Evie's 4th Birthday

Evie is officially four years old! Nearly five years ago when I found out I was pregnant with a third child, I remember thinking how crazy it was going to be to start over. Abby was in preschool and turning four years old and I had leapt over and dodged all of those crazy hurdles that having a very young one held. I kept thinking that starting over with a baby was going to be crazy and that getting back to that point in my life was going to be another very long and winding road. As it turns out, it wasn't all that long at all. I feel like I blinked and my baby became a preschooler with a huge personality.

For her fourth birthday, we kept it extremely low key. Only Mandy and her brood came with Grandma because we were all sick with the same germs. I didn't want to spread that around to anyone else. (It's been a crazy cold season already.) It was fine because she had a ball. She got lots of fun gifts and I made her the cake she wanted. She is into the Shopkins stuff and wanted Cheeky Chocolate on her cake. Done and done. A fun time was had, which is the most important thing.

So far, at four years old, this girl is like neither of the other kids. She marches to the beat of a different drum, for certain. She started Pre-K early and is in love with it. In fact, she loves it more than Alex or Abby ever did. Socially, she is a butterfly and has soaked up the friend life at school like no other. No tears and only joy when I drop her off every morning. She is my pickiest eater. By far. Fruit is a minimum palette - apples and bananas for the most part. Veggies are just as bad. And breakfast? Not a chance. She hates everything and is very vocal about it. It drives me nuts but I know it won't last forever. She loves to dance, sing, draw, play outside, and can't get enough of the cats. Her best animal friend is Luke. Unless she is at Grandma's house, and then it's Milo and Margie. She loves big and tells everyone she knows this. She finds friends in the strangest places. If you break through her shell, she will tell you that you are her best friend. And it's adorable. She still sleeps in our bed at night, but only after I've gone to sleep. She loves Warm snuggles in the morning and adores her brother and sister.

Evie is a blessing and I love her to pieces. She drives me nuts, but I love her all the more for it. Happy Birthday Evie! We are so blessed to be your mom and dad!

Getting the Cheeky chocolate stuffed animal she wanted.

Cheeky Chocolate Cake (Shopkins)

Evie with Grandma.

Halloween 2016

We had a great Halloween this year. Mostly in part because the temperature was fantastic. I remember growing up and being frozen solid midway through trick-or-treating. This year Alex decided to go as Steve from Minecraft. I made his costume from scratch and it cost me a whopping $5.00. Abby wanted to go as a cowgirl which as easy as her horse riding coach loaned us some chaps and a lasso to make it work. Then Evie wanted to be a witch. She had her heart set on it for months before Halloween. Thanks to Goodwill and the Dollar Tree, her costume was super cheap as well.

And then there was me. I found a neon green wig on clearance for a whole dollar the year before and decided I must use it the next Halloween. I went with a forest fairy. I made the costume from stuff I found at Goodwill and lots of makeup and pantyhose. It was a long job, but I enjoyed doing it. I always say I'd enjoy cosplay if given the right amount of money and time.

The kids got tons of candy and we went out trick-or-treating with Mandy and her kiddos. It was a great night with fun had by all. I sure love this holiday and this year I went a bit overboard with the house decor as well. I even got compliments from people at the school who drive by every day. Fun fun!

Happy 10th Birthday Alex!

 

 

Well...there's no lookin' back now! Alex has officially entered the double digits. I can't believe I have a ten year old. We just officially celebrated his birthday about a week late due to Josh's busy on-call schedule. The plan was to go low key as my days of big parties were at a temporary hiatus. But Kemosabe (that is the name I frequently call Alex) decided to take it upon himself to make his own party. I found out less than twelve hours before his party, that he had invited some of his friends to join us for the party the next day. I got a phone call from a boy in his class and he was asking for our address so he could come. Naturally, I was a bit surprised. I told Alex that this was the ten year old equivalent of throwing a party when your parents are out of town. He got to clean my whole house (including scrubbing the toilet) the next morning as punishment for his crime. Needless to say, I allowed the boys to come because I would have felt horrible turning them away after they went to all the trouble to call. But should he do such a thing in the future, he is going to deal with a much stricter punishment. It was a new one for me. Ha! Oh, and did I mention he wanted the poop emoji for his cake? Yeah...that was also a new one for me. I felt a bit odd decorating a cake with poop. Rolling brown frosting turds out was an experience I won't soon forget.

