Weeknight picnic

Today is dreary and rainy, but earlier this week we got out and enjoyed the sunshine one evening with an impromptu picnic in the park. We ended up having to finish our meal in the back of Michael's SUV due to the chilly wind, but it was still a fun adventure. 

It's days like this that remind me that spring is around the corner and I cannot wait to store away our coats and take advantage of more hours of sunlight.

Here are a few pictures from the evening:

Finishing up our "picnic" in daddy's truck

Our not so terrific kid

Of course it's only appropriate that I follow a post about Gray receiving an award with a post about some trouble we're having with Roxy.

As I've discussed here before, Roxy has issues with guarding things and aggressive behavior that we've dealt with for nearly her entire life (going on 8 years now).

We've learned the signs and try to prevent episodes or diffuse them, plus we've been trying some new training techniques over the last several months after noticing she was getting worse.

The training helped briefly, but over time hasn't decreased her need to guard things around the house. She's also bitten Michael several times recently which isn't helping matters. Fast forward to last Sunday and Roxy swiped at and bit Grayson unprovoked and we were at our wits' end. Luckily, she just grazed him, but that wasn't the point.

Michael was able to get in to see the vet on Monday morning and we showed him a video of her guarding/aggression episode. He told us he thinks she has behavior issues but isn't an aggressive dog overall.

He prescribed her some anti-depressants and promised we'd see a change within a couple of weeks. The goal isn't to medicate her forever, but to do so long enough to make her more open to the training and to change her aggressive habits.

The vet is confident her issues can be reversed and I'm hoping that's true...for all our sake.

Our Terrific Kid

On Friday, Gray was recognized as a "Terrific Kid," which is a student recognition program developed by our local Kiwanis Club.

Earlier in the week we received a letter from the school counselor telling us that Gray had been nominated by his pre-K teacher and that he was going to be recognized at a special breakfast and school assembly this week.

Michael asked the teacher more about how Gray was selected and she said, "This month the award focuses on the characteristic of friendliness, and who better to receive that than Grayson?"

Of course, that made my heart melt, meanwhile Michael was relieved it wasn't some default award that every kid gets, kind of like getting a participation trophy for playing a sport. Apparently he has a point of view on these things that I was not aware of until this parental milestone arose (note to self, don't get him started on his soap box when it comes to participation awards and how he feels it sends children the wrong message).

Anyway, fast forward to Friday and we joined kids from other grades and their proud parents as they ate donuts and posed for a picture for our local newspaper.

Here's a group shot of the students from each grade level who received an award. Can you spot Gray? He's on the second row on the left.

Grandmama even woke up before sunrise to make the trip down to attend the assembly.

When they called Gray's name in the assembly to come up and receive his certificate as the pre-K honoree, I think he was more excited about running through a tunnel of 5th graders holding their arms up like an archway. I captured a quick video with my phone so I hope you can see the skinny red blur running through the human tunnel.

When it was all over we gushed to him about how proud we were and all he could ask was if he could run through the tunnel again. Guess that means he's not expecting me to frame his certificate.

NYC Getaway

Michael and I spent this past weekend enjoying a whirlwind trip to New York City. I had to go for a work conference, while Michael spent time catching up with one of his best friends and exploring the city on foot.

Between getting spoiled by my dad and in-laws, Grayson didn't even have a chance to miss us and may not have even noticed we were gone. Roxy, on the other hand, got shipped off to the doggie spa around the corner and couldn't wait to get back home.

We have several friends and relatives in NYC and unfortunately didn't have time to catch up with everyone, but did manage to grab a quick drink with my cousin Amanda one night after work. We also reconnected with one of our college friends, Aron, whom we haven't seen in more than five years.

Aron is a foodie and gave us wonderful restaurant recommendations which (since I was sitting in a conference room for several days) became some of my favorite memories of the trip. We ate steaks at Anthony Bourdain's restaurant, Les Halles, and also indulged in a burger and fries from the Shake Shack that's located in a park close to where we were staying.

I only had one afternoon free so we spent it meandering around the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Michael had never been there before and I haven't been since high school.

The Met is so overwhelming and wonderful all at the same time and it was fun seeing Michael's reaction to it all. Our friend Aron came with us and played tour guide so we wouldn't miss any of the must-see exhibits.

We don't have a lot of photos to show for our trip, but I've gathered a few bits and pieces from our cell phones.

Aron & Mikey, long-lost design soul mates

When you get these two together they love to geek out on design discussion, like analyzing the letterforms in this logo. 

Michael has always wanted to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, so he took the opportunity to check that off his bucket list. Here are a few shots from that journey.

Saturday was rainy and dreary but perfect for staying indoors. After contemplating life while gazing out of our hotel window, we decided to grab some caffeine and take on the Met. 

The Egyptian gallery was one of my favorite exhibits from my last visit and it equally impressed Michael. It's difficult to capture just how epic this room is, but I tried to take a quick video when we first entered the room. Michael had a perma-grin for several minutes.

Happy Valentine's Day!

After realizing it's been more than two years since we've had professional pictures taken, we decided to do a quick photo session for Valentine's Day. Here are a few shots from our little valentine to you:

This was one of the props the studio had. Gray was eyeing it the whole time so at the end we finally broke down and let him to a few shots on the motorcycle. 

Camo & Cookie Cake

This weekend we went to our cousins Luke and Jack's camo/hunting-themed birthday party. The kiddos got their faces painted in camouflage, played games and enjoyed hot dogs and cookie cake. It was quite the spectacle and lots of fun.

Here's the (almost) 6-year-old Luke striking a pose. I can't believe he's turning 6. 

Holten loved having his face painted and wore his binocular party favor the entire time.

Daddy helping Gray (who insisted on wearing his cowboy gear along with his camo shirt) load a cross bow to shoot at the target.

Here's Luke playing pin the bullet on the deer. Yes, that's what I said. Gray actually won this game by getting it closest to the heart. It may have helped that the target area was right at his height level. 

Some of the kiddos waiting their turn to play the game.

Gray and Jack ready for lunch and some cookie cake!

Cutting Class

I surprised Gray today by taking the afternoon off and picking him up early at daycare. Right as everyone was lying down for nap time, he got to skip out and have a little spontaneous fun with his mommy. 

I feel like I haven't had much quality time with him the last couple of weeks due to several work trips and a slue of late meetings, so I think we both needed some extra time together.  

The weather was too cold to go to the park and every movie theater within a 10-mile radius was only showing PG-13 or R-rated films, so we didn't have a lot of options for indoor fun. He kept asking to go to the mall and play (he loves their little germ infested play area), so I finally decided if that's what he wanted, then that's what we should do. 

We also indulged in some chocolate yogurt and I let him choose the toppings -- sprinkles, M&Ms, Reese's Pieces and gummy bears -- quite the combo. Surprisingly, neither of us had a stomach ache when it was all said and done. 

Gray always wants to get one of the rent-a-strollers at the mall, and every time I remind him that he's too big. Today he climbed in to prove me wrong and realized that only one of his legs would fit. And yes, those are bright orange socks he's wearing (they were used like leggings for his goldfish costume when he was two and now don't even come to his knee and he loves them). 

After our afternoon of fun we came home and had dinner and movie night with daddy. Such a lovely way to get the weekend started!