Momma Went to NYC - A Note From Beckett

Hi!  Beckett here.  Momma went to NYC last weekend and because I'm feeling attention deprived, she says I can tell you about it for her.

Momma's friend is getting married today, so she and her friends (aka other puppy & little human mommies) left last Friday for a bachelorette weekend.  I freaked out when she packed.  What?!  She should know she isn't allowed to leave me!!  So momma left Friday morning and had to stop to take her inhaler before she even got to cousin Kirstren's house.  Bad asthma!

The girls stopped for breakfast and a little shopping - where some of them bought matching shoes (Note from Cole: Seriously.  Buy one, get two free from the Bass Outlet!!  How cool is that?!?!), and arrived in Manhattan in the early afternoon.  Night one was dinner at a jazz club.  They had the small restaurant side of the club all to themselves and got absolutely spoiled by the bartender and two waiters.  These lovely men bought the table of nine ladies two rounds of shots and gifted the bride with some foil art.  In the shape of...um, male genetalia.  The guys get an "A" for their craft skills! (Cole: It's amazing what you can do with an apple, tin foil, hard boiled eggs and a paper towel roll *snicker*)  The rest of the girls went out to a few bars after that, but momma had to go back to the hotel and take care of her asthma.

Saturday morning the girls all wandered down to have breakfast in the diner next to the hotel.  (Cole: BTW, fantastic location!  Across the street from the Hell's Kitchen PD, two blocks from the Hudson River, and over all a great neighborhood.)  At that point, I made Grammy text momma that I was pouting and on a hunger strike...  In the afternoon, the girls got on a Circle Line boat and made the trip around the Statue of Liberty.  Such glorious weather.  Too bad momma came home burnt!

Saturday night the girls got all dressed up and brought the bride out for a "surprise".  Momma says that they went to Lucky Cheng's, and that I'm too little a boy for her to tell me what they do there.  But she linked it up for you, just in case you've never heard of them before.  I hear the bride was quite surprised!  Again, the other girls when out to other bars afterwards, but momma's asthma is persistant and she had to cab it back to the hotel.  Like a good momma, she waited up for all the girls to come home - and read a good book while she waited.

Sunday morning most of the girls had to sleep off their good time.  That gave momma, Kirstren and Heather a chance to get up and moving early.  They had breakfast and went to the Met to see the new Picasso exhibit.  (Cole: It sounds cheesy, but the Met was the highlight of the trip for me.  Very low-key; time with other people who really enjoy art; and it felt like "bonus" time that we weren't going to have.)  Then I made Grammy call and order momma to come home.  OK, fine.  I didn't yell at her.  But it was time for the girls to come home!  Despite having a huge-ass SUV (momma's words!), the 5 girls and their luggage barely crammed themselves in for the ride home. 

And to think, Meadow, Carmella and I didn't even get presents from momma when she got home.  What NERVE!

Barks & Kisses,
Beckett

Musical Monday - Orange Sky

Hi gang. It's been a challenging weekend.

I've been to Ft. Drum and back...
I've laughed and cried...
Breathed a sigh of relief over seeing one of my soldiers return. Battered; bruised; in need of healing - but HERE....
Had my heart break just a little over seeing how hard the road ahead for him is going to be.

You're probably going to laugh at me; but something about an Army base just feels like home to me. It's likely because I grew up in a military family; but I feel like I belong.

This week's song is a favorite of JC's and mine (and a few of my honorary brothers too). It's an amazing song and I cry almost every time I hear it.

A huge thank you to all of you. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! So many of you have emailed your thoughts and experiences with PTSD, offered encouragement and most importantly - prayer! I can't say enough about the power of prayer. All of our soldiers need our prayers and I encourage you to keep them on your prayer list.

Much love. (And back to my usual lighthearted posts tomorrow! If you want in on my giveaway - this is your last chance. :-)

Musical Monday - Do Re Mi & The Lighthouse Tour

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

Saturday, I did a lighthouse tour with my parents. As I've mentioned before - I love being on the water. It was so much fun, especially after the fog lifted.






After being on the boat for a little over four hours, I took my parents out the Legal Seafoods for a late lunch. A good time was had by all.

The only downside to being on the water this much was that I am lobster red. Yep, I'm a super pale Scottish girl...and despite putting on SPF 70 twice (which should have protected me from everything short of actually walking on the sun!), I'm paying for the fun now. Ah, the joy of a fever and impending blisters.

Today I was supposed to go to the beach, but seeing as that would be BAD idea, had to settle with laying low and hanging with the dogs instead. I love 'em, and they haven't killed any more birds THANK GOODNESS!

You all might have seen this one...but I'm just amazed by the ability to organize over 200 dancers (in only two rehearsals, no less!) to take over the Antwerp Central Station for their rendition of "Do Re Mi" from the Sound of Music.

Happy Monday!

My Birthday Giveaway Winner & What A Day!

Thank you all for entering my birthday giveaway! With the last two giveaways.... I have a lot of new followers to go and visit!! I promise I'll come visit you all - SOON. :-) Expect lots of comments.

The winner of my birthday giveaway is: Kirstren @ Lady Kirstren. I'd tell you to email me your mailing address...but I already know where you live!!

Don't fret, there will be another giveaway when my new blog layout/design is done. I can't give you a solid date on when it will be, so keep coming back to check. :-)

Today has been an interesting day! Both of my girls killed birds today. :-( I've given Beckett a firm talking to; if he completed the avian trifecta of death...no new toys. Honestly, during both incidents - I screamed all of their names and he's the one that came running. His hunting instincts are just as strong as Meadow & Carmella's; but he's a Momma's boy and comes as soon as I call. The girls...well, I'm threatening to wash their mouths out with soap; mostly because they are both still prancing about the house all proud of themselves. Sigh.

Don't they both look so sweet and innocent?!?! Yeah, I thought so too....

Today was fun too! I went to the Children's Museum in Boston with Kirstren & her kiddo. What a blast. :-) I'm pretty sure that his favorite part was the three story jungle gym thingie. Don't worry moms...it's virtually impossible to hurt yourself in this thing!

Tomorrow is a lighthouse tour. Ah, I LOVE being on the water!

What are you all up to?

"Baaa"ck At the Ranch...

...or farm, as it were.

After a particularly stressful week, I was thrilled to have chaperoned a field trip today! Despite the fact that the constant rainfall in the north east means we'll be rowing to work soon instead of driving and the kids being keyed up (the last day of school is Monday) - today was a BLAST!!

This was my mom's last field trip as a first grade teacher; I'm honored to have been there. (For all you moms out there - NO parents were allowed. I went in the place of one of the school Aides/Paraprofessionals.) The last field trip I chaperoned was during the school system's trend of discovering the tidal pools at the beach. Quite fun... but as the trip nurse - I came home with one child with a broken arm and two others that needed stitches. I can HAPPILY report that no one got injured with anything more serious than a muddy knee on this trip!

The kids were very well behaved, the farm guides were amazing and it was great seeing some endangered/rare animals so close up & get to see the children's reactions too. Their perspective on things is a joy to behold. :-)

Sorry I didn't get to take pictures. Between the torrential rain, keeping the kids moving/paying attention/fingers out of animal pens, and trying to discretely deal with work emergencies - I didn't have a free hand to take pictures. Here are a few from the farm's website.

Pepper the Nigerian Dwarf Goat was the biggest hit with the kids. She was very gentle and the kids got to feed her. :-)

Gypsy hid from us...but there were Peacock feathers to be found around the farm!

I don't remember what breed of goose the white one here is, but apparently, she lays GREEN eggs!