2008

Merry Christmas! This was the year of the big wheel. Granma and Pop Pop got all the grandkids big wheels and they were a huge hit. Thank goodness for my open floorplan as they were tested in the house Christmas Eve.

We are gearing up for Toddler New Year's here with the ball drop at 7pm. Last year was our first one and it was a big hit so we are doing it again this year. More later, company calls...

Missing Mama

Sunday afternoon, Jayden and I had to take Mama to the emergency vet and say goodbye. She had been declining slowly over the last year, but tanked in the last couple weeks. Jayden was a real trooper through it all. I am thankful that at 3 1/2 he does not totally get it.

Mama was a great dog. A rescue greyhound who absolutely loved to run. She was pushy and fun, not typical greyhound as she would happily greet anyone who came through the door. She was bestest buddies with Willie and now they are together. She'll be running the fields of heaven in huge circles with a huge smile on her face.

As for Jayden and me, we'll be walking through the door for some time to come and exclaiming "Mama not here. Hi Mater. Esau! Esau so cute".

Absentee blogger

I know I have been absent for quite some time..oops. It was not my intent. It's been a little bit hectic here and I've been reading some intense books, which have required a lot of processing on my part.

So in the last couple months, my division was acquired by another company. It has been an interesting process to state it the most positive way I know how. I won't go into here.

Jayden is now completely potty trained, including night trained! He is growing up so fast, it's sort of freaky. He is doing really well at daycare/school. He is doing preschool with Claudia and I am amazed at how she can gently push and stretch him into new things. He's quite a chatter box and is mastering both languages.

The new kitten, we retrieved from under the neighbor's car, has been a great addition to the family. Esau is going to be a huge cat. At six months, he is taller and longer than Mandu. He's got a lot of dog-like characteristics and follows us EVERYWHERE. He's also been really good for Mandu, who after Esau appeared, really perked up. I think Mandu really missed Willie.

November is going to be really busy so it may be December before I post again. We're off to Boston, Nashville and Cleveland this month!

Worth checking out

http://www.facesoftheforgotten.org/index.html

Please check this out and add the plug in to Google Earth. It intergrates information about the plight of orphaned and trafficked children around the world into Google Earth. Also lots of information about organizations working in each country.

Gotcha Day

Introducing Eva Joy... she is the daughter of some great friends of mine. They are currently in Viet Nam.

bostwick.wordpress.com

Jayden and I can't wait to meet her!

Extraneous Commentor

I blew away my previous post as I had a commentor I didn't know comment. Oh the joys. Basically it was about my company getting purchased and someone, who is not enjoying their time at the new company, had information to share.

I had a link to the news story so that is my guess on how my little blog was even discovered.

It's going to be an interesting couple of months as we all "transition". We all get that our group is going to be split across the organization. I just think that's the hardest part for all of us to swallow in the transition.

Well there has been a request to play CARS so I must go. Then we're off to get Granma and see "the people" (that's another post).

Crawled under the neighbor's Yukon

and pulled this out...

Book Series

http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1215093161/ref=sr_pg_2?ie=UTF8&rs=&keywords=My%20Favorite%20Verses&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3AMy%20Favorite%20Verses&page=2

The Armor of God (My Favorite Verses) (Hardcover)by Dandi Dailey Mackall (Author), Jenny B. Harris (Author)

I stumbled across the "My Favorite Verses" Series several weeks ago and have ordered four titles so far. These are great books for the 3 - 7 set. They read rythmically and tell a story interwoven with Scripture. We'll have the whole set shortly because Mommy is hooked.

Know any other great books for the 3-7 set...please let me know.

104 and sweating

You can't read it really well in the small version but the temperature at the ball field on Saturday was 104! We made it through several innings and then called it an evening. Jayden spent the game with his hands over his ears...he was so sweaty that his fingers were pruney, like he had been in the tub too long.

The fire truck came to visit school which was great fun. They got to climb up and check out the truck - it was only 99 that day.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

Happy Birthday Jayden!

please pray for the Chapmans

Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter, Maria passed away yesterday. Please pray for their family. They are some of the most incredible people.

New McQueen Sunglasses

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Jayden and Matthew saying "cheese". I'm not really sure why we went for full blown cheesy but he did actually try to smile for the camera.

Taking in the game...

Watching the Durham Bulls practice...

I decided to get Jayden and myself a mini-plan for the Durham Bulls baseball team this year. This is our second game (out of 10) and we have so much fun. It poured down rain so this game was delayed and we were able to watch the players warm up. Matthew and Berna decided to join us for our big Mother's day outing.

Jayden is officially potty trained which is very exciting. So far he is not one of those kids who needs to visit every toilet in a new location. He hates the loud ones that pump a ton of water through...you know the high speed ones I'm talking about.

He now gets to choose his underwear. I pulled out three pair the other day, pair one had trucks on it, pair two had soccer balls and pair three were plain. He just had to wear the "plane" ones and now asks for his airplane underwear. Plain white briefs are all the rage with pilots you know.