As for the kid, he's sure coming into his own. Each year I see him grow, I see a bigger and more unique personality. He's got so much zest for school right now. He loves it and raves about it daily. He's into video games, sharks, outdoor life, fishing, football, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and art. He can talk until the cows come home and the teacher agrees. He's got mega-creativity in school and is a straight A student. He reads so much that it was the only "complaint" his teacher had. He wants to read every moment possible in school. She even said it wasn't a bad thing, but just the one thing she has to deal with...if that is the word to use.

This year he had his friends Wesley, Chase, and Koy to celebrate with. Jake and Stephanie came with their herd and of course Grandma. He got lots of toy guns (which he is obsessed with), a cool swimming shark, an electronic pet spider (that Abby found - after much searching on Amazon - and bought for him with her own money), a Halo toy, and a refurbished Xbox 360 (which was super cheap). He was so shocked when he got it that I don't think it fully registered until he opened the box.

I'm so excited to see him grow up and become the fun little dude that he is. He walked up to me the night before his party and asked to go get his hair cut so he could look good for his birthday celebration. The next day, he woke up, dressed really nice, put on deodorant, brushed his teeth and gelled his hair then proceeded to ask me, "Do I look grown up now?" I laughed and gave him a hug. Yep, buddy...you sure do. Happy Birthday to my awesome little man!!!

Because he wanted to do a funny picture and he thought this was fitting. *sigh*

Five Minus One Equals Seven

After the untimely passing of our dear Penny, there was a promise that had to be kept. Abby, being the one that Penny chose as her very own human, wasn't coping with the loss of her baby. She was struggling...badly. Each night, Penny would follow Abby to bed, jump up on her pillow and curl up to sleep with her. That was just how it was. Abby wasn't coping. Tears never stopped, sleep was evaded for hours into the night, and the pain was just getting progressively worse. A promise was made to her that I would get her a kitten to help with the pain she felt. My mom always got me another animal within a few days of losing a pet. It seemed to help.

One day, Josh went a customers house who happened to be fostering three baby kittens. He'd mentioned to her that we were in the market, as it were. Bing, bang, boom...one week later...we chose a kitten. Or...maybe three. Turns out that ol' softie Josh can't bring himself to separate siblings and we adopted the whole litter. So we went from five cats, to four and then up to seven. It's been hectic and a bit stressful as they brought a few things with them to share (in the form of upper respiratory infections). Now I'm in a constant state of drugging our four elderly cats to get them adjusted. But we love the little buggers, so it's all worth it in the end.

Abby? Well, it's not great, but she's better(ish). She still struggles, but the kittens have helped. For some reason, all three of them follow her to bed at night and snuggle with her until she falls asleep. It's a God thing. That's the only explanation I have for it. Healing takes time, and our new kittens are helping. Without further ado, I introduce to you Fiona, Jack, and Dixie. Two girls and a boy. Ain't they just adorable?

Jack

Dixie (left) and Fiona...who (other than the one eye thing) looks just like Penny.

God works in mysterious ways, I tell ya.

