Eight Years Late- Pinot Noir and PBR

Last night Brent and I celebrated both of our birthdays (big 34) and our 8th wedding anniversary. This is our picture that goes in our anniversary book- got it as a wedding present and you put a picture of the two of you each year and write a little about big things that happened during that year etc. Anyway Joey babysat the kids for us and we went to dinner at Lulus in Shockoe Bottom. Our neighbor, Mark, is the manager/business partner for the owners so we have been planning on going there for awhile. It was a cute place with a good crowd. It has a lot of open space with exposed brick walls and ductwork. We ordered some drinks while we waited for our table. Since it was a special occasion, I opted for a glass of wine (pinot noir to be exact) and my darling husband counters with ordering, PBR. Not that I have anything against PBR, but it seems a little weird to order on your anniversary. Anyway the food was great- I got a wonderful tomato, basil, and gorgonzola soup and then we had beef tenderloin and tandoori chicken. We talked to Mark for a bit and he gave us some free drinks (yay, Mark). It was kind of early so we decided to go somewhere else for dessert. So we went to Carytown and hit Can Can. MMM, we ordered the Taste of Chocolate. Highly recommend that one- it even had Baileys Chocolate Ice Cream on the side. So good.

All in all it was a good night. It was almost the date that wasn't after my darling husband stood me up on Friday night. We were supposed to do this date night at church on how to maintain a great marriage when he bailed on me about 5 minutes before I was about to leave the house. He was so busy at work that he hung up the phone on me. I was not happy. So when he got home, I told him that he was rude and I was not in the mood for an anniversary dinner on Saturday. Luckily for him he surprised me with Coldstone as a peace offering and was very apologetic all day Saturday. He even did all of our major yardwork projects. So I guess life is good again.

Cutie Patootie

Today was such a beautiful day- sunny and 80s. I took some pictures of Gray playing out on the back deck. He seems like he is getting closer to walking by himself. He is wanting to play with his push toys and walk behind his toys.

Dog issues

We are having dog issues. I am not sure how else to state it. As some of you know, Elvis (our Italian Greyhound), is kind of a special needs dog in the first place. He is a rescue dog who is extremely shy and pretty anti-social. But he is gentle, sweet, and loving too. Over the past 5 years, he has made tremendous progress. He has gone from not taking treats from us or wanting to be in the same room with us to curling up on the couch next to us and warming up to our friends and family. He is not normal but he is a good pet. Very quiet and generally no problem. Over the past 6 weeks he has started yelping pretty frequently. I am talking loud painful-sounding yelping that makes you jump out of your seat. I took him to the vet a month ago and they could not get him to show any kind of a pain response to anything that they did. I have been keeping track of when he yelps and there is no distinct pattern. He does it when he jumps off the couch, he does it when I sit on the opposite end of the couch and am 4 feet away from him, he does it when he gets spooked, and he is starting to do it in his sleep. I thought it might be his teeth since he wouldn't eat his Greenie last week. So I went back to the vet on Monday. She looked at his teeth but did not think that they looked too bad. We did another exam including an Xray of his spine and found out nothing. So now he is on some medicine to get his thyroid back on track before we do a dental cleaning. Kind of in a holding pattern.

This morning I let Griffin go downstairs when he woke up and I tried to rest for a few more minutes. All of the sudden I heard Elvis doing his loud yelping sound like he was in pain. He did this for a FULL five minutes. When I ran downstairs, he was huddled under the dining room table and he was shaking. Griffin was crying hysterically. I still have no idea what transpired between these two. Griffin says he was "trying to get Elvis to play cars" with him. I don't think he hit Elvis since he is always very gentle with him. But I could see him maybe driving a car by Elvis and maybe bumping him. I know something is wrong with Elvis but I can't figure it out. This afternoon I even heard him yelp as I was unlocking our front door to come home. I am starting to wonder if some of it is anxiety. As to why he does this when he sleeps, who knows? I just feel so badly that he may be in pain and we can't figure things out.

If anyone has any suggestions (Jessica?) let me know!

A Ditty for His Sick Mimi

Overheard from the other room, Griffin was singing...

"Oh NO, Mimi is so sick.
She is coughing a lot.
And she threw up in her bed.
That is a big problem"

Mimi is actually sick with bronchitis. I hope she starts feeling better soon, but I did think that Griffin's little song was funny. Feel better soon, Mimi!

Cherry Republic and Chopsies

Doesn't Griff look all GQ in his little church outfit? My mom got this for him and we needed him to wear it before the weather gets too warm. He is really into being "twins" with his Daddy, so he decided it was okay to wear since Daddy wears clothes like this to church too.

Yesterday I went to a big craft fair called The Bizarre Bazaar with a friend. I bought a few things including a cute sock monkey shirt for Gray and a few jars of Cherry Republic salsa. I am in love with this stuff. It is kind of sweet and a little spicy. Very good- I highly recommend trying it if you haven't.

Last night we took the boys out to dinner at a Japanese steakhouse. Gray was a little worried about "the show" and the big flash of fire when they were cooking, but otherwise, he enjoyed it. He forgave them quickly once he figured out how good the food was. Griffin loved his chopsticks which he called a variety of things, including "chopsies", "chopsters", and "chopster sticks".

We got a few cute shots of the boys this weekend. Here is Griffin with his mohawk in the bathtub. And one of Gray too.

Random

Griffin just came downstairs and was kind of walking funny. He put matchbox cars in his socks and refuses to take them out. So random.

Still sleepy

We are still catching up on sleep today. This busy weekend has wiped the boys out. I had to wake Griffin up at 8:15 so we could try to make it to school by 9. That didn't happen, and Gray is still in his pajamas. Griffin was so sweet when I woke him up this morning. I told him that I had his breakfast ready, and he asked, "Did you make it with lots of love?". OF COURSE I did. It is a great thing when you wake your kids up and they aren't grouchy. Right now I am just enjoying a few moments of quiet while the boys sleep (or at least pretend to sleep) for their naps. I keep hearing Griffin drop cars on his floor but at least he is not yelling for me.

We are having our front porch rebuilt this week. The carpenter, Paul, (who Griffin calls "Mr. Porch") is doing a good job. Now that most of the floorboards are in, I am more aware of how badly they needed to be replaced. He should be done tomorrow or Thursday, and it will be nice to have the house quiet again.