2006 - Year in Review

Bit (A) entered the realm of (gulp!) middle school this year. She is now in 6th grade and in the youth group at church. Where has the time gone!?! We tried to convince her that there was a height requirement to get into school and she still needed to grow an inch or two to squeak in . . . she just gave us “that look” . . . It’s a beautiful little look, though. Glasses, braces and all. She enjoyed swimming and volleyball this year, winning a ton of blue ribbons and making it to the Dallas Amateur Swimming Association Championship Meet as well as finally getting a consistent serve over the net. One of her highlights this year was singing in the OAKE National Children's Choir in Charlotte, NC (or was it the 5 day trip alone with mom . . .?)!

Bear (S) continues to pass her “big” sister in height. She’s a delightful 4th grader and is enjoying her place as her siblings’ keeper at school now. She continues to play soccer and has even taken up TaeKwanDo. One of the biggest highlights of her year was when she accepted Christ in April just before Easter. She waited until July to be baptized so that all of her family was able to be there. She was absolutely giddy with excitement. She continued with more piano lessons this year (along with Audrey). The lessons come and go, but they’re always piddling on the piano at home. Oh, and she got braces, too!

Little Buddy (K) was blessed this year with the most wonderful 1st grade teacher her could possibly have. She has so many jewels in her crown after only half a year with him in class! Little Buddy is the most wonderfully sweet and utterly frustrating little boy. God made him cute and loving for such good reasons! Oh, the things his little mind comes up with! After several seasons of t-ball/baseball, he’s opted for a new interest; TaeKwanDo. He’s even got 2 of his sisters taking lessons now. The structure and discipline is right up his alley, so we’re hoping he doesn’t tire of it any time soon. Or practice too much on his sisters!

Little Girl (G) got to start Kindergarten (another gulp!) this year. She waved at the door with a “see you, Mom” look and hasn’t looked back. She had to turn her giggles and grins down a notch so as to not get in trouble every day, but it only took a couple of weeks to adjust. She played soccer again and started TaeKwanDo (after you pay for 2 family members, everyone else is free – why not!). Dance is her first interest, though. She’s taking a ballet class with her favorite teacher and loves going to class each week. She also gave up her training wheels this summer.

Dad increased his woodworking tool collection and experience by building us a new headboard for our bed as well as stripping and refinishing some furniture he inherited from his grandmother. He took Mom on a trip to New York and surprised her with a new anniversary ring in Central Park! (15th anniversary coming up on January 4th! Wow!) Dad planned a great Colorado get-away this summer for the whole family. (Chapter 1, 2, 3 & the Train)

Mom added “blogging” to her list of things to learn this year as she created a family blog to mostly post pictures and stories for family and friends living far away. Her job at the church changed once again as she began directing a new community children’s chorus. She celebrated her 10th year as a Creative Memories Consultant. She recovered from her leg surgery at the beginning of the year, but running again has been a challenge with continued pain and numbness in her foot.

Lucy blessed our lives for a month this fall as we welcomed our first major and long, long awaited pet into our home. Dad has wanted and looked for a boxer for over 8 years now. At 4 months old, we discovered that our sweet little friend had been born with a fatal kidney disease. We had to let her go on December 1st and the pain of her loss is still very great in our house. However, we are excited about the arrival of a new little boxer friend we will welcome home the first week of February. She has been named Heidi and the kids (and dad) look at her pictures almost daily as the breeders send updates on her growth. She was born December 12th in Tyler. We can’t wait to bring her home!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

Merry CHRISTmas!!

We began our Christmas weekend at Grandma's exchanging gifts with cousins and eating all day. We did something new this year with a hayride down to the "old house" in Grandmother's pasture. When we got to the house, we stopped the ride and the oldest grandchild (A) read the the Christmas story from Luke 2. It was chilly, but a beautiful night for a hayride. The little flashlights the kids had gotten in their "stockings" were perfect for the ride. The kids (and some adults) were a bit restless during the ride and reading, but it was a nice tradition to add to our annual get-together.

Christmas Eve felt a bit strange as we went to church in the morning and had all evening to rest and relax and be together without rushing around for dinner and getting dressed to fight the parking lot crowd at the church. Dad did go up to help with security for some of the evening services, but the kids and Mom had fun watching Christmas specials and just being together at home. They actually made it through a professional ballet production of The Nutcracker and watched it almost in its entirety. G probably enjoyed it the most.