Vacation...er....Kind of

Josh finally has gotten the honor of getting ten days of vacation at his job. He started out with three and then moved up to five, finally getting ten. Yay! We had a grand plan of going somewhere exotic this summer and using five of his days. You know, like...within a two hour driving limit. Maybe four? Well, the joys of my surgeries this year made it so that he had to use two of his ten days and so we were left with three days this summer if he still wanted his annual week off during Christmas break. So, instead of going somewhere that required lots of driving, we opted to go to several local places and enjoy some family time. Our first stop was the local zoo. We try to go every year as a family anyways, so this was good timing. The kids always enjoy going, no matter how many times we go. We got my mom (Grandma) to go with us and I think she had a great time too. The kids love having her along for the ride no matter where we are going. And Evie is the age where going places is actually fun. No diapers! Woo-hoo!

If I really looked, I could find a picture like this on this horse every single year. Wouldn't that be a hoot to see?

I had to add this picture because it freaked me out.

 

Our second stop was going to an arcade/mini golf/"amusement" park. It's not a lot of super big rides, but they have a small coaster and lots of rides that kids (and adults) enjoy. And the beauty of it was that the place was deserted when we got there. We pretty much had the entire place to ourselves and rode everything several times. Then it was inside to the arcades. We got so many tickets and the kids exchanged them for lots of goodies. It was a pretty awesome time. Even Josh and I got into this strange game where you knock evil clowns down to get lots of tickets. Our throwing arms were sore for a week!

I'm not a huge selfie fan. But it's a great way to get me in the pictures...as it is very rare.

The next day we went to go to the movies and out to eat at Wendy's. Because with Alex's allergies, we only really have two safe options for eating out. We went to see Secret Life of Pets. Josh slept through half of it, but the kids really enjoyed it. Regardless of the movie quality, it was a great time. Our last thing was to go swimming at our local pool. It was the last weekend it was open and the kids had free passes. So...bonus!

  

I love my son. But ugh...I do get tired of Wendy's and McDonald's.

Of course, our vacation ended on a bad note with the passing of our beloved Penny. (insert massive amounts of sad faces and teardrops here.) So unfortunately, it wasn't the vacation of our dreams. But the time we spent together was wonderful and I am very glad that we did all that we did. I also spent the vacation time taking care of Mandy's many, many beasties. It's always nice going over and feeling like I'm "country" again. Even if it's just for a little while. Next year, we are seriously planning to go somewhere that requires overnight stays. I'm getting excited already!

Feeding the beasties. I really wish goats were in my future.

First Day of School 2016

Well, this wasn't planned. The preschool that Alex and Abby went to ended up shutting down because the teacher moved to another state. Initially, I decided to send Evie to three-year old Pre-K just so she would be able to get some socialization with kids her age. Alex and Abby had each other growing up and we went to Mandy's house on play dates at least twice a week. Evie has just little ol' me all day long when the kids go to school. I'm great and all, but I'm not a three-year old. When I found out that Miss Cindy closed the school, I just settled myself back into having her at home for at least another year until I found a Pre-K class here at their school. One more year with my baby at home all the time. I was okay with that.

Then I got a phone call last Friday. Abby's teacher wanted to see if I would be willing to enroll Evie as a role model for the three-year old Pre-K class where Abby and Alex go to school. They really needed another girl in the class. I was thrown for a loop. But I said we'd go and meet the teacher, take a look at the classroom, and see what Evie thought. Guess what? She was all too happy to go. I enrolled her two days before school started. *sniff* I wasn't ready for that!

So Wednesday was the first day for Abby and Alex and Evie's first day was today. I woke up this morning and did something that I wasn't ready for: I packed three backpacks. Three! Nope. Not ready at all. Abby is in 3rd grade and has the same teacher as last year because she moved up a grade and wanted to have Abby in her class again. Abby was super excited about this as she did the same thing for Kindergarten and 1st grade with Mrs. Dunagan. Alex is in 4th grade and already thinks his teacher is pretty cool. That always makes me happy to hear. Evie already loves her teacher and is more than excited to go back next Monday. She will go to school three hours a day, Monday through Thursday. It feels like a long time to me, but it's only 12 hours a week. (I have to keep telling myself that this is okay. For me...not her.)

