Sparky Returns! and Birthday Celebrations!

Well, the fate of puppy Sparky was not a bleak as once thought!  He had been gone for two days.  But, Friday when we got home from work/school, he was whining at the front door.  He was super happy to see us and he could not get in the house to his food dish fast enough!  Joe was super happy too.  This meant that he did not strangle the dog----as believed by some.  :o)  And it also meant that we did not have to get another puppy-----which I had already located.  :o)  Needless to say....Sparky received lots of love and attention this weekend.  He was one tired pup and spent most of his free time trying to sleep.

We celebrated the girls' birthdays on Saturday.  We opened presents and had birthday cake for lunch.  Later in the afternoon we took them to the theater in the mall to see the Disney movie, "Tangled".  It was a cute movie and we all enjoyed it.  We ate dinner at the Mexican restaurant in the mall, and we got to see Santa as well.

Only two weeks until Christmas vacation.  I am ready for  it!  I'm looking forward the the week off before Christmas.  It will give me some time to make preparations for the holiday.  :o)

Cassie

Thanksgiving and Upcoming Birthdays

Whew!  Busy, Busy, Busy!!!  We have had a busy couple of weeks.

Thanksgiving day we visited Joe's family.  We enjoyed luch at his aunt's house.  We had not seen everybody in quite a while, so we had a nice visit.  Joe's mom and dad kept the girls Thursday night.  Friday after noon the girls went to Mom's and she kept them.  Then on Saturday Natalie and Mike got the girls.  They kept them on Saturday night and met us in Joplin to bring them back to us.  Joe and I had planned to take a couple of days and go to Kansas City.

We had a good trip.We managed to finish up the Christmas/Birthday shopping.  Friday night we stayed at the Chateau Avalon.  It's a nice place with "themed" rooms.  We started out in a Roman Dynasty room, but the heat was not working properly.  So, we moved to the Jesse James Escape.  We had a good stay despite the changes.  Saturday night we stayed in downtown Kansas City near the Power and Light District.  It's an area of about six blocks or so of restaurants and entertainment.  Our hotel was close enought that we were just able to walk to dinner and "entertainment".  It was a nice evening.

Shopping was not too hectic.  We managed to just get "in and out" with what we needed.  We went to the American Girl Doll store in the Oak Park Mall.  That place was a zoo!  We took our things back out to the car and decided not to return to the mall.  We had had enought.  Nebraska Furniture Mart was not too bad, nor was the trip to Cabellas.

The girls sure were ready to get back home.  I think that they had a great time with the grandparents and Aunt Natalie.  It's taken them a few days to recouperate.  :o)

This week has been busy.  Tonight we are going to take the girls to Girard to the Christmas parade.  I'm not looking forward to it.  It's going to be cold. 

Sparky, the puppy, got out of the house this morning.  Apparently Joe had to come back inside after he left for work.  The door did not shut well when he left, and the little escape artist made it outside.  The girls and I couldn't find him when we got up, and did not have much time to look for him before we had to leave this morning.  I'm hoping that he's there when we get home.  Hopefully a coyote or an owl did not get him.  He's so little that he'd be an easy target.  The girls are VERY worried.  They will just be devistated if something has happened to him.  They still talk about our last puppy, Amos, constantly.

This weened we plan to celebrate both of the girls' birthdays. We are going to try to take them to see the new Disney Rapunzel.  They have been talking about it for quite some time now.  I've heard it's a good family movie.  Presents and cake this weekend too!  Madison's birthday is on Tuesday and Abby's in not until after Christmas.  We just decided that this would be the best way to celebrate-----and of course the girls don't mind!  :o)

ok---gotta go!

Love,
Cassie