Friday, December 31, 2010

Coughing, Congestion, Nausea, & Tears...

...yeah, that was our Christmas this year. It was rough, to say the least! We had three separate bouts of colds in December as well as stomach flu. 

Then, on December 23, I noticed our elderly dog, Ben, wasn't looking good. His immune system, liver & eyes had been failing for some time, but he had been fairly stable on his multiple medications. His eyes looked really bad though & my vet decided to conference with a canine specialist. We got in to his office the next morning (Christmas Eve) with Ben looking even worse. His left eye had developed an ulcer overnight & was blood red. I felt physically sick at how he looked & must be feeling.  He was still his sweet self with tail wagging & kisses for me. Oh my breaking heart! After lengthy discussions with my vet & his staff, I made the wrenching decision to let my sweet boy fall asleep forever and leave his pain behind. (There were just no good treatment options left: only medical band aids that would just prolong his experience.) If you are not a dog person you will not relate to my anguish, but if you are, you will know that Ben was a much loved, dear old friend who had traveled all over N. America with us & who had been my "demo-dog" for 4-H demonstrations on pet/child safety, as well as visits to mentally handicapped adults & Senior Citizens. . We are all feeling his loss in a huge way.



Saturday, December 25, 2010

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Hmmmm......


I thought this looked a bit odd until Nathan told me that he had pushed & pulled until he was sitting under Juneau. 
He just really wanted to hold her on his lap! 

Thank you sweet Juneau for being so patient with the boys, the cat, & all the other dogs that come & stay with us!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Making Bread & Cheesy Grins



 The boys learned how to make bread with their Nana last week. They had a lot of fun and it was delicious! 

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Monday, December 13, 2010

Cookie Party!




It's tradition at our house to have a cookie decorating party or two with friends every Christmas. The kids love decorating with food & doing lots of sampling. 


This is what Nathan's spot at the table looked like when he was finished. He was all about the sprinkles! 

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

The Things I Hear Them Say...

The boys were watching a child's cartoon. A character warned, "Watch out for a booby trap!" 

Nathan, who is unaware of such things but thought it was a neat sounding word, kept yelling (he LOVES to yell), "Watch out for the booby trap!" 

Luke finally muttered, "Why can't they call it a "leg" trap or something?"

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Wisdom

The other day a sidewalk salesman tried to sell us something. Mark commented to me that, 

"They asked us because we look wealthy Mom." 

Me: "How do we look wealthy?"

Mark: "We have lots of kids!" 

How right you are my son. How very right you are! 

Life Lately


Luke dressed up in his Dad's clothes! 



Being silly for the camera. Nathan is out of his brace as of today, by the way, after a good report from the Specialist. Yay!  


 Happy boy helping Nana make cranberry sauce.


Mark admiring Papa's work in our bedroom. (My Dad is building us closets and a window seat as an early Christmas present & they are turning out great!) I'll post a picture of the finished project.