As for me? I am supposed to call this my "break" that is "well deserved". It doesn't feel that way. At least not yet. I feel lazy and like I've given up my official "Stay at home mom" title. Supposedly, I'll get my book written faster. But today I cleaned like the Pope was visiting. I thought there would be some form of nerves from Evie, but she didn't even blink. I chalk it up to her spending the last three years going to the school all the time with me as a room mom and all the reasons in between. She knows several of the teachers and I think it just makes her comfortable. I guess I'm in for some adjusting. I hope this transition goes smoother than it is in my head. Mama's struggling.

Alex 4th grade

Abby 3rd grade

Evie Pre-K (3 years old)

Evie with her teacher and happy as a lark.

*sniff, sniff*

Penny

May 22nd 2006, four tiny kittens were born in my parents' barn to a very sick mama kitty. This mama kitty had had several litters of kittens. None of them survived much past the first year. Coyotes, cars, and illness always took their lives before they could even get started. Mama kitty was thin. She was struggling with her own life, but managed to care for her new litter of wee ones to the best of her ability. She was a good mama.

Right around this time, Josh and I moved in with my folks until we could find a place to buy of our own. Until then, I was back home and enjoying the country life while pregnant with Alex. I never thought that Mama kitty's and my own life would be intertwined.

One day, I came home from work in the pouring rain. There in the middle of the driveway was a tiny, helpless black kitten, struggling to move. When I reached it, I knew it was hopeless. It was dying. Mama kitty had been trying to move them and this little one got left behind. At just a few weeks old, I did all I could to save it, but it wasn't meant to be. I searched the barn and found the other three tabby kittens. They were covered in fleas, eyes matted closed, and snot pouring from their noses. Mama kitty was nursing them, but she wasn't moving much. She looked hopeless. I had a moment with her and struggled with what to do. She was so thin and looked as though she was pouring her very last bit of life into those three sick kittens who had almost no hope of living. I made a rash choice. I took them inside and bottle fed them in hopes to give them something extra while their mama struggled. The next day, Mama kitty died.

Three tiny, sickly kittens now were going to die if I didn't intervene. Being pregnant, my hormones were raging lunatics and I decided to do all in my power to save the orphaned kittens. And so began a journey that changed us forever.

Those three little kittens had spunk. They may have been deathly ill, but they did their best to not show it. I took them to the vet and she helped me as many ways as she could to get them better. I bathed them, the water dark brown from flea dirt and blood. I cleaned their eyes, wiped their bottoms like a mama cat so they could potty, and gave them medicine and bottles of milk every two hours. They started to get better, but it was a long, hard road and many months of medicine. We named them Logan, Jasmine and Penny. They stole our hearts. My mom told me to stick them back out in the barn where they belong because Josh and I already had two cats that were a year old - Luke and Leia. She couldn't fathom us having five cats inside. Boy, was she ever wrong.

Penny was the runt of the litter. She struggled the hardest to get better and her left eye never did improve. One day, as I was gently cleaning it, her eye popped right out and flew across the room. Needless to say, I was devastated. I scooped the eye up and took her to the vet. At barely a month old, she went in for surgery to have her eye socket cleaned out and sewed shut. It was risky for her age, but she made it. It took ages to heal and finally one day, she was better. She used to curl up on our chest and purr so loud it felt unreal. Josh and I were hooked. They were ours forever. They were family.

The vet told us that in all rights, those kittens shouldn't have survived. But I truly believe that God sent them to us, just like he sends so many pets our way to love. And those pets love us back. We were warned that they might not live as long as other cats because of such a rocky start to life and poor history with their mama. Logan has diabetes, Jasmine has some sort of horrible bowel disorder, and Penny...well...she never had any other problems. Ten years later, we thought they'd live forever.

