Parents of the year . . .

Grace had her 1st grade program last night for multicultural night at her school. They sang two songs. A Cherokee Indian song and a French song. Grace was chosen to play the xylophone for the French song. Chris turned on "his" camera and the battery was dead. We turned on the video camera when the performance started only to realize it had been put on standby instead of record. Chris and I just started laughing . . . what else can you do? Good thing that I had my camera :)

spring break 08

Days 1 and 2 . . .

Not much to report about day 1. Grace was still sick so Chris stayed with her in the room while Ann, Caden, and I went to eat dinner. After dinner we walked around a bit and then went back to the room for bed. The boat was REALLY rough the first two nights. The captain said that we hit a cold front and it was 45 mph winds with 20 foot waves. People were getting sick all over the place which was really gross. Day 2 we were at sea and the first part of the morning we just hung out around the pool. The pools were closed because the waves were so big that the water was just sloshing from one side to the next. Caden went to Camp Carnival and had a whole lot more fun doing those activities than hanging out with us. Grace was still pretty puny from being sick and she and I just sat out on the deck and read our books. Tuesday was also formal night. We got some great pictures of the family. I'll scan them when I can and add them on the blog. Here are some of the pics from my camera.

Home Again . . .

We just put the kids to bed in their own beds . . . always a great feeling to be home . . . Caden just said, " Today is not the best day because we had to get off the boat . I wishded we were were on it for 10 days instead of 5." My sentiments exactly!! We had a great time and much to blog about at another time when I am not so exhausted :)

I will leave you with one story about the trip. We almost weren't able to get on the ship. We left for Houston on Sunday night (the 16th) to spend the night with my college roommate at her new house. We figured that it would make for a much shorter journey on Monday. We left late because Chris had a soccer game and got to Stephanie's house around 9:30pm. Beautiful house and we had a good night's sleep. Grace woke up on Monday morning and about 9:00 am told me that her stomach was hurting. She went to the restroom before we left to head to Galveston to meet Ann and she threw up. Great. What are we going to do now? Puking kid and I don't know if it's a one time thing or a virus. Our first stop was at Walgreens to get some ziploc bags for the ride to Galveston. She seemed fine for the first 30 minutes, but it went downhill after that. Ann was able to get a late checkout at her hotel so we hung out there for a few hours before we were to board the ship at 2. The lady at the front desk of the hotel told us that they wouldn't let Grace on the ship if they found out. Luckily we had VIP boarding so the process was expedited and we were able to get her on the ship without anyone else knowing. We figured that we could stay home and be sick or be sick on the ship. It was extremely stressful and looking back now it was the right decision because - knock on wood - Grace was fine the next day and none of the rest of us got it. I guess the luck of the Irish was on our side on St. Patty's day :)

This is the first picture that I took waiting to leave from Galveston. This is the Lido deck with the waterslide and the pool in the middle:

Had to Share . . .

Thanks for all the sweet emails and calls about Sadie. We are going to make it!

This is a great song

Chris found this tune about the time that Caden was born. I just figured out how to do the hyperlink feature, so I wanted to share it with you all. Get your tissues :)

In a funk . . .

I feel like I am walking around with a huge weight on my shoulders. Putting Sadie down on Saturday was one of the hardest things that I have EVER had to do. It just plain stunk. Chris and I decided to stay with her when they gave her the injections. I just couldn't let her have that happen to her without us there comforting her. I didn't realize how hard it was going to be and how hard it still is. In my head I thought that she would just close her eyes and go to sleep. It wasn't like that at all . . horrible. There is a definite emptiness in our house now that she occupied. Chris gave Bailey two treats last night, one for him and one for her. Every time Bailey walks into the house he does a run through from the front of the house to the back looking for her. It breaks my heart . . .

I know that it's just going to take time. We leave on St. Patty's day for our 5 night cruise. It is definitely something to look forward to. A lot of prep work this week, but we all need a vacation :) We come back to Galveston on Saturday morning (the day before Easter!!!) So I have been getting everything together for the baskets today. I bought more chocolate than needed and I also bought most of the stuff that I like - ha! Anyway, I know that tomorrow is a new day and hopefully this funk will lift soon. Good thing I have the kids to keep me busy :)

Thank you, Sadie Girl . . .

*for being part of our family for almost 11 years
*for letting Grace and Caden stomp all over you
*for letting them pull on your ears and poke your eyes when they were little
*for putting up with the psychotic other dog, Bailey
*for always being so easy going
*for being petrified of the storms and always joining us in bed
*for always knowing when to come and jump on my lap
*for being a guard dog when Chris was out of town
*for putting a stamp on our hearts

We'll miss you.

"Rainbow Bridge"
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

Good Thing . . .

Caden's new phrase is "Good Thing . . ." He has started beginning his sentences with it. Ex: Good thing there was a rug there (he had fallen). Good thing we had pizza for lunch and not dinner. Good thing we have Bailey so that we have another dog when Sadie dies . . . and on and on. Almost every other sentence out of his mouth starts with "good thing". It is HILARIOUS!!!

It's really gotten to be a joke with Chris and I and we find ourselves starting all of our sentences with it too. I guess it's a way to look at the good things in life and pick out the positives :)

Good thing that Grandma was there to help Caden build a snowman. . .

Snow Pics

Many of my most vivid childhood memories revolve around snow. My brothers pushing my face down in it, sledding down our hill of a backyard in Minnesota, building snow caves in our front yard in the 6 foot snow drifts from the snow plow, your lips and faces being chapped and red from being out so long, and I could go on and on . . .

I have really had to dig down deep inside myself this last week with the snow days and let my children just go out and play, build snowmen, and throw snowballs at me. I forget that they have not grown up with it like I did and for them snow is an anomaly. For me, it's the cold white wet stuff that you ski on :)


Caden was SO exicited about it on Tuesday morning that he wanted to go out and play in it before he ate breakfast. Thank goodness Grandma Mem and Dad were here to save the day. I do love his snow angels though :) There was even some snow left for Grace and Caden to build a small snowman with in the afternoon. Grace was beside herself that Caden got to play and she had to go to school. Life is just not fair when you're 7.

Remember When . . .

I got this email and laughed at a few of these:

I'm over the ripe old age of thirty , I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy!
I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a Utopia!
And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it!

1. When I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

2. There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter...with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

3. There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music , you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and mess it all up!

4. We didn't have fancy stuff like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!

5. And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

6. We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like ' Space Invaders ' and 'asteroids' and the graphics were horrible! Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died!


7. When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old women with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, too bad!

8. Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no on screen menu! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on!

And there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons!


9. And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove or go build a fire ... imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that JiffyPop thing or a pan with HOT oil and Real popcorn kernels.


10. When we were on the phone with our friends and our parents walked-in, we were stuck to the wall with a cord, a 7 foot cord that ran to the phone - not the phone base, the actual phone. We barely had enough length to sit on the floor and still be able to twirl the phone cord in our fingers. If you suddenly had to go to the bathroom - guess what we had to do.....hang up and talk to them later.

You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!

Regards,
The over 30 Crowd