like a prawn who yawns at dawn

This is my dog, walking the trails. I love him, and I love this picture. This is exactly how I'll picture Harry for the rest of my days...following me. He seriously follows me everywhere I go. Even when I go to the bathroom. If I close the door, he scratches for me to open it and he'll come in and sit by my feet if I'm on the toilet. Sorry if that's too much info, but it just goes to show you how loyal my little Harry is. He's sitting on the couch with me right now, sound asleep, but if I make any movements, he's awake and ready to be at my feet if I happen to get up.
Harry went on a hike with me, Michael, and Andi on Saturday. I've never had so much fun on a hike. I know it's cheesy, but I just love my little family and I loved going on a little adventure with them that afternoon. It was a long hike, but Harry never stopped or got wimpy. We took his leash off and he stayed with us the whole time--through rivers, rocks, and endless inclines. Here's what it looked like about three-fourths of the way up:
Ands was a little whiney when we started out but eventually she realized we weren't stopping so she just fell asleep in her carrier. Good day.
All in all, it was a good weekend, and a good Mother's Day. It was, in fact, my first "real" Mother's Day. When I was young I used to think Mother's Day would be great once I was a mom, but I somehow forgot to factor in that I'd still have my own mom, a mother-in-law, and many other maternal figures in my life that deserve honoring. So I may not have had a holiday sans work and things to do, but I did enjoy honoring mothers and even being honored. During the 48 hours of Mother's Day weekend I fit in all of the following: Cleaned the house up, went on a hike up Malan's Peak, put together on snapfish.com a bunch of cards for five different moms in my life (which, by the way, turned out very cute), bought gifts, wrapped gifts, had family over (to watch "The Office," which would explain my subject line), cleaned up, made a slideshow for my mom (complete with a Bee Gees soundtrack--very fitting for Carma), went to church with my own mom, made rolls, made sugar cookies, cleaned up Sunday dinner, took care of Andi, AND got all of that done in time to watch Celebrity Apprentice Sunday night. (and Joan won!--I rooted for her all along!) So yeah, it was kinda' busy.

So today Andi and I have been takin' it easy. Which would explain pointless activities like putting her hair in dreads: ...after which we played piano for a while, then read, then took Harry outside for a bit. I love days like this. I've also been enjoying the fruits of the Mother's Day gifts Michael gave me.
I woke up Saturday morning, opened my bedroom door, only to find I could not walk through it. Pillows were lined in the doorway to the ceiling, and a spool of thread was poking out of one of the pillows. Beside it lay a note that read, "Follow the thread." I followed it upstairs, through the kitchen, living room, bedroom, back through the kitchen, down the stairs, outside, and in the garage. Along the way I found a box of "coffee lovers" chocolates (Michael knows me well), a DVD of "Meet Joe Black," AND....my own set of tools. That's right. I have my own power drill now. It's pink, too. My husband rocks. I have big plans for those tools.
Here's Andi with my gifts:











Last weekend Michael and I went to "Wicked" and also to his brother Isaac's graduation. Here's a few pictures of that as well. We loved "Wicked" and we were glad we didn't really give in to the guy who offered us $500 for our tickets. It was truly worth it. And we loved seeing family on Isaac's graduation and giving support for that. We have a good fam!















...AND...we can't wait to have an addition to our family that's coming maybe even sooner than we thought. Little Chloe Francis (MAYBE "Chloe,"--I just like to call her that 'cuz I like the name) is eager to get out of Leslie's tummy, but they're tryin' to keep her in a few more weeks. Maybe that's a sign that she's going to be feisty just like her mom and aunts and grandma. Can't wait to see her!
In the meantime, Michael's workin' on getting our driveway done, getting his "man room" done, and makin' money. I've been busy at Weber grading essays and taking tests so I can certify to do so (which are finally done, by the way), tutoring, and loving Andi.
That's it for now.