The Birthday Boy

No, it's not my husband or my son. The big birthday in the house today was Spencer, our dog!

We've had other dogs, but I've never had one whose birthday I ever remembered! I guess when it's also a national holiday, that helps! On Valentine's Day, Spencer turned 8 years old. I remember telling Kevin, not too long after we got married (when our dog, Bailey, had to go live on my in-laws farm because she ate our kitchen tiles), that I wanted either a baby or a puppy. The puppy won out (but it wasn't long after when I found myself pregnant with Meg). We searched and searched for the right kind of dog for our family. After being told wrong information about our last dog (who got twice as big as they told us she would) we decided to get a pure-blood dog so we could be pretty sure of their temperament and size. The West Highland White Terrier (Westie) won out. It doesn't hurt that they are adorable, too! Spencer is a mess sometimes, but he is definitely a part of the family. He loves (and puts up with a lot from) the kids, and they love him. "Dog" has been one of the first words from each of them. I never thought of myself as an animal person before he joined our family, and I'm still not sure that I am. I am, however, a Spencer person! Happy birthday, sweet puppy!

I hope y'all all had a nice Valentine's Day! We don't typically do much to celebrate the day. Maybe a card. I was super surprised when I got a huge bunch of tulips (my favorites!) delivered on the 13th! I totally wasn't expecting it! Trust me, they're gorgeous (since I'm not on my own computer, I can't upload the pictures). I made a special dinner for the family (steak, bacon wrapped scallops, rice pilaf & garlic roasted broccoli - YUM) and we just hung out together. Maybe not the most romantic of days, but I was with all of the people who I love the most, and I'll take that any day!

Ready or not, here we come!

I am still having computer problems (well, I'm not at the moment, since the computer is not in our posession, but you get the drift) but I had to borrow Kevin's work laptop to let you all in on the latest update about our family. Drumroll please...we're moving back to Texas! We have truly loved our time in Iowa, but can't wait to get back "home"! Kevin just accepted a new job with his company, and we'll be moving to Lubbock! We have some great friends who are there (hi, Angela!) and some of Kevin's family there. Truthfully, Lubbock wouldn't have been my first choice of locations, but we are still so excited to be moving back within driving distance of our families!

We have our first (and dare I say it, hopefully only) house hunting trip planned for next week. They want Kevin to be working full-time there by March 1, so if we don't have a house yet by that time, he'll be going back and forth between there and here until we can all make the move as a family. The kids are of two minds about moving. They are excited to be closer to their grandparents, but will be sad to leave their friends (especially Megan, since she's in school and all).

My head is swimming with house prices, cleaning out closets to get our house ready for the market and wrangling my kids, but ready or not, we're coming home!

Hey...anyone want to buy a house? It's a nice house, but the neighborhood is truly first rate! Whoever gets to move in next door to the Hill's (and in our awesome culdesac) is very lucky!

When it rains...

...it pours! There may be some delay in posting for a while. Our computer has crashed and we don't know what's wrong with it (I'm on Kevin's work laptop right now). I think that our house is where computers go to die. In the 8 years that Kevin and I have been married, we have had 3 brand new computers, and in between getting new ones, we've had them repaired at least twice, each. Our current computer is about 2 1/2 years old. I am so happy that we got a new external hard drive for Christmas (surprise, our old one doesn't work!) so that all of our pictures are backed up. We lost all of our digital photos about a year after Megan was born, never to be recovered. I don't ever want to go through that again!

Our house has been feeling puny for a while, too. It started with Meg not feeling well at our next-door-neighbor's Super Bowl party on Sunday. She was sick all night and missed school on Monday. Tuesday night, Kevin, Owen, Hannah & I were all sick all night long. Do you want to know how fun it is to give a baby a bath 3 times in one night, while changing sheets 3 times? So much fun I almost can't stand it! Luckily, we are all pretty much back to normal now. As hard as it is to have sick kids, it is just horrible when you're sick, too. Add a sick husband in the mix, and you're in hell!

I do feel bad for complaining so much this week. My in-laws have things so much worse! On Wednesday (very early in the morning) their house caught on fire. For those who know them, don't worry...they're fine. No one was hurt at all. The house is totally gone, though. Fires are one of my biggest fears! I have often thought (once my family and our dog was safe) what the one or 2 things I'd try to save would be. Poor Rodney had to actually do it! To make light of the subject, though, now they'll be able to build a house with TWO electrical outlets in the bathroom! Sorry, I couldn't resist the joke (the old house only had one, and according to an electrician, there was no way to put another in there...made for very interesting times when Karen, Jen & I would all try to get ready for church, weddings, every day life when we're all together)! I'm so sad for their loss, but so thankful that no one was hurt!