Preparing for Puppy

The girls are so excited for the puppy. Tay told me that I should call today to see if we could go and get him. I had to remind her that the earliest he said he'd be ready would be Monday but she should just plan on Friday. We have also reminded her it is important for him to stay with his mom as long as possible. Thursday we got a kennel and bed. On Thursday night Grandma Thea stopped by with a book on how to potty train and kennel train your puppy along with a new toy for him. Tay has been reading the book and telling us what we need to do. Then today we went and got the rest of the stuff for him (collar, leash, dishes, etc.). We ended up with two collars a blue one Tierney picked and a Hawkeye one that Marshall and Tay picked out. Oh and of course several toys. On the way home Marshall informed us that we forgot treats... I think he is more excited than he wants to admit. Oh yes and Miss Tierney has been informing everyone (even complete strangers) that we got a dog. It is so cute to watch. The other day at school she was standing in the hall waiting to get Tay and when the kids were leaving for the bus she proudly announced to them that "we got a dog". Then had to tell Tay's teacher the news along with what kind we got. Today when we were buying the puppy stuff she informed the cashier "we got a dog, a boy, but we didn't get him yet, it's a shih tzu". It is so darn cute and she is just so proud! We are still undecided on a name.

My heart is broken....

This is what Tierney informed me when I told her we had to take down her tent. She has had it up since Saturday and slept in it every night. She is not happy about taking it down but I'm tired of it being in my living room!

Puppy!

This afternoon we took the girls to pick out a puppy. We narrowed it down to two different breeds before we went so the guy had just those two sets of puppies out for us. They haven't been away from their mom much. They were so tiny. We were able to rule out a couple right away because they were very aggressive. We need something mild! Tay finally decided on a Shih Tzu. Marshall was hoping for one of the others but I was hoping she picked the Shih Tzu (Tierney was busy playing with some wiener dogs they have and we weren't getting those). He is brown and white and really cute. He will be able to be picked up between the second and fourth of March. He isn't quite old enough yet. Which is okay since we have plenty of supplies to go and get! We are planning to go shopping next weekend. Tay has a list started! Tierney is worried he will chew on her toys so we told her we have to get her stuff put up before we get him. We are trying to come up with a name so he has one when we get him! We will post pictures as soon as we get him!

Stirring arm

Tierney absolutely loves to help in the kitchen. She helps with the dishwasher and if she hears you in there getting ready to cook she runs in with her chair. Well I found a new recipe to try today and she informed me that she had her "stirring arm" ready to help. She does the stirring and adding ingredients. She tries running the microwave when needed and would crack the eggs if I'd let her. Today she even got her chef's hat out so she would be extra ready to help! I bet her dad wishes that I would like to cook that much!

Weekend Mornings

I love the weekends. Especially in the mornings. The girls usually come in our room and wake us up. Tierney will lay and snuggle for awhile (until she makes enough noise to wake her sister up). Then we go and hang out on the couch. It is so nice not to be rushed and for everyone to be home. here are the girls snuggling Marshall!

Girl Scouts

Today we took our Girl Scout troop to tour the Humane Society in Waterloo and then to Bead Happy to make a necklace and bracelet. Both were a hit. The girls in our troop love animals. I know some of you are laughing as you read this since I am not a huge animal lover... I did make it through the cat room (cat hair flying all over... I was a little stuffed up when we left). Tay was in love. She almost had Marshall convinced to go back down today so we could adopt a dog. I think the girls are getting closer to getting a dog especially if they get their dad on board. I told them not today as we need to think that out a little more. We will see how much longer I can hold them off!

Valentine's Day

Tierney was so excited for Valentine's Day. I think she likes any holiday or celebration. She got to bring treats to school. Of course she picked sugar cookies and had to decorate the ones for her and Tay. She was very proud of her work. Tay said there was a little to much frosting! Above you can see her working on her masterpieces!

Grandpa's Birthday

We celebrated Grandpa Lewie's birthday last weekend (along with mine and Desmond's). You can see the grandkids enjoyed helping grandpa open all of his presents. They always enjoy going to grandma and grandpa's but it's even better when there is a party!

Watch Night

Tay and Marcy
Tierney and Tay

Tierney doing her ballet dance

Tierney doing her tap dance

Tay doing her tap dance

We got to watch the girls dance on Thursday night. Tay's class did a really nice job and they got their third costume which goes to their Camp Rock dance. Tay is way excited about that. I'm excited because none of the costumes are huge like last year! Tierney didn't start class out very well. She was first sad because she wasn't the leader (if you are a leader you get a fancy skirt) and then her knee was hurting (she fell on the ice at school and has a huge bruise but of course she was over reacting). Luckily as class got going she cheered up. The first pictures I took of her looked like we were torturing her!

Reading

I never realized how competitive Taylor can be. I know she doesn't like to lose but it has really shown this week. The elementary school is doing a grade by grade reading competition. The kids have to read each day and record it and for every ten minutes they read they get a "rock" (crumpled up paper/newspaper) for their class. Well Tay has been very upset that some of the kids in their class have not been reading so now she is trying to read for them and make up their time. We are already to seventy minutes tonight and that was with taking time for a shower, to go to the library, play with her sister, and start her Valentine's Day box. She informed me that she plans to read more after supper. For this week her class is ahead but only by nine rocks (this goes for the month of February) so it should be an interesting month!

Cupcakes

Taylor got a cupcake maker and froster for Christmas. We haven't used it since the first day despite all the asking to use it (one negative is you can't do the clean up using the dishwasher). Marshall and I finally broke down today and helped them with it. They had a ton of fun. The cupcakes looked terrible (you microwave them) but they said they tasted great. Tierney tried to give me hers for my birthday but I assured her it was perfectly fine if she ate it.

Remote

Tierney has mastered using the remote. She is probably better at it than I am. Here is a picture of her very focused on her cartoons. Notice the remote in her hand. If she sits it down someone may take it.

Reader's Theater

We were lucky enough to be invited to Tay's class this week to watch their Reader's Theater. Her class worked hard and wrote the stories themselves. Here is a picture of Tay reading her part.

Babies

Tierney is very fascinated with babies. She asked Marshall this morning who's tummy he was born in!