Buddy for a Day

Olivia's teacher has this little dog called "Peanuts" that keeps her husband company at their home while she's at school. She is a great little, well-mannered dog but since Linda's husband has been under the weather and needs to take it easy and get lots of rest, she needed a place for the dog to go during the day and I offered to have her here when she needs to be until her husband is up to taking care of her again.

I picked her up from school today and kept her until the end of the school day when Linda came to get her. Of course Olivia loved this. It has been a year and two months since Blazer died and I miss having a dog. Peanuts is only two years old and has a lot of energy but also likes to curl up on your lap and fall asleep which is nice. I had to blockade the ferrets cage since this dog was obsessed with the smells coming from him and Misty the cat had to do all of her daytime napping locked in our bedroom since she was NOT happy at all about this dog coming in her house. Isn't it enough she has to put up with that annoying ferret chasing her around twice a day?? Poor cat, when she saw Peanuts she made noises and growls that I never knew could come out of any animal. So I decided it was best for her to sleep the day away on my bed.







Obviously Peanuts makes herself at right home easily and is welcome here anytime!

Superbowl Bound!

Can you believe the Packers have made it to the Superbowl!?!

What an exciting and nerve wracking day of football but somehow this time our two favorite teams did everything right and move on to see who is this years best.



It will be a great Superbowl for us because we cheer for both teams but even Steve will admit that it would be great to see the Packers win with Aaron Rodgers as their quarterback. So we will all definitely be pushing for the Green and Gold to come out ahead but won't be disappointed if the Steelers end up with the prize also.





All in all we can't wait for the game in two weeks. ("knock on wood") So far 2011 is already looking like it will be much better than 2010 in so many ways!

Olivia is neutral as far as who wins the Superbowl. She is just thrilled to hear that there is only one more "football day" left this season.




GO......PACK......GO.....!!

GO PACK GO!!

What else can I say this week but GO Pack GO! How many times have we heard this already. It is exciting though to have the Packers get this far and have a very good shot at getting to the Super Bowl. On the other side of the coin, we are Steelers fans too so we will be cheering all day on Sunday. Not sure what will happen in the house if the Steelers and the Packers meet in the Super Bowl this year but it would be really exciting. I will still cheer for the the Pack but I think Steve will have his Pittsburgh shirt on.

Olivia likes to cheer and shake pom poms but hates to hear about yet another "football day". She dreads these days that I am glued to the game and have to keep telling her to get out of the way of the TV! She tries her best to stay the center of attention but eventually has to give up for a couple hours. She will be glad when the football season is over again.

Since the Chinese New Year is coming up I'll also include Olivia dressed up in her new Asian dress from Aunt Nancy. We don't make a big deal about Chinese New Year but Olivia loves to get dressed up like a princess.

It will be a great weekend for football since it is too cold to do anything outside.

GO......PACK.......GO... !!!

Merry CHRISTmas 2010

Merry Christmas 2010, and what a wonderful Christmas it was!


It was a very busy weekend from Thursday through Sunday. Thursday we all went to Jenny's Civil Air Patrol Christmas party in the evening. On Friday we had the Children's Christmas service where Olivia got to sing with the whole school for the first time. All the classes did great. For a small school they were loud and you could understand everything they were saying and singing. It was one of the best services we have seen for a long time.



After the church service we came home and opened presents from each other. Olivia was so excited about Christmas and just like last year we almost forgot to put out Santa's cookies. I had to get her out of bed again this year to set up the Santa treats and milk.


Well, Santa did show up and Olivia came running in our room at 4:30 am....yes, FOUR-THIRTY IN THE MORNING....saying "Mom! Santa came! come and look, I can't believe it!"

She was wide-eyed and ready to open presents. Her teenage brother and sister were not quite as excited. I guess they forgot that they were little kids once. Gizmo was excited about the Zhu Zhu pets running around and kept trying to grab them to carry them away.




After opening presents and all that excitement we had to get to the 9:00 am church service because I played with the handbell choir. It was a beautiful service with the singing choir and the handbell choir. Unfortunately a little girl that was up at 4:30 am could only keep herself awake for about half of the church service.



After church it was off to Aunt Nancy's house for the afternoon/night. There Olivia got more presents from Grandma and Grandpa and her Aunts and Uncles. She loves all of her presents and had so much fun with everyone again. She makes all of her relatives take their turn playing with her and doesn't leave anyone out.




She was asleep in the truck almost before we were out of the driveway and was done for the night. The next day, Sunday, we had all the Pitz side over to our house where there was more visiting, fun and more presents for Olivia. She got a V.Reader from her Aunt Cindie that had her mesmerized for a while.




She slept for 11 hours on her new sheets/bedspread from her Aunts and Grandparents on Sunday night and now it is nice to have the week off of school to relax and play with all the new toys and games.






Merry Christmas to everyone and we are looking forward to the NEW YEAR!

Christmastime and Snowmen

Christmas is almost here and having a 4 year old in the house makes it even more fun. Olivia is very excited about Christmas and everything that goes with it.

It will be so much fun to see her sing with her school in the church on Christmas Eve. She is growing up so fast. She has had a great time doing the different school projects, bringing things home for me, telling me what they learned and always singing new songs. This Christmas will be very special for all of us.





The snow was finally in the right condition today for packing and making a snowman. She put a guilt trip on me all last winter when we never got around to making a snowman so today as soon as school was finished we got the job done. We made a nice little snowman and she thought it was a great time and was very proud of her Frosty. (I have to admit I also had a pretty good time making it too!)

Now we just have to get some cookies made to put out for Santa and do some last minute preparations for Christmas. Christmas Eve is the children's choir service in the afternoon and my handbell choir is playing for the 9:00 am Christmas morning service. I'm sure Olivia will have us all up early enough to get the presents opened and get to church on time. From there we go to the Aunt Nancy's home for the afternoon/night and somehow we have to prepare for having the Pitz side over to our house on Sunday. Somehow, some way it will all get done.



From our family to yours we wish you all a very safe, blessed and Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday to Me

Happy birthday to me. Jenny surprised me with making a birthday cake last night while I was at handbell practice. We had cake and ice cream when I got home since my actual birthday on Wednesday will be too busy to do it. Wednesday is my day to help out at pre-school and at night we are going to go see my niece, Kaitlyn, play in her high school Christmas concert.




Although I don't care to make a big deal over my birthday's anymore it was a nice little celebration.....now let's just move on and forget about how old I am getting...

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town!

Santa came to Husty today! Olivia was very excited.

We always save a stamp by writing out her Christmas list and handing directly to Santa. That way there is no way it can get lost in the mail.




She wasn't shy at all and jumped right up on his lap. I can't believe how big she looked on him this year compared to a year ago.






She sat there for a little while talking to him but from where I stood I couldn't hear what she was saying. When we asked her later what she said she couldn't remember......too much excitement I think.

Christmas cannot come soon enough for this 4 year old!



She got to make an ornament for the tree and all the kids got a complimentary photo with Santa and a goodie bag when they were done.