Spelling bee and more

I am so very proud of Kayla! This girl goes after it and gets it, whatever the subject or arena of life.
While keeping up on scripts for two shows, excelling in school and working towards a new belt in karate, this girl studied hard and WON her entire school spelling bee!
She is such an avid reader and wonderful speller that we knew she could do it but we certainly did not expect it!
I have such wonderful friends who came, stayed and cried for her at the end! What an amazing evening and I'm so glad that Chasing Papa was there to share in the moment.

The final two!

We went to Postinos for a nice celebration!

In other news, our little Pack-attack (nickname for Pax. Much preferred by Tim who doesn't approve of "Paxy-bear") is sitting up and getting ready to crawl!
He also has two teeth. Wow and this guy is just about to turn 6 months old!

PR for Over the Garden Wall

Collin's show is wrapping up. He has two recordings left. I'm so glad that I got to see his last session with Elijah.
Watching those two talented guys is always such an amazing treat.
Unfortunately I missed the big PR day, however, when Cartoon Network provided hair and makeup and interviewed the boys for a PR package that will be showing in theaters before kids' movies this summer.
The crew filmed some behind the scenes, catching a song that Coll and Elijah sang together and then took several still shots as well. Tim was there and kept me posted with pictures and updates.
While Collin was pretty nervous, I think it all went pretty well. They have some fabulous actors playing parts on this show and I can't wait to share who when we're allowed to.

The producers of the show were so nice to bring in cupcakes for Collin's 9th birthday!

We are so proud of Collin and happy for him to work on such a creative fun show!

Happy New Years

Our New Year's Eve started off with a bang, errr... a bump actually.
While playing a game in the park next door, Kayla, her friend and Collin decided that throwing leaves at a person would put that person out of the game. It would effectively "kill" that person.
In grabbing a handful of leaves, Collin did not realize that he had a rock in his hand as well and chucked it at Kayla.
Kayla came in with a temple wound that bled- a LOT.
I would have my doubts about the whole situation, but Kayla and her sweet friend vouched for Collin 100%. That aside, we focused on getting Kayla's head cleaned up.
She and I kept our long awaited shopping date and headed out. We had a fantastic time but since her cut kept oozing blood we decided to cut our evening short and head home.
Once home, Tim thought it best to clean her wound with iodine.... which he then proceeded to pour in to her right eye (by total accident of course and to his horror)
He flushed the eye immediately and we threw her in to the shower and called poison control after reading online how serious the situation was.
Poison control told us to keep her eye under the shower water for TWENTY minutes and then to hold a wet towel on it for an hour. If after that hour her eye felt gritty or painful she would need to go to the hospital for a treatment.
Poor Tim felt horrible and Kayla was terrified, but in good old Dean-Wharton fashion the whole event quickly became amusing as we joked about Kayla laying in bed,, blind calling out to Tim, "Fatha... fatha..." and feeling his face with her hands.
Sick... but funny.
Kayla ended up being just fine and I gained a whole new respect for our usually irritating dog, Lucy. She cannot stand to see any of the kids hurt and always cuddles them with her poor ears down when they are crying. She would NOT leave Kayla's side.

Then we watched "Rockin New Year's Eve" on TV and our program cut out right as the ball was to drop in NYC. So we missed that celebration and called it a freakin' night.
Our evening turned in to a WONDERFUL New Year's Day, however.
Pax slept 8 hours, ate then back to sleep til 7:00. He took a nap, pooped (which is a rarity for him) and ate his first food (oatmeal cereal) and loved it. He then laid on the floor taking in book after book, especially loving "Rainbow Fish".
We made dozens of cookies, worked out and we're headed out for an afternoon hike.
Happy New Year!!!

The whole family

Recording

Sometimes life gets so chaotic that I forget to enjoy the reasons WHY it's chaotic.
My Mom made is possible for me to be with the kiddos at their recordings this week and it was SO so fun.
Being in studio is definitely a happy place for me. I love seeing the kids' incredible talent, and I love watching them laugh, learn and create.
And what a treat to work at Cartoon Network. It's an incredible building with wildly talented and awesomely weird people with some super groovy offices.
Original artwork and animation lines the halls and everything is super high-tech. I never realized the creative genius that is behind these shows.
I'm really taking time to look around, see these sites and know these people as these moments are fleeting.

Two peas in a pod

And in looking through old pictures of our beloved Drew, I came across this picture and felt a whole new rush of emotion.
Oh I miss the simple days of Kayla and Emmy. I love my life and my family but there was a beautiful short period of time where my days revolved around these two
beautiful little girls. I miss that time deeply but I'm so grateful that they still have eachother. Kayla looks forward to another long summer visit with Emmy next year.
Emmy is one of the smartest, sweetest most giving girls I know and she gives Kayla a sense of peace and belonging whenever they are together.

Drew drew

My "first baby" Drew went to sleep around 11:30 today after almost 16 years of an incredible doggie life. I miss him so much already and it's surprisingly painful, given that he's spent the last several years with Chris and Kelsey who have been amazing doggie parents.
Memories are flooding me and here are a few of my favorite:

Halloween. Yes I dressed up my dogs. I loved them dearly. We did everything together.

Hiking. Drew was the best hiker, climber, water wader, jumper on earth.

Snow. Drew got so excited when we got a good snow in Colorado. He would bound through it with pure joy.

Drew and Russia. Drew loved to sit on Russia like this and it made us laugh every time.

How I held him like a baby. If I was home, Drew was in my lap or being carried around- his lower legs wrapped around my waist facing me. :)

And here he is in his last hour on this earth and I'm so glad I got to share it with him.

The kids were with him too and Collin took it so very hard.

I will always remember Drew's energy, his pure love for his owners, his carsickness and how he threw up on Russia in the car once. I'll remember his fear of thunderstorms and his love of chasing rabbits. I'll remember when he first snapped at somebody and it's because he thought he was protecting his pregnant momma (me with Kayla). Oh Drew, I miss you so.