it's too late to say goodnight...so say Good Mornin!

Then followed that beautiful season... Summer....

Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape

Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It has been an eventful week!  The summer heat has been, well, stifling.  Poor little Brutus wants to play outside and take nice long walks with Mommy and Daddy, but it is just WAY too hot.  We can barely stand a walk around the block.  This makes exercise an inside activity for him which causes lots of barking at Daddy and lots of running around the house.  Puppies have the life!

It was breakfast for dinner the other night, and yes the bacon was burnt.  I tried to make it crispy per Aaron's request and it turned out plain old burnt.  The rest was delicious so I think that made up for the burnt bacon.

Monday our little boy had his puppy surgery.  We were worried about him all day, but when we picked him up he was as excited to see us as ever.  However, when we got back home he and Daddy took a nice long nap.  Brutus was sleeping of the anesthesia for the rest of the day, not to mention uncomfortable while his incision healed.  We did find out some unfortunate news from the vet that we were not expecting.  Brutus' hips show some signs of hip dysplasia, a common joint disease in large breed dogs.  Although he doesn't show any outward signs, the x-rays the vet reviewed with us did show some early signs that it could effect him at some point in his life.  

As a first time puppy parent without kids this was hard news to hear.  We love him so much and hearing that anything could effect his comfort or quality of life anytime during his time with us was disheartening.  We had to cut our grocery shopping short to discuss and look into the effects of the disease.  At first we were extremely upset, but after hearing encouraging stories from Grandmama & Opa about their pups who have also all shown signs of the disease early on and have gone on to live long happy lives we were relieved.  We are talking to Dr. Mike more about it tomorrow, but we are hopeful that everything will turn out for the best.

We could barely tear ourselves away from our little guy to go to the Muny to see one of my favorite musicals, but thankfully the best puppysitters in the world were available to watch Brutus for us while we were away.  Jacqueline even took Brutus for a ride in the car to visit her parent's pup so he had an eventful day of having fun and being spoiled.

I will say, Mommy and Daddy needed a date night away from the kid:)  We went out to a delicious Vietnamese restaurant suggested by Tiffany and Kevin and then made our way over the The Muny for Singin' in the Rain! (Which happens to be one of my absolute favorite musicals!)

Fortunately the actors were NOT actually singing in the rain, but they certainly were singing in the HEAT!  They toughed it out though, and even made a few jokes about the heat during the intense dance numbers.  

The dance numbers were, in fact, reminiscent of the movie.  The dancing was the highlight of the show and the main characters worked very hard to re-create the token scenes from the movie.

It was a beautiful night (a little hot, but not too bad) and I was very happy to spend a night out with my hubby.

Saturday was BUSY.  The morning was spent with Sydney by the pool reminiscing about past summers and talking about Sydney's expectations about school in New York.  Then I ran home to prep everything for dinner with the neighbors and then it was time to go to church.

Once we got back home and everything went in the oven it was time to relax.  Dinner turned out wonderfully, I made some of Aaron's favorites to be sure it would be a hit.

And we finished it off with some of Grandmama's apple pie.  

Then it was PUPPY PLAYTIME.  We migrated over to Abby and Jeff's house (a few steps next door) and Brutus went to town with their teacup Yorkie Rambo.  He immediately picked up his favorite blue ball...

...and squeeked it loudly while Rambo looked on to make sure his territory was under control.

It is funny because when they play Rambo takes control and Brutus just rolls with the punches.

Thank you Abby and Jeff for providing so many of Rambo's toys for Brutus :)  He loves the balls, bones, and stuffed toys Rambo has in his toy basket.

I think the picture below says it all about the way Rambo feels when Brutus steals his toys or his attention.

They are adorable.  Danielle and Tim came over to join us for some drinks and they brought their pup Annie to play with Brutus.  Brutus stayed up later than he has ever stayed up in his life and played longer and harder than he ever has in his life with Annie.  They are a match made in heaven!  According to some of us, they are dating and on their way to love.

The adults, as we all proudly stated we were when it was 11:30 and we were still awake, played a rousing game of Apples to Apples.  The laughter, stories, and ridiculing were abound and we had a fantastic time.  The minute we walked in the door for bed Aaron started talking about how much fun he had.  I am excited to hang out again soon and since we are neighbors getting together will be easy!

Abby and Jeff's porch was a perfect setting for the wind down of the night and New Town was quiet and breezy.  We had a wonderful night and are now enjoying a lazy Sunday before another busy week.  We are thankful for great neighbors, good food, date nights, and summer fun.  We are looking forward to the rest of the summer and a break from this heat!

for amber waves of grain

From every mountain side

Let Freedom ring.

