Well, I think I know why the previous owner of our dog Allie gave her up to the shelter. She has chewed everything she can get her paws/teeth on - clothes, shoes, pillows, rugs, even my raggedy Ann and Andy dolls that I had when I was little! I was most upset about that! See the picture of what's left :o(.. She has plenty of "chewie toys" to keep her busy, but apparently that's not enough for her!

On another note, I have to brag about Austin. He came home today and told me he had won a writing contest. He said he got the award for the best in the whole 6th grade class. His story will be featured on the school bulletin board. I asked him if he did this at school, because I was unaware of any writing contest. He said everyone was required to write something in 1 day (so I guess it really was an assignment instead of a contest??). He wrote it in 45 minutes. They gave a grade-wide topic of "A sad moment in your life" Austin told me he wrote about his Granny. I haven't had the pleasure of reading it yet, but when he brings it home, I'll post it. He gave me a synopsis of his story which was about telling what Granny taught him such as chess, building with legos, and to "think". He also mentioned remembering her to tell him to get off the video games (as he smiled). Then he told about how she was having headaches and then the tragedy that happened. He also told me he wrote about remembering standing next to his PawPaw watching a machine place her into the ground, seeing his grandpa cry and him not knowing what to do. It made my eyes tear up, that's for sure. I can't wait to read it. He also recently won 1 of only 4 awards for band. He had to play a song in front of a judge he didn't know and the judge critiques his playing, hand positions, mouth posture, etc. He received a 99.9%. The picture shows both certificates he received as a result of these accomplishments!

One more day of school for us then we're off for spring break! We'll be staying here and cleaning out my garage and painting the floor of it. Then maybe doing a few other home improvements, or maybe not. I plan to relax and try to catch up on my sleep. haha. That's all for now, more to come.....