fun times with friends at the park

spanky

Spanky is our dog, and also our first baby. He will be 14 in November, and over the past 6 months, I've really began to notice his age. He has always been the type of dog who barks when the doorbell rings, when people came he went crazy, and when the big brown delivery truck even came down the street, he would bark at it. The other day we were outside. Spanky was lying on some blankets on the driveway, and the big brown truck stopped at our house! The man even walked up the driveway....still nothing from Spanky. In some ways it's sad to see him age (of course), but i have to admit..it's soooo nice not to have him go crazy all the time.
On a sad note... we took Spanky to the vet tuesday. He has had allergies since he was little and they've worsened lately. He bites and licks his paws till they bleed. Much medicine etc. later, he still ended up with an infection. So he is on an antibiotic and foot soaks. The most shocking thing to me is that he only weighs 11 pounds!!!!! He has weighed around 20 lbs all his life!!!! I knew he was down to 16 lbs about a month ago, bc I weighed him with me at home after he was on an allergy med that made him sick all day everyday. We of course stopped that med. Anyway, that weight at the vet shocked me. How could I not see that he was THAT thin?? Today, he has been on his antibiotic for 2 days now and is starting to act more like himself....he was barking when we came home. I am also feeding him everything and anything ( he's usually on a special food for bladder stones) Yikes, hes been quite a patient over the years, huh He LOVES this canned food from Trader Joes, so I am treating him to that 2 times a day!!! I Love my 'puppy' so much and just want him to be comfortable in his last years!!!

Chase's last day of school

Today is Chase's last day of 3rd grade. Man, has this year flown. I know he still has 2 yrs of elem. school left...but I can't help thinking of the day he must go to junior high...that scares me for some reason. Anyway on a more positive note. I was at my nephew, Andrew's, school for his last annual Hot Dog Day. I have gone since he was in kindergarden!! It was a yearly event that Brooke and I (Chase used to go when he was little) looked forward too. AGAIN ANYWAY....some moms there were saying how next yr their kids will be in jr. high, so they won't be able to be at school much anymore. That got me thinking. I did volunteer in Chase's class once a month and helped out at the parties, but I need to be up there even more. Because once he hits 6th gr. the opportunities will be gone. So, here is my committment to the blogging world......I WILL volunteer once a week at Chase's school next year!!! I want to know more of what goes on in his daily life at school. I want him to know without a doubt that I am interested in him and his friends, his teachers, his school.
Yesterday he brought EVERYTHING from his desk home in his backpack! Today he has a picnic that Brooke and I go to every yr. and that will be it for 3rd grade. He has had the most AWESOME teacher this year!! Thank you Ms. Majino! The first thing Chase wants to do when he gets home (even before he uses the restroom) is play his guitar hero. The song will be "School's out" -of course:) It takes me back to all my last days of school. What an awesome feeling of freedom it was. I just remember there was always a ton of school papers all over the front of the school yard. WELCOME SUMMER!!!!

My baby is NINE!

Chase had his 9th birthday party this weekend. He had a battleon party which is basically a knight and sword party. Here's some pics from the celebration.

The last day

Brooke had her last day of preschool yesterday. It's hard to believe the school yr is over already. They gave us these really precious books with pictures and recipies for the various things they made during the yr. The first pg is a picture of their first day......she looks sooooo young! She has come a long way in many ways since that first day, and I'm reminded just how FAST the time goes. In the meantime, Chase is SOOOOOOOOOO excited for his 9th birthday party this friday. NINE?!! Where did my little boy go???? Brooke is the age that Chase was when I brought her home as a baby. I thougt Chase looked and seemed so big. But now that my last baby is that same age.....I still see her as soo young! Wierd. My friend is struggling with having a new baby and 2 other kids under 5. I know it seems those moments and days will never end at times. But the truth is, they grow up too fast. Soon when our kids are teens and out all the time (they won't want to be home with mom and dad) then, we will be wishing for these young years. Crazy huh. I'm trying to live in each moment.....but boy, is it hard!! My mind is always traveling to the next task. I am starting to ramble now....it's early and I haven't had a diet soda yet. Those of you who know me well, know that that's not good! I'll end for now, but next week is Chase's last day of 3rd grade! Yikes.

no turning back!

Well, it is done! Mike booked our plane tickets to Florida tonight. For those of you who don't know...I don't like to fly over the past few yrs. but we want to visit Mike's dad and Paula and we DON'T WANT TO DRIVE AGAIN!!! My mom is gonna give me some of her Xanax for the flight.....should be interesting. I'm hoping and praying ( and by the way please start praying for me now for the trip too) that just watching how excited the kids are in the plane will help. I actually hope one of them needs the barf bag too, just to pre-occupy my mind....sad, huh!! Seriously, I am praying for PEACE on that day in the plane. I will also be imagining God holding our plane in His hands....gently carrying us over to Florida! I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST!!!

Mother's Tea

This has been a great week for me so far. Monday I got to spend some time in Chase's class, helping with reading. I love going up there, even if it's just 1 time a month. I like to step into his school world every now and then, to better know him and his "life" outside of home. He really has a great school community!!! On Tuesday, I went to Brooke's class for a mother's day tea. It was sooo sweet. They sang us some songs, each child told what they most love about their mom. Brooke said that I wash the dishes and read her bedtime stories. We also had 'tea' and cookies with the kids. At the end of our time together, we were presented with the sweetest gifts made by them! Here's Brooke with the gifts she made me!

Amazing gift

This morning I got a link to a blog from a friend's blog. It is about an amazing gift this family received from God! You MUST read their story, it will change you!!!!!! I sobbed as I read it- so as my friend Kelli warns, have your tissues ready!

This is no joke!

Chase: Mom!! There's a BIG JOKE out here!!
Me: What???
Chase: Spanky made a REALLY big joke out here
Me: Why are you calling his poop a joke?
Chase: That's what dad always says when he sees it!

For those of you who may not get this. Spanky if almost 14 and leaves us little surprises on one certain area of one certain rug. Mike gets sooo sick of it and thinks it's all due to the expensive food we have to feed Spanky for his bladder stones. Mike: all he does is poop more from this food, it's a joke (said VERY sarcasticly). SOOOO everytime he sees Spanky has left us another surprise, He Yells out....What a Joke!

Free Therapy

I have recently learned something about myself at the tender age-ha- of 40. I am an all or nothing kind of gal! For 2 years in a row now I have worked my butt off to lose weight, only to regain it all, and then some!!! Well here I go again, I'm at least 25 pounds overweight, again, so I started watching my deit and also started walking. I LOVE to walk. Usually I take Brooke with me in her stroller, it really intensifies (SP?) the walk. But occasionaly, Like this morning, I go all by myself. I notice the kind of music I listen to when I go by myself is more mellow. I listened to Journey, Foreigner, and Mercy Me among others. I don't even realize I'm walking. It's sooooooo therapuetic to watch nature - the birds, squirels,bunnies, the pretty spring trees and flowers - AWESOME. I feel so close to God on those walks....It truly is MY time to just BE!! Looking back, I see these walks are more than good exercise for my heart, they are good for my soul as well. I encourage you to put on your MP3 and your tennies and just get out there and experience all the LITTLE things that are around us all the time....but we're just to preoccupied to notice...it really is great!!