Ice, ice, baby...

Gary and I both had this Friday off, and we had a babysitter, so we went on a date! First, we went to the Gaylord Texan for the Ice exhibit. The theme of the ice exhibit was "The Grinch" by Dr. Seuss. They gave us these fantastic parkas at the entrance, which REALLY came in handy! I mean...they told us it would be 9 degrees, but I think that's hard to wrap your head around when you grow up in the South! The parkas kept us really warm...gloves would have come in handy.

The ice sculptures were really amazing.

Gary's alter ego...

We had fun hanging out together, but we were ready to get the heck out of this icy tent! We finished the day with some yummy sushi at Kona Grill and a little bit of shopping. It was a great day! I enjoyed being able to reconnect with my hubby and eating/shopping without rushing!

S'mores

Gary and I decided that it would be romantic, and yummy, to make s'mores the other night. So, we lit up the chiminea, gathered our goodies, bundled up in our least attractive yet warmest attire and headed to our deck to make s'mores. It was REALLY cold outside, so I made some hot chocolate, too. We took a couple of the metal chairs that are normally outside and put them in front of the fire. We also had a cardboard box sitting around that we thought would be a great table (in hindsight, not so smart...but nothing caught on fire...except several marshmallows!)

It was a great time! We had time to chill out, literally, and talk without any distractions. Well, without any big distractions. Well, Jack was there. Anyway, Gary taught me the fine art of roasting a marshmallow. I'm a pretty inpatient person. I want instant gratification, so I torched my marshmallow and didn't put it out until it was resting on top of my chocolate, gently nuzzled by my Graham cracker. Gary has tons more patience. He let the marshmallow warm up and get a delightful golden brown.

I realized that we looked like homeless people that night. Neither one of us wanted to wear anything nice, since it would probably smell like smoke, but it was cold outside and we needed to bundle up. Add a random cardboard box and fire, and there you go. The only thing missing was the bridge.

After several s'mores, a sick tummy from eating too many s'mores, smokey clothes and numb fingers, we decided to go inside. It was a lot of fun! I look forward to doing it again. I can't wait until Gavin is old enough to enjoy doing stuff like that, too!

Thanksgiving 2009

This Thanksgiving, I cooked a turkey all by myself! I got some brining bags and brine from William Sonoma. For those of you cooking novices who don't know, brining is soaking your poultry or pork in a salt water concoction for about 24 hours in the refrigerator (that really makes me sound like I know what I'm talking about). It promised my turkey would be moist and succulent. It was both of those things. And it looked really pretty, too! I also made gravy from scratch. I made a homemade caramel apple pecan pie, too, but it tasted better than it looked!

This is the brine in a giant zip lock bag (or brining bag...William Sonoma can charge more for calling it something fancy). I added 2 gallons of water and a 15 pound turkey to this bag.

This is one pretty bird, if I do say so myself!!

It was also Gavin's first Thanksgiving. He was dressed to the 9's in his Thanksgiving outfit, complete with his "Baby's First Thanksgiving" bib. He really enjoyed all of the food we had. I think his favorites were the mashed potatoes that I made and the sweet potatoes that Erica made. She was sweet enough to make half of her sweet potato casserole without nuts so the babies could have some.

We are so thankful this holiday season for our Dallas "family". It's hard not being around our family, and we are so happy to have such great friends to share good times with...including Gavin's future wife, Saylor .
Our sweet friends...

Raising puppies, rearing people!

Having a puppy before having a baby was great practice! But, sometimes I wonder (and worry) that there are too many similarities in raising our boys. For example, we learned that when Jack did something he wasn't supposed to, you make a noise (ah-ah) and then distract him. Now that Gavin is more mobile, he gets into everything! When he reaches for the outlets or the fireplace, I make the same noise!!! I've tried to start saying "no-no" to Gavin and "ah-ah" to Jack, but I get them mixed up and reversed. On the other hand, when Jack is behaving well, we were taught to praise him and really make a fuss over him. So....you guessed it....when Gavin listens, gives kisses or high fives, or anything else, we follow it with an enthusiastic "good boy-you did it!!!"

They respond to similar things, too. They both get excited and run to the door when you say "outside" or "W-A-L-K". We play the same games with Gavin that we played with Jack when we first brought him home. Those include "hide and seek", "peek a boo" and a little game we play called "where's momma/daddy".

And, sometimes they act the same. They will both put anything in their mouths and try to eat it (leaves being a favorite), they both carry socks around in there mouths, and they both like to "fetch" balls, just to name a few things.

Some things are different. Jack is potty trained, Gavin is not. Gavin likes to take a bath. Jack licks his own butt.

