Alive and well, sort of...

...aside from the week long cold and raging case of double pink eye, I'm doing well. Sounds fun, no?

So I've been MIA on the blog for a while. There's a simple explanation: 2 kids home on summer break, a baby that doesn't nap, and a hyper puppy. Enough said.

School has FINALLY started here in Wisconsin. I used to love the late start as a teacher, but as a parent I was really getting used to those mid-August starts of the South. With annoyance, I would follow my friends on FB as they posted pics of their kids going back to school knowing that we still had 3 full weeks of summer vacation without any activities scheduled. Relaxed? Yes. Ready for school to start? Yes.

Here are the girls on their first morning. Alex started 3rd grade and Maddie started Kindergarten. We were all ready. Neither Maddie nor I shed a tear that morning - she was so excited that it was impossible not to feel excited with her.

I love this picture of them walking to school. I wish I had recorded their conversation as Alex (the ultra experienced school girl) allayed any fears that Maddie felt about school. Sisterly love - I pray it continues.

They are both doing great and we are taking advantage of the beautiful September days walking to and from school. I LOVE this time of year. The mornings are a bit brisk for my baby O, but he bundles up just lovely.

Owen is doing great. He's a chunk!! He's pushing 20 lbs. - at 5 months - many mistake him for a 10 month old. We are slowly entering the solid food phase. I'm making his food this time around and so far I enjoy the control and feeling of accomplishment. (Humor me, I don't "work" outside the home!)

Seriously, how cute is he?!?!

He's falling into a, dare I say, routine - albeit inconsistent. He still doesn't nap well and I say a daily prayer: "please, God, let this be the day that he naps for longer than 30 minutes."

So far God hasn't answered that prayer very often.

However, he's usually in bed around 7:30 and sleeps until 5 or 6 am, eats, and then goes back to sleep for a couple of hours (until I have to yank him out of bed to get the girls to school - still working on our morning routine). He's incredibly happy (most of the time) and I could just eat his delicious cheeks, belly, and thunder thighs! He's getting to the stage where I can begin to relax and enjoy him and, truly, can't resist him - giggles of delight when he sees his toes or when I walk into the room. He's heavenly, really.

Which brings us to the opposite of heavenly, the 5 month old puppy, Nash, that calls our house her home.

Nash is doing well - still getting on my nerves and close to death daily, but she's meshing with our family. She took a 17 day "puppycation" at a local kennel back in July.

It was perhaps the best 2 weeks of my life! Ahhh...

I'm not sure that she would have survived the month had she not left. It was a wonderful experience - for me.

Unfortunately, she came back with the "mange" or mites. Lovely, she was not. However, I really didn't care - I was just glad she was out of my life for 2 weeks.

Sounds harsh, huh? Oh well, I can sleep at night.

Quite honestly the only reason I haven't gotten rid of her yet is because we have spent so much dang money on her - add up her supplies, the invisible fence, vet bills, kennel bills, etc. and she's one expensive dog!!! Had we not footed the bill for the fence, she may well have gone to a more "deserving" family.

On a side note - I was telling my parents yesterday that we probably shouldn't have named her after something we love so much (Nashville). A more appropriate name would be "Hell" or "Frog" or "Barack". (did I just say that?!?! Read into it what you will.)

I joke - a little. She's quite adorable at times and I have enjoyed watching the girls wrestle and play with her. She's actually quite a trooper as she puts up with Maddie tackling her and pulling on her tail. (They are both at 40 lbs. now - it's hilarious to see Maddie try to throw her around - I'm thankful that Nash "enjoys" the attention.) And really, she is so very cuddly (now that the mange is gone after 3 weeks of antibiotics and 3 rounds of shots - cha-ching!) and when given the opportunity will crawl right up into your lap for some snuggles. She needs some work, but I'm fairly certain she's a keeper.

Here are a few random pictures of things we did over the summer.

Neighborhood lemonade stand

Packer Family Night

Picking cherries in Door County

A visit from our good friends, Nina and Sarah, from Nashville. Here we are on top of a tower in Peninsula State Park in Door County (the "thumb" of Wisconsin).

Hope you all had a great summer!