We contained our secret until the final present on Christmas morning. The kids tore open the last box and were perplexed at the purple sparkly collar and leash. Audrey read the letter from their new little friend at the bottom of the box and one by one, the look of realization began crossing their faces. They scrambled to the computer to see more pictures. Dad has named her Heidi (good German name for a Boxer . . .) and the kids have agreed with it, so I guess it will stick.

The breeders continue to send us almost daily picture updates of our new little girl. The kids wanted to see her eyes open and within an hour of sending an e-mail on Christmas morning, we received a new picture showing her eyes peeking open. They're completely open now and looking beautiful. We're told that she's doing exceptionally well and is set to come "home" the first week of February.

When they found out that others already knew the secret, they wanted to know how. I showed them the blog post about the Christmas Secret and let them read. I left them at the computer, and when I came back they were teary. They had continued to read other blog entries on the page. They hadn't read the final one about Lucy until then. Dad joined me with them and we ended up huddled around Dad's laptop crying and missing Lucy on Christmas morning. The day that Heidi gets to come "home" will not get here too soon!

Ballet Recital

After several years of ballet with the 3 little girls in the house, we finally got to dance with a cute little pink tutu! Mom is so excited! Finally!

Cool Slideshows

G is the 2nd from the left. Check out the cool "domino" effect on some of their moves! Kind of funny ... Pretty good for 2 months in this class, though!

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A cool new find!

Cool Slideshows

SHHHHHH!!!!! It's a Christmas SECRET!!!

Oh, the tears of joy and sadness today as a sweet little puppy was born . . . So cute!!! So sweet!! Looks quite like Lucy!! Looks like our name on that picture!!! :-) Can't tell the kids!!! Oh, can't wait to post pictures of their faces on Christmas morning!!!!! :-)
SSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

HOW OLD????!!!!

Oh, what a sweet friend Joyful Journey is!! I have received some really fun cards today from friends, co-workers and family, but this one tops the list! Oh, how wonderful it is when God sends those little words of encouragement at just the right time!!!

In Memory of Lady Lucy

(to add some perspective, this was our kids' first major pet and a long-long-awaited addition to our household and family!!)
Today was Lucy's 4 month birthday. It was not a day of celebration, but rather, a day of mourning; the end of a very difficult week of great sadness.

The day after Thanksgiving, Lucy started throwing up. We were at Grandma's house, so we packed up and headed back to our vet as soon as we could. The vet gave her some medicine and we came home. She was doing better until late Sunday evening. She went back to the vet Monday morning and stayed to be hydrated with some fluids via an IV. The vet called later that morning with the news. Blood tests indicated serious kidney problems. X-rays showed abnormally small kidneys. Over the next few days, her diagnosis of Juvenile Renal Dysplasia would become more pronounced and we would have to make the agonizingly difficult decision to let her go.

Oh, the tears that have been shed in this house this week! Us four girls have shed our share, but we have been far outcried by the 2 boys in the house. Dad and K have been almost inconsolable at times. K went outside in the backyard to play and was back in the door very shortly sobbing. It has hit Mom the hardest this week when she's been at home alone - no familiar "chink-chink" sounds as Lucy had previously moved around the house jingling her collar tags. Dad left the house each morning this week with Lucy wrapped in a blanket to keep her little body warm as she made the daily trip to the animal hospital to begin her IV fluids to try to flush her little body of all the toxins that had built up over the past weeks and months as her little kidneys had stopped working. We weren't sure each morning if she would return or what her condition would be if she did return each evening. On Thursday when she came home, we knew we couldn't drag this on any longer, but HOW could we make such an agonizingly final decision!?Through all the prayers this week for a miracle for little Lucy, God gave us a clear answer when Dad found this site as he searched for information on Lucy's disease. Suki's Story.

It was heartbreaking to read her story, but at the same time it gave us a sad peace as we saw amazing similarities between Suki and Lucy.

Lucy's mom was the "runt" of her litter and had trouble putting her weight back on after the puppies (all 10 of them!!) were born. Suki's mom was very similar.

