Steve

I'm a lucky girl to have such a talented husband. He never ceases to amaze me.

A week or so ago, I mentioned that I would love to have one of those "words" to put on the mantle (that he made) but I didn't know what word I wanted.....love, family, patience, etc. They had TONS of them at Hobby Lobby, but none of them seemed to fit us. Steve told me to pick a word, and he would make it for me. :)

Last weekend, our kitchen faucet started to spray out of the handle....not good. So, today, we headed to Lowes for a new faucet and Steve installed it for me. :) LOVE IT!

Last, but not least, Steve passed his test! He has been studying for it every night for at least a month. It stunk! Mostly for him, but I was a pretty bored girl. Well, Thursday he went to take the test with 2 other people, and he passed! He was the only one out of the three who passed, and he REALLY passed. He only missed 3 out of 200 possible points. He says at work people are calling him, "Wonder Boy" and "Genius." Haha. Now, he is LEED certified which means he can design "green" buildings (I think). His next test is in April so we're celebrating this weekend so he can start studying again this week.

Moose is 7 Months Old

Moose turned 7 months old last Thursday. :) In 5 months, he won't be a "puppy" any more. I'm looking forward to that because it seems that he is a puppy in an adult body. I couldn't tell you how much he weighs because weighing him is beginning to be quite a struggle. We're working on finding another method, but until then, here are some recent pictures.

For the last month, Steve has been studying down in his room for his test. Moose insisted on being with him. This was his spot. :) So cute.

I found his Colts bandana that my mom sent him when we first got him. At the time, it didn't fit well and it bugged him, but, now, he deals with it. I'm thinking now that I can sew, these puppies would be easy to make, but Steve says they are "gay" so he can't wear them. Booo!

Now that Steve is done studying for his test, he and Moose can wrestle and box more often. (**No animals were harmed during this picture....he's 100lbs for goodness sake!***) I am always amazed, but he truly LOVES being beat up on by Steve. He is definitely Moose's favorite.

When it comes to cuddling, I am the favorite. :) He definitely thinks he's a lap dog...or a side dog...or a wherever-he-wants-to-be dog.

Moose got a package yesterday from his "grandma" Patty. Apparently, she saw how mistreated he was when she came to visit last weekend. She sent him a GALLON of shampoo (hey, a bath once a week for a giant dog=a bunch of shampoo), 2, yes 2 packages of Greenies for large breeds (his favorite), and an awesome toy. Moose knew right away that this toy was his, and quickly it became a favorite.

When my parents were visiting last weekend, my mom sat on this couch and "cuddled" with Moose. (She sat on couch while Moose walked all over her.) In the past, he has never paid much attention to this couch. I think it's because we never really sit on it, but, now, he LOVES it. He thinks it is HIS couch. That's not a bad thing, because it will be just his size, but it's not a good thing because it is super light and shows every hair that he sheds. I stopped by KMart today for a sheet to use as a slipcover until he gets over this phase.

Face to Face

Today, when I got home from work, Moose jumped up to get a hug......and his face was right up with mine!

He's not even stretching!

I love this picture! It's the true Moose. He's shiny, pretty, gangly, and awkward at the same time.

Update

I've been told by a few faithful followers that I haven't updated my blog lately. My response was we haven't been doing much. Today, I walked around the house searching for clues that we have been somewhat productive.

Besides going to work and doing the daily boring things, I guess we've done some other things along the way.

1. I am becoming more of a Michiganian every week! I finally got my MI driver's license, had my name and address changed on my Visa (very important), and PASSED my Michigan teacher's test. Yes, folks, I can now legally teach in MI. :) I had nightmares about failing for weeks and getting fired, but I passed. :)

2. A couple weeks ago I went home for the weekend. It was my first weekend away from Steve since we were married. I had a blast w/ the Retherfords and Rausches on Friday night making Lyre Lather (green cleaning products).

Then, on Saturday, Kar and I went fabric shopping, and I headed to New Castle for a little basketball fix. First, we went to see my 5 year old cousin play, and, then, we headed to the High School for another game.

3. Moose has been getting bigger and more mischevious. He can now EASILY reach most tables and desks. He can even stick his head in the washer...SCARY! He gets a bath every Sunday. I know, most people think I am crazy, but he's a big dog and gets very smelly by the end of the week. He's actually really good in the bath tub. He's been getting a weekly bath since we got him so I guess he's just used to it. A few weeks ago, he realized he could see himself in the bathroom mirror. I had to get a picture of it.

He's 6 1/2 months now. I'm guessing he's about 95 pounds. He doesn't seem to be gaining as fast, but maybe it's just because he's so big now.

4. For months we had at least a foot or two of snow pretty much everywhere. Then, along with the rest of the midwest, it all melted in a couple 50 degree days. Moose was NOT happy. He loves to play in the snow, and even refused to "go" on the grass for a few days. Luckily, the snow came back on Valentine's day morning. We have about 4 inches on the ground. Just enough for Moose to play in.

The only good thing about the snow melting was that he found some of his bones he had lost in the piles.

