officially lot 151!

well, we have a sign. it is our lot. something is marked, too. but we are still waiting to hear from the project manager or whomever is supposed to contact us before they start. but a sign marking our lot is forward progress enough!!!

a story by cotton

hi. this is cotton. my mom said i could tell you all a story and she would help me with the pictures so here it is. the other day, my mom decided we could feed the squirrels that live behind our apartment. so we put some peanuts on the porch. (ok mom... now we need a picture.)



see? those are the peanuts. and then we just waited. all three of us. you know, me and barley and dave. he likes to hide in the blinds. but me and barley can't fit in between those. we are too big. and this time, barley was tired and decided to rest while we waited. oh, and mom waited with us too. (ok mom... more pictures now.)





yep. that's us waiting for the squirrels. and it took them awhile to find the peanuts, but they finally did. actually, a bird found them first. but it only took one. it was a cute little bird. and we got really excited.



and then finally, the squirrels came!!! two of them. they took turns. one of them was really fat! and the other one buried some peanuts in the ground to save for later. and me and barley just sat and watched. we tried not to move but we were sooo excited.

see, this is the really fat one. and he ate a lot, too. which is probably why he is fat.

and this one is burying one to save for later. he is much skinnier than the other one. maybe because he can't find the ones he buries.

here is the skinny one again. he decided to eat some, too.

haha, we steamed up the glass while we watched for the squirrels to come. and mom had just cleaned the window the day before. oops!

barley is almost as big as me, see? she likes watching the squirrels as much as me, too.

mom took this picture with the new camera. it takes really good pictures. you can even see how shiny barley is. this time, i was tired of sitting so i laid down for awhile.

i think me and barley look cute sitting together. i made mom take that one. but she didn't mind. she was practicing with the new camera she and dad got for christmas. they really like. they like it so much that they won't stop taking pictures of me and barley. even dave. but anyway. we had fun feeding the squirrels. i hope you liked the pictures and my story. i am glad mom let me write on here. well, with her help. barley wanted to tell the story but she didn't really know how so she just said for me to tell you she said hi and that she likes to watch squirrels and birds, too. ok. that's it. bye. love, cotton.

it's christmas!

merry christmas, everyone! i am at work and jay is at home sleeping. but it is christmas and has been for over 2 hours now. so i thought i would wish everyone a merry merry day from me and jay. (and i so did not mean to rhyme.) we love you all and miss seeing everyone.

the joys of toys

well, cotton, barley, and dave got petsmart gift cards from their pops (aka dad/jerry) for christmas. so today, after picking the girls up from sparky's, we went to petsmart for some toy shopping. we even picked dave up a little something and will have to go back to get more for him. but the girls picked out new nylabones and a christmas tug-of-war toy. and dave got some little weeble wobble birds, which he loves. so i thought we would share some pictures of how christmas is shaping up for the animals. (dave is even helping me write this right now... he is in my lap between me and the computer. so helpful...)


a close up of dave's wobble chickens... so cute.
dave in attack mode, playing with his new toys. he loves them!
action shot... dave doesn't tend to play this hard, so he gets lots of pictures this go-around.
cotton enjoying their new rope toy...
barley could hardly keep her eyes open to play with anything.

both girls gave up about 15 minutes after we got home. they got to play at sparky's for about 5 days and are worn out. it is worth every penny! but the animals say thanks to pops for a fun christmas filled with new toys.

a nashville christmas

well we got home today from nashville (franklin) after visiting lots of family and friends for an early christmas. jay has to work on christmas eve from 8-3 and i work all christmas eve night. we had this time off together and decided to take a mini-vacation to tennessee and celebrate the holidays early. dave stayed home alone (with plenty of food and water) and the dogs went to play at sparky's (just glad they don't have to dress up anymore).


we drove down on friday and got in pretty much in time for bed!

and after a good nights sleep, we started the weekend with lunch on saturday at stoveworks at the factory. it was delicious and hit the spot. jay and i ate with mom, aunt janice, and angel, our cousin. it was a bit of a "girly" lunch spot, but jay hung in there. :) jay and i spent part of the afternoon at the farm visiting with the animals. spooner has a lot more white in her face. (jay's old black lab). but she's doing well, at the ripe old age of 12.

we also met marty, jay's mom's and sister's new beagle. he's a cute little guy.



sunday was a good day as well. we met up with friends becca and brad for some afternoon coffee and catching up. then it was off to jay's mom's house to visit with her and his stepdad, paul, for a bit. then it was back to my mom's for a dennis family christmas with mom, dad, phil, samantha, and courtney! we had lots of fun watching courtney play with new toys and crawling around like such a big girl. the hat i knit her barely fit her head, so i will have to make a new one so she can finish out the winter. but we had lots of fun playing and getting reacquainted. we even had time for some pictures at grandmama's house. everyone was there for sunday night dinner and we all had a good time, while roasting until we convinced them to turn on the air conditioner. (it was 70+ degrees outside and 77 degrees inside. too hot!)
the hat just fits her. it is the first hat i have ever made so i just need to find a pattern that is big enough. we thought it was time for a good christmas picture. we are a bit casual, but it turned out well, i think. grandmama's living room is always a good place for pictures.
the dennis family at christmas time. it has been since may since we have all been together and able to get a picture taken so we took advantage had had uncle steve take our picture. and i haven't had a picture taken with courtney since she was born. well, that i was in at least. so with our rosy (sweating) cheeks all a-glow, we posed for a picture.
courtney and i had lots of fun growling at each other. she apparently learned how to growl from her schnauzer, phoebe. so we played and played and entertained each other and let phil and samantha eat a peaceful dinner with adult conversation. here are some little cousins, james (in the middle), jason (with the gold tie), and justin (in red). they are brothers ages 6, 4, and 2. they were having a good time having mom take their picture. justin didn't want to look, so james gave him a hand in turning is head.
and lindsey, regina, and haley... not sure why haley chose that moment to make such a lovely face at her mother, but at least lindsey gave a nice smile. they had come to visit here just a couple of months ago. and then monday we slept in a bit and did a bit of shopping in cool springs. then we went to see our friend amy's new house in spring hill. then jay went to study a bit and i went to visit with mandy and harrison at their house. and then it wasn't much longer and it was time for dinner with pam, paul, and erin. we had a delicious dinner at sperry's. then it was back to mom's to rest up before heading home today.
it was great having 3 whole days to spend with family and friends and not feel rushed. we couldn't believe how warm it was. it made it not feel much like christmas, but the trees and presents helped. :) but it is back to work tomorrow for jay and i will go pick up the dogs and do some grocery shopping, laundry, and a bit of cleaning. vacation never lasts long enough.