Recovered

Well, the cake trauma has passed and I am now able to look at my dog without feeling my blood boil. I even gave her a little affection yesterday (a very little). The sad thing is that she has forgotten what she did wrong and any further punishments (even giving her the cold shoulder) just devastates her. She so wants my love and attention and she doesn't understand why I am still glaring at her. It's interesting that had my children done something like this (One year, Maggie accidentally kicked her finished bday cake off of the counter...she was sitting on the counter which was against the rules), I can easily forgive. But, if it's my dog (who really is less accountable than my kids would be), I hold a grudge for days. Hopefully, forgiveness will start to happen and we can figure out what to do with this dog. The girls love her too much to get rid of her. Maggie later confided in me that her initial tears upon seeing her cake were not because of the cake but out of fear for what would happen to Sweet Pea.

Here's our last week:

birthday disaster

Do you see this beautiful cake? I lovingly spent an entire day putting this thing together for Maggie's 9th birthday party this evening. The filling was chocolate mousse and the frosting was cream cheese. I hand sculpted the pumpkins, ghosts and spiders. I was so proud of it and thought it would be so nice to put it on the kitchen table, surrounded by Maggie's presents for her to see when she got home. I was gone for literally 10 minutes (picking up the kids) and when I got home, the dog burst out of the house, licking her lips. I KNEW that she had gotten to the cake. I was certain of what happened when I saw the horror on Maggie's face...I had sent her in first to see her cake. The cake was half eaten. In 10 measly minutes, 5 hours worth of work was in my dog's stomach. You guys... I have never been so livid at another living creature. I hurled her (literally) out onto the backporch where she promptly began puking up the cake that I had spent all day making. Sobbing, I called Casey, who thankfully understood how much time I put into the cake and was sympathetic. (I think I had a temper tantrum...haven't had one of those in years :)) He went and picked up a store bought one which wasn't quite the same. In the end, it all turned out fine and I can even laugh about it now (a little) but my dog's days in my home may be numbered. She is sleeping out in the garage right now and will not be allowed back into my house.

I'm so grateful I took a picture of it before placing it on the table.

(((((((tears.....))))))))))))))))))))

Here is Maggie with her store bought (not terribly tasty) cake. It got the job done though and thanks to her grandma and aunt charlotte, she was spoiled rotten with gifts. All in all, she had a great 9th birthday.

We also celebrated casey's 37th birthday and he got some nice loot. His sister put together a package with a pair of Superman pajama bottoms and a new shirt. (It's a large!!! He is officially too small for XL)

Casey, sporting his new duds. 25 lbs lighter and feeling GREAT!

Pumpkins, odds and ends

I absolutely love the Fall!! This week we have been hosting our cousins, Drew and Joel at our house while their parents are at Disneyworld for their 10th anniversary. I was a little worried about how it would go with seven little ones running around but to my surprise, things have gone great! I have managed to keep up with school schedules...they all go to school and get home from school at different times. I feel like most of my week has been spent in my car but that's okay.

On Monday, we took everyone up to Herrick's Farm for pumpkins with the Farley family. Everyone had a GREAT time. Here are some pictures of the fun



Charlotte and Jillian may be outgrowing the "fun" of the pumpkin patch. They look less than enthused.

Casey allowed them to each get a pumpkin as long as they could carry it themselves onto the hay ride.

Despite the date, the weather was actually really warm.

We sure love our Booren cousins! Every morning I wake up to litttle feet racing around my house playing make believe Star Wars. They are so much fun. Lydia keeps telling Joel, "Joel, I just love you." Joel just looks at her and rolls his eyes. He's not so into the "love" stuff.

Finally, I have been finishing some scrapbooking odds and ends and thought I'd share them with you all!

This is Allison's 2 year old picture. She is so cute isn't she?

Jillian's baby book is coming along. Here's the latest entry. I'm not sure why Casey is not smiling...he really was happy that day. Those darn film cameras...you get the picture that you get with no previews. I am so happy we now have digital ones.

(ignore the odd wording about the brethren in the circle...I've since changed it but didn't want to re-upload the picture.)

I'm posting these so that my mom can see that I am indeed working on our Millar reunion from July. We took such a HUGE amount of pictures that it is taking a while for me to get through them all!

Highlight of the Millar reunion..for my kids at least had to be Seven Peaks! What a fun place!

Houseful

Howdy everyone! This week is going to be kind of crazy as I have two little boys staying with me. My nephews Drew and Joel are staying with me while their parents spend the week in Disneyworld for their 10th anniversary. Having seven kids in my house is a challenge but so far, everyone is doing great and it's going smoothly. The only hard parts are meal-times and the mornings. Getting seven kids up and motivated to shower, dress, and eat is a bit chaotic!

Here is our last week:

More Jillian

Hey guys... just sharing a few more pages with you. I've been cranking them out pretty quick! The slow part is the scanning. How I wish that we had had digital cameras back then. Unfortunately, our old film camera didn't do a great job of picture taking right after Jillian was born. They are all kind of grainy. It's funny that my younger children (Allison and Lydia) actually have MORE pictures taken of them than my older three because by then, we had a digital camera and could take as many pictures as we wanted!

I love the first page. Charlotte, so tiny, clutching her pillow...which she would never let out of her sight. She was so excited to have a baby sister!
Why oh why can't we transport ourselves back to those precious times so we can recall every detail? I remember so little of those days with only two children.

I'm crazy, I know

Well guys...I'm at it again. Last year I tore apart Charlotte's old and delapidated baby book, scanned everything into the computer and redid it all digitally. This year, I'm tackling Jillian's book. I know you all think I'm crazy but the old books are already falling apart. Doing these books digitally is so much more permanent! (And I can have more than one copy). So, for Christmas this year, Jillian will hopefully receive a new baby book for her shelf. Here are the first four pages.

I have to laugh at this picture. We've all changed so much! I think Maria was pregnant, Tara was pregnant, Krista was pregnant, Randi had just had a baby (Annabet) and Jamie had just had a baby. We all look so different dont' we? It's funny to think that we are all in a different stage of life now...no more pregnancies (thank goodness)...our oldest kids are teenagers or pre-teens... we aren't poor, starving students anymore...amazing how time flies!

Week 40

Another week races right on by...seriously, does it seem like time is just flying? Didn't school just barely start, and now it's almost mid October???
Here's our week:

Shrinking husband

Hey everyone...we're doing great here at the Westover home! Casey and I are continuing to eat healthy and exercise....I know...it's been almost two months and we're still at it! (Hard to believe.) Casey is rapidly shrinking. His face has slimmed down and his wedding ring falls off regularly now. I'm so proud of him. Casey LOVES to eat. He loves late night goodies with a glass of milk. For two months now, I've watched him eat fruits and veggies instead of Ding Dongs and Twinkies. He swims every day and only eats one small portion of dinner. I can hardly believe it. Thus far, he's lost 14 lbs to my 10 lbs. Though my weight loss is slower, I'm glad to see that scale continue to head south. Casey's birthday is coming up and this year, he gets new (smaller) clothes! Yahoo!

Here's our week:

Birthday 12