So, we’ve had Ruby for about a month now.  This has to be the most hyper dog ever born.  Very loving and loyal, but Ruby, feel free to tone it down a bit. 

She thinks that we are all dogs and that we enjoy to be chewed on, jumped on, and tackled.  Fifty pound puppies are a handful!

Ace and Ruby get along OK…when they are in separate rooms.  But if Ace is playing by himself…here comes Ruby.  And if Ruby is lying down chewing her bone….here comes Ace.

No one has gotten hurt.  There have been a few yelps, and a few tears, but for the most part they enjoy each other.

However, it is quite scary to see how they play…

September is a month of celebration in our household.  Between our anniversary, the blogiversary, and Momma’s birthday we usually get to go out to dinner, usually the bar, and I get to have 3 easy blog post topics. 

So, today is Momma’s birthday.  She is *cough* twenty-nine *cough*.  No, really she is!  And she will probably remain this age for the rest of her life.   Isn’t that how most women do it? 

Tonight, Momma is having a Girls Only party for a few hours (and so that means, by default, the guys get a Guys Only party too). 

Then later, we are all going out on the town together to do some bar hoppin’…consume more (insert your poison of choice) than we probably should…get a little bit crazy…probably indulge in some bad dancing…and if all works out we’ll stumble our sweaty, crunk, giggling selves to our hotel rooms before they start spinning for the night. 

So, here’s to my wonderful wife…the stay-at-home mother of our child…Momma! 

Happy Birthday Momma!  Put your party hat on…tonight is gonna be fun!

PS:  And a special “Thank You” goes out to Grandma S for babysitting for the night! 

So the festivities have begun.  Christmas for us involves trekking hundreds of miles over a period of two weekends.  Grandma H’s house was tonight.  I had to work, so I arrived after dinner and met Momma and Ace there.

Ace unwrapped two or three gifts and then was too busy playing with his toys to unwrap any more.  Grandma and Grandpa H go all out for Christmas.  We had the entire back of Momma’s SUV full of toys and clothes, not to mention part of the back seat.

And it was COLD tonight!

Negeative One Degrees Acording To The Thermometer In My Truck

The multiple trips from the house to the car was just about more of the negativity than I could take.

We let our vehicles warm up in the driveway for over 20 minutes, and they still were not throwing any hot air when we left!

So what is our plan for the next week?

- Christmas Eve go to Grandma and Grandpa S’s house (For presents only).
- Then stroll a few blocks away to Granny and Pop’s house.
- Early Christmas morning get up and open the presents at our house.
- Still early Christmas morning, drive to Great Grandma W’s house (1.5 hour drive).
- Christmas afternoon drive back to Grandma and Grandpa S’s House for dinner and big family Christmas.  (Another 1.5 hour drive).
- Then on Saturday go back to Grandma and Grandpa S’s House for another small Christmas celebration. (Out of town family coming in)
- And finally on Sunday we go to Grandma O and Grandpa H’s house (another 1.5 hour drive)  for their Christmas celebration.

Oh, by the way…I am working mandatory overtime on Saturday and Sunday, so I wil be doing all of this after working 12+ hours.

How does your Christmas scedule compare?  Is our schedule more hectic than yours?  If not we will trade. 

Signed,

Merry and Happy

Hangin' In There...

Photo taken by Lotz Photograhy during a recent photo shoot with Ace, Momma, and I.
I will post more pictures of this photo shoot soon!

And if you are interested in having Lotz Photography take your pictures, check them out below…
They are truly amazing photographers and people!!

Ace Enjoying The Christmas Lights

One of the good things about being a Dad (at least that is the excuse I use) is that you get to do some pretty cool stuff…like hang Christmas lights.  Yeah, it’s cool if you like hanging off the edge of the roof, dangling off of a ladder 20 feet in the air, and spendig countless hours going through that strand of lights that doesn’t work because the very last bulb that you decide to check is burned out.  And I can’t help but mention this is all done in the coldest of seasons…Winter.

Now, I’m not bitching.  I really do like to hang Christmas lights.  I take a lot of pride in how the house gets decorated for the Holiday Seasons.

I’ve never been a big fan of colored lights.  My mom always bought the clear bulbs…and so the tradition lives on.  Something about the brightness of a well decorated house sends shivers down my spine…or maybe it is the 20 degree weather these days.

Now, while our house isn’t quite spine shivering worthy, I am proud of the job that I have done.  But, I am sure that the neighbors across the street are going to have to buy some extra thick curtains just to be able to sleep at night.

Ace came outside and ran around the yard tripping on the extension cords strung to and fro, but it was a bit to cold for him being less than two years old…not to mention he is starting to get over a pretty bad cold that I would hate to see return to full strength tomorrow.  Maybe next year he can help hang the lights…now that would be cool! 

Christmas Lights on the House

Swirly Doo Tree

Christmas Star

Things have been fun lately…  Ace has been getting more teeth.  He fell and blackened his eye on the coffee table.  He has recently came down with a combination of pink eye, an ear infection, and the stomach flu…and I swear he has an early case of the terrible twos!!

Ace has become very spoiled opinionated.  If things are not going the way he wishes…he lets you know.  Of course he can not talk yet so he lets you know in other ways…like screaming and crying.

So, we just knew that Trick or Treat would be…well, uh, a real treat…

We made our rounds, collected our candy, and made it home with only one fit thrown.  The fit was because Ace wanted to cross the street like the big kids (is he really old enough to think that way already?) 

All in all we had a good time…and got a good bit of candy. 

Everyone thought Ace was “The cutest vampire they ever did see”. 

Here are some pics of Ace in his costume…

Ace Vamp

Ace Vamp

Ace Vamp