FRIDAY NIGHT FUN!!!!!!!

What do we do on a Friday night? That's right....whip out the playdoh!

BEAD FOR LIFE

Today we went to a "BeadParty"....unbelievable. Women from Uganda make these beads out of recycled paper. The beaders are paid fair trade prices, then all net proceeds are invested in programs that fight extreme poverty.
These pieces of jewelery are so amazing. And to think that they are made from recycled paper half a world away. Needless to say, I spent WAY more than I was planning on. The prices were so reasonable....the bracelets were $5 and the necklaces ranged from $10-20. I could have spent a lot more. :)
Check it out at www.BeadforLife.org
The coolest thing of the day was finally meeting the hostess, Julie, and her family. She has two teenage bio children, a ten year old son from Korea and a 6 year old son from China. The newest member of their family is Noah and he came home from Ethiopia in October '08. He is 6 years old and is a beautiful child. Came to the U.S. not knowing a lick of English. You would not know that from talking to him. His English is great. When he and Ava first met, they clasped hands. Same exact thing Ava did with Rhonda's Anna when we met up for the Hope reunion last year. It is so great to know that there is another Ethiopian child that lives only 10 minutes from us!!!

MONEY & GRANDPA....

Well! This has been a great week! Dave's dad is here visiting from Nebraska. Ava loves him....blames all of her, err..."toots" on him! Ha!! Go Ava! We went to the zoo today and it was another great time.
Ava got some money in the mail for Valentine's Day. Too bad I had to spend it on groceries! I kid, I kid! It's in her piggybank....honest. :)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

When Doc Randy says "NO WALKS"........

we have to still find a way! This is our old bike trailer. Used to haul the dogs in it when we'd ride our tandem bike. Oh yeah, we were something to see!!!
Shiloh isn't any better yet. But, we haven't started the meds that might work yet. I had, ahem, given her an aspirin over the weekend thinking that it might help. Uhm, yeah...apparently that is a no-no these days. So, we have to wait til the aspirin is out of her system (Sunday) before we start the Novox.
Oh, and on a side note......I'd like to introduce the two newest members of our family.....Dorothy and Bart. I turned my back at Walmart to get Shiloh a dog bed for the car and here comes Dave and Ava with not one, but 2 fish!! Nobody can call dibs on them when they are belly-up (probably next week)....Chris Martel said that they're good fried so I'm going to send them to her. Sick wench!!!

Well snap.

It's been a long time! Let's see....what has been going on...
First, gulp.....Shiloh, our Beagle, tore her Cruciate ligament. Basically, the main ligament under her knee cap. She and Gus, as usual, were sniffing on our walk last Thursday. Shiloh turned and took off like a bat out of, well...you know (think Meatloaf album) and screamed. Loud. And wouldn't put any weight on her back left leg. Took her to the vet and, lo and behold, she needs surgery. Expensive surgery. REALLY expensive surgery. So, old Doc Randy wants us to try Novox for a month and see if we can get it healed on it's own. Please, God. Please. No walks, no steps, no rough-housing for a month! Poor Shiloh. What really sucks is that it reminds me of how old she's getting. She will be 11 this year. Yuck. She is my baby.
What else....not much. Ava is her normal charming self. Well, unless you count the attitude...not so charming. She's taken to screaming at whoever she is unhappy with. Loud. Very, very loud. I believe that she's just frustrated because she can't make herself understood. It is so hard not to laugh. She gets right up to your face and hollers with this haughty look. She has been going to "her chair" a lot lately. Poor baby.