Just another fun Friday night!

Beggar's Night

Well, not even an hour into Beggar's Night and we are all out of treats! We bought 84 bags of popcorn (which was a hit, I tell you - a hit!) and all 84 were gone before 7pm! I had to dip into my 3 year-old-stash of Dum Dum lollipops before calling it a night at 7:01pm. Of course, the later into the night it gets, the more you see teenagers with no shame (horror villains and "sexy" witches) instead of the cute Batmans, Transformers, Tinkerbells, etc. So I don't feel so terrible.

Brian and Georgia started out the evening with our across-the-street neighbor Claire. They then stopped home to empty the candy pumpkin, use the restroom and headed back out for more fun. Hopefully, Brian will have taken a couple of photos of the Princess of All the Cats Who Can Fly.

Also, Tucker is worn out! All of the noise outside has him a nervous wreck! We left him in the crate while we were outside. I think that was a good call.

R2D2

Brian took Georgia over to the library this afternoon to meet R2D2 (RDD2, according to Georgia). She resisted getting her picture taken but Brian managed to snap a couple of photos with his phone. She admited later that she was a little nervous about the meeting. I guess you are never too young to be starstruck.

Halloween Costume Parade

Brian couldn't make it to the parade so I only got one really good photo. This one is of Georgia with some of her friends from school and their teacher, Mrs. Fields. The parade was very cute. Part of the high school band went to all 3 elementary schools and lead the kids through their neighborhoods. Our parade was short, just around the block, but everyone - participants and onlookers - seemed to enjoy it.

Introducing...

The Princess of All the Cats Who Can Fly!!!

Check back later if you would like to see photos of the costume parade this afternoon. The high school band will come over and lead the kids though the neighborhood. I will do my best to get some good shots. Brian is going to try to come home early to see it. Should be fun/funny. And, of course, we will update tomorrow/Sunday with photos from trick-or-treat.

Star of the Day!!!

Star of the Day!!

Deal of the Day!! 99 cents at the Goodwill! Go Bucks!!

Forgot

I completely forgot to thank Stacy and her grandparents for helping us get back into the blogging business. Our digital camera seems to be on the fritz - it is 5+ years old so I am not surprised. Stacy had given her grandpaprents an old camera that they had before getting their current camera. After she and I talked about our camera being broken, Stacy called her grandparents and asked if they use the old camera. They said that they did not and agreed to send it to us! How kind is that!

Star of the Day

Georgia is tomorrow's Star of the Day in kindergarten so we all worked on this poster in preparation. Not the most fun project with three control freaks trying to cooperate but it turned out ok.

Watch out, LPGA!

Georgia is getting an early start!!

Tucker's First "Hike"

Today we took Tucker for a walk at the Loveland Bike Trail. It was a lot of fun for all of us. He ran out of gas a little toward the end and had to be carried but he seemed to enjoy getting out of his usual routine.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/9773107@N06/sets/72157622662171654/show/

Tucker LOVES Georgia

LOVES as in: I must be around her all the time or I collapse into fits of whining and howling until I can see her again.

Welcome Home, Tucker!!

We picked up Tucker this morning and Georgia is in LOVE! On the way home she put her face down by the door of the crate and told him the story of his adoption.

The Countdown is ON!!

Earlier this week, Brian spoke to Tucker's foster mother and she said that the rescue decided to release Tucker and his sisters early. We will get him on Saturday! Very exciting!

Today Georgia and I went to Petsmart to get him a ID tag, treats and a couple of toys. Brian's co-worker has offered us a crate which is the biggest, most expensive thing we will need to buy. We've promised to take him to the rescue organization' vet to be neutered at the end of November, once he reaches 16 weeks of age.

More later this weekend after we welcome to his new home!

Visiting Author Ron Hershi

Last week, naturalist and author Ron Hershi visited our school district. This meant that Georgia had her first field trip on Tuesday! She and her classmates rode the school bus (the MOST exciting part!) to a local park where Mr. Hershi guided them on a tour of the area. On Thursday, Mr. Hershi visited the school where each student made a book about their experience.


