Daddy's Birthday

Craig's Birthday was on Monday - I didn't feel well - so didn't feel like preparing a fantastic dinner unfortunately. But, I managed to whip up a batch of french onion soup and use the gruyere cheese I had bought to go on top. Craig and I went to a Thai restaurant the weekend prior to his birthday, so I didn't feel to badly about skimping on the dinner. But, I did feel badly that I didn't get him a cake - he was ok with that, since he's trying to eat healthier...I still feel bad about it. Cameron offered to bake him one that evening, but we said that it was ok. So, Cam baked one from scratch the next night and it was really good. He's quite the baker. Anyway, about Craig's b-day, he got this red sox mug from his sister Karen, and a beautiful cashmere sweater from Donna. I can't remember all the other gifts, but he really made a killing. Cam got him the book "Three Dog Life" - seemed appropriate for him. :) I got him matching lamps for our room - to go on the new nightstands that we got for Christmas. Maybe for father's day he'll get that big screen tv he wants. :)

Hot Dog

Andrew loves hot dogs - here is proof. He loves them so much that he likes to adorn himself with them (as shown here). Doesn't everyone love hot dogs so much they wish they could wear them? Little does he know that Pierre and Sadie are just waiting in the wings for him to get down from his high-chair so they can lick him all over.

Picture Sharing

If you want to check out my pictures - that I have posted on Shutterfly - go to the new picture sharing site that I created.


http://nancymorinpictures.shutterfly.com/

I will email the password out to you if you don't have it - just email me and I can send it your way! :)

Would you like fries with that?

Well, it's true - Cameron has chosen the dark side. He got his first job at McDonald's. Being that he comes from a long line of whopper flippers - this was, as you can imagine, a shock. :) - My big brother, Greg, my sister, Paula and myself all worked at Burger King when we were youngsters - but Cameron unfortunately doesn't have a Burger King to choose from, so strictly for logistical reasons, (Cameron loves that word, logistical) Cam has to work at McDonald's. Here he is right before his first shift.


Also, notice that in the second picture - Sadie is jumping up and doing the "paw wave" because she knows where Cameron is going and she doesn't want him to forget that he has hungry bichons at home!

Goodbye Rascal

Craig and I volunteer with an organization called Small Paws Rescue - they help match homeless bichon frises' with new owners. One of the great things that they do is help to get bichon's freed from the grips of terrifying puppy mills. They send the doggies to foster homes to "acclimate" them to life outside the concentration-camp like mills. One of our dogs actually spent 5 years in a commercial puppy mill. She is a great dog - although she can be a stinker - I think she loves being a part of our family. We took in a 6 year old male in September named Rascal. We've never seen a dog that is so sweet before - he just let Andrew climb all over him, hug him, kiss him, etc...and never complained once. His family was dispaced due to the floods in Iowa this summer - they lost their home, etc...The family was planning on taking Rascal back as soon as they were situated, but that fell through and they wound up surrendering Rascal to Small Paws. Well, we knew it wouldn't take long once we posted Rascal's profile on Pet Finder, because he's such a terrific dog. Craig wrote up such a nice story about Rascal and immediately, we had a bite. One of the Small Paws volunteers, Carol had a friend, Bonnie that was interested in him. Today was the day she came to pick up Rascal and take him to his forever home. Our dogs are now sad and lonely and the house just isn't the same without him. But, we know that Bonnie will supply him with all the love and attention that he will need. Also, he's going to have a new "buddy" - Joe the cat. I love that! Bonnie calls him "Joe the cat". He's a gorgeous pure white cat - so they will look great together on Christmas cards I'm sure. When Bonnie arrived at our house today to pick up Rascal, she brought a beautiful Christmas centerpiece that was made by a friend of hers. It's gorgeous! When we have Christmas dinner, it will be in the center of the table and we will think of Rascal. This is a picture taken today of me, Andrew and Rascal. We know he will do really great in his new forever home with Bonnie - and we can't wait to see him again - maybe at the 2009 Bichon Bash! Goodbye Raskie! We love you tonz!

Job Shadow

Cameron has to meet certain requirements for graduation - and although he's only a sophomore in high school - he met one of the requirements yesterday. All kids are required to do a job shadow. The job shadow cannot be with one of your parents (so Craig and I were out of the running) - and you weren't supposed to shadow a teacher (because you already spend so much time in school. So, Cameron's other options were Richard Branson, Donald Trump or Steve Heim (a friend of ours from church). Since Richard and "the Donald" were busy, Steve agreed to take on the challenge of showing Cameron the world of law. Steve is a partner with Dorsey and Whitney and has a "fantastic" office in downtown Minneapolis. Off Cameron went on Friday morning bright and early on the city bus to head downtown for his "day at the office" with Steve. Here's a picture of Cameron - wearing a tie, even!

I think Cameron learned a lot when he was on the job with Steve - for one, he learned how hard he works. He handles very large cases that have very intricate details. One of the highlights was a conference calls that Cameron was able to listen in on. Ok, maybe that wasn't a highlight for him - but Steve did take Cameron to lunch at Hell's Kitchen (approptiate for church friends, don't you think?) :)

All in all, I think it was a great experience for Cameron - and boy are we appreciative of Steve doing this for Cam.

Fruit Carvings

I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the fabulous food creations that Cameron has been "experimenting" on us lately. He's been in a class this quarter called "Foods" - something most teenage boys enjoy taking because it's like having a second lunch during the day. Well, I met his teacher the other day and she is really lovely. She has shown Cameron how to make omelets, muffins, pizzas, tacos, and of all things, birds out of apples. Take a look at this creation!

Cameron also made us stuffed shells one night - that were stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach. They were delicious! The other thing I like about this "Foods" class is that the teacher's big project for the quarter involves the kids having to clean the refrigerator, and oven! That came in handy!

Cameron loves to cook - one of his favorite things of late is pizza. He has asked me to buy so much yeast lately - I've never even used yeast before! He makes his own crust and everything. It's really tasty too! What a talent in the kitchen.