Sweet Grace ...

First off, I apologize in advance if this post loses it's way at times. I am very emotional while writing this. Our sweet, sweet, Gracie girl has been diagnosed with cancer. It's in her bones. It sucks and she will not be with us for much longer. She has been my best friend for almost 8 years now. She is my girl. Just ask my dad and my husband -- she's ruined as a bird dog if I'm along as all she wants to do is hang by my side. Just try to get her to retrieve a ball to you if I'm in the backyard -- no matter who throws it, she'll bring it to me every time. Even more than that, she's my loving, snuggling, vibrant, always ready to play, loves everyone, doesn't have a mean bone in her body dog. She's the kind of dog that no matter how hard my kids hug her, how many times they steal her bone or get into her food, or turn her water tank into an impromptu swimming hole, she'll never even think of growling or getting gruff. She's a roll with the punches, love you as you are, let's have fun kind of gal. She's not just a dog, she's a member of the family. And I love her. We all love her. And we'll miss her dearly.

Me and My Girl.

Look at that face - pure sweetness.


Always wanting to be in on the action.


Hey guys can I play, too?

Always up for fun, fun, fun.

The cancer is spreading fast and she is starting to have difficulty eating. Please pray with me that she will go peacefully in her sleep. If not, we'll have to do the humane thing and euthanize her soon as the pain medication is less effective each day. I hate to even think of this, but we must do what's best for her. I love you Gracie!

How do you keep two toddlers completely entertained? You ...

Go to the "dollar" section at Target. Purchase 2 Halloween flashlights that have interchangable end caps with various Halloween designs (that are also easy for little fingers to manipulate on their own.) Sit back and enjoy the giggles and the light show.
Total cost? $4 and some change. Total worth? Priceless = )

Good Friends, Good Food, Good Times ...

Things have been crazy busy around here as usual, but not too busy to take a little time out to enjoy the finer things in life - friends, food, and fun = ) Our dear friends, Corey and Jen (yes, they have the same names as my hubby and myself) came to visit for the weekend and brought their kiddos. Their little daughter Maylin is such a cutie! She has such a big grin you can't help but smile when you look at her. The boys had a great time making her giggle =) They boys also enjoyed playing with her big brother, Cooper. Although, it was mentioned more than once that it is probably a good thing there are several miles between us, because Riley and Cooper together are quite the pair. They had so much fun running the gamut of all crazy things little boys can do and thoroughly relished all of the mischief they could create! Much like their fathers in their heyday, I'm sure. Ahhh, boys!

Maylin and her million $$ smile = )

Random pic of Riley and his crazy eyes - fun, fun, fun!

Gage hamming it up in the backyard -- he loved showing off for all the ladies!

Later Saturday afternoon some more good friends joined us for some bbq and brews. It was so good to just relax and enjoy everyone's company. As the sun and temps wound down and the mosquitoes came out, the idea of a having a fire was mentioned. No sooner were the words in the air than Corey was on a mission. The next thing we know he is wheeling his trusty wheelbarrow out of the shed and returns with tons of rocks. He is definitely a "go big or go home" kind of fella! Thus, the construction of the impromptu firepit was abreast. The backyard campfire really made for an awesome evening = )

Erecting the firewood teepee.

Insert your "how many men ... " joke here!

Success!

I am so looking forward to more weekends like this! We will also now need to make good on our promise to the kiddos to "camp out" in the backyard. The combination of the cooler fall temps and the warmth of the fire should be perfect for this. Can't hardly wait!

Welcome Home Mr. Fireball Pickles!

Here is the newest addition to the Huber Household: Mr. Fireball Pickles. He is a multi-colored Betta and already much loved by Riley and Gage. The boys both agreed to keep the Pickles name alive. And, after vetoing all of my name suggestions, Riley came up with Fireball all by himself (and is pretty proud of it!) He is certainly my son as the fish he picked out closely resembles the Betta fish my sister and I had as kids that I named Starfire. Is it coincidence that the colors are eerily the same and both have/had "fire" in the name? Probably. But, I'd like to think that maybe somewhere in there we have a little bit of connection -- an internal knowing that only family can share -- that helped lead him to his choices = ) Regardless, Mr. Fireball Pickles will never replace Mr. Indigo Pickles, but for Riley, his presence sure is taking the sting out of losing his first pet. I pray that we all get to enjoy each other's company for a great long while = )

Good Bye Mr. Indigo Pickles ... We'll Miss You!

Well, our Betta fish, Mr. Indigo Pickles has passed. It is a sad day. Riley is taking it especially hard and has shed many tears = ( Gage doesn't quite grasp the concept of death just yet -- either that or he is handling this amazingly well. We gave Mr. Pickles a proper send off with a flush down the toilet and reminded the boys how the fish in Finding Nemo said all drains lead to the ocean. This was good enough for Gage, he said, "Bye Pickles!" and was off. Riley had the honor of flushing the little fellow away and cried the whole time saying he didn't want Indigo Pickles to die. Sigh. Tomorrow we will visit the pet store on the way home and pick out another fish. Hopefully this one will last longer than 4 months. Let's hope this helps heal Riley's poor broken little heart.

Cooper's Cause Run is a Success!

Saturday turned out to be a perfect day for a run! The rain held off and the temperature was pleasant. We had a great turnout and things seemed to go pretty smoothely thanks to a lot of planning and hard work from everyone involved. I am so happy to be a part of something so great that will truly make a difference in people's lives. Here are a few pictures from the event ...

