Blue Armstrong

I hope you're sitting down. Got some sad news. Our crazy, rambunctious, lovable 4-year old puppy, Blue, has been diagnosed with Lymphoma. That's cancer, people. We're very sad. He had been acting strange lately - sometimes not eating, sleeping in weird places, not coming up when the girls were playing.... We took him to Topeka a couple weeks ago and he was his normal crazy, energetic self - but when he came home he hit a wall, refusing to eat and sleeping in the basement 24-hrs a day - VERY un-Bluelike. Our vet ran some tests and diagnosed him with Lymphoma. He recommended we meet with an oncologist - because of his age, Blue is a good candidate for chemo treatment. Last Friday, Blue, Mark, my Dad, and I made an appointment at the Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center. They told us that with the Chemo, Blue had a likelihood of living 12-24 months - but there are examples of dogs being cured of the disease (hence the name "Blue Armstrong" - like "Lance Armstrong's" miraculous story of how he beat cancer). Unfortunately, from the tests, they could tell that Blue has a mass near his heart, which lowers his prognosis to 6-9 months. To date, he has had his first chemo treatment and goes in again on Monday. He's also been taking a steroid that makes him eat and drink a lot - which is great. I can tell he's not his old self and is tired all the time. But at least he's not sleeping in the basement anymore. We love our Blue Boy and will keep you posted on his progress! Poor puppy.
Although, I kind of feel sorry for the cancer. If it saw what Blue had done to our couch as a puppy - ripping it to shreds AND moving it diagonally in the room in a couple hours, it definitely would have chosen another host!!! Blue is a FIGHTER!!! Or as our dog trainer said "uh, he IS a defiant one, isn't he?" Yes, crazy dog lady, he IS a defiant one!!!

A Cow Says Moooooooooooooooooo!

The "See and Say" - popularized by Mattel in 1965. Still relevant today in the Starr household.

Life is a Highway

Here are three videos I took Sunday at the Kansas Speedway. I know my nephew, James, is a "Cars" junkie and I thought he'd appreciate them.

This one shows the cars going slow after a crash in the first few laps.


This second video shows how loud and fast the cars go around the track. What a rush!


Okay, look in the middle of this video and you'll see the Best Buy car #19 come in for a pit stop. In and out in 23 seconds!!!

The Weekend of Activities

Here are our extremely selfish photos (without the girls) from this weekend.... Mark went to the KSU/Iowa State game on Saturday at Arrowhead. He met up with our old buddy Carlos and his girlfriend! Always great when Carlos comes to town!
I got tickets to the big NASCAR race this weekend. Sprint sponsors NASCAR, so they rolled out the red carpet. It was awesome!
Did I mention we had good seats?

Here's #99 Carl Edwards from Columbia, MO on pit row before the race! He's on crutches due to a nasty frisbee accident - as a result he pretty much stunk it up in the race, but we still love him.

This is some rookie driver. He's like 18 years old and had his Mom there with him. But he was my co-worker's driver, so here we are.

We snuck through the garage.....I asked a dude for extra krums. He wasn't amused.
This is what I really hate about NASCAR - they'll let ANYONE in. Look at this turkey!

Ah - the loving Jayhawk. Spreading cheer and good will to man.

Seriously? These guys were sponsored by one of Sprint's brands - Boost Mobile. They were NUTS.

My friend Amanda and me posing in front of the fancy trophy. Much nicer than the one I got playing for the Starlets in 1st grade. What a great weekend. Now we need our sleep! Oh, and I promise to post pics of the girls soon!

Happy Birthday Painting!

In honor of James' 3rd birthday, I painted this underwater submarine scene. Hope he likes it!

Happy Birthday, James!!!

Happy Birthday Marko!

Alphabet Pasta

Today I wanted to make the girls something unique for dinner. Low and behold I remembered I had bought some alphabet pasta a while back, and I also happened to see a fresh new jar of Cascone's Marinara in the cabinet. And voila...Iris & Nora's Alphabet Pasta for dinner tonight. Consider it a much better version of Spaghetti O's.

Vacation Week at the Lake

Nora and Grumpy getting ready for the first-ever boat ride.

Iris with her FBO on...

Mom and the girls prepping for the boat ride.

A little breakfast first.

The family unit hitting the lake for the first time together.

Iris and mom. Iris unsure.

Dad and Nora. Nora taking it well.

Mommies idea -- not mine!

More dining at the lake. How happy can you be?

Talk to the foot because the face ain't listening.

Blue and Chili keeping an eye on the squirrels for Bubba.

Nora in the lake with mommy.

Iris and Nana going Hawaiian.

We drank the Creme Brulee Stout and I drank the Cherry beer.

Nana's amazing BBQ chicken. Someone already tested it.

Fashion Show, Pt. 1

Who doesn't like a good fashion show? Iris and Nora sure do, and here they are to show you what's hot in baby fashion this year. Iris is wearing her new sunglasses by an undisclosed designer (let's just say it's a big one), and Nora is leading the pack in her tutu that Aunt Linda and Uncle Gene bought them earlier in the year. Sit back and enjoy the show...

The future's so bright...she's gotta wear shades.

Nora likes to do her little move on the catwalk.

The catwalk is a little narrow here.

This summer, the action figure is the ideal accessory.

Girl, you better work it!

Daddy, I've had enough of your fashion show.

Curls for girls are definitely in this season.

Seriously dad, don't make me tell you again. Let a playa play.