Twin boys

Okay, so, Curt & I went and did something C-R-A-Z-Y last week. We both always said we'd never have another dog (well, pet of any kind) after our yellow lab Roofus. He was an INSANELY smart dog. He knew ALL the tricks. BUT, he was a total freak. He was beyond hyper, he was obsessive compulsive, and he chewed. Everything. As he got older, he didn't settle down. He was NUTS!

Well, Curt would now like to thank Jeremy White for bringing Hank & his dogs out for church a couple weeks ago. Haha! I went to that service (Curt couldn't go with us) and left thinking we needed a dog. Ha! The girls & I teamed up & ambushed him. He couldn't refuse. But, if I'm being honest, it didn't take much convincing at all.

So, I looked around the web & found the perfect dog. (Insert LOOONG dramatic pause.) And his brother. We weren't looking for two, but these guys were SO cute. They had been rescued by a sweet couple that wanted to adopt them out together. I wanted one, so, unfortunately (or not... I haven't decided) we got both. They are half Weimeranar & half Lab.

They have no manners. No, I should really say that they are the most ill-mannered boys around. But, they're smart & learning quickly. They know how to sit now. They also walk on leashes FABULOUSLY, though they were absolute DEAD WEIGHT the first couple times we tried. (They'd never been on a leash. In fact, they didn't even wear collars until us.) I guess they aren't horrid because they don't dig, so that's great.

The couple we rescued them from said they were named Chewy and Shadow by their original owners. The name Chewy should be a dead give away, right? They say it's short for Chewbacca, but I know he was named that for a reason. He IS a chewer. Ay yi yi. We changed the spelling to Chuy, though. You know, like our favorite Mexican restaurant? Ha! And, the rescuers didn't like the name Shadow because they said it was "stupid." He's not gray, so they didn't like it. They changed it to Lukey after Luke Skywalker. Well, I didn't like that, so we changed it to Charley. Curt likes the name Charley A LOT. I'm not sure why. If we'd ever had a son, it would have been a battle over his name. So, his full name is Charley Brown Coffey. :) And, so they have matching initials & because we like to give the dogs full names, Chuy's full name is Chu Bacca Coffey. Haha! (Remember Roofus' full name was Roofus Super Funk Super Pup Coffey? This is better, wouldn't you say?)

So, meet the boys.

Chuy:


Charley:


Charley is standing, Chuy is laying down.
Tell me how cute they are! You know it's true.
Oh, and, by the way, don't judge my photography skills here. They have NO comprehension of the word "stay." (Think: nose to the lens. Ugh.)

A few more from the Counting Crows show...

Okay, first, I want to say thank you all SO much for your really sweet comments! You guys are THE best! Have I said it before? I just love you guys & all your encouragement.

Second, I've got some more shots to share. I combed through the photos again, and I came up with another bunch that I love as much as the first bunch. I'm sure I could go through them another three or four times, too, and come up with even more. Man. SUCH a good time.

Here goes:




And, more from Curt:




Quite possibly my very favorite from him:

Amy hit the atmosphere...

Can I just say I had one of THE coolest experiences this weekend?!? I don't expect I'll have many more like this one.

Do you remember WAY back... over a year ago... when Curt, D. Brown & I went to a private Counting Crows concert at the House of Blues? I was able to take my camera, and I watched the concert through the lens snapping photo after photo? I shared them here: first Counting Crows post. Well, the super fantastic D.Brown has a great friend, Alicia, that works for them. My pictures from that concert made their way to Alicia, and she liked them. She offered me a photo pass to a future concert should I ever want to go & photograph.

So, guess what I did this weekend! That's right! Counting Crows, baby! Alicia was absolutely fantastic and got Curt & I both "working" passes to the September 6th show at the Superpages.com center in Dallas. (Or the Starplex... whatever it's called.) The difference in a media pass & a photo pass is that the media pass only allows you in the pit for the first three songs, but the working pass allows you to stay in the pit for the entire show. The pit? Yeah... it's in FRONT of the front row! In front of the barricade... with the security guys. SO awesome!

We both took TONS of photos. Oh. My. Gosh. We have a billion to sift through, at least. But, these are some of my faves from my first pass through. First, though, is a quick one of Curt & I sitting in the lawn outside the main area waiting for the Counting Crows to come on. It's actually one of those hold your arm out as far as you can & hope it's in focus type of shots. I'm really pleased that it's actually sharp! Haha!
Adam Duritz:
Adam & Dan:
Charlie. And, might I add that I'm pretty sure Curt is his biggest fan. If only Charlie'd known that his biggest fan in the entire world was standing two feet in front of him...


My friend implores me
For one time only...
Her kindness falls like rain
It washes me away...



Playing A Long December. One of these days, I'd like to see Colorblind.


This is probably my favorite of Charlie.
Dave & Adam...


It was so fantastic that Curt was able to shoot the whole time, too, because he got some GREAT shots that I completely missed! Though he'll be working up his own blog post soon, I thought I'd share a few of his here on my blog, as well.


This is my favorite from him:
And, he got some amazingly clean shots of Dan. Check out these last four images:



It was SUCH a good time. Thanks Alicia for allowing us this opportunity!

Apt blog title, eh?

First soccer game...

So, we signed Emma up for soccer this fall. She's never played before, but we figured with her quickness & her competitive streak, she'd do great. And, she does! She seems to LOVE it. It's right up her alley.

She had her very first game this morning, and can I just say that it was one of *THE* cutest stinkin' things I have EVER seen. Oh my gosh. Adorable.

I took my camera, of course! The sun was HARSH, but what can you do. I'm no sports photographer, that's for sure, so these are pretty much just snaps. I just love that you can see the excitement and enjoyment all over her face in many of these. She truly loved it. :)
Waiting for the game to start:
Her first moments in the game. She seemed to be a little unsure of how aggressive to be, but it's obvious that she was enjoying it! I love the excitement on her face. It's funny, too, because it seemed like all the kids were unsure about trying to steal the ball from someone. They'd kind of hesitate almost as if they were trying to be courteous, you know? Too cute!
Finally getting the hang of it. She tried SO hard & did SUCH a great job!
Doesn't she look like a legit soccer player!?! Haha!
Water break:
Her turn as goalie. She didn't see any action. :)
Walking through the tunnel of parents at the end of the game... she obviously enjoyed that!
So, yeah... overall I think she had a GREAT time! I think their team actually won, though they don't officially win or lose, you know? That's a good thing. :) The score was 3-2. Emma attempted many goals, but we need to work on the precision thing just a little. *wink wink*