The End of Kindergarten Celebration

I can’t believe we’re already here at the end of the school year.  We love the summer and the break from the routine, but the girls have both had a super year, and for that reason, we’ll be sad to see it go.   Lyla has thoroughly enjoyed Kindergarten this year.  It was her first experience with school, and we couldn’t have asked for two nicer teachers than the ones she had.  We were lucky enough to have had them as teachers when Nina was in Kindergarten, and we were so excited that we got them again for Lyla.

Kindergarten in Loudoun County is only 1/2 day, so like Nina told her sister, “Lyla, enjoy Kindergarten while it lasts.”  She went on to tell her that first grade starts the long day at school, more homework, etc.  I guess after Kindergarten, it’s all downhill from there. 

Lyla’s class (in blue) and the other two afternoon Kindergarten classes put on a little performance for the parents and families on Wednesday.  They sang some songs and had the parents back to their classrooms for awards, a video presentation, and an ice cream party.

Nina really wanted to come and see her sister’s performance, so her teacher allowed her to miss a bit of the 2nd grade day to attend the Kindergarten festivities.

  

 

Like I said, Lyla’s teachers are simply the nicest ladies ever, so we have loved having them this year, as has Lyla.  They gave her the “Superstar” award which she was very happy about!

  It has also been great to see Lyla come out of her shell a bit and be herself around her classmates.  She started out the year a little nervous about meeting new people and making new friends, but we think we can put that worry to rest!

We’re so happy for Lyla, and still having a hard time believing we’re already at the end of Kindergarten, but we’re very proud of this sweet girl.  Congratulations on a great start to your school career, Lyla!

Soccer

Lyla finished up her spring soccer season this past Saturday.  She has really enjoyed playing soccer, and we enjoy watching her enthusiasm and her skills develop.  Since it was the last game, the kids all got their hair sprayed in colors again (like the first game), played, then had a little medal ceremony and donuts to top it off. 

  

Eleven Months

Look who is almost a year old!  Our little baby dog (as we call her) is just about a month away from her first birthday, and while she is definitely maturing in a lot of ways, she’s still a big puppy.

Cayenne’s favorite things to do are run (the faster the better), eat treats, and snuggle with humans. She loves to play, loves to go to the bus stop to pick up the girls at the end of the day, she loves to show off her bone (and get lots of compliments on it), and she really loves “talking” which she has done a lot more of in the past few months.  We wish we knew what she meant with all the talking she does, but she’s definitely got a lot to say.  

She’s a very typical bird dog by nature.  She loves to stalk out bunnies and birds that stop off in our back yard, and she one of these days I think she’s actually going to catch one. 

While having a puppy has been a lot of work, Cayenne has added so much personality to our family, and despite her naughty antics at times, her loving personality, her sweet demeanor with the girls, and her funny ways have made her a great addition to the family (most of the time).  

Afternoon at the Pond

It was another beautiful Saturday for a biking adventure, so while Mark worked on a new border for our mulch beds in front of the house, the girls and I took Cayenne to one of the neighborhood ponds.  Since the weather is getting much warmer, Cayenne obviously gets hot on the run to the pond, so as soon as we get there, she goes right in the water to swim and cool down.

When I last blogged about her swimming, her style was pretty funny.  She definitely didn’t swim very efficiently.  Now, she motors all around the pond with ease.  She’s figured out to keep her paws under the water, and now she’s a great swimmer! 

  

While Cayenne swam all around the pond chasing dragonflies, the girls played in the rocks and water.  They found some cool water bugs and little snails. 

Cayenne, however, won the prize for finding the most interesting thing.  She came out of a wooded area with this in her mouth.  The skull was quite small, but the teeth seemed pretty big, so we’re thinking it belonged to a fox or a raccoon, but who knows?   She ran back into the woods and found the bottom jaw for us, so the girls were very excited to bring the bones home, clean them off, and show their friends.

We had a fun time but came home in much need of a hosing off (the pup) and showers (the humans), but it was a fun way to spend some time on a beautiful afternoon.

Nina Turns Eight!

Nina turned eight on Friday…hard to believe!  She had a great birthday, but it really started off pretty wild.  On Thursday morning, I started making her cakes.  For her birthday, she requests a cake that I make that is a very chocolate cake with chocolate icing.  Since that is her request, that is what I make.  After working on it for most of the morning, Lyla and I were getting ready to take Nina a special pre-birthday lunch at school when I set the cake up fairly high in the middle of our kitchen island and ran upstairs for about 10 minutes to change my clothes.

When I came down, I saw the cake (or what was left of it) on the floor, crumbs everywhere, and Cayenne looking sheepish in the corner.  Obviously, she somehow got to the cake although I still have no earthly idea how she was ever able to reach it or knock it down so she could get it.  I was so mad at the dog – I just couldn’t believe she got to that cake!  With Nina waiting for us at school with no lunch and counting on us being there, I had to just leave the huge mess, throw Cayenne outside, go to lunch with Nina, then call the vet when I got home.

Since chocolate is toxic to dogs, the vet had to have me bring Cayenne in to make sure they got her to vomit all the chocolate out of her system, give her fluids under her skin to flush out the remaining toxins, then monitor her for signs of distress.  We got the call from the vet that we could pick her up that evening, and while she was not at all acting like herself, the vet thought she would be ok since he said they got her to vomit “a tremendous” amount of chocolate.  I felt like telling him, No kidding – she ate nearly the whole cake! 

