Daria Update

Well, she is definitely part of our family now.  We have trained her pretty well- she hasn't had any accidents since her first 3 days here at home.  She knows she can't go in anyone's bedroom and she can't get on the furniture.  She is very protective but also sometomes overly friendly.  I think there is definitely some puppy left in her because everytime she sees another dog she seriously goes crazy.  We have to work on that with her too, hopefully she will get it soon!

Thank God she doesn't chew anything!

Her favorite thing to do is chase the water/

Best part of Daria is we are outside (even when horribly hot) a lot more doing things as a family!

Chris was cooking bacon and she was as close as she could be to him without getting in trouble.

Gianna likes to put her jewelry on her!

Elia reading her a good night story!

Independece Day

Chris of course had today off so we had a full day of fun! In the morning, we went on a glorious 2 and a half hour hike at the hiking park. This was probably the most fun for Daria, but a clsoe second for the girls. We found a water hole and didn't intend for the girls to get in, but one thing lead to another and Elia was pretty much fully submerged.  Showers for everyone as soon as we got home!

We headed over to the McBrides to barbecue before we went to watch fireworks.

What do you call these?  Poppers?

Yum cupcakes!

6 Year Anniversary

Its been 6 years!  Chris took a half day, which is always great, and we went out to dinner and then watched fireworks with the family.  We went to Cane Rosso, which was featured on Diners, Drive ins and Dives.

This restaurant was awesome!  Best fire oven, italian pizza I have ever had in the states!

Classic margherita pizza.  Buffalo mozzarella.

Elia was making Chris laugh.  Love this pic of him.

dessert- smores calzone!

Right before we left to go to the fireworks.

Goofing off while we waited (and waited) for the fireworks.

Elia's swim lessons

Too cool for school



Off the diving board

Swimming on her own in the deep!

With her instructor.

Grandma Rowles Visit

Watching Avatar

Grandma came to visit for Uncle Matt's wedding.  It was really fun for the girls to have their grandma all to themselves.  A rare, fun occurence!
 We went and saw Brave together and she cooked awesome food for us too!  She will be back at the end of July for work, yay!

Matt and Sarah's Wedding

Just Married!

Reception

My New Job!

Since March, I have had 6 interviews at 5 different schools- 3 catholic and 2 public.  I interviewed at Spears (a public school in Frisco) the day Aunt Shanny came to visit with Baby Brendan.  The following Monday the principal called me to offer me the job!  I will be teaching 3rd grade, which I am super comfortable with and excited about. 
Also, probably the best part is I get to bring Gianna with me to this school as a Kindergartner!  I'm glad I'll have that extra eye on her.  I found a cute little Christian preschool/daycare for Elia that is a mile away from Spears. 
It took Frisco almost 4 weeks to get me into one of their new hire orientations to sign all the paperwork, which I did Thursday afternoon.  On Wednesday, right before we picked up Daria, I got to have a peek into my classroom and drop my stuff off.  The teacher who was in my room last year hasn't finished moving all her stuff out, but I can see so much potential already!

I'm so excited I have a window!  I didn't have one at my last full time teaching job.

See all those blue boxes on the table?  That is all mine.  The rest of the stuff is the other teachers. 
I am starting out pretty fresh!

Daria

Well, we came up with a name, Daria. CaMo was a close second because it was a mix of the 2 state's abbreviations Chris and I are from.  There is a song named Daria by Cake, one of Chris and I's fave bands.  And it kind of goes with our whole kids whose names end in -a theme.  We brought her home Wednesday evening and she was pretty drugged up from her Spay surgery.

I have been reading some Cesar Millan books and have learned so much about how to interact with a dog and train them well.  We have had a very calm environmnet so that she can be calm and submissive.  So far, so good, but she is still recovering and on pain meds.  The vet thinks she is a year old, which is much older than the shelter believed- they thought she was 6-8 months.  I guess that means she won't grow too much more, which I am perfectly fine with. But we do need to get her to fill out- she is super skinny!

See those ribs?

Elia, as usual.

Doctor Appointments

They thought is was great fun to put on the paper smocks and dance around.  Clean bill of health for both of them, praise the Lord!  Elia officially weighs more than G.

37 lbs

36 lbs

Good Weekend

We spent the better part of Sunday cooking.

Elia and G helped Daddy...

...make thisdog pen!  (the right section is going to be the gate and is not secured here- it is just leaning right now)

And got this off Craigslist.

We are hoping to pick her up from the vet Wednesday evening.  Names in the running are: Daria, ElDara, MoCa, CaMo, and Elia has suggested Chips.