Lucy was always smaller than her other siblings. Since we got to see two of her sisters quite frequently, we knew how they were growing compared to Lucy. Here's a picture taken 2 weeks ago when the girls had a sleepover at our house. Looks amazingly like the picture of Suki and her brothers! (l-r: Zoe, Lucy, Peighton)

Lucy's appetite got smaller and smaller and she was always very thirsty. She weighed in just before she got sick at 13 1/2 pounds - very very small for an almost 4 month-old boxer, even though she was the "runt". Suki's weight was similar at that age.

Lucy's favorite thing to do was to lay in the backyard in the sunshine. If she wasn't outside, she would sit in a certain spot in the living room and wait for the morning sun to come in the upper windows in the room and she'd bask in the sun inside. Suki's favorite place was by the backdoor at her house where the sun shone in.

Lucy had trouble staying warm. She got cold quite easily. We almost bought her a little sweater on a couple of trips to the pet store . . . Suki's family dressed her in a little shirt to keep her warm.

All these things on their own didn't alarm us although we were perplexed, but put together with our knowledge now, it all made sense. Didn't make our pain any better, but it made our decision bearable knowing that this was indeed a terminal illness for which there was no cure. She would not be getting better and we couldn't bear to see her get any worse.

Lucy was SO sweet. SO loving. SO smart. Even as bad as she felt this last week, she would walk slowly over to the back door and sit on the rug to let us know she needed to go out. Her last morning, right after the first freeze of the year, she enjoyed walking in the snow and standing in the sunshine for a few moments. It was too cold for her to stay out, but she sure did like seeing the sun.



Lucy knew where the most comfy spot in the house was - right in the middle of Mom and Dad's bed. Here she is with K a couple of weeks ago.




We are so glad we took our Christmas picture Thanksgiving morning at Grandma's house since it was Lucy's last "feel good" day. Such a bitter-sweet reminder of her. So glad we could take this happy picture with her! So sad that we won't take another . . .

Puppy Reunion

When Lucy left her family to come live with us, she left 2 of her remaining sisters - 2 of the 9 siblings she was born with. A few days after we brought Lucy home, one of our ministers at church went down to see about getting one of the other puppies. He and his wife (one of the kids' teachers at school) came home with both Zoe and Payton! We laughed so hard at the turn of events. But, we were so excited for Lucy to be able to visit and play with her sisters again. So, we set a play date for Friday afternoon after school.
Lucy rested up all day long! Mom let her hang out in the back yard most of the day. She loves to lay in the sunshine. She would come in the house and get a drink then stand at the back door waiting to go out again.


She would get up and move as the sun and shadows crept across the patio and grass.





She didn't want to come in. On she slept - almost all day long! Which was good considering . . .





I'm not really sure, but it seemed like they recognized each other as soon as Zoe and Payton got to the front door. They shook and wiggled and were hardly still for almost 2 solid hours! Mom caught a split second of no motion as the 3 looked at each other.




Lucy (left), Payton (center) and Zoe (right) ran all over the back yard. They ran, jumped, "bit", "scratched", barked, chased, wrestled and nuzzled almost non-stop.


Hmm, sounds like the neighborhood dogs are worked up about the extra dogs on the block!

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Payton, Lucy & Zoe (mid-air - got several shots of her like that . . .) You can kind of tell here that Lucy is much smaller than her sisters. Being the "runt" was one of the things that attracted us to her. Zoe and Payton are going to be HUGE! They have grown so much in the 2 weeks since we saw them last. It made us realize how much Lucy has grown, too! Lucy held her own with all the rough and tumble play, though!

Payton & Lucy got a little tangled up in the rope they were chasing around the backyard.

Looks kind of like a stand-off . . .

It was a good thing she had rested most of the day, because poor Lucy was wiped out the next morning. Dad got up at the regular 6am for her morning business. She went right out, peed and pooped and went right back in to her crate. Record time. No fuss. She didn't even want breakfast, which is TOTALLY unlike her. It was 9am before she even touched the food in her dish! She stretched and yawned and slept most of the day on Saturday! I think her little muscles were probably sore as well! Sometimes fun can wear you out!!

Loving Lucy

Upon instructions from Dad to sit down at the computer and "blog", here goes!!!


