13 years...

Sweet Gracie has been a part of my life for 13 years now.  Crazy to think it has been that long.  She survived college, marriage, Belgium and all of Europe (yes, she has an active passport) and Knox.  She is currently surviving Finn, though she's not a huge fan of this new addition so late in life.

I know it's crazy, and I know she's just a dog, but she's more than that.  She's family.  She has been there through the happiest and toughest parts of my life, and I can't imagine life without her.  Seeing Knox love her just as much as I do is the icing on the cake.

All day yesterday he would ask "Where is the birthday girl?," seek her out and give her hugs and kisses.  All day.  She felt loved, and she LOVED her scrambled birthday eggs.

We love you, Gracie dog!  Happy 13th!

Thankful Craft

One last November post...I forgot to blog about our Thankful craft this year.  We did a pretty similar one to last year's tree (see it here), just gave him a little more creative freedom this time.

I found a blog post somewhere in the land of the internet where the mom let the kids blow watercolors to make fun abstract art.  I thought it would be a cool way to get the tree drawn instead of me just doing it.  He LOVED getting to blow the paint all over the paper, but we had a few spit globs as a result.

All in all, he had a great time doing both the tree and leaves, and I think it's adorable!

(all pics are from my phone, so ignore the grainy texture)

Finley

Sweet Finn entered the world on October 7th.  I feel sure she gave her mom a run for her money from the get-go.  She's spunky, on-the-go and full of life.  As much trouble as she can be, she sure is the cutest dog ever!

Knox was so excited to go get her.  We coordinated with her owners to grab her the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  We figured we would have a few days to let her acclimate before meeting all of her extended family while we hosted Thanksgiving over here.

We had a few solid days of rain in Austin, and her owners have an outdoor kennel that they use for the puppies and their parents.  To say she was muddy and a little stinky would be an understatement.  We got her home and promptly gave her a warm bath.  Knox had to be in the mix...

Once she was cleaned up, we directed her to her new bed in the living room and she had her first siesta.

I mean...can she be any cuter???

Knox woke her up, and we've been working on this ever since...if she's sleeping, do NOT disturb.  I'm thinking this will be a good lesson once the baby arrives.  We NEVER wake sleeping babies :)

Since her arrival, she has been a really good dog.  Sure, she's had a few mistakes on the journey of potty training, but WAY less than I had anticipated.  She doesn't cry in her crate and goes back to sleep right away when we wake her in the middle of the night to go potty.  She listens pretty well when reprimanded for biting or chewing on one of Knox's toys, and we're starting to train her in the art of sitting, staying and fetching.  Stay tuned on our progress!

She fits right in, and Gracie and Bella have taken to her pretty easily.  Can't ask for much more!

Snuggling Blakely

Working out with Daddy

Her favorite game...chasing Knox and biting his pant legs

Being sweet to her sisters

Knox pretending to sleep alongside her...they really are besties!

Thanksgiving Feast

We had a great Thanksgiving, full of family and friends and the occasional puppy snuggle.

The festivities started with Knox's class feast.  He was so excited to show me his headdress, and loved having me in class while he at lunch.  

Caught him peeking during the prayer

Getting his grub on at his table

Running Horse

His cute Turkey placemat

Mid-cupcake stache (and the wattle (yes, I googled it's name) was in red icing, so it looks like he's bleeding)

We're very thankful for his teachers and his school...so we had to shower them with some yumminess!

His class cupcakes...see the wattle?

For Thanksgiving, we hosted the lunch at our house.  It was as crazy as you can imagine with 11 adults and 8 kids under 6, but we wouldn't have had it any other way.  

Everyone brought their own additions to make the full buffet of goodness, and we were all stuffed when all was said and done.  We had two turkeys, a ham, candied yams, cheesy potato casserole, squash casserole, stuffing, rice, mac and cheese, a veggie tray, green bean casserole, cresent rolls and cranberry fluff.  I feel like I gained three pounds just typing that. 

My sister brought a few pumpkin pies, one paleo and the other full of yumminess, and my mom made a pecan pie.  I have a rather (ahem) picky husband who requested a cherry pie, so I tried my hand at baking.

I thought it turned out pretty good!

Then I found this recipe for individual apple pies for the kiddos...they were really good and I still am enjoying them nuked in the microwave with a little BlueBell, but let's keep that between us!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving as well!