Baxter Turns One!

You remember our little doggy Baxter?

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He turned ONE today!

I wrote about our adventure in getting him and how we decided on his name here.

We have tried to be very good parents to Baxter by exposing him to a lot of experiences, taking him to obedience classes, and working on training (like roll over, sit, stay, etc.).

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He has grown up so fast, but is still very much a puppy (thank goodness).

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To celebrate I made a special hat for the birthday boy. Of course, he was scared of it at first. Not to worry, I practically have a bachelors degree in psychology (jk, I really do), but I never thought I’d be using it on my dog (and maybe occasionally my husband).

I allowed Baxter to engage (a speech therapist term, for sure) with the hat on his own terms – you know, sniffing and stalking around it for a few minutes. I also let him play with it in the car on the way to the ‘photo-shoot’ (AKA: my parent’s house).

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By the time we were ready for some pictures he didn’t even bat an eyelash when I stretched that elastic over his head. So proud to wear his birthday hat.

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Of course, we let him run around my parent’s house, harassing the goats and nephews.

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It makes me a little nervous to let him off his leash with so much un-fenced space to run, but he always comes running when I call his name…and that makes me so proud that he is such a good listener!

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Fall at the Farm

My friend Tiffany and sister Melissa both brought their boys to ‘Papa and Honey’s farm’ to run off some energy and play with the animals. I used the opportunity to practice my photography skills on my nephews (even some in full manual mode!) and wrangled Baxter into a photo shoot for something coming up next week… here’s a bit of a sneak peek:

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I was sad that the sun went behind the trees so quickly.

Hunter was ready for fall in his adorable skeleton shirt.

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Papa’s bees. I can’t wait for that honey!

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Bubbles will capture any child’s attention, no matter how young or old.

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‘Papa moo’ is N. speak for “I wanna see Papa’s goats”

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Checking for chicken eggs.

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Feeding acorns to the goats. Hunter didn’t want to let go of his ‘treasures’.

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Just two boys playing with leaves, and acorns and sticks.

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What an eventful day, and I bet every one of my nephews (and adopted nephew, Hunter) is sleeping soundly from their busy day.

FALL is for FAMILY and FRIENDS!

Back together again!

My little brother Ryan just returned from Marine basic training (not sure exactly what it’s called, but something like that). We are SO incredibly proud of him and are glad to have him back, though he will be leaving again in a week for more training. I’ll post pictures of him in his marine garb once I get them from my mom.

We had lunch at my parent’s house on Sunday afternoon to celebrate Ryan being home. The guys had all been itching to head out to the back acres and shoot off some of their guns. I don’t understand the hype, but I am glad they can spend time together doing things they enjoy!

Here is my aunt and my nephew, N. (turning 2 next week!).

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Family photo (from left to right): Pop, Aunt Dona, brother Ryan, nephew J., brother-in-law Juan with nephew N. on top, Dad, Mom, sister Melissa, my hubby Chris, and myself.

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I was hoping the direct sun would make for a very bright photo (which it did…just a little too bright, and I don’t have the editing software to handle that).

Then I took my sister and her family to another spot in the yard to take an impromptu family photo for them. We were quickly approaching N.’s naptime and J. had reached the point where his ‘engine was running a little high’ (to use some Occupational Therapy terms I hear at work). It was a little difficult to get the ‘right’ shot, but it was definitely fun!

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Then Chris and I took a pic. Again, why did I choose that bright spot?! Lesson learned.

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We always bring Baxter to my parent’s home when we go because they have so much land. He really enjoys racing around until his little body is tuckered out. Nephew N. loves “PUPPY!”

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‘ears’…

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‘eyes’…

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‘mouth’… (‘be careful’)

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and then our photography session ran into naptime. I tried to get some pictures of my older nephew as well, but they were mostly blurry. The chubby one moves much slower!

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yup, photo session is over.

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Happy Fall to everyone!

Be sure to snap those family photos whenever possible.

You never know when you might get another chance.

Kitchen Table Re-do

Refinishing our kitchen table is one project that has been on my ‘to-do’ list for quite some time now… like over a year.

I am usually anxious to start and finish furniture remodeling/decorating projects – with this case, though, I was so indecisive with what I wanted to do with the table.

There wasn’t much pressure of ‘messing’ anything up since the furniture piece in question was as pedestal table from the thrift store (It cost me less than $20, but I can’t remember the exact number since it was so long ago!!).  Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of the table before I started priming and staining (they are still housed on my Dell, and this post is being typed on our new Mac).

 

Here is the table after priming the bottom and staining the top.  At this point, I still didn’t know what I was going to do with the bottom.

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Then I came across this color. Already mixed and standing proudly on the oops-paint shelf at Walmart. And it was perfect. Have I told you before that I love green?

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The best part was the price…$3.88!

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Even after the first coat of the green I knew it was going to be perfect.

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After the coats of paint and stain dried I made sure to cover the top with clear polyurethane and I used a can of clear topcoat spray paint that I had in the garage for the bottom.

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This morning my sister and I went to the local farmer’s market to grab some goodies. In addition to some great veggies and an awesome gray pumpkin (the name of which escapes me at the moment), I came home with these beauties.

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Now all I need to do is re-finish the chairs!

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