5. Steve has been really busy since Christmas working out in the yard. After he got his chainsaw for Christmas, he went crazy cutting down dead trees in our yard, but then the snow fell and covered them. Friday, he spent the day cutting up the trees and splitting wood before the snow came again. Check out our wood pile!

I never thought I would be so excited about a wood pile, but now I look at it and see our gas bill going down.

6. We have tomatoes in our Aerogrow! I don't like tomatoes, but it's exciting to see them grow. Steve eat's them right off the plant....ewww!

7. I've been sewing more. A week or so ago, I made this cute scarf with some fat quarters that Kar and I picked out when we went fabric shopping. I cut up a cheap fleece blanket for the back and made some cute fabric covered buttons for each end.

Then, a couple days ago we had Woods' family craft night with the girls and Steve's aunt taught us how to make these cute mittens out of "felted" sweaters and fleece.

8. Yesterday was our first Valentine's day as a married couple. Steve started v-day a bit early by sending me pink tulips (my favorite) to work on Thursday. Saturday morning, he got up early and picked up Louie's doughnuts and Biggby coffee (our usual) while I slept. When he went outside to work, I got busy and made my first attempt at his favorite, red velvet cake with wonder icing (his aunt's recipe).

While the cake was baking, I made his v-day gift, the other boxing glove I was promising. For weeks he was asking me to sew him a boxing glove so he and Moose could "box." Finally, I did, but I only made one. So, after seeing how much he and Moose liked the glove, I promised to make him another for v-day so he could have a set. I even personalized the 2nd one with some Michigan State stuff.

Moosie and Us

So I just finished "reading" Marley and Me. I put quotes around reading because I am pretty sure I just saw parts of the last chapter or two through tears and inferred the rest. Around here, it takes to long for a movie to come to town so I finally just bit the bullet and bought the book.

Obviously, I LOVE my dog, but it really did give me a new respect for the big guy. He's not so bad after all.

Moose turned 6 months old yesterday. He's a whopping 85pounds-ish (it's hard to get him on the scale). He continues to grow at a rapid rate but his eating and playing have begun to slow down. I'm sure all of the growing really wears a big puppy out. He sleeps until 4, naps and plays until 8 and is back down for the rest of the night! I hope we have this much luck when we have children!

Check him out!

Soon, he'll be taller than me! (Pay no attention to the dorky pj's)

Moose is one of the funniest dogs ever. We laugh at him on a daily basis. He's gaining about 5lbs a week. That means he has no time to get used to his size before he gets even bigger. He's constantly tripping, bumping into things, and falling, but the funniest part is watching him try to get comfortable on the couch. He LOVES lounging on the couch with us, but lately, he just hasn't been able to do it.

Here, Steve tryed to help him off the couch to go to bed, but he was too tired to move. So, he just stayed like this for a bit.

He fits!...well...all but a leg fits.

This works for him! :)

This didn't work for me.

During one of our snow days, I made Moose this bed. He loves it. He would love it more if I would make one big enough for all three of us to cuddle up on. If he can't get comfortable on the couch, his bed is his next choice. Isn't he a cutie!? Look at those awesome paws!

Moose Update

I just realized how mean Moose looks in the picture I posted earlier of his collar. Really, he's a sweet dog, but I caught him while he was playing with Steve. They play a bit rough.

Every time I post new pictures, I always see the puppy pictures of Moose from September like this:

Luckily, he doesn't have a cone head any more, and he's growing into those paws, but he also weighs 50 pounds more. Here's what he looked like a month ago:

Here he is now:

I love watching him grow up, but I must admit I am ready for him to be full grown. The way I look at it, he's already a big dog (70+ lbs) so why not have a BIG dog?

He is SO smart (in some ways....he's still a puppy). He learned to sit, shake, and lay down very early. Now, he can jump up to put his front paws on my arm while I am standing, spin, and take a bow (so cute).

Sometimes, we don't remember that he is only a 5 month old pup because he's so big, but he certainly reminds us when he starts doing laps around the room and pulling all of his toys out of the basket, but mostly he likes to sleep on the couch (that's my kind of dog!).

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

For Christmas, I asked for a sewing machine. I mostly asked for it because I was so impressed with all of the cute stuff Karla was making. Steve continued to tell me I wasn't going to get a sewing machine because I would never use it. HA!

I got a sewing machine!

Then, I got real nervous because I don't/didn't know hot to sew. HA!

I figured it out!

First, I made Steve some not-so-fancy curtains/panels to cover the windows in the garage and basement. I had to...he bought me the sewing machine. I'm sure one day I will look at them in disgust at how bad they are and make new ones. :)

Then, Steve gave me a pair of jeans he was going to throw away and we made some new toys for Moose. He didn't really care about them at first (he was tired), but now he's a fan.

This morning, I decided to make something for me...a coffee coolie! Then, I made Steve one!

I made a collar cover for Moose. I snapped it on real quick while he was playing outside. He doesn't nomally wear 3 collars. He wears 1 all the time and his shock collar while he's outside. I have the third so I decided to make a cool Michigan State cover for it. He can wear it on game days because Steve refuses to let me dress him up.

My next plan is to make a bed for Moose that fits in his giant crate. I'm waiting (praying) for a snow day.