Once we got Cayenne home, she wasn’t acting like herself, and we knew she had a rough day at the vet, but we were hoping she would make it through the night.  Evidently, after getting all the chocolate out of her system, there is still a chance that she could have cardiac trouble as a result.  I was a little apprehensive when we came down Friday morning.  I wasn’t 100% sure she was going to be ok, but she ended up being just fine.  In fact, she seemed almost totally back to her old self.  Thankfully that was the case or else our Nina would have had a devastating start to her 8th birthday, but since all was well, Nina woke up super excited and happy to start her birthday fun!

To celebrate her birthday this year, Nina chose to have her best buddy come over after school for sharing in her special day and staying for a sleepover.

The girls started off with me giving them pedicures.  They soaked their feet, ate fun snacks, and got their nails painted.

 

After they got their nails done, I took them to a paint your own pottery place where they chose a piece of pottery, picked their paints, and had an awesome time making their creations.

 

They took so much time and really put a lot of pride and effort into their pottery pieces.  I get to pick them up next week after they get glazed and fired, but the girls already can’t wait to get their special creations!

After pottery, we met Mark out at a local restaurant for pizza dinner then we came home for cake.  Yes, after Cayenne devoured the first cake, I made another one later that night, and everything ended up great!

 

After cake, Nina got to open presents, play, and stay up super late (after midnight).  I think she and her friend got a few hours of sleep but probably not much.

She had a great birthday though, enjoyed being queen for the day, and said she had an awesome time turning eight!  Happy birthday to our sweet, creative, fun, chatterbox Nina!

 

Mother’s Day Continued

Tonight was another Mother’s Day celebration – this time it was Bo, Shenley, and I getting to celebrate our mom.  The three of us are very blessed and fortunate to have such a wonderful mom to celebrate!!

Mother’s Day 2014

I had a really wonderful Mother’s Day this year.  I felt very loved, very appreciated, got to do activities that I loved, spend time with my family, and best of all – I didn’t have to prepare food for anyone (including myself) or wash anyone’s dishes!  Woohoo for that!!!  Can we celebrate Mother’s Day every day? 

The day started with Mark making biscuits and omelets for breakfast before church, then after church I taught my regular Sunday Combat class and came home to lunch, cards, and treats.  Since it was such a beautiful day, we did one of my favorite things – spending time outside with the whole family. 

We decided to go over to Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve which isn’t too far from our house, and we were having a great time hiking, exploring, laughing at Cayenne, etc., until we realized the place was crawling with ticks!!  Obviously, being in a wooded nature area, we dressed for expecting some ticks (hats, long pants, etc), but by the end of our time there, we realized the tick situation was way more than we expected, but prior to that realization, we were somewhat ignorantly blissful and having a great time. 

 

Cayenne tried swimming for the first time.  Since we got her late in the summer last year, she didn’t have many opportunities to swim when the water was real warm.  We had to laugh a little bit at her swimming style – not so graceful at the moment.  She’ll get there though.  On land, I don’t know if there is a dog that can run like a Vizsla.  They are so incredibly fast, sleek, and their run looks almost effortless.  On land she’s like a Ferrari.  In water, she may be more like a paddleboat.

But if there is running and leaping involved in the water – that she can do!

Aside from the ticks, we encountered some pretty birds, lots of fish, furry caterpillars, and a baby turtle.

After the nature preserve, the dog plus all four humans got a much needed shower. Then, for dinner Mark took us to my favorite pizza place, Fireworks.  We sat outside and ate a fabulous dinner, and by the time we got home it was past bedtime for the kids, so my day ended feeling quite stuffed, very happy, and successfully worn out (in a good way).  It was a great Mother’s Day!

Saturday Hike

One of the girls’ favorite things to do is go on a hike.  Today they really wanted to go hiking even though rain was in the forecast for the afternoon.  Our area has several good hiking places that aren’t too far away, so we took the chance to head out for a hike.  Of course, it started raining as soon as we got to the hiking spot, but it wasn’t that bad once we were in the trees, and the rain tapered off at points so that we didn’t have to head back.

Many parts of the trail, however, were quite muddy and slippery.  There was one steep portion that we had to climb down that was very slippery.  The kids’ favorite part of the hike came when I was coming down the slippery hill when Cayenne gave a tug on the leash. I slipped in the mud and slid down the mud hill on my bum much to the amusement of Nina and Lyla.  I’m glad I can provide some cheap entertainment for the afternoon! 

    

No Puppies for the Puppy

Well, we finally made it to spay day.  After going through the fun of missing her first appointment due to Cayenne going into heat, we made it to the second appointment with no puppies in our near future. 

Normally a very active pup, we figured this surgery to get spayed would be hard for her when it came to keeping her from what she loves best – running, playing, and keeping up with the family – especially with the nice spring weather we’re having right now.

After her long day at the vet yesterday, we got to pick Cayenne up last night, and all went well with her surgery.  She’s obviously quite uncomfortable and she hasn’t wanted to do much other than just lay around, but we know it will only last for a little while, and we’re glad that she’s able to take it easy and hopefully heal quickly.  At least she has some good company to lay in the sun with.