town in Utah where the only place to hang out was the skating rink.

Miss Maddy loved skating as long as she clung for dear life to the wall

I loooove this picture. Adam had a great time trying to remember how to skate. Funny story: He was trying to get to Madelynn (who was freaking out because she couldn't reach the wall) and he started to fall. So he grabbed onto the nearest thing to him- A man he didn't even know. Worse part of it all? Both of them ended up falling on their bums, courtesty of Adam's "graceful" failed save. I couldn't even help because I was laughing so hard. So sorry, man I don't know!

Jack and I after I finally got over my cheapness and rented some skating helpers for the kids. Lifesaver!! They had way more fun after we got these!

Cole had a great time too. Seriously, we should have got these to begin with!

Even Rix needed to use them. He had fun though!

The "helpers" kept Maddy from falling but she couldn't move it. Bryan to the rescue!

Olivia found her old friend Alyssa. It was fun going to the skating party because my kids attended Park Lodge Elementary for three years (kindergarten, 1st and 2nd for Liv, and preschool 2 years for Jack) and were able to see friends they hadn't seen in a while! And I miss Olivia's long hair...