Baking extravaganza and Christmas dogs

Our annual gift exchange for the kids was this weekend at our house. We decided on brunch and the food was all yummy! I made some treats for the girls on Saturday. First up were Oreo truffles, then sugar cookies, then Gingerbread men.

 

 

The kids had a great time decorating, eating and opening presents.

Abby got Taylor/Bossy a little Christmas outfit and they looked adorable! I can't believe Christmas is 4 days away!

Night of Wine and beyond

Catching up...

Lucas had a basketball game early Saturday morning and the Rockets were victorious! Also, Taylor graduated from puppy training last Saturday, which was pretty much a whirlwind day. We had that, entertaining my cousin, and three parties in one night. After Tay's graduation, we hurried to the Old Spaghetti Factory to meet my aunt and cousins for lunch. Unfortunately when we were there, Max's DS case and all of his games got left behind and we haven't been able to track it down since. :( After lunch, we went to Jillian's to let the boys play away. They had a great time.

 

Saturday night I dubbed as the Night of Wine. First up was Nate and Kelly's wine fundraiser, then Vascular Surgery's Christmas party at Easley Winery, then Department of Surgery's party at Skyline Club. We were running late and didn't get to stay at Nate and Kelly's very long before we had to head to Easley. We decided we'd hit the Surg party afterward, but the invitation said it was over at 10 and by the time we left Easley and went back it was almost 9:40 so we decided to scrap the third party altogether and head back to Nate and Kelly's.

Sunday afternoon I had a spa day planned for Ross and me, along with some shopping. We went to Villagio Day Spa for a massage and facial. Their men's locker room was nice and cozy! (I got to go in because no other men were scheduled that day). The massage and facial were great! We had some issues at check-out but they were resolved within a few days and we are now very happy with our experience there.

The following week was busy! We had lots of Christmas shopping along with studying and a final for me. The boys' last day of school before break was Friday and we made a fan favorite, cinnamon sugared pecans for their teachers. It's a gift I make my co-workers every year and they love it. This year I packaged them in a cute Crate and Barrel mug with little gift tags from Michaels.

Taylor's first snow

We had our first snow of the season last night and it was Taylor's first snow to explore. She loves it!

New addition

Ross and I have been talking about getting another dog on and off for awhile. We have one dog already and the way our lives were going we didn't think we should get another dog because we were too busy. So we'd have the debate back and forth. Karen, one of my good friends from work constantly sends me emails about puppies that need to be rescued and last week we were faced with the opportunity to rescue a baby black lab. We had to make the decision very quickly and decided it was too quick for us. Luckily she found another home very quickly. Then Karen told me about a litter of puppies that needed homes. She sent pictures and Ross and I started to talk about it. The mom is a wire hair terrier and they didn't know who the father is. The whole back story with this dog is so ridiculous I can't even write about it because it's beyond unbelievable. I'll just say the puppies were conceived on an Indian reservation in Las Vegas.

We made the trek to Rhonda's house to look at the puppies Friday night. They live in Clayton, and it took us about an hour to get there with 465 traffic. We knew we wanted another girl and there were 3 girls from the litter of 7 (one was put to sleep after being diagnosed with hydrocephalus). The three girls were Lilly, Roxie and Bella. Lilly was two shades of brown and very calm. Roxie looked just like a German Shepherd and was much bigger than the other two girls. Bella was rambunctios and black with white and brown markings. After about an hour of playing and deliberation, we chose Bella.

The poor baby vomited twice on the way home and cried for her brothers and sisters Friday night. Saturday she was much better and ready to integrate into our family. The boys came home Sunday and were thrilled. They both love her to pieces. Our other dog (Bossy) is tolerating her, and I think they've bonded a little bit in the backyard this week. She is such a joy to have around and we are so thankful for her. Now, if we can just get some sleep...