Also on Thursday, I had my first volunteer time in her classroom. I helped students paint rocks that they'd found at the river's edge during the field trip. Georgia was very excited for me to be there and I really enjoyed it. I am not scheduled again for another 2 weeks but I am working in the library next week for the Book Fair.

Update regarding Tucker

We received some news about Tucker today. We will still be able to adopt him but not until mid-November. The rescue's vet tried to spay another puppy this week and, sadly, the pup did not survive the procedure. They have decided to wait until the pups are 4 months/16 weeks old before performing a spay/neuter surgery.

We are bummed but, of course, just want Tucker to be healthy and we trust the rescue to make that call. Tucker's foster mother has agreed to bring him to meet us this weekend, which is a surprise for Georgia. We will be sure to take some photos as it is sure to be a fun day.

Golf Outing Today

Home Visit re: Tucker

We just met Gail from Tucker's rescue and we've been approved! Gail will move the process along and we should get an official word via email by the end of today.

We are so excited and can hardly wait to bring him home. We may try to contact his foster mother to see if Brian and Georgia can meet him. Perhaps a surprise for Georgia.

Introducing...Tucker!!

Today while Brian took Georgia to a classmate's birthday party, I met a woman who is fostering a puppy, Tucker, who we hope to adopt. He is a schnauzer (50% - his mother is a purebred) mix, perhaps corgi or dachshund, who is being cared for by a local rescue organization.

In the coming weeks, we will meet at home with an adoption representative who will decide if our home will suit Tucker's needs. We are hopeful and fairly confident that this will work out and we will adopt Tucker just before Halloween.

In the meantime, Tucker will stay with his foster mother until he finishes getting his initial vaccinations and gets neutered.

After looking into adopting a larger dog (golden retriever), Brian decided he wanted to wait until Spring. However, when he saw Tucker online, his heart melted and he quickly completed the adoption application. We had hoped to keep this a secret from Georgia until we were sure everything would work out but we are fairly certain this will happen and we (Brian!) could not wait to tell her about Tucker. Needless to say, she is extremely excited.

We really think Tucker will be a fantastic addition to our family. We are all so excited to move forward and bringing Tucker home. His foster mother said that the organization typically does not adopt to families with children but since he is a puppy and she is old enough to understand how to care for a dog, they think this will be a fantastic match. Tucker and Georgia will be able to grow up together, which is one of the things that makes us most excited.

(Photos are from the rescue's website. Our camera seems to be broken, which explains the lack of recent photos on the blog.)

Go Bucks!

Note from Mrs. Fields

Yesterday I emailed Georgia's teacher and volunteered myself as a helper in or out of the classroom. I also told her how much Georgia loves school and that I know she can be a challenge. Here is her response to that part of my note:

Georgia is delightful! I just have to keep her from "helping" too much. Ha, Ha! She was working on another child's paper the other day and when I called her on it she said, "well, he had them all wrong!" She was right but I had to remind her that it was my job to "help" him. It was very funny! She is a smart little ball of enthusiasm! I am enjoying her. PS She hates to "get in trouble" but can always tell me exactly what she did and what she could do differently. A great combination!

I feel good that Mrs. Fields sees Georgia as enthusiastic, because I think that is exactly what she is. The flip side of that, of course, is overbearing and annoying, which she can be, as well. But Mrs. Fields seems to see the positive of that, which is great for Georgia.

Also, Georgia is officially a ballerina! We ran over to the studio last night and signed her up for classes starting this Thursday night. The stuido is in Blue Ash so Brian will be able to meet us over there after work sometimes. She is so so so excited! We bought the official leotard and shoes last night. When she tried the leotard on in the dressing room, she said, "well, it feels good but I need to try it out." Then she did a few "moves" to make sure the leotard fit properly.

Brian started school on Monday and is pretty excited about it. He has to his other class tonight. We both think this will give him an edge when he looks for jobs in the future.