He's talking up a storm in both English and Spanish these days. I'm learning a little bit along the way...he'll teach me I just know it.

Mater...as in Tow Mater

Yesterday, Mater received his first haircut and looks like a new dog. All the orange hair is gone and he has one of the softest coats ever.

Jayden is in need of some attending, okay discipline. More later...

Day at the Zoo

It's been a busy couple weeks. We went to the zoo a few weeks back. The NC Zoo is big (5 miles of trails). We only did half of it and Jayden walked it all.

We also brought home a new dog. I'll post pictures soon. Mater, as he is now known, is a 5 year old Springer. Different in personality than Willie, but still has a lot of the characteristics that I love about the breed...this is what I was looking for. He is the scale model, much more compact. He was horribly neglected by someone who inherited him and that owner turned him over to animal control when given the option of doing that or having charges brought up against them. He is almost fully recovered and has gained weight. He has hair now (yes, the poor guy was pretty much bald) so he's looking better and feeling better each day. His personality is coming out more and more as he gets to know us. He knows sit, stay, down, speak, etc. I think all in all he'll be a good fit for Jayden and myself.

Deceptively Delicious...Just Deceptive

So I did get a copy of the cookbook, Deceptively Delicious for Christmas. We've even tried a couple recipes, but maybe I've gone a little too far.

I was sick a couple weeks ago and asked my brother to pick me up some ice cream on his way over. He showed up with ice cream and cones (not totally sure why the cones). I left them sitting on the table. A few nights later they caught Jayden's attention and he asked for ice cream. I said "no, you have to finish your dinner". He started his faux tantrum... fake crying but with a smirk on his face...drama but no real umph behind it.

I took a cone and filled it with mashed potatoes...the response...'mmmmmmmmm, thank you Mommy". Please no one break the news that ice cream is supposed to be cold.

It's far too quiet

So I really miss my dog. I'm not quite capable of talking about him yet without getting all emotional which is so not like me. It's so quiet and I don't have a personal escort to every part of the house. I don't trip over a dog while carrying a pile of laundry. I have to go to the bathroom by myself. There is no gently shaking bed (panting induced). There is no more loyal buddy.

It's amazing how you learn after they are gone, how integrated into your life they really are. I haven't lost anyone super close to me, in a way he's the first. I realize, comprehend and get that he was "only a dog", but he was my dog. He was very faithful and compassionate. He exhibited characteristics that made it so easy to have "Wisdom from Willie".

The picture I have to keep in my head is that he is now up at the pearly gates, barking everytime someone rings the bell at the pearly gates, greeting everyone... he must be driving Peter nuts by now! ;-)

Goodbye Old Friend

Wednesday, February 13, I had to say goodbye to my beloved Willie. He was the most amazing dog. I won't write much about him now (I'm at work and still not able to hold it together to talk about him). I miss him so much, but know that he is out of the pain he was so stoically handling.

Happy Birthday Willie

My beloved pup, Willie, had his 15th birthday this past week. I used to joke around that in my house we have a 14 year minimum agreement, but now I've had a full year of bonus time.

He's really starting to slow down and more often than not, I have to carry him downstairs in the morning until he can get all his joints working. He still has to be in the middle of the action, although now he's more content to watch the activity. He can't hear and his sight is starting to go, but the nose is still fully functional along with the ever-present Springer appetite.

Willie, you are a great dog. Happy 15!

Do I get points for effort?

This was the best of the bunch of attempts at a Christmas family picture. Mandu is somewhere under the tree, but we at least got everyone in the picture. I didn't get a Christmas letter out this year...I did pictures printed so that Grandma and Grandpa could split them with me...Grandma accidently took the whole batch home and threw them out...oops.

The holidays were a whirlwind. We had six events in a week and are just now settling back into some sort of a routine. We also had a couple visits to the vet...I had prepared myself that this was it for Willie and I would have to say goodbye but the vet figured out what was causing his pain and we decided to try a new medication. He's doing much better. I am anticipating "the decision" to be in the summer. He'll be 15 in a few weeks and has been an amazing dog. Mama also made a trip and is now on fluid treatments - think IV hanging from the kitchen light fixture. Since she has such a deep rib cage, the fluids which are administered under the skin, follow gravity and make their way to bottom of her chest...I refer to it as her temporary saline implants, about a 1/2 hour later her body absorbs everything and we're back to normal, but much happier.



On Christmas day, Matthew, Berna, Claudia (Jayden's teacher), and two of her sons came for the dinner. It was absolutely wonderful...games, puzzles and great conversation.



For New Year's I decided to throw a toddler New Year...that would be a count down to 7:30. We made a string mache ball (ran out of time to cover in glitter), got plastic stem ware and sparkling grape juice for the toast, and noise makers. It ended up being a lot of fun.