Random!

My early morning in Kansas on the way back to Missouri with Shoney!

Emily enjoying a ride! It's hard to believe how big she's getting!

More cuteness!

Emily and Shoney together! She's a great backstop for Emily. Shoney is starting to fit into our family nicely!

Graduation photo!

Dog Test!

We took the dogs to the prison and met the prisoners who help train the dogs. It was a very emotional time because we all had to tell the prisoners how the dogs are going to be used and several of the parents broke down when telling their stories and how the dogs have already changed their child's lives. After this we went to the mall for our "test" which included leaving the dogs in the middle of the food court out sight on a "down stay" for 3+ minutes with lots of distractions! Usually the mall isn't too busy on a Thursday afternoon...but for some reason school was out today so it was super busy! After the mall I went on my own into Petco and Kohls. It's going to be interesting when we get back home because she has to pretty much go everywhere with me at first until we get a kennel/crate!

Here are the dogs on a "down stay" with the trainer playing ball in front of them.

Shoney's the one looking at me!

The big poodle is Diogi. She's helped the boy next to her several times already!

Here is Shoney on the left and Ollie on the right. This is under the table at Applebees where we ate for lunch. Ollie will be working at another school in my district! Ollie and Shoney will be the 3rd and 4th dogs in the district!

Wind Farms!

OK I haven't been many places but today I was able to see a huge wind farm and it was awesome!

I tried to snap this picture while driving so I didn't get the whole thing but it gives you an idea of the size of the blades on the wind things...this one blade is a extra long load on a trucker!

Welcome Shoney!

This week I am in Concordia, KS with CARES getting a professional therapy dog. I miss my family like crazy but I know it will be worth it. The first day of training we were introduced to our dogs. It was like Christmas! There are about 20 of us in the class. Some of us will take the dogs to be professional therapy dogs in schools or nursing homes, some are medical alert dogs for kids or adults, some are for kids with autism, Asperger's, anxiety, one is for a guy who did 3 tours of duty in Iraq and had brain surgery but suffers from seizures & PTSD, 2 are in wheelchairs and the list goes on! I am so amazed by the parents of these children. These parents are amazing. The dogs are amazing too! Today a child had a major meltdown while visiting a school and the dog (a huge standard poodle) did his job and got on top of the boy and was able to calm him immediately...it was amazing, the mom started crying. The possibilities for these dogs is endless! I can't wait to get her home to meet my family and to take her to school for the students. From what I've seen this week alone I can't wait to see her in action at school!

Here is a picture of my dog Shoney. I'm loving her more and more everyday! I'm hoping the name will grow on me soon! In this picture she is in the "down" "stay" command. The dogs know about 60 different commands.

Close-Up!

Picture of us right after I got her!

KC Day 2...Fritz's & Science City

Day 2 in KC we went to Crowne Center, Union Station where Science City was at, and walked around downtown a little. We didn't take as many pictures as we should have but there is definitely going to be a "next time".

This is a view of part of Science City. Jacob and Michael are across the way! This place has so many different activities for the kids. We all had our favorites. Mine was the music area where we could play piano with our feet when walking or with our hands by waving them over certain areas! Megan's favorite was excavating the dinosaur bones & the water table. Jacob loved the helicopter and water table. Emily loved everything! I'm not sure what Michael's was but when I have a chance to ask him I will add it!

Here are Michael and Emily on the helicopter! It's a little fuzzy but I love their smiles!

The family helicopter is ready for takeoff!

The kids spent a lot of time here at the water table!

Of course Jacob found a train table! As you can tell, the kid is crazy about trains right now!

Here is Megan excavating the dinosaur bones. It took a lot to get her away from this area!

Mommy and Emily stopping for a quick picture!

Poor Jacob needed a nap and just couldn't stay awake so he slept for about an hour while Megan explored Science City with Daddy.

We had a blast at Fritz's restaurant where our food was ordered by picking up the phone and then the food was delivered by train! The kids absolutely loved it of course! In the window next to the booth a train went back and forth and each time Jacob would say "All Aboard Chhhh."

Emily was a great engineer!

Megan and Mommy

Fun train area at Fritz's!

Kansas City Trip-Day 1...Zoooooooo

We recently took a trip to the KC area and had a blast. We had planned to do a "mini-vacation" or weekend getaway in July but things didn't work out like we had planned. We finally decided to just make the time and go for the weekend. It was amazing and we had a blast. The hotel we stayed at only had a king bed so we were nervous...but it ended up being perfect. There was a small mattress from a pull out couch, we ended up putting that in the large closet for Megan to sleep on. Emily was sleeping in her swing and Jacob was in the bed with us. That boy moves everywhere at night so he couldn't have handled being in a bed without someone on both sides! For much of the night his head was on my back/neck and his feet were on Michael! The "heated" outdoor pool didn't work out but we made the best of it!

The first day we went to the zoo and had a blast. Here are a few of those pics!

My new favorite pic! I knew it would be when I bribed the kids with cotton candy if they would hold hands and walk!

Same picture in color. This bridge was in "Africa"!

Posing with the kiddos on the hippo!

Kids up on the fence looking at the rhino's!

My view...Jacob wanting up!

Megan completing the rope maze at the zoo.

Jacob and Daddy pose for Jacob's first train ride!

Emily is such a good baby! She traveled to KC and back so well! And she's so pleasant to be around! Here she is slobbering on Megan's sunglasses!

Daddy and the kids waiting for the train to get there!

Megan posing in front of the polar bear tank!

Look closely and you can see the giant polar bear. She was doing laps and faces the wall then pushed off backwards from the wall, we could have watched just this all day!

At the zoo they had petal tractors for the kids to ride and they had a blast!

Here is Jacobs first train ride! We loved it! He says "All aboard...cchhhhhh"

More Random Pics from last month!

Megan was sick with a fever the night before so couldn't go to school...the next day she felt better and needed a project so she painted the rest of the cubbie hole in the living room. This is the before picture (paint on there is from 2+ years ago!). She ended up painting both sides of the cubbie hole and it looks great!

Emily's first foods on 9/12/11

Emily's first time eating "real" food was on September 12th! She didn't exactly love it and during this month she continues to not really know what to do with it. She basically puts it in her mouth and then spits it out...every single time! Jacob really wanted to have a bite so we let him...now he says "nooooo...baby" meaning I don't want any and baby can have it!