Shepherd's 1st Birthday

Last night David and I got back from a very exhausting, but completely fun weekend in Little Rock. Today is Shepherd's actual first birthday but John and Sarah had his party on Saturday. We definitely didn't want to miss it, so we drove down and got into Little Rock around 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning. The party was Saturday at noon and it was great. Sarah had done the party with an owl theme. It was all so cute and classically done. Shepherd had on a green little outfit with an owl and his name on it. Adorable. Sarah had made chili, taco soup, and home-made birthday cake. Here are some pictures from the party...

Owl cake-pops

Name banner...

Happy Birthday banner...

Sarah painted their laundry room door with chalk paint...I know, awesome idea in and of itself right? But it doubled as part of the party decor...

The birthday boy and myself...

Opening some presents...we got Shepherd a block set and a blue checked polo shirt. He was playing with the blocks before the party was over...success!

Shepherd enjoyed eating his own personal cake...

...but then he got VERY tired...

Playing with his cousins, Mary Kate and Libby.

Afer the party and a quick trip to the mall, David and I went to hang out at Mom and Dad's. Unbelievably, Granny was in town because Grandad had gone down to the farm for 2 weeks. She had decided to come into town and hang out with Mom and it thankfully matched up with us coming into town.

Three generations of women...

We stayed up way too late and made ourselves tired, but it was worth it. The weekend was short and very very sweet. After a great church service Sunday morning we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Senior Tequilas with everyone and then hit the road. We won't be home again until after David's boards, so in a couple weeks we're planning on having some houseguests in KC and we're really looking forward to it.

This week I have parent/teacher conferences on Thursday and Friday. They're optoinal, so right now it's pretty sparse and I'm looking at some time-off. :)

President's Day Delights

I think I might really like presidents day. I have done lots, but nothing super important. Laundry, walking the dog, picking up the house and standard cleaning. But mingled in with that has been a rainy day to stay inside, my husband who had the afternoon off, warm coffee and TV watching.

Deuce turns two years old tomorrow...now I know, I am blogging about my dog's birthday and that's a little lame. But here's the deal, we don't have kids, I love my dog, and it created a fun field trip today. Don't judge me. When we have kids I'm sure Deuce will get a pat on the head for his birthday if it's even remembered, but today we celebrated just for kicks. I convinced David to go down to Three Dog Bakery and buy Deuce a birthday treat. I love that place.

Deuce really enjoyed his treat.

Heritage Mini Camp

Cheer is officially, mostly done for the season! I have enjoyed coaching the girls, but I will be glad to just be able to come on home from work on Mondays and Tuesdays. This week was the Mini Camp. I stayed after school on Thursday afternoon to lead while the cheerleaders taught the little girls the cheers. I didn't have school on Friday, just an in-service half day, but Friday night David and I both went up to the High School campus for me to lead the mini camp performance. There was about 45 girls this year and most of them showed up in their T-shirts to perform. It was fun to see the older girls enjoying teaching the younger ones. Here are a couple picture and a video of the night.

David managed to get a video of part of the night. I was so frazzled running around and checking on things that I totally forgot. Thank goodness for an aware husband. Love him.



Saturday was a GOOD day. We were able to sleep in and I got a lot of laundry done while David studied. He has one more written board to take this Thursday...I know, they never end!! But while we worked inside, Deuce found a nice sunny spot and snoozed outside.

Saturday afternoon David and I got to go down to the plaza to run some errands and to the mall. We had a fun time shopping around together.

Deuce didn't act like he felt very good Friday and Saturday night. I didn't really know what was wrong until today. After I took him for a walk I went with him back into the backyard and found a totally eaten rabbit. All that was left was the head and limbs. I know, gross. Deuce, the rabbit killer! I was sad to have to dispose of it, but I'm glad to know what had him feeling a little off. He's back to normal today.

It was a good day at church today. Pastor Steve is telling the congregation every Sunday where some of our tithes go, and one place that he mentioned today is a Christian counseling center for girls who are pregnant and considering an abortion. Pastor Steve said, "We are a pro-life church, and we want to put our money where our mouth is." I love that. David and I had a nice date after church at Pei Wei as well (thanks for the Christmas gift card Mom and Dad!)

This is another short week for me. I have president's day off tomorrow! I don't even know what I'm going to do with myself. :)

#9 and a pass!

It's hard to believe that this Valentine's Day was our 9th valentines together! Of course this is just our fourth married Valentine's Day, but all total, this brings us to celebrating our ninth together. It was a great V-day for sure. We decided to spend the evening in, cook, and watch a movie. We grilled steaks, made twiced baked potatoes, brussel sprouts, and a salad. Another great part of Valentine's day was my new disposer...our other one broke and my handy husband snapped me one up from craigslist and installed it! Doesn't it look great!? :)

Growing up, my Dad always gave me roses...David knows I love getting flowers on Valentine's Day and always makes sure to give me some! I love them and he is wonderful to make it special.

Here's a picture of our delicious meal. We ate it by candlelight in our cozy little house. :) It was a great day.

