Thursday, January 27, 2022

Introducing Tyson Beau

When my hub and I got married, back in June 2004, we received the sweetest wedding gift: our sweet puppy, a miniature yorkie we named Cooper. He lived 16 years but sadly passed away in July 2020. We knew we needed a break from owning a dog, both to let our hearts heal and also...just to have a break from owning a dog - ha! We told our kids we would wait two years and then would consider getting another dog. 

They have been patiently waiting but started begging for a new dog many months ago. We insistently and steadfastly told them, "No! No more heartbeats in our house right now!"...but a few months ago, my hub and I began secretly discussing adding to our brood. 

This time around, we knew we wanted a big dog; a family friendly dog; a loyal dog; a smart dog; a trainable dog; and so, we narrowed it down to either a labrador retriever (which I grew up having) or a golden retriever. Ultimately...we decided on the latter, and so our top secret hunt began, specifically in search of a purebred, male, golden retriever puppy who would be eight weeks old (and thus, available to be brought home) the week of Christmas. After a couple months of inquiries, we finally found our boy. 

He was one of nine in his litter, and I secretly drove the hour away back in November to choose him from his litter, when he was just two weeks old. I was smitten, and I have never wanted Christmas to arrive so badly!

We decided we would surprise the kids on Christmas Eve; so, that morning, we hired a sitter, telling the kids we had some last minute Christmas errands to run, and away we went to pick up our boy. Up until then, the sweet owners had been clandestinely sending us pics of our little buddy through the weeks. 




We picked him up, drove the hour back home, put him in the open top box I had wrapped the night before, and headed into our backyard, where our sitter had our kiddos waiting. I will NEVER forget their reactions. I caught it all on a video I will treasure forever, but here are some sweet still shots and posed shots of them meeting the sweetest little surprise of their lives: 








Oh, and his name! It was so funny because, on the way home from picking him up, my hub and I were throwing around name ideas and he suggested Tyson. I loved it immediately: giving him this tough name (a la Mike Tyson) but seeing his precious little face. Still, though, we wanted the kids to have the final say. So, within 30 secons of us throwing around names with them, my hub again suggested Tyson and everyone immediately loved it. WHAT?! No debate at all? Okay then. Done deal! And because our pup is a Southern gent, I suggested Beau as his middle name and that was it: Tyson Beau. 


Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Goldy and Locks 2021

I can't skip out on my annual Goldy and Locks post! Goldy and Locks are our elves on the shelves, and they always get into all kinds of craziness during their 24-day stint. Here's what they got into this Christmas: 

Day 1. Eeeeek! Goldy and Locks showed up with twins in tow! As Raleigh wisely noted, "They must have gotten married since they have babies now!" <3

Day 2. The elves brought some festive socks for the kids to rock throughout the month.

Day 3. Who's ready for fun?! A little KitKat Jenga did the trick!

Day 4. The elves made sure to get their Amazon packages in early with all the forecasted shipping delays!

Day 5. HoHoHo! Time for a visit with the Jolly ol' soul!

Day 6. Looks like the elves dropped off our official 2021 Christmas jammies!

Day 7. Does anyone love sugar more than elves?! Of course they had to leave a sugary cereal for the kiddos to eat, making sure they hit their sugar quotient for the month. 

Day 8. Elf-sized cornhole - fun for all!

Day 9. Looks like the elves found another use for those pesky masks:


Day 10. How fun! A cookie calendar countdown to elevate the December excitement! 

Day 11. Oh no! An elf injury left Goldy sidelined for the day!

Day 12. We love cocoa; yes we do! We love cocoa; how 'bout you?/

Day 13. A special day each year: the day Santa sends his personalized messages to each kiddo via the Portable North Pole!

Day 14. Who's ready for a ball pit, donut style?! :) 

Day 15. Only 10 days 'til Christmas! Time to get to wrapping!

Day 16. The elves went on a top-secret mission to help dad decorate mom's homemade birthday cake!

Day 17. Packaged up and ready to go! The elves were ready to safely travel to the Christmas celebration at Nana and Pop's!



Day 18. Oh gracious. Looks like the elves found themselves some edible reindeer poop. Ha!

Day 19. Back home and ready for some gaming. These elves must not know how much this momma despises screen time. ;) 

Day 20. These crazy elves somehow managed to take a sELFie. 

Day 21. Hooray! Time for Christmas Bingo with friends!

Day 23. Officially time to decorate cookies for Santa!

Day 24. Hmmm....now what could these elves possibly mean, letting the kiddos know they could open a *special family gift* from Santa? 

S U R P R I S E!!!!!!!

Thanks for an amazing month, elves! It was a fantastic end to lots of elf-sized fun!