I'm a Dog Watcher...

...I'm a dog watcher. Watching dogs by, my my my.

If you didnt sing the title and the first sentence to the tune of "I'm a Girl Watcher," then you must go back and sing it.

This dog is my shadow.  He loves his mom. :)

------------------------------------------------------------

If this doesnt bother you...

dog scratches all along door- I have to repaint this door every month.

...then you need a dog

If this doesnt bother you...

Doggy footrprints

...then you need a dog

If you have read my blog for any length of time, you know that my boys, my parents, one of my brothers, and I are slightly in love with the canine species.  (You may say, "but Hannah, you have two brothers."  And, while I do in fact have two brothers, one brother has the dog obsession gene and the other... Zach, has a normal liking of dogs.  And, Zach, I am not slamming you... just stating a fact.  He does like dogs but has what society would call a normal appreciation.

Total joy from person to pups

Anyway, first let me give you an update on my pig Molly Schwein.  I posted about her unfortunate run-in with my dog nephew, Riggs.  After a few weeks at GrandmaDean's ICU for stuffed animals she has made a great recovery and is now back at home. She had some skin grafts done and has some scarring but she is home.  When we have dog visitors, she resides under Hunter's covers.

Before pic

All fixed- thank you GrandmaDean

Second, I got to dog sit my parents dogs for 4 days while they went to the beach.  It is quite an honor to be trusted with my parents dogs.  Ol Eddie is just that... old.  My parents go above and beyond to care for his aging body giving him pain meds and vitamins and specific feeding.  And then there is Isla Maria, Moses litter mate.  She is balances out Moses' goofiness.  I seriously had such a fun time having 3 dog and 4 kids in my little house.  It is messy and dirty but I loved it.  I tried to convince Chad that 2 more dogs would be an easy transition but he quickly squashed that idea.  :/

Isla giving me some kisses.  She is a licker. 

The week before Isla and Eddie came, Riggs and Moses had been on the hunt for moles that were tunneling under our wood pallet patio.  They did minimal destruction and as most men, lost interest in small amount of time.

Love this- amazing doggies

Enter Isla.  Isla, the great.  Isla absolutely destroyed my patio area.  She lifted pallets with her nose, scratched up monkey grass, overturned chairs, tossed dirt all over the place.  She would lay in wait for a mole to appear.  Needless to say, she had a ball.

The hunt is on (sing to The Heat is On)

vigilant

Eddie loved his sister's hard work and the fresh, cool dirt

Though she made a mess, it cleaned up rather quickly.  Plus, I had been meaning to move some of that monkey grass around anyway.

The destruction

and again

And lastly, this probably deserves a post of its own but I want to throw out a huge thank you to my baby brother, Nolan.  He told me last spring that he was looking to buy a new car and when he did, he would just give us his old 4Runner.  I thought he was joking, but after talking to mom, realized he was serious.  God and His timing are always spot on.  Chad's old SUV died a couple months ago and two weeks after that, Nolan bought his new car and gave us his old one.  Nolan said that mom and dad bought that car for him and so he didnt feel right selling it plus we watch Riggs all the time (let me add that though I refuse to take money from Nolan for watching Riggs, Nols has found creative ways to "pay" me, ie, jewelry, Chick-fil-A, gift cards.) Though it feels kind of weird for my baby brother to give me a car, we are so appreciative.  Car or not, I would watch my Riggsy boy any time.   Thanks again Nolan!

Our "new to us" car.  Yes, it is 13 years old and has over 200,000 miles but we are hopeful he will run for years and years and years.  Oh and Nolan, you asked about the headlights and Chad told me someone at work offered to clean them so as usual, you were right when you said they looked cleaner.  

One more thing, just a plug for adopting vs buying a dog.  If you are looking for a dog, check your local shelters- all of my childhood dogs and my family's current dogs have come from a pound or a rescue facility.  There is nothing like a rescue dog!  They are the best.

SmAsh's 9th

Ashton has grown up a lot this year.  He is really starting to shine- getting a cool confidence about him.

He is still a people person and is most happy when in the center of a crowd.  Where most kids are scared talking in front of people, he looks forward to it.  Ashton decided to run for student council this year and won for his class.  He had to give a speech and he loved every minute of it.  He is definitely not shy.

Sports continue to be his real passion.  Though he has favorite sports, he will never turn down an invitation to play any game.  Most of the time, his sportsmanship is good, occasionally he will fall a part over a game (board games seem to cause more angst then sports games.)

Ashton still wins the award for the biggest pest in the house.  He can drive Hunter crazy.  He can make Shepherd whine. And he can cause Bennett to go into a complete meltdown.  Even Moses has to sometimes just walk away from him because he is quite intense.

I love that Ashton is the only one of the boys who will let me kiss him goodnight without cringing or wiping it off (besides Bennett, Bennett gives kisses pretty freely.)  He will curl up beside me or Chad when watching TV.  He is very touchy, a lot of times this causes fights with his brothers because he just taps them and they haul off and hit him... then, it is on.  Ashton will be the last one standing and will take the cheap shot to win the battle.

Singing Happy Birthday

Big 9 year old blowing out his candles!