Monday afternoon we found out that David passed the first part of his SRTA boards that he took in Memphis! Woohoo! Another hurdle has been jumped and we're one more step closer to graduation!

Boards Weekend

This was a big week at our house. David took the first part of his boards in Memphis on a "fake patient." He had to take EVERYTHING he could possibly need and go to Memphis to take it so that he will be able to practice in Arkansas when it's all said and done. David could definitely blog his experience better than I can, but alas, he is trying to fix our disposer currently, so I'm going to try and do it for him.

He drove to Little Rock on Wednesday and then to Memphis on Thursday morning to meet with a woman who helped to get him familiarized with the equipment and systems of the Memphis dental school. He said she was extremely nice and really put him at ease. David stayed with our good friends Austin and Emily Bell. Austin and David lived together in undergrad and he is currently in his first year of his ophthamology residency in Memphis. David neglected to take a picture with them, but definitely take a look at their blog. It's on the "blogs we follow" thing we have. Emily always posts great things that she makes and recreates for their house. Their blog is called "Bells in Real Life"...check it out!

Friday was the orientation with everyone and it went well too. Saturday morning was the test and it was from 8:00-2:00..with no lunch!! David got there at 6:30 a.m. to get his stuff set up and was very prepared for the test. He had to get used to a different hand piece, but he said he adjusted ok and got it done and his procedures looked nice. I was SO proud of how prepared David was. He worked extremely hard and way in advance making sure that he had done all he could to eliminate any possible surprises or hick-ups. After finishing the test he drove to Fayetteville to meet my family and I.

While David was gone Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I stayed up here and worked. Then on Saturday morning I swung by Katherine's house and we headed to NWA to see our friend Lauren's new baby girl and hang out with our families for the day. It was fun riding down with Katherine and getting some girl time. We left REALLY early and it was super cold, but we made it to Lauren's in Rogers by about 10:30! Jessica, who lives in NWA also met us over there. Ava (Lauren's second) is precious. She looks just like her brother but the girly version!

Future Pi Phi in the making...

The girls...

Love you Lauren!

After hanging out with Lauren I went and met up with Mom and Dad and Tripp and we went to eat lunch at this place called "Burger Life." It's a build your own burger place and it super good. I had a black angus burger with cajun seasoning a ginger sauce, some special cheese that I couldn't even pronounce and a side of fried pickles. Yum.

Love my brother.

After lunch, Tripp's girlfriend, Kara, got off work and we went and picked her up to have some hang-out time and play Clue. I didn't win. It wasn't for lack of effort...Clue is hard for me...don't know why. We had an awesome time hanging out. Tripp and Kara are just plain fun to be around. Thanks for spending your day with me guys.

For dinner we went to Tim's Razorback Pizza. About that time David was coming into town and he met us there. I was beyond glad to see him. Four days apart was too long! We got up at the crack this morning to make it back for the 11:00 service at church. I swung by Katherine's sister's house and picked her up for the ride back as well. She helped the drive go so much faster.

This morning at church we sang one of our absolute favorite songs..."I Have a River." LOVED IT and so glad we drove back. Now, we're tired and waiting on snow. I'm really wanting a snow day. This week is Valentine's Day and I am also running the cheer mini clinic this Thursday and Friday. It'll be a busy week, but a short one because I'm off on Friday and I'm holding out hope for a snow day tomorrow.

John, Sarah and Shepherd come to Kansas City!

This weekend John and Sarah were in town! I was really tired after this week and was so glad to know that we were going to get to relax with family. The last time that John and Sarah were in town was August 2008...I think. They were still just dating and not even engaged. For their visit this time they were not only married but they brought our precious, almost 1-year old nephew, Shepherd. They got in around 8:00 on Friday night and they quickly got Shepherd to sleep and we all hung out for a while. Saturday morning we went to one of our favorite places to take Kansas City guests...The Classic Cup! It was delicious.

After breakfast we took them down to the dental school to see David's personal work space.

The dental school was followed by Shepherd's nap time and a light lunch for us. After Shepherd woke up he was ready to go, so we headed up to the legends for shopping.

David and I played babysitter in Banana Republic so that John and Sarah could shop. Shepherd was all about David.

John and Sarah wanted to have dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, and we loved that place, so we were more than happy to take them there. Thanks Mike and Kathy for dinner! It was great!

After bath time that night Shepherd got some time getting to know Sooie. He thought she was wonderful and just loved laughing and looking from her to me to see if I was loving it as much as him. Sooie was not quite as excited about Shepherd. In fact, if you could see her face in this picture you might wonder if she even knew there was a baby being VERY excited in front of her.

It really was an amazing weekend. We don't get to spend that much time just John, Sarah, David and I and it was nice to just hang out. Shepherd was an angel and it was fun to have a baby in the house. Thanks for coming guys.

This is a big week in the Rainwater house. Please keep David in your prayers this week as he heads to Memphis to take the first part of this last test that he has to pass. Graduation is exactly three months from today and we're on the home stretch.