Back at Last!

Yay! I'm finally coming out of my post-tax season funk (I'm getting too old for those 80-hour weeks!) Many have asked, and yes, we have our new puppy! We adopted Phoenix from the Humane Society through his puppy foster mom, Donna. This little puppy is living up to his name because he has brought so much joy and healing to our family.

Shiloh and Emily meet Phoenix

Shiloh loves his new "brother!"

All the rules about "no dogs on my bed or on the furniture" just flew right out the window!

Phoenix thinks my hair is a chew toy!

Tax season went quickly, but unfortunately it's not over yet. Due to flooding in many counties of Missouri (including St. Louis County), the IRS has given everyone in those counties an extension until May 19th. This made for a slightly less chaotic last few days before April 15th, but only means we'll be working more hours before May 19th.

Katie's in Carlinville, Illinois this week with her high school for a competition-type event. She wasn't too excited about it, but it will be good experience for her. Next week Emily heads off to Potosi, Missouri (about 2 hours from here) for 6th grade camp. She's very excited about that!

Yesterday I bit the bullet and mowed the front and back yards. I haven't done yard work since I lived with my parents. What a great workout! I'm looking forward to planting flowers and making our outdoors a fun place to be (which it never really was before).

We have new neighbors from Samoa! Is that cool or what? The girls adore our doggies. It's nice to have a neighbor to hang over the fence with (all our other neighbors are mostly retirees). This evening they described their big yard with a mango tree back on the island. How cool would that be!?

Introducing.....

....our soon-to-be new family member, Phoenix!!

He's a foster puppy that was rescued from recent flooding in southern Missouri. He'll be available next week. We have been talking about getting a second dog for some time. I had hoped to get a dachschund, but who could resist this little guy? (the one on the top here)

Katie, Emily, and I went through several names but the deal was we all three had to agree. Some of the names were Edward, Snuggles, Parmesan, Mocha. Katie took a survey on her favorite posting site, Megaglomp.

I thought it was interesting that the only name we all agreed on was Phoenix. No, not after the city, but the symbolism of the mythological bird arising from the ashes---> rebirth, a new beginning. This little puppy is symbolic of our new start.

Isn't he adorable? We'll pick him up on April 19th.

Hard to believe there's only one week left of tax season. It has FLOWN BY!!!