what have i done?

tanner sure is sweet but i think the poor thing must have been born in a barn... and then forgotten about.

this afternoon i found him ON TOP -- (all four of his lanky legs) of our diningroom table helping himself to the remains of trey's snack. i can honestly say that i have never seen a full grown dog a top a table....

i think we are making strides but if we are they are small. perhaps next week will be better!

little pals~

to his utter delight trey enjoyed a couple of hours with his favorite neighborhood pal this weekend. the two of them are awfully sweet together.

BEWARE!!!

wacky pirates invade village park...

ArrRRRrGh mAteY!

this boy...

no matter what kind of day i am having this little guy can always make it better.

a crazy little boy that is proving to have a very sweet and incredibly sensitive side.

another tradition is born...

VALENTINE'S DAY 2009

grammy and grampy swenson join the fun...

when friends become like family, ordinary times become extraordinary times...

for the second year in a row we met the gast family at ichiban for a firey feast. last year i was on my own with a son in tow whom was terrified of the flames and a daughter that couldn't sit still.

BUT OH MY -- what a difference a year can make.

this year trey was all about the flames and kate was calm as a cucumber all snuggled up with grammy. even better pete was able to join us!!! and just when we thought it couldn't get any better pete's mother and step-father were also in town to join us. i am not entirely sure they truly enjoyed the glutenous experience but as always they were fantastic sports. i know we'll be ready to return next year.

what's a one more...

tanner

the boys

abby is the middle of it all

trey and digger

a tuckered tanner ...

OK, i have to admit i forgot how much work a new pooch can be. although tanner is an amazing dog he doesn't seem to be house broken. so that has been a fun treat to deal with this week while pete has been in CA. almost like having a newly mobile 13 month old around to keep a constant eye on.

so you can just imagine my delight when heather called to tell me she and the boys were coming over to play and they decided to bring abby-girl along as well. NOT!!!

and then they got here... the same seems to hold true with children as it does with labs; what's one more. we had a pooh-pooh platter o' labs; white, milk and dark chocolate. as you can see everyone had fun, kids, dogs and especially the mommas.

puddin' anyone?

sweet little miles made fast work of his desert

welcome HOME tanner~

tanner enjoys a warm welcome home from kate, caitlin & trey

it's been a love fest around here...

ahhh - life is good!

yesterday afternoon we welcomed tanner into the roe family. he was greeted with great enthusiasm from trey. digger isn't bothered at all by him but they certainly aren't best buds yet. his first night with us went better then we could have anticipated. one minor drama filled moment which involved kate, the cat and an excited tanner. kate was reading in her room while pete was putting trey to bed. tanner was resting quietly on kate's floor when irish pranced right on in and jumped up into bed with kate. within seconds a growling tanner was in the bed also. kate freaked as expected and quickly lept from the bed and called for pete. by tthe time pete arrived on the scene the cat had vanished and tanner was easily calmed. in time i am sure kate will recover as well. :0)

cards, cookies and cocktails~

heading over to hayden's house

kate pondering her choices


hayden "sprinkled"


the kids getting busy...

hayden & eylse

headin back home

friday afternoon while enjoying the glorious 60 degrees, heather and i loaded the kids into the wagon and hoofed it on over to the ulrichs's house for a valentine's theme get together. cards and cookie decorating for the kiddos and cocktails for the adults. Bravo Elyse!!!

following happy hour we all trotted back on over to our house for a very inpomtu dinner. pete fired up the grill and threw on some burgers and dogs (of all shapes and sizes). Good times!

another snow day~

another snow day here in asheville. as an old iowa girl the "snow day" hardly seems justifiable but from a mom's perspective it is refreshing to know that they are still somewhat magical even to me at my age. the kids and i spent the day relaxing, working on laundry, playing board games, decorating cookies and venturing out a few time. all in all not a bad way to spend my day off...

500!!!

one of these things is not like the other...

three petes and a kate. so i never thought I'd actually keep up with this blog but here we are... at our 500th entry. the picture above i was taken at our little super bowl gathering just before i had to pull the kids and haul them off to bed. once again pete wowed us with his cooking. now if we could just get him to work on portion control. i swear he cooked enough pork tenderloin for a 15 people. this weekend we'll be turning our leftover into BBQ. come on over!