It's Been a Long Time...

Man!!! I was doing so good with keeping up with the blog, and I dropped the ball this last week. Not that I have been super busy, but we did have some stuff going on. My finals have also been this last week, so I have been preoccupied with them, as well! Anyway, we had our normal week, but the weather was SOOOOO nice the first part of last week that we replanted ALL of the flower beds in the front of the house Tuesday after Bible study at Kingsland FBC. I had a movie going inside, and Weiss went in and out of the house as he pleased, while I was covered in dirt and sweat (it was in the upper 80's!!!). I planted from lunch to about 5, and also planted some more on Wednesday. I have some more to do in the back; we have a low metal fence, which is really nice, but the neighbors can see EVERYTHING going on in our house and backyard. No privacy whatsoever. I plan to line the fence with cannas, lillies, hollyhocks, roses and elephant ears. 

We've had LOTS of new babies in our Sunday School class here (yes, CBC friends, there was a baby boom here, as well!), and after the Murray's, I took a meal to the Koziel's last week (baby Lilly) and the Coleman's (baby Pierce). On Friday night, we had the Homeyer's over, who have a bun in the oven themselves! It's only like a week and they find out if Weiss has a hunting buddy or a girlfriend (sorry Matt and Kelley---we would approve!). It was an exciting week for them, as well, because Matt is the pastor of Fellowship Baptist, and their brand new church opened Sunday! Anyway, it is always fun to see the Homeyer's and of course, EAT. (Weiss was at Kingland with Mia and Grappa living it up....)

On Saturday, Logan and I went to a Focus on the Family marriage conference in Austin/Lakeway. Although it was a teleconference, it was really good. (I am not big on watching people on DVD/TV--I really like reading or hearing someone live!) Gary Smalley, Beth Moore, Del Tackett, Gary Thomas and John Trent all spoke for about an hour each; Jeremy Camp provided the worship. It was broadcast out of Colorado Springs. I really enjoyed Gary Thomas, although they were all very good. He just had something especially for me on Saturday. After that, a group ate dessert at Mimi's Cafe and then Logan and I went to the Hill Country Galleria. We went to Backwoods outdoors store and stayed there for about an hour and a half and then to Dillard's. We got Weiss several outfits for the spring/summer because he is GROWING UP.... We then went to Best Buy and Petsmart for Zoey some more dog food. And speaking of Zoey.....

When we got home, we opened the door to destroyed crayons EVERYWHERE in our living room. Weiss has an artist's easel with a big roll of paper and a big bin for crayons, and Zoey took out EVERY crayon she could get to. (I had just opened up a brand new 24-pack of crayons the day before, and he already had a 16-pack out and a 24-pack of plastic Crayola "Twist-Ups..." you do the math....) There were only about 5 crayons left when her antic was all said and done.... Zoey had left the paper, crushed plastic, broken colors, and to top it off, a HUGE pile of Crayola crayon puke in the most obvious spot in the floor. Anyway, I was NOT happy with her. OH---Monday evening, I went to "restock" Weiss with crayons and to find something to clean up Zoey's HUGE purple stain on the carpet. (Just an aside, all the crayons were washable, but I guess dog puke is an exception...) I got him another 24-pack of the triangular Crayolas and some more plastic Crayola "Twist-Ups" (also a 24-pack). Weiss and I got home today from a quick trip to Walmart and Zoey had DONE IT AGAIN!!! (She only got about 4 crayons.) This time, thankfully, there was no puke. I was very frustrated because Hannah, Sophia and baby GiGi were coming over to play ANY MINUTE.... Bad, bad dog!

Anyway, for all of you moms out there that have dogs in the house, I have talked so several people about the "crayon incident," and they have all said their dogs like crayons, also. I tried about 4 different products I had around the house on the stain, and nothing was getting it out. Before calling a professional carpet cleaner (1-800-STEAMER......haha), I went to Walmart (on the new crayon trip) and got something called "Krud Kutter" in the paint/home projects area. It is awesome! And it is water-based, which is a good thing, especially for homes with small children. (Which means it's not TOO toxic....) Anyway, my taupe carpet where she puked is not "concord grape purple" anymore; it is a shade of "soft lilac." I highly recommend the product. I do not highly recommend leaving a devious goldendoodle alone with Crayola products, however. Her idea of "fine art" is more like her own version of a Picasso on the rug....