Look What I Can Do!

At bedtime, we always leave the tv on classical music for Chloe to help keep her calm during the night. She hasn't ever whined about being kept in her room away from everyone else....she's such a good puppy! Well, everyone knows how much I like to read, right? One book I read a month or so ago had a cat in it that liked to watch Animal Planet. So, during the day when we weren't watching tv, I started putting the tv on Animal Planet for Chloe. In the mornings when the girls were getting ready for school, we noticed this really awesome show called "It's Me or the Dog". Bill caught a glimpse of it, too, and now we keep it on TiVo. The dog trainer in the show, Victoria Stilwell, gives great advice for how to break your pet of bad habits and how to train them to do tricks. So, here's what Bill recently taught Chloe to do in only two short days!! Next up: Sweeping and Vacuuming the house!

Fifty Nifty

At this morning's Colt RoundUp, the first grade performed the "Fifty Nifty" United States song. Hayley practiced and practiced for the past week so that she could get a spot in the front row. And she did it! She also got to wave a big US flag during the performance! Way to go, Hayley!!! Enjoy the video, everyone!

My PlayDate!

by guest blogger: Emyley

My awesome Kindergarten-to-be friend, Nathan invited me and mommy to the new park for a playdate. Nathan and I are best friends. I got to meet other friends. We played on the slides & swings and picked up sticks & rocks. It was fun! Thank you for inviting me! The End. P.S. I am in the light blue shirt with jean capris.

Pink Lady!

Another dress up day at school - the 50s! Here's Hayley all dressed up!

Aloha

Today is Hawaiian day at school. Sydney wasn't feeling well, so she didn't feel like dressing up. Actually, I think once they hit 4th and 5th grade, the students pretty much don't do the dress up days! boo-hoo! Anyway, Hayley was so excited to finally get to wear the skirt and lei that we have had put away for about a year. And Emyley couldn't be left out. So here are my two hula girls!

Red White Game 2008

Last weekend, Bill took the girls to Norman to watch OU play in the Red White Game. He met Steve, Keri, Gunter and Grace for lunch and then they all headed to the stadium to watch the game and visit. With most of the fans sitting in the bleachers along the sidelines, they got to really enjoy catching up while sitting in the endzone. The kids had a great time, although Gunter was the odd man out most of the day. It won't be that way for long as Baby Gavin will make his appearance in late June or early July! I had a very relaxing day at home clearing off the TiVo! ;o) Enjoy the movie. I don't think I'll be watching it again for awhile....I can only take so much Boomer Sooner! LOL!

Chloe's Independence Day...Sorta!

For those who have been in our house, you know that we keep Chloe contained in the back rooms....kitchen, breakfast area and family room. We have a nice gate that we use to keep her contained....kinda like her own giant kennel. We kept meaning to acclimate her to the rest of the house, but with three little girls (and a cat) who like to leave little toys all over the floor, it just didn't seem to happen. Well, today I decided to do it. She can now come into the front room! Woohoo! LOL! The girls and I cleaned up all the toys, and I put a gate at the bottom of the stairs. At first Chloe was a little freaked out and overexcited, but as everyone settled into normalcy, she started to adjust, too. I plan to still keep her in her "kennel" when we leave the house or go to bed. I don't want to totally freak her out! Maggie thinks this is the worst idea ever....right up there with actually bringing Chloe home on her birthday! LOL!

Finally.....Meet Cap'n Jack!!

You've read all of our mentions of Cap'n Jack in the past, and now you can finally meet him! This is Bill's new ride, a 2006 Nissan Titan. It is a little scary on the gas mileage, but we all comfortably fit and all the cars get out of his way on the commute to and from work. ;o) Side note: Any fellow McKinney-ians recognize where this picture was taken????

Emyley Goes to Kindergarten!!

By guest blogger, Emyley - Tonight I saw all the Kindergarten classrooms. And it was my first night to get a Minshew shirt! And I just got home and showed everybody my shirt. We saw everything in all of the Kindergarten classrooms and there were lots of fishies. And one classroom had froggies. I love froggies. The End.

The Difference Between Cats and Dogs......

This weekend I got it into my head to buy Maggie (yes, the cat) a harness so she could go outside for "walks". After 3 tries to buy the right size, we finally got it right today. The girls didn't have school, so off we went on our pet adventure!

We decided to give Maggie the first walk. So, with her on the table, I put her harness on her. Her attitude was hilarious....she literally hung her head down as if to say, "I am sooooo embarrassed!". Well, when we went to put Chloe's old leash on her, Chloe freaked out!! She started whining and throwing a fit, so we decided to give her the first walk. She doesn't get many walks, so she isn't trained on the leash. She just likes to fly! Sydney said she would run with her, whew! I certainly couldn't keep up. Our "lake" across the street has a trail now, so we decided to take it. We had a great time.

Now, Maggie on the other hand, when it was time for her walk, didn't want to go at all! She stayed on the sidewalk for about 5 minutes!
Then when she did decide to walk, she belly crawled only a few steps and stopped again! It was hilarious. I am sure that having all of us laughing at her didn't help much, either, but it was great! We decided to take her across the street, too, and she finally perked up a little. But I got scared since I don't know what kind of plants are growing over there that she was trying to eat, and we decided to head back across the street. Maggie is now sleeping curled up on her favorite blankie. I doubt she will ever let me put that harness on her again, but she may surprise us.

Pretty 5 Year Old!

Bill took this picture of Em while they were skating and it was just so pretty I had to share. I can't believe that this month she will be going to Kindergarten Round-Up and next month she will be enrolling in Kinder!!! She had her check up last week and the doctor thought she was such the little lady! She is also very brave as she had 4 shots and not 1 tear!!!! Which, of course, made me want to cry! LOL!

I Can Use Laptop?

Sorry for another kitty post....she was just too funny yesterday! Maggie usually opts to lay right behind my laptop while I work so she can absorb the heat from it. Occasionally she likes to lay right in front of my laptop usually on my arms while I hold her like a baby....yes, she is spoiled! Well, yesterday, she decided to just take over and laid half on half off my laptop.....while upside down!!!! When I got up to go fold laundry, she decided to really take over and sat right on top of it! These pictures conjure up so many one-liners ("Lying down on the job", "Am I doing it right", "MINE", etc), I had a hard time picking just one!!! What do you think when you see these?

Everybody Skate!

While Bill and the girls were out shopping for my birthday presents, the girls decided to spend their allowance on roller skates (Em's are Dora slip-on skates, Hayley's are regular roller skates and Syd got inline skates)! I was very surprised when they got home with skates, pads and helmets. Bill loaded them up in Cap'n Jack (blog still to come) and took them to the dead end street around the corner for them to practice. Chloe and I joined them later. The girls had a great time.....a few falls and bruises, but they loved it!

I am the next American Idol!!!!

Well, according to my new birthday present, anyway! LOL! My birthday was Monday, but Bill was so excited about MY presents, that he wanted to celebrate it on Sunday....who was I to argue?!?! I ended up with tons of singing stuff for the PS2, two games are the American Idol games. That's how I know I am the next American Idol! ;o) We did go out to dinner on Monday to Cristina's, my friend Kathleen's favorite Mexican restaurant. I got lots of birthday wishes this year....thanks everyone! It was a great day!