Doggies

Harley is our older dog. He only has 3 legs, as you can see below. In the winter time he has a lot (like almost 6 inches) of fur but we have to trim him up in the summer. This process usually involves a scissors and a lot of time. Fortunately, Harley loves to lay around and get trimmed up! Here is a before picture (taken a few years ago, before our deck got turned into a porch):



Here are some "after" pictures:

Doesn't he look cooler?!

Georgia got to take her aunt and uncles dog home last Friday night for a sleep over!! Boy was she excited! Deuce (as the pup is known) is the sweetest little dog. Bethany and Brandon are very lucky that they won't have to worry about him when their baby comes in August!

Deuce did very well on the sleepover-although he poops an awful lot for a little dog...Anyway, thanks Aunt B and Uncle B for letting Georgia pretend to have an indoor dog for a night.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all moms out there!

As some of you know, Joel and I suffered a miscarriage at the beginning of March. As painful as this spring has been, its also been really wonderful at times. Georgia continues to amaze us with her spirit and kindness. Our loss has made us even more grateful for her life and whats to come. It also makes me sad that our second child will never get to experience the things that Georgia has. I guess God had another plan for him/her, and us!

I think Mother's Day is less about us moms and more about our children. Without them, we wouldn't even be mothers! So, if you are a mom, take a moment and hug your child(ren). They've made you who you are today!

Spring time finally!

Its finally spring here in Wisconsin. The weather is beautiful so we've been outside a lot lately.

Last night Georgia decided she was going to ride her new bike down to the garden and help plant potatoes:

Here she is with her puppy Abby (Golden Retriever/Irish Setter):

I have no idea where she got that smile from...maybe we'll blame her daddy! ;)

It's been a long time...

Sorry to all 3 of my loyal readers!!! We've been busy this month and I haven't been able to update anything. To sum up:

-The benefit went well, they raised $23000!
-Joel has started spring field work and is hoping to start planting corn this week
-Our garden is tilled and ready to plant
-Almost all of the flower beds have been weeded-thanks in large part to Great Grandma Goede!!! She's a lifesaver for a busy working mom.
-Almost all of the laundry that has hung out on the laundry room floor all winter (big rugs, misc socks, etc) has been washed and is hanging outside. I love how fast the wind and sun get laundry done!
-The office/nursery is cleaned and re-organized. (Before anyone freaks out: no, we don't need the nursery yet...just planning ahead for anything God wants to send our way!)
-Grandma Murphy's garden is tilled and almost ready for planting--thanks to Joel-the perfect Son-in-Law. Its safe to say he'll keep that title for a little while longer after an afternoon of tilling up tough sod.
-Georgia has started the barn kitties on a rigorous training program...that might be the reason all the mommy cats have moved their children... :)

More to come this week!

This week

This week has been crazy. Work is really busy, Joel is really busy getting ready for spring planting, Georgia is busy doing what 2 yr olds do...Its kind of a shock to the system after a winter of moving slowly and not doing too much!

We had a nice visit with my Grandma last weekend. She's home now and feeling much better. It seems the story of what happened was a little different than what I mentioned in the previous post but I don't want to get into details. The main thing is that she's home and feeling better! To introduce the next set of pictures, I need to explain that my Uncle Jim is a jokester and in an attempt to make my Gma laugh in the hospital, he brought in these chicken glasses:

On Sunday, before heading home, we stopped at a park so G could play on "The Brown Behemoth"-a name my creative father came up with for this huge slide/swingset thing:

Today is the benefit for our niece Nevaeh. We're praying that a lot of people show up and buy things. Dave and Mel will need a lot of financial assistance in the future so we're going to try to start that nest egg today. By the way, if any of you attend I don't want to see you bidding on my sister's baby blanket!!! That's all mine! :)

Over the state line and thru the city, to Grandmother's house we go...

We got the scary call on Sunday night that Great Grandma Smick (my mom's mom) was dehydrated and not feeling well. It seems that while my aunt was up here in Wisconsin, celebrating Georgia's birthday, Grandma was back home not eating! She's never been a person to eat very much anyway but I guess she pushed it too far this time. My aunt and uncles finally convinced her to go to the hospital (the real kicker was she wasn't able to follow the NCAA basketball tournement so they knew something was wrong!) and get some fluids. She's been recouperating in the hospital since then. My sister and I are going to head down there Friday night with Georgia to see her and the rest of our family. We're expecting everything to turn out just fine but you never know. Prayers are appreciated! :)

We hope everyone has a safe and happy Easter!

Here's some pics from last Easter for your viewing pleasure:

Georgia's birthday party

Allie pushing G on her new bike from Aunt Bethany and Uncle Brandon:

Grandpa Murphy decided Georgia had to have some baby chicks:

Aunt Bethany, G, Allie, "Aunt" Andrea:

Georgia's so lucky to have a cool dad like this! Just wait til she's 16 and he can make balloon animals at her birthday party then too! ;)

Bunny face!

Aunt Kelsey and G coloring before guests arrived:

The Sesame Street birthday cake (carrot cake with cream cheese frosting-yummy!)

We had a great day with family and friends, Georgia got a lot of really nice gifts, and we came home exhausted!

We can't wait until next year.

What's so special about Georgia?

As an homage to my almost-2 yr old, here's what her Daddy and I find special about Georgia:

1. She loves cold food, not hot food. We nuke her dinner for about 20 seconds because any longer than that and she says its too hot!

2. She's fiercely independent and yet...

3. She won't go anywhere without Mommy

4. She already knows how to pick eggs without breaking anymore than Daddy or Great Grandma

5. She's the smartest girl in the whole world (and her Daddy taught her to say it too)

6. She likes to ride her tricycle in the house, up and down the hallway

7. She loves to fly

8. Her hair always smells good

9. She was born 2 weeks early but it took 8 hours to get her out (is that a contradiction or what?)

10. She likes to save bumps, bruises, and scratches for picture day-she's just making sure JcPenney captures her wild spirit:)

11. She'll give hugs and kisses out of nowhere-so watch out

12. She's Georgia, and we love her

Happy 2nd Birthday Georgia! We love you!