rough week.

The week following Labor Day was a rough one in the Gough house. Matt was in Chicago for work Tues-Fri, Linc had strep throat and missed three days of school, and the cherry on top was Dunkin undergoing surgery to remove rocks that he'd eaten from his stomach. Whew!

Above pic was Tuesday after I picked Linc up from the school nurse's office. He complained of body aches/headache, no fever. He was napping on the couch and and later developed a fever. By Wednesday morning,, I could tell his throat wasn't right by the sound of his voice so we took him to the doc and found out he had strep throat. He's a great patient. He rested, took his medicine, and recovered in a few days.

Dunkin, on the other hand, had rocks in his stomach in the above picture. Matt & I could feel them before he left on his business trip and we were waiting to see if he'd vomit them up as he'd done a month ago when he ate rocks. Well...he did vomit some of them up, but when he began to refuse food, I took him to the vet. X-ray showed 3 rocks still in his stomach/small intestine. This news brings me to tears and, in a panic, I call Matt out of his meeting to discuss with the vet what to do. After much discussion, surgery proved to be the only safe option.

So, Wednesday afternoon, Dunkin went under the knife, had successful surgery, stayed overnight at the vet and came home on Thursday. A week and a half later, he's still wearing the cone until the staples are removed...just a couple more days to go. Let's hope this is the last of the drama with this puppy (wishful thinking, I know). He's giving us a run for our money...and is using up all of our money!  

The return of Duncone, this time with staples in his belly. 

Forlorn puppy sleeping on the Detroit Tigers pillow and blanket. 

Depressed puppy sleeping with dad. 

We're confident that Dunkin will be back to his usual antics when the cone comes off. He sure likes to test us.

grandparents day.

The kids were thrilled that one of their grandparents was here visiting when Grandparents Day was celebrated at school!

Granny joined Cassidy in her classroom, where the kids played board games and Cass showed Granny around her classroom.

Lincoln introduced Granny to his class pet, a bearded dragon named Thor. He also interviewed her about how school is different today than it when she went to school.

With Thor, the bearded dragon.

Linc interviewing Granny. 

dunkin no-nuts.

It was time, in July, to have our little Dunkin neutered. The procedure went as expected and recovery went well. With the cone around his neck, our very active puppy was docile and a bit forlorn. After about 10 days, the cone came off and his wild personality came right back out.

Duncone. Get it? 

Lincoln and Duncone lying down together.

Cassidy reading to Dunk. Awww...

like father, like son.

Fifth graders have the option of choosing general music, band, or orchestra. Lincoln chose band and is following in his dad's footsteps. He's going to have a go at the saxophone. Matt owns a couple of sax's so we pulled one out of storage, got it into playing shape, and Linc is using it! Can't wait to see how he does with it this year.

It's funny when Linc practices at home, Dunkin isn't quite sure what to make of the loud noises that Linc is making with the sax. He sometimes scoots around the house, army-crawl style and other times he howls along. Precious. 

bridging from daisies to brownies.

Cassidy is continuing with Girl Scouts at school this year and we recently had a bridging ceremony for the girls to move up to the next level. Cassidy moved up from Daisies to Brownies.

Before the bridging ceremony, the troop went to see The Secret Life of Pets to support some learning the girls were doing related to pets. This worked out perfectly since two of the three families got puppies this year!

After the movie, we found a bridge at the outdoor mall and we quickly went through the ceremony in the 100+ degree heat. At least the area was shaded. It so hard to do anything outside here in the summer!

Cassidy ready to walk across the bride in her Daisy vest.

Cassidy receiving her Brownie sash from me.

Cool sash!
With some work on Cassidy's part, the sash will be adorned with new patches, representing new skills she's gained, new things she's learned, and fun activities she's done. 

Proud mom and adorable daughter.

Welcome to Brownies, Cass!

The entire troop on the bridge.

back to school 2016.

As I've said before, we all appreciate the year-round school schedule here in Chandler, AZ. The kids get a 6-week break in the summer, which amounts to more than enough time off, especially with the excessive heat that we experience here. There's only so much swimming a person can do!

So, yeah, the kids started school on July 25th this year and they are looking forward to a great year.

double digits!

Lincoln turned ten last week. Ten. Double digits. How cool is that? He's become such a big kid, a young man. 

We celebrated his birthday with friends from school at one of the local public pools. The kids went from the slides, to the diving boards, to the lazy river, to the whirlpool and then did it all over again, stopping only when we made them to have pizza and brownies. It was a scorching 112 degrees (gotta love AZ!) so it makes sense that they wanted to be in the pool the whole time. 

Birthday brownies.

Bo, Colin, Ava, Lincoln, and Christopher.

 

A major theme for Linc's birthday gifts this year was "baseball". He got a new bat and is currently shopping for a catcher's glove and catcher's gear for himself. He's gonna need a new bag to haul all of this gear around, too!

Little sis and big bro holding the TeenyMates catchers that Cassidy got for Lincoln.
Super cute - Tigers and Diamondbacks catchers!

Linc chose to have his birthday dinner at Olive Garden.
As per usual, he chose a mint chocolate cake. 

Happy birthday, my sweet 10-year-old!