Balloon release to honor the little ones...

The race is on ...

Riley and his buddy Raelynn being goofy.
Little Cooper and his aunt ... he's the foundation's namesake. What a cutie, too!

Riley and daddy clowning around after the event.

Thank you to all of you that helped out, volunteered, ran or walked in the event, and support the cause. You all helped make it a success!

Labor Day Fun

Whew! It was a whirlwind of a weekend, but it sure was fun! We started out with a trip to Great-Grandma Galyardt's house and had a great visit with her, Grandma and Papa Soukup, and Aunt Tracy. Spending time with our family is always great, but on this particular day, the big highlight for the boys was getting to drive the neighbor girls four wheeler = )

Gage taking control ... we were a little nervous about this as he has taken out a couple of saplings (among other things) while driving his car and tractor in our backyard. Apparantly, this mode of transport is more his style as he did a great job!

Riley perfecting his "bad boy" look.

Here's the boys about 10 miles outside of town after our first stop ... they were so worn out they fell asleep eating their beloved 'Donald's!

Our next leg of the trip took us to Uncle Jamie and Aunt Rhonda's house. This was our first visit to their new home and let me tell you, it was awesome. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of it, but the house is absolutely beautiful. They really did an amazing job! The boys really liked it, too. Especially the walk-in pantry that lights up when you open the door. Gage, our little foodie, was in heaven! As always, Jamie, Rhonda, Paige and Hunter kept us quite entertained during our stay. So much fun!

Gage playing in the park.

Paige on the slide.

Aunt Rhonda and Paige cheesing it up = )

Uncle Jamie and Gage on the tractor.

Uncle Jamie letting Riley help drive, Uncle Jamie is pretty much their hero = )

Riley and Paige - so much fun!

Gage and Hunter, best buds.

When we headed home on Monday, the boys were just plain tuckered out. They slept the entire 4 hour trip home! A wonderful peaceful ending to a lovely weekend = )

Basketball Studs ...

Here's a few pics of the boys current favorite thing to do ... shooting hoops in the backyard = ) Riley is getting quite good at it and makes about 3 out of every 4 shots. I'd say it's time to raise the basket, but little Gager still needs some practice at this level. Regardless, it is so cute to see them playing together and yelling, "Score!" "I made points!" and "Look! I made another basket!" Awwww, I just love my little jocks!

Swoosh!

and another ...

annnnnnd again.

Cooper's Cause 5K/Fun Run

Hello friends and family! Tomorrow, Saturday the 12th, is the Cooper's Cause 5K/Fun Run to benefit families of pediatric heart patients. If you haven't signed up already, there's still time to do so! Just go to www.cooperscause.org to register. The run begins at 8 am at the trail by the movie theatre on the south end of town. You can also register at the event. Come out to support a wonderful cause and have a great time. Hope to see you all there = )

School!

Well, today the boys started at their new daycare/school. I have been so worried about the transition I have almost been making myself sick. But, thankfully, it was all for naught. The teachers and the director there are great and didn't make fun of me or make me feel silly for asking a bajillion questions, or calling several times throughout the first day to check in on how the boys were doing. When I dropped the boys off this morning I was hoping for the best, but preparing myself for a barrage of tears and pleadings of me not to leave. I was pleasantly surprised, nothing of the sort happened. Actually, just the opposite! They jumped right in to playing with the other kids and barely blinked an eye when I left. Riley was a little concerned at first because we dropped him at his classroom first. As I left to take Gage to his classroom, Riley was afraid Gage was going to get to play in the gymnasium and he was not. Priorities! But, once I explained again just what we were doing, and his great teacher told him that she was going to take him and his new friends in there after a little while, all was fine. I am so relieved! Each time I called throughout the day the teachers were so kind and explained to me exactly what the kids were doing and how they were doing. Then, when I finally got there to pick them up, I was actually in Gage's room for about 2 minutes talking to his teacher before he even noticed! So, all in all, it was a great first day and my nerves have calmed substantially. Hopefully, it continues this smoothly from here on out = ) Below are a few pictures from the night before and the big day ...

Riley looking way too old preparing for his first day of school!

Gage the night before showing off his full backpack.

Riley way ahead of us ... he couldnt' wait to start school!

On the way into the school, Gage's backpack was about to knock him over -- but, of course, he wanted to carry it himself!

Riley digging right in to the fun stuff during free play at drop off time. Gage also checked some things out while I conversed with the lead teacher. Miss Chelsea was great and really helped set my mind at ease!

Gage in his classroom. This is right after he told me, "Bye momma. See you later!" He already felt comfortable in his new surroundings ... no tears or drama or anything = )

These next couple of pieces of paper will probably be boring to most of you, but I'm sure Grandma and Papa will love them ...

Each day the teachers send home a report sheet of the days activities and little description about how things went. Here are each of the boys reports:

Riley
Gage

Also, the director sends out newsletters to keep parents up to date on happenings at the center/school. This one went out today already welcoming Riley and Gage to their new classes. We just signed up yesterday! The promptness gets an A+ in my book = ) I was also excited to read that they will be getting pictures taken soon. Can't wait!

(front)

(back)

Well, that about wraps it up. It was a super day, but I'm exhausted. The kids were also so tuckered out they even went to bed early. Wish us luck that each days goes as great as this!