K confirmed that Lucy has a comfy bed. He likes getting in with her and hanging out . . .








A boy and his dog . . . well, kind of . . . This is Lucy's regular resting spot . . .


Anybody recognize this boy and his dog?? He actually had hair 33 years ago!






Lucy went on a ride through the country with us. Her buddy fell asleep, but kept a tight grip on his little friend.










K conveniently had to stay home from school two days last week. If it hadn't been for the fever, I'd have wondered at his intentions! Actually he had strep, so he rested quite a bit with his little shadow.

Still sick. Still hanging out with Lucy.







Lucy found a comfy spot curled up next to G on the sofa. G didn't even know she was there until she woke up.






Lucy got to go to S's last soccer game. It was chilly, but Dad kept her warm and toasty.

Lucky Lucy

Well, we "bit the bullet" (actually, that's a whole other story, so you'll have to e-mail me to get the scoop on that . . .).

We finally bought a dog. Not just any dog, mind you. This is 8 years in the making! Dad has wanted a boxer and to the kids frustration has turned down many a dog opportunity looking for just the right boxer. I do believe "picky-ness" has paid off and Lucy is it.

We drove down south last night to take a look at 3 remaining puppies from a 10-pup litter of full-blood boxers. (poor mom!) They were born July 31st, so they'll be 3 months old next week. Aunt was here when Dad decided to make the trip so she went with us. We actually didn't tell the kids where we were going and they had no idea what we were doing until we walked into the house where the puppies were. You could see light bulbs beginning to turn on in their heads. That was fun!


The puppy on the left is the one Dad was thinking we would get. They had nicknamed her "Zoe" and she was stocky and full of energy. Very full! Mom was more inclined to the "runt" of the litter that was smaller and calmer. The owner (lady in pink) is holding that one - nicknamed "Daisy". She definitely wasn't as filled out and Dad was leary of that because she didn't look as healthy. Although, the owners/breeders had a fantastic place and the mom dog, Zora, was all dolled up with Halloween neck decor when we drove up. We felt great about the owners, the household, the breeding and everything. A little more watching of the puppies at their home, a little more watching the kids with the puppies . . . and the little one had it. Dad decided the "runt" was it. "Daisy" had a new home.


The kids were THRILLED about their new little puppy. The ride home entailed naming agreements and looking for a PetSmart somewhere along the way to stop and get supplies. It was like bringing a new baby home from the hospital with no baby gear! We had to get everything on the way home!

The kids had already been picking names and had somewhat agreed on a boy name and a girl name several months ago. After batting around several other names, they actually agreed on their original girl name of "Lucy". Her official name for her AKC papers is "Lady Lucy" - in honor of Dad's boxer "Lady" that he had when he was a boy. Lucy even has a lot of resemblance to Lady.

After she used her big brown "puppy dog eyes" on Dad at the pet store (I've NEVER seen that work on him with any of the children!!), we got home and tried to get Lucy all settled in. We had succeeded at avoiding any accidents along the way and we tried to get her to go outside to potty since it was bedtime for everyone, but she was so on edge that it took a LONG time for her to produce anything in the backyard.





So much for the new toys we bought last night on the way home. If only we'd known that an old dish towel would be the favorite source of entertainment in the back yard . . .









This boy has NEVER sat still for a picture to be taken. Today he couldn't have it taken enough! We got at least 15 shots like this! If only we'd known that all it would take would be a dog in the picture!







A boy and his dog . . . Poor Lucy hasn't been left alone for 24 hours. Well, I take that back. We did have to leave her in her "house" in the kitchen twice today while we went to soccer and volleyball games. She was so worn out, she slept the entire time we were gone!


Lucy wouldn't lay down last night to sleep once we got everyone settled. Dad remembered

when he brought one of his puppies home when he was a little boy (Domino). He had to sleep right beside the box with the puppy and put his hand in the box all night long. Every time he took his hand out, Domino would start whining. Lucy didn't do any whining - in fact she hadn't even made a peep until her paw got caught in the door just a while ago on her way outside. But, we found a willing little boy who wanted to sleep next to his new buddy and so with pillow and sleeping bag in hand he made his bed next to Lucy for the night. Lucy laid right down and went to sleep. Dad got up a couple of times just to make sure we didn't have any accidents during the night, but other than that it was an unexpectedly peaceful sleep for everyone.