Ashton had his first surgery this year- had to have an extra tooth surgically removed.  We were not sure if his permanent, top tooth was going to come down by itself, but thankfully, after 10 months, the tooth popped through.  So happy he is no longer a snaggle tooth.

We celebrated the birthday boy right after school.  He quicky unwrapped his gifts.  We gave him his main present this summer (a cell phone.)  He gave it to him early because the company we use was changing plans and I wanted to be grandfathered in on the old style plan.  I gave Ashton the choice to wait or get the phone early (knowing that he would not be getting anything else on his day if he picked early.)  No big surprise in that he picked to start using the phone in July.  :)  I went ahead and rewrapped the phone though.  He expression was funny.

Opening his phone for the second time.

He loves his phone and uses his phone way more than Hunter uses his own phone.  

Though I said he would not get anything else, i caved a bit and got him a couple Florida shirts (here he is doing the Florida chomp.  We also gave him a big checker board (like what they sale at Cracker Barrel), but this was actually something GrandmaDean just recently found in her attic, so I guess I re-gifted.) haha

Ashton, I love you so much.  You make me so proud from the good things the teachers at school say about you to your passion and drive in sports.  You are truly something special.

Ash and Mosie

Some things about you.
-You love to eat chicken pot pie- you are the only member of this family (your dad included) that has never cringed over dinner.  You will always eat what I put in front of you... Thank you!
-You still love watching football- your fave teams are the same (U of Florida, Clemson, Bama) except you thankfully hate Ohio State now and love West Virginia U.

The cake before Bennett snuck in and ate the corner. :/

-You love to play games and take pictures with your phone.
-You have really started loving dogs and animals this year.  Before this year, you liked them, but you have really developed a love for them... Moses has that effect on our family ;)
- You have been gifted with much, remember to Whom you belong.
- You weigh about 55 lbs (skinny as a rail) and are 53" tall (you so wanted to hit 54" so you could ride the big coasters at Carowinds, but now you have to wait until next year.)  You can wear an 8 or 10 top, and 8 slim pants.  Shoe size is 4.5.

When you were little you loved to help me.  Unfortunately, now, you act like I ask you to do impossible things when I ask you to help your brothers pick up their mess.  I want you to always remember that serving others is a way that we serve our Father.  We need to not only serve but serve with a joy-filled heart.  Life is sooo much better when we have a good attitude (I say this to myself as well.)

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."  Ephesiens 4:2

Ashton loves a good selfie!

I hope you have an amazing 9th birthday!  You are pretty awesome!!!

Love you SmAsh mouth!
~Mom

Hall of Fame Induction

Soccer has always been my passion. I started playing in 4th grade and it never got old.  I wasnt one to burn out.  I just wanted to play.

After my last high school season, I knew that I didnt want my playing career to be over.  I also knew that I wanted to go into a program and make an immediate impact- no sitting the bench or waiting my turn.  Concord University was the perfect fit.  My family lived in WV at the time so I wanted to stay at an in-state school for the cheaper tuition.

Coach Steve Barrett was brand new to Concord when we stopped in (in 1999), out of the blue, to check out the campus.  Turns out, I was his first recruit.

My Ashton loved how they called me Ashton-Smith.  Since I got married my summer before my senior year, I decided to hyphenate my last name for soccer stuff for name recognition. 

Saturday, I was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame.  I feel kind of braggy saying that.  I was very surprised this past spring when I got a call from the athletic director at CU saying that I had been nominated and voted in to be a 2016 inductee.  I always knew that I was a pretty good player, but I never imagined when I walked on the Concord soccer field in 2000 that my career would end with this award.

Thank you to all the family that made the trek up to CU this weekend.  My mom and dad and grandma drove up with the boys and me Friday night.  We stayed in a quaint little lodge (thanks for paying mom and dad).  My in-laws and Chad drove up early Saturday morning for the reception.  And, Sandee and her family were able to come up as well for the game.  (Also, thanks to mom and my mother-in-law for taking over camera duty.  I am normally the one wearing the camera so thank you for documenting this event for me. And thanks to GrandmaDean for watching the boys during the very long reception.)

The reception was at 9:30.  I asked my dad to be my presenter and he gave a nice speech and even teared up at the end.  I had no idea that I had to speak until we got there... I had to wing it.  Turns out my mannerisms are very similar to my father.

 This series of pics makes me laugh.  I had no idea I talked with hands!!!

Brunch- definitely Shep's favorite part.

2016 Inductees

The plaque that will hang in the athletic center.

 Homecoming football started at 1:00.  It was so hot... too hot for an October football game in WV.

Where these kiddos got their start

waiting for my name to be called

The boys and the girls

Sandee and her family

My crew

Crazy to think that us 4 stood right here 15 years ago... Chad was playing his last year at Concord and Tommy was playing his first.  A lot has changed!

 Let me just add, WV is really one of the prettiest places on the east coast.  I had forgotten how gorgeous it is... especially this time of year.

By the lake at the lodge he stayed in

So pretty.

I am so thankful that God's sovereign hand steered me to Concord.  A lot of good came out of these mountains!