~Samuel F. Smith, "America"

I apologize for the lack of blogging, but the Weirs have been very busy!  It may be summer, but I had a class on Tuesday evening detailing the specifics of Foliotek (a digital portfolio required by the state of Missouri of teachers) and the dreaded Praxis (a test every soon-to-be student teacher must take in order to enter the classroom).  The seminar class was wonderful, but added a little stress to my summer.  I will just be glad when my Praxis is passed and my Foliotek account is nearly finished.  However, no one can stay stressed for long during summer.

This is a classic picture of Brutus and his Daddy.  He is never sitting still, unless he is dead asleep.  He LOVES when Daddy comes home from work to play with him, no matter how high the temperature may be outside.

Brutus loves posing for pictures.  This one was taken down the street at the neighborhood playground.  He thinks he's a human, so he enjoys playing on the slides and going in the playhouse.

Having Brutus as a part of our family has brought so much joy to our lives.  Aaron is such a great father, even if it is to a puppy, the love and care he shows is above and beyond wonderful.  Someday in the future he is going to make a wonderful father to our children

Brutus has graduated to his big boy crate so the picture above was his last night or so in his puppy crate.

Doesn't like his big boy crate at all...well, maybe just enough to sleep in it without being forced to.

Brutus would tell you if he could talk that his favorite place to sleep is in Mommy and Daddy's bed.  He loves to take up most of the bed, so he sleeps down in his crate at night.  Otherwise, I don't think Mommy and Daddy would get any sleep.

Brutus had another vet visit and weighed in at a wopping 25 pounds.  He is in perfect health, although he will be getting neutered soon.  Daddy doesn't like for me to mention it, but I will be glad that he will not be marking all over our couch and tearing up things with his excess energy.  

Our schedule has been full of fun family activities including dinner at Grandmama & Opa's and lunch with Sydney.  Grandmama's hamburger stroganoff was delicious, even Aaron loved it, and Syndey discovered how great the small pub in New Town is for lunch.  I cantored at Mass and even got to choose the music myself.

The event of the weekend was the engagement party for Ashleigh and Eric.  Eric's parents threw a wonderful party and the food and fun were not lacking in the least.  Mr. Bouselli fried some fish himself and it was so yummy.  Aaron played darts with his closest friends and their dads.  It was a great party, but the beverages and heat were a little much for me.  Overall, it was a wonderful celebration and Aaron and I are very excited to celebrate with them on their Big Day.

Our sweet little boy went to his first concert when we took him to the New Town Reggae Festival and did not have trouble making friends.  The festival was really a great time.  Ever since our honeymoon in Jamaica I love reggae, which is the last genre of music I ever expected to enjoy.

The Weirs even made it on the New Town facebook page.  These two photos were taken during the concert and yes, it was raining for part of the time.  Fortunately we decided to walk home before the downpour started.

Mommy and her baby boy.

Brutus is even the main event during my babysitting hours.  He entertained Brynn and Sean at our house.  It was adorable.  Poor Sean doesn't understand that puppies sleep, well, a lot and tried to wake Brutus up a few too many times.

Brutus loves Grandmama and Opa's yard.  He runs like a mad dog and chases Buffy's volleyball up and down the hill.  Sure is a great way to tire him out!

While Aaron is at work, Brutus and I spend quality time keeping house.  While I am working, he lays by my chair, during cleaning he follows me around and attempts to help me clean the windows by licking them (thank you Better Life for safe cleaning), and when I cook, he lays on the rug under my feet.  

We decided to give Brutus a stuffed dog Aaron gave me when we first started dating and he is in love.  Daisy is his new girlfriend, but she takes some abuse from Brutus.  He loves biting her fur.  It is adorable to see him play with her.  He takes her into his bed with him and cuddles her when he sleeps.

Oh, and he gives me a lot of these looks.  He is trying to tell me he misses his Daddy, and I agree with him.  We are both very glad when Aaron arrives home from work.

Just before we were leaving for the annual Fourth of July vacation to Grandma & Grandpa's I went out to a lovely lunch with my Mom, Grandmama, and Sydney.  It was a wonderful time, a rare treat for "us gals" to get some time to catch up on the latest events and gossip.  Grandmama and I even tasted their house mojito.  Delicious!

Classic picture of my beautiful cousin and I.