Dad says we may have a new member for the "Digging Club" . . .

The Digging Club

"K, look, there's Madeline. Are you still playing with her at recess?"

"No, she's not in the digging club."

"The what?"

"The digging club."

I proceeded to ask what the digging club was. Duh!! It's a group that digs at recess. It appears they are treasure hunting after lunch and increasing the "holes" all over the dry cracked playground dirt. I asked who all was in the digging club. He listed 3 or 4 boys. I asked who came up with the digging club. He did. I asked if he was the leader of the digging club. He said he guessed he was because if they weren't having the club one day he got to say it was cancelled.

"So, why isn't Madeline in the digging club?"

"Because she doesn't want to get all dirty."

The digging club . . .

Handyman Honey

As much as we've searched on occasion for new bedroom furniture, we finally at least bought a new mattress this summer. We were SO close to getting a whole room full of new furniture, but at the last minute Dad promised he'd build the headboard I'd been keeping a picture of for a long time. It came from one of those home improvement magazines or maybe a Southern Living, but it was tucked way away at the bottom of my "good idea" file and pulled out every so often as a reminder that I liked the idea. So, now we're at the end of summer and after at least a dozen trips to ALL the local Home Depots and Lowes, we finally found and bought the materials for the project. I say "we" - I just got to take the picture out for the occasional neighbor who happened over to take a look at what was going on in the garage. (They know something's going on because we ALWAYS park our cars in the garage and they've been out in the driveway for a week!)

So, with the help of our next door neighbor (he had the miter saw and crown moulding experience . . .) the headboard is finally a reality! Here are some highlights:



Superman "super"vises the beginning construction of the headboard from doors and a variety of wood trims. We spent a lot of time trying to decide on what kind of doors we wanted to use. We contemplated using something "old" but never could find anything that would work. We finally found that using hinged closet doors (hinges off, of course) would work and actually create the perfect horizontal dimension without having to trim anything off the edges.


Johnny came over to help, loan tools and give advice on working with the moulding. He had just finished some trim work at his house, so he had some idea of how to figure out the angles on the corners.


Dad was concerned about the stain at first, but as he got more coats on and began the top coat he began to feel better about the color choice. And we have PLENTY of stain left over for the unfinished furniture pieces we need to go looking for now (oh, joy!). Since the bed is so high and the headboard is really tall, we need some large nightstands and an oversized chest to finish filling out the room. We are SO SLOW at finding and deciding on what we want!
I tried getting a close up of the headboard on here, but every time I uploaded it, it showed up sideways! No idea!

(Ignore the mismatched lamps, night tables and navy table cover!)

We almost have the kids "trained" enough to feel brave enough to get out the beautiful crocheted bedspread Mawmaw made for us. In the mean time, we found something we both could agree on to serve its purpose as a comforter. Not what we had in mind, but it works for now. Soon the crocheted heirloom will come out of its safe box in the closet!

Well, now Dad feels like he can take on the whole house - crown moulding everywhere! Of course, that would mean another few trips back to Home Depot because there are LOTS of great tools he needs to buy!
Sounds like a good excuse for power tools to me!?! :-)

Back to School!! (or OFF to school . . .)

A strange thing happened today. We walked into school with children and walked out without any of them. That has never happened before. The "baby" has started Kindergarten . . . We had talked about it. We had prepared for it. We knew it was coming. It was such an empty feeling. The pit of my stomach was queasy for several hours. It was not the emotion I had prepared myself for. No tears, just queasy emptiness. I came home and puttered around the kitchen cleaning up from breakfast . . .

Then, I went to the church for a staff meeting, out to lunch with the staff and then off to the grocery store where I strolled the aisles not looking at the time or worrying about how much the babysitter was costing me and how much I'd better hurry and get back! Queasy was gone! Empty was still there, though.

