christmas day 2011

...and here are our photos from christmas... over a month late. oops! we had a wonderful holiday.

our little tree, which i have grown to love over the years. we bought it the first year we lived here, and it cost less than $30! it is small, skinny, and a little crooked, but it holds all of our ornaments perfectly. this photo is from christmas eve, just after santa visited ;)

pile of packages from my parents on the left! thanks guys, we love you!

my kewpie angel

lucky dog opening his gift

and the kids opening theirs

the aftermath.

santa surprised malcolm with the best gift ever, his very own tire swing!

danny has always wanted a lotso-huggin' bear!

one more swing before heading out to danny's parents house

more gifts! (wow, these kids are spoiled!)

this photo of compton and malcolm makes me laugh!

and last but not least... dessert! 

i always somehow manage to not get any photos of the family. i guess because dan uses his fancy camera to take them, so i don't? we love spending christmas afternoon/evening at dan & vicky's house. the food is always delicious, and the company is even better. we are very grateful for it all.

christmas eve, eve

(this is me playing catch-up.) wow, i can't believe it has already been nearly a month since christmas! sheesh, life needs to slow down. i worked 24 of the 31 days in december, so with work, the kids, mail order, christmas decorating/shopping/shipping, and housework, etc., blogging was last on my list. i will get back on track soon... i hope :)

 

december in raleigh was unseasonably warm this year. we always hope for a white christmas, but since it very rarely even snows here, we didn't mind having mild temps instead of freezing cold ones. plus the nice weather was very kind on our wallets (low heat bills!) dec 23rd was in the upper 60's, so the kids and i headed on over to the newly-renovated pullen park! this was our first visit since it reopened in november, after being closed for two years, and i definitely think it was worth the wait. the grounds look beautiful, the new playground is a major improvement, and the new facilities are wonderful. because of the holidays, the train and carousel house were closed, but we had fun checking out the new playground and taking a walk along the pond before it got dark out. 

alanna found a half drawn person on the concrete, so she added a face. and a wand.

bwahahaha! 

i took these next three photos for danny, because he loves the andy griffith show :)

that is the new carousel house on the right. 

we crossed the bridge over the little train tracks and strolled through the woods. 

alanna and malcolm found a fort made of fallen tree branches.

i'm excited to return and take a ride on the train. pullen park, we are glad to have you back!

thank you santa ;)

introducing, the newest member of our family, sweets!

(or lady? or sweet lady? we haven't officially decided on her name yet. malcolm is set on sweets, which was his pick, so i think that is the one we will stick with.)

top two photos taken at cat banjo by suzie wolf photography

i know my list for santa was a little (ok, totally) unrealistic, and i knew it would be hard to fulfill any of those wishes, but who knew he would surprise me with a dog instead?! this little lady came to us by sheer luck, and we are all very grateful for how things worked out.

she was a stray, picked up by animal control, and taken to a high-kill shelter in goldsboro (about an hour outside of raleigh). the staff there just loved her beautiful markings and sweet disposition, and kept pushing her to the bottom of the "euth list". a volunteer group who works with the shelter posted about her on facebook, and someone shared it with my boss. within a few days she had been pulled, transported to raleigh, checked out by a vet, bathed, and then brought to our store -looking for her forever home.

the minute i met her, i was in love. she was so sweet, soft, calm, and well-behaved. plus she followed me around the store like i was her mama! the following afternoon (dec 21st) i took her home on a trial basis, to see how she, lucky, and mama cat would do together. they all got along well, so she never went back to the store ;) 

lucky dog is thirteen now, and we all know that he won't live forever. danny and i have been considering adopting a young female dog for a while, but were just waiting for the right one. in fact, just days before we found out about sweets, he had told me that he felt like it would be easier to have another dog  in the house, when the time does come that we lose lucky. and i totally agreed. we don't ever want a house without a dog. lucky is very healthy and happy and we hope he lives for many more years, and i think that it is good for him to have a playmate. so getting sweets was a win, win!

she has definitely made herself at home already (these were taken just days after she first came home with me). her and lucky are getting along wonderfully. they even play together outside. we have nicknamed lucky, "humperdink", because he gets so excited around her, haha!

 

we've had her for nearly three weeks now, and other than a few chewed-up items (naughty!), things are going very good. she was spayed (and micro-chipped) two days after i first brought her home, and she has healed up great. she does not potty in the house, she loves exploring in the backyard, and enjoys walks around the neighborhood. she does not like the car though, so we will have to work on that. they estimate her age at about two, so for being this young, she sure does act like an older dog. her and lucky are very similar -they both like to sleep all day! here's hoping that we can get her to stop chewing up things soon. we just love her and are glad to have her in our home.

this little lady got exactly what she had wished for! :)

it's hard to imagine that she could have been put to sleep. i am very thankful that there are people out there who are committed to rescuing dogs. the staff and volunteers at the goldsboro shelter. the woman who took the time to driver her to raleigh. my boss debbi, for willingly taking her (and another dog) during the busiest time of the year -right before christmas! the customers who donated to our cause, which helped pay for her care and spay. and my husband, for allowing me to bring her home. seriously, thank you from the bottom of my heart.