I need a vacation!

Life is SO busy right now and of course everything has to happen at once.  Two weekends/weeks ago, we got to babysit one of our really good friends' puppy.  Okay, she is not quite a puppy, but I associate all animals in their cutest stage.  She is actually almost 13 years old and is a black lab.  Darrell and her are pretty much BFFs.  We took her on morning walks and you'll see how I rate on the whole walk situation.  

The best part was that our kitties had never really been around dogs, especially a dog in their own domain.  They are so funny.  Tigger (which we call Tigger-Bear)  has a love hate relationship with The Maz.  He basically wants to be around her, but will hiss if she gets too close.  We sadly could not watch her for the whole week Jess and Mike were gone because I had to travel last week.  

My ADORABLE god-daughter turned a whole ONE year old this past Thursday.  She could not be any cuter.  It is amazing how much she changes from each time that I get to see her.  She is now mobile and trying to walk all over the place.  She hasn't quite got the balancing act down pat, but any day now there will be no stopping her.  

Because of the holiday, Darrell did not get to make the 10 hour trip with me up to Kansas for the day I was able to take off.  I recruited my brother to make the trek with me, and we headed up there Wednesday morning.  It was fun getting to spend the day with Emma and the family.  Emma got her first hair cut, and her one year pictures that day as well.  It's nice to experience a few firsts with her while I'm there.

She has picked up how to dance, and it is about the cutest thing I have ever seen. She keeps her hips straight and just moves her torso.  Love it.  Amanda also is teaching her the Itsy Bitsy Spider, which she knows to put her hands together when the spider climbs up!  We had a great and exhausting day with her!  She knew it was her day and refused to take a nap!  It could have been anticipation of all the sugar she was about to have.  I knew she was going to be lots of gifts so I decided to make her a something that she could have and of course put some books and toys in it. 

This was a box I got from Hobby Lobby and I decorated it up to look similar to the canvas I made

This was inspired by an elephant that I saw online. I made with different pieces of paper and sprayed a layer of gloss to finish it.

I actually brought up a small cake and cupcakes from a bakery here in Austin called Sugar Mamas.  If you haven't had them, they are delicious!!  Emma got spoiled in gifts at her party and indulged in the cake's frosting!  She never went head first into the cake, but did eat off the side when Amanda put it closer to her!  

We ended up driving back to Texas that night, and my parents followed us home.  We figured it was worth the long night to avoid the traffic in the morning.  We got into Austin around 8 a.m. Friday morning.  The next few days we enjoyed each other and a few beers.  :o)  

Stay tuned for my next blog update about the amazing pillows we made this weekend!  

B