I'm very excited about the school year - as we usually are every year. But, after a year of struggling with school work, teacher conflict and so much testing last year, I'm expecting much improvement this year. We're already excited about the teachers everyone has and that makes a huge difference when you feel good about that!
A left for her first day of middle school at 7:15 this morning. Dad took her by himself so we wouldn't have any more extra bodies up there than necessary and the other 3 could finish breakfast and get dressed for their first day of school. Dad got back home and pronounced that "THAT was a scary place". NOT what Mom wanted to hear! He was referring to the packed hallways and chaos as everyone tried to once again figure out their locker combinations and find their first classroom. We had practiced her locker combination over and over the day we picked up her schedule. Dad hadn't been there, so he got to see the lay of the land this morning. He wasn't impressed!


After Dad got back from the middle school, the other 3 were ready to go and lined up for their traditional pictures out front.
G - kinder
S - 4th gr
K - 1st gr



G was excited about her first day of kindergarten and her teacher, who is a lefty like she is!








K got the teacher Mom REALLY was hoping and praying for this summer. Mom had heard great things about her last year - that she's a sweet Christian lady and her husband (a youth minister?) comes up to help her in class sometimes. Her smile each morning is going to make K's year! And she said she was in trouble when she was a kid because she would finish her work and start getting in to things she shouldn't! Sounds like a perfect match of understanding!







S gets to be the big sister this year at school. I think she's excited about it. She has one of A's teachers from 4th grade and lots of kids from her previous classes in her class AGAIN this year. Several of them have been together for 3 or 4 years now!

Hey, Mom got in the picture! (See the shadow in the bottom left corner . . .)

Walking into school . . .

G and one of her friends from church. It was so sweet, when G sat down, her little friend right away started sharing her blocks with her so they could make something together. G looks like such a big girl!! Too big!!

K and Dad find his locker and get all his backpack stuff put away. This is his first year with a locker and he's already figured out that he can fit himself in there. His teacher was standing nearby and she made a note to herself that they would have to have a class discussion about that the first day . . . ! :-)

Superman loses a tooth!

Superman followed his predecessors (sisters) by having a permanent tooth show itself before a baby tooth would fall out. Although the baby tooth was loose, it just wouldn't budge from its happy little spot in his mouth. His sisters had to have dental intervention to get some of their solid little baby teeth out of their mouths. After much writhing and gnashing of teeth (literally!) the not-so-brave Superman finally was free of his first baby tooth and kept an eye out all night (or as long as he could) for the mysterious "tooth fairy". She succeeded once again to blithely deliver her goods and brave little Superman thought twice about being not-so-brave concerning loose teeth!

Colorado Vacation (train chapter)

We took the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad trip today. We drove the 20 miles down to Durango and rode the old steam engine the 45 miles up to Silverton. The kids did really great on the 3 ½ hour trip up the mountain. The two little ones both fell asleep for a short time after giving in to the gentle rocking of the rail cars. They sell a little history/tour book for $10 and it was definitely a good thing to have on hand as we climbed through the mountains into the area we’d just driven from.


K's looking out the (open) window at the river WAY down below the cliff we're riding slowing along . . .





This is the High Line where the train rides on a ledge 400 feet above the Animas River. Hmm, tight curve, squeeling wheels, 400 feet straight down . . . and kids looking out wide open windows to see the view! Whew!


Shortly before we arrived in Silverton, the kids started getting whiney and asking when we would finally get to eat. Our cuddly little S “Bear” even raised her grizzly little head. (S “Bear” was a nickname she got as a newborn since she was so round and cuddly. Hungry bears are NOT cuddly, though!) We arrived in Silverton and headed over to the recommended Brown Bear Café (quite a coincidence . . .) for lunch and then had a bit of time to wander around the historical town before heading back to the train for the ride home.





A fed and happy "Bear" sticks her head out the window for Dad to take a picture. He almost deleted it because it was blurry, but it looked strange to Mom so we kept it. After we uploaded it to the computer and got a better look it was freaky! (Did I just use that word . . ??) Dad said he couldn't look at it because it made him dizzy. Mom thought it looked kind of neat!




This is a cool spot along the tracks where they clear sediment in the boiler. We're crossing the High Bridge with the Animas River below.
We were anticipating a shorter ride home, but a derailment problem with the train ahead of us (thank goodness it wasn’t us!) made the trip 45 minutes longer than expected. The natives were getting restless! We learned some new things about railroading, though with the difficulties and stops.