Four months ago, Penny began to vomit blood. It was frightening and seeing as how she never vomited, I was scared. I rushed her in and they did a blood panel only to find out that she was hyperthyroid. The vet said it was very common in old cats. Old? She's old?! That came as a shock to me. When did our babies get old? Hyperthyroidism can be controlled with pills but it only extends their life. It could be months. It could be years. Every cat responds differently. I told the vet that her sister Jasmine has vomited every day for years and lost tons of weight. Turns out she had it too.

It was rocky. The meds made her sick to her stomach and we finally (via a friend who's a vet) learned to giver her Pepcid before her meds. It worked! She was back to normal. But then...that's when it started to go bad. She got sick. She had a high fever and was lethargic. A shot of steroids, B12, and a round of antibiotics later, and she was right as rain. Two weeks later she got the same thing. Back to the vet and another drug cocktail later and she was great again. It went on like this four times. Each time, it seemed to be little less serious and I was hopeful - until two weeks ago. She got sick so we started her on meds. This time, it wasn't getting better like before. I took her to the vet yet again and she said that she needed some extra steroids to kickstart her system. She ate well for one day and then the next it was a struggle. This past Saturday, I noticed that she was looking frail. She was trying to eat, but the food kept falling out of her mouth. She acted normal - always meowing and purring. She went to bed with Abby, just like every night, because she chose Abby as her special own human. That night, I said good night to her and she meowed and purred. Sunday morning, Josh woke me up and said that he Penny wasn't moving and that the other cats were hissing at her.

Oh please, God. Not now. That's all I could think.

I rushed her into the emergency vet, a place I'd never been before. Before I left, I woke the kids and through never ending streams of tears, told them that I didn't think Penny was going to make it this time. I watched Abby break into a million pieces that morning. We took pictures, we loved on her, we told her we loved her and we pet her, but she was in so much pain that she couldn't lift her body off the floor.

When the vet came out they rushed her back to get her on oxygen and start a port in her leg for meds. She was critical with very little hope. They told me that they could treat her aggressively and try, but it would cost thousands of dollars and she was so critical that it would probably not work, only causing her to suffer longer. A part of me died when I signed the paper to put her to sleep. I went into the room and they brought her to me. In just the fifteen minutes since we'd arrived, she had gotten worse. She was crying out through painful breaths and couldn't lift her head. I held her paws and kissed her head - rubbing that empty missing eye socket like she always loved. They gave her sedation, so she would fall asleep first, no longer hurting. Then one more syringe and she was gone in seconds.

We buried her as a family at my mom's house. The kids pet her one last time. One last kiss. One last moment. One last goodbye. We wrapped her in a Christmas blanket and prayed over the grave. There wasn't a dry eye there. She was, and always will be, our sweet Penny. Never forgotten - always loved.

Some people don't believe that pets go to heaven when they die. When I became saved 15 years ago, there was a brief moment when I wondered as well. But in a blink of an eye, I knew they were wrong. Some say that animals don't have souls. I don't believe that either. Every single time one of my amazing animals has left this world, they leave me behind a changed person. The pain is almost unbearable when you say goodbye. And I've done it so often that it's hard to believe I'm not used to it.

I know that God takes them home. Maybe they don't have a soul exactly like we do. But that's only because as we care for them and love them, they take a small piece of our own souls for their own. And when they die, we are forever changed. We wonder why it hurts our hearts so badly when they leave. How could it not hurt? They take a piece of our souls with them when they go. And they sit there in Heaven with God, waiting. When we die, and join them, our souls will be whole again. They are a part of us, just as we are a part of them. When they die, we don't just feel broken. We are broken. That's what it is to love them.

And Penny...sweet Penny...she didn't just take a piece of my soul. She took a piece of Abby's, Alex's, Evie's, and Josh's. We loved her and always will. We are broken without her. But she is and always will be what God intended - a perfect blessing.

Rest in peace sweet Penny. We'll love you always. Until we meet again.

Baby Penny - just after her eye surgery.

Penny this year on Abby's bed where she loved the most.