I think Jack turned out really well...best dog we EVER had! So, if Gavin turns out like Jack, I think we'll be ok...unless Gavin starts to lick his butt. Then, we have a problem!

Golden Picnic 2009

Today was the 2nd annual (for us) Golden Picnic. It's a picnic sponsored by the GRRNT or Golden Retriever rescue of North Dallas. It's a great cause and an even greater excuse to bring Jack to Lake Grapevine to swim, play and frolic with his friends. The weather could NOT have been more perfect! Although, from all the rain this past week, the beach was flooded. There was no sand to walk or play on today...just grass. I guess that was good for us because Jack didn't get nearly as dirty as last year.

Jack fetched tennis balls out of the water for a while and then played Frisbee with Gary. Then, we went to play on the play ground. Jack made it up the slide with Gary and Gavin, which surprises me. Jack is normally afraid of heights and things that are high. But he got up there. We couldn't get him to slide down, though. It was a lot of fun, but we only stayed for a little while. The wee one was getting tired so we had to head home. It was a perfect day with my perfect little family! Well, almost perfect. There was that time today when I kneeled in poop, and Gary had to clean me off with a wet one. But other than that, it was pretty perfect! I wish I could bring my sweet Jack with us more places.

Random thought

I got angry today driving down the street. No, it wasn't road rage at the idiot that almost ran me off the road because he was texting or the guy going 20 mph in a 40 mph speed zone. I got angry because I saw a young girl sitting at the bus stop on a cold day, and I wanted to give her a ride to where she was going. But, ewwww! How creepy is that? "Hey little girl...do you want some candy???MUUUHAHAHAHA!!" Or, suppose I did give this girl a ride and she caused physical harm to me in some way? It's depressing that we live in a world where we can't trust each other. You can't genuinely help a stranger (or even an acquaintance or some family members) without fear that, at the very least, you'll be taken for granted and play the fool. Sure, I could join some organization, or send money to feed the starving kids in some third world country for the cost of a cup of coffee a day, but what about spontaneous random acts of kindness that give you the warm fuzzies? Gary told me the other day that Pete Carroll, USC's head coach, drives to the ghetto to talk to the young guys. He tells them to stay in school, asks them if they need anything, and gives them money...I admire that. But, am I going to do that...no. But, I will continue to be open to all opportunities that come my way. And, I will continue to celebrate all the beautiful things in my life...my wonderful husband, my sweet puppy and my son, the light of my life. I may even be open to joining an organization to fulfill my need to help in some way. Even if I have to give up my daily latte.

This weekend...

This weekend, Beth came to visit us! Gary went to New Orleans and Baton Rouge for a boys weekend to watch the LSU/Florida game. So...Beth came up here to hang out with us! She flew in Friday night, so we just hung out and caught up. On Saturday, Gavin saw Beth again for the first time since he was 6 weeks old (and quite colicky). I was worried how he would greet her because he's at this weird stranger anxiety stage. She woke up on Saturday morning and came and sat on the rug with us. He crawled right up to her and said hi! He wanted her to pick him up! How great is that?!?

We planned to go to the Arboretum to take some pumpkin patch pictures. We drove by and the entrance was blocked off. It was sooooo busy that they closed the parking lot, diverted would be visitors to an off site parking location, and offered a shuttle...not worth it. So, we drove to a local church who has a pumpkin patch. They were great!!!! And best of all, not busy! We got some great pictures...

I got a babysitter on Saturday night so Beth and I could go to a sports bar and watch the LSU game. It was so empty in there! We sent Christy there an hour early to get a table and that was horribly unnecessary! Was everyone else at the game?? Oh well. We had fun. I was drunk (and hungover) after 3 beers. What a light weight!!!

Jack had his "therapy dog test" (aka temperment test) on Sunday. Beth, Gavin and I took Jack for a long walk to try to get rid of some of his energy. He got a bath and a blow dry and was all ready to go! He did so great with all of the obedience stuff and tolerating noise and being poked and prodded. His biggest down fall...his energy and love for people! He was a nut case when anyone tried to touch him! He jumped and licked and acted more excited than I'd ever seen him! I knew he wasn't ready, but I had no idea he would be such a nut! Half way through the test, Linda says, "D, he's not ready". Duh. I tried not to cry. My boy failed. He was set up to fail by me and all the people encouraging me to test him. He's still just a puppy at 18 months old! He'll test again in February, maybe. I would love for him to be a therapy dog, but, if he's not, that's ok too! He's perfect for our family and so great with Gavin.

Gary came home Sunday and Beth left Monday. LSU lost, and it was rainy, but it was still a great weekend!