And then we were off to Illinois to enjoy some country livin' while celebrating the birthday of our great country.  We were heartbroken to leave our little Brutus when we first thought of being without him for five straight days until we remembered we have the best dogsitters on the planet  to watch over our little guy.

Jacqueline and Elliott are by far the greatest (and most tolerant of overprotective parents) sitters in the world.  These pictures were all texted to us throughout our trip.

This one is their discovery of his fear of fireworks.  

They even took him to a family event.  He LOVES car rides so we were glad to hear he spent time with them and was the star of yet another party.  They said everyone complimented them on "their dog" and asked where they could get another.

While Brutus was being spoiled by Jacq and El we were having a great time with Grandma and Gramps.  There were family dinners, trips to traditionally loved restaurants, swimming in the freezing community pool, and walks around the lake.

Father and Son.

Aaron enjoyed the break from work and insisted it was to be five days of true relaxation.  I think this picture says it all.

Grandpa Norman (yes, Brutus' middle name comes from this handsome fella) told us some stories from his younger years and told Aaron that he reminded him of an old friend.

All of my Daddy's siblings came for a visit and the brothers were up to their old mischief.

Grandma was busy in the kitchen fixing up all of our favorites.  We are so grateful for her hospitality.

This picture had to be taken.  They are a wonderful group of sisters to wash and dry the dishes for Grandma after a very delicious meal.

We were then off to the Hennepin fireworks.  The girls were excited for the display...and the nachos.

Sweet Aaron chauffered us and we had a wonderful time.  Fireworks in the country are the best kind.  The weekend also included lots of visiting with the bride-to-be, my longtime fried Maria Gensini.  She and her family live next door to my grandparents and Aaron and I spent some time catching up with them.  It was wonderful to spend time with their whole family, even Maria's brother and his fiancee were there.  They recently got engaged and they could not have seemed happier.  Tony, Maria's almost-hubby, and Victor shot off some fireworks (as is tradition) and shared a hilarious YouTube video of the turtleman.  Yeee Yeee!  

Brutus was very happy when Mommy and Daddy came home, but after lots of love and playtime he was plum tuckered out.  He kept his little eyes open as long as he could to make sure Mommy and Daddy weren't going anywhere.

While we were gone Brutus learned how to go down the stairs.  He takes advantage of this new skill and enjoys lying halfway down with his toys.

Aaron was very excited to discover that Brutus likes football, and happens to be a Chiefs fan!

Brutus' Aunt Cassie came over for a visit with her little nephew.  He loves cuddling with his aunt.

She took this picture of Brutus while he was sleeping.  He is one adorable pup!

BUT, nothing compares to Daddy in Brutus' eyes.  I have never seen a happier pup than when his Daddy comes home from work or offers to take him outside to play with the Frisbee.

Penny and Marley came over for a visit this weekend.  It was Penny's second time in our house and she left enough hair behind to remind us she was there.  Even if it was only for a few minutes.

Marley came in too, but he was ready to roll as soon as Brutus started pestering him.  Little Brutus just wants to play with him and Marley just doesn't seem to get it.

Momma and Cassie came too and we all went down to the Ampitheater down the street for a showing of "Inception."  We love having so many activities in our community that are walking distance from our home.

The new neighbor joined us for some fun too.  Popcorn was popped, ice cream was cold, and we were ready for the movie to start!

My handsome boys.

Brutus had trouble calming down with so many people around to play with:)

The pups were so cute during the movie.  Penny looked so happy.  She is my sweetheart and seeing her that way truly warmed my heart.

Marley slept on his "baby mama's" lap.  It was very cute.

Brutus finally relaxed for a few moments.  We didn't stay for the whole movie, but it was a really fun time!

The rest of the weekend was full of unscheduled summer fun.  We slept in and spent time together like we hadn't with such a full schedule pulling us around.  Aaron even got to spend some time fishing with his good friend Brian.

I went out to see what they had caught and they had caught something...

A big ole crawdad!  It was not the prettiest thing I had seen in a net, but I was brave enough to pose for this picture.  Aaron's face in the background cracks me up.

I had to get a shot of Brian working his fishing skills on the New Town lake.

My wonderful husband caught a few small fish, but overall they ended up catching a whole lot of bug bites.  The summer has just begun and I am enjoying every moment.  This weekend I have been feeling especially thankful for my husband.  Having him in my life makes doing everything I do worth something.  I am the person that I am because of him.  Our life is the life I dreamed I would have and he is the husband I never dreamed I would deserve.  He proves to me every day how much he loves me and I am truly lucky to have a husband who takes so much time to make me feel special.  Thank you Lord for my husband.