Troy and I... We are doing fine. Troy has been keeping very busy with work. He is still working from home which is nice. It's a good thing sometimes because I doubt we would see much of him otherwise! The band is still playing about once every 4-6 weeks. They have been together for about 16 years now and still have fun doing it. I think they may keep playing until they are up there with their walkers and hearing aids. Hey, they could be the house band when we are all living in an assited living facility somewhere. I'm doing fine. Keeping busy with the girls and all of their activities. During the school year, it could be a little hectic keeping up with everything so it's been nice being off for summer vacation! I volunteered as the reading mom for Anne's class and went up once a week for that. I am also the secretary for SAC board at her school. I'm still working at the Children's Hospital but haven't been working much since school has been out. The patient census usually drops down quite a bit in the summer and they don't need the PRN people as much. It works out nice because I didn't want to work much while the girls were out anyways. I still really enjoy the job there though and the flexibility of the schedule is awesome. Things here are good!

Rudy... We have had Rudy for almost a year now and he has been such a great addition to our family. I can't imagine our house without him now. After debating for weeks about whether to get a dog or not, we finally broke down and started looking. The girls were begging for a dog and since Troy and I both grew up with dogs, we thought it would be nice for them to have one. I started looking in the local shelters and really wanted to find a nice older dog who needed a good home. After looking a few different places, I knew the minute I saw him that he was the dog for us. The girls wanted to pick this little yippy dog that was jumping all over the cage and barking his head off but I saw Rudy laying quietly all the way in the back of his cage with his little tail just thumping up and down and I knew he was the dog for us. And then he stood up and we saw those short, goofy little legs and it made him even better. He came home with us the next day and has fit right in. He is about 3 years old and is a lab/basset hound mix. He is the sweetest, most laid back personality and is wonderful with the girls. He is a total people dog and just wants to be where ever we are. He usually only barks if someone is at the door or near the house. He had a few housetraining issues when he first got him but otherwise has been really well behaved. He listens well and doesn't usually need a leash when he is out. He likes it here too much and doesn't plan on running away! We all just love him so much!

Anne... I can't believe Anne is going to be six years old next month! She is growing up so fast. She just finished kindergarten in May and had a great year. I was very worried about sending her to kindergarten last year since she has such a late birthday but she has done so well. Her teacher said she is more than ready to move on to first grade and Anne is looking forward to it. She made some really great little friends this year and did very well academically too. It all went by so fast! She is really enjoying her summer though. She has mastered swimming as of last week and loves to be in the pool. Just a few weeks ago, she didn't even want to put her head in the water. Now she impresses us with her cannonballs and handstands. She was so proud of herself and we are too! We spend much of our time in the water now. She also still does gymnastics and is doing really well with that. It amazes me how much she has learned and how brave she can be in the gym. Sometimes I have to look away while she is learning a new move. It's too scary for a mom to watch! She also did her first year of Girl Scouts last year and really enjoyed that. She was a Daisy and will now be a Brownie! She is looking forward to that starting up again. She is such a sweet and loving little girl. She still loves to snuggle and hug and tell us how much she loves us. She is in love with our dog Rudy (named after her boyfriend from preschool) and is really good with him. He sleeps on her bed at night and they are good friends. She is a great big sister and sometimes has more patience with Allison than Troy and I do. She is very protective of Allison and will tell someone off in a minute if they mess with her little sister. She loves to draw and make things and is very creative. Our house is covered in her artwork. She is very dramatic and we call her our Drama Queen. Unfortunately she is still so wrapped up in anything Princess so she takes that as a good thing!

Allison... Allison is so darn funny and lucky for her she is so darn cute because otherwise we may not always like her too much. She has one heck of a temper and one heck of smart mouth that gets her into trouble. But she is so funny that sometimes you can't help but laugh even though you shouldn't. If I had a dollar for everytime she folded her arms across her chest and yelled "THAT'S NOT EVEN FAIR" or "THAT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY" or our all time favorite "I'M NOT BEING YOUR FRIEND", I would be a very rich woman. She keeps things interesting around here for sure. But for the most part, she is a good girl. She is very silly and loves to make you laugh. She adores her big sister and wants to do whatever Anne is doing. She loves gymnastics, waterparks, and going to Disney. Usually once a day she asks if we will be going to one of those places that day. When I tell her no, she usually responds with one or all of the three statements I just told you about. It's fun. She just finished her first year of preschool and she really liked it. According to her teacher she was a "star student" and one of the best behaved kids in the class. Her teacher just went on and on about what a joy Allison was in her class.We think sometime in the car pool drop off, Allison was somehow replaced with another kid that actually listens and shows "star student" behavior. Because we don't know that girl. She will be going three mornings a week starting in September. She likes going to school and playing with all of her little friends. We are still working on teaching her to swim. She loves being in the pool but isn't very fond of going under water. I'm hoping by next summer she will be swimming on her own. She still does gymnastics once a week and really loves that. She is pretty darn good at it too! She is a little nut but you can't help but love her.

I thought I would use this to post pictures and updates on the kids since the old site I used closed down last year. It won't be one of the funny and interesting mommy blogs since I rarely have something witty to say but I'll try to update it often!