Blessed Beyond Measure

Our sweet little Fred died today. Both boys got out last night some time and wandered down to a busy road near our home. Fred was hit by a car and didn't make it. I am heart-broken and don't even know what to say. I did what I always do when life goes wrong- I called my brother. He always manages to pick up my pieces and put them back together again. Somehow. I'm so thankful for that. Sad, sad day. I can't seem to get over it and am hurting for Chester. It broke my heart to leave him in the yard howling this morning. My guess is that he saw it happen and stayed close by. Poor little guy, lost his best friend. Say little prayers for our bunch as we hurt. Of course, N handled it the best of all. When we arrived at school she wanted to tell her teacher, so she said, "My dog got dead today. He was hit by a car. Can I pet the hamsters?" Wish it was that easy for me!

When I went to pick up N from school yesterday, I had the privilege of watching her play on the playground and interact with her friends. I love to watch her play. She runs nonstop. Even when all of the other kids are tired and sitting out, she just keeps on going. The teachers are all amazed at her energy and how tough she is. I watched as she ran with her best friend, Brenton. They were having a BLAST! She would chase him a bit and then they would switch places- laughing the entire time. When I came out to watch, I had pink blankie with me. N immediately ran over and grabbed it from me so "she" could play too. She put the blanket over her head and took off running. Of course, she ran right in to the play set and fell to the ground with Brenton falling on top of her. All of the teachers froze, awaiting the inevitable cry. Not N though, she is tough as can be! She just laid on the ground covered in mulch and laughed. Brenton laughed a little, but he was more ...

We are LOVING JoJo ! He has to be the perfect pet. Quiet, cuddly, low maintenance , happy . . . Now come back in three weeks and I may be singing a different tune, but right now he couldn't be more fun. He just hops around the house and even does flips and hops really fast when he gets excited. He ate right out of N's hand yesterday and she was so still and gentle. Last night we let him have free roam and after a few minutes of not seeing him hop by we became worried. We called and looked everywhere. Finally, he emerges from behind the refrigerator covered with dust bunnies. This morning N and I went in to tell him goodbye for the day and as soon as he heard N's voice he ran to the front of his cage and stuck his nose through for some loving. She loved on him for quite and while and then it was time to leave. She happily said, "He really likes me. I like him too!" Turns out, Papa, rabbits are good for something other than eating!

And no, we aren't going to have a baby. At least not for another ten years or so. (Just kidding, I think.) Meet Joey JoJo Giraffe. Yes, he has three names. I liked Joey, B liked JoJo and N insisted on Giraffe. So, we compromised and gave him a first, middle and last name. I know what you are thinking- what in the world possessed them to get a rabbit. Well, we made the mistake of going to the Houston Livestock Show over spring break and spent lots of time looking at the rabbits. After that we started researching them. It seemed that everyone we talked to had a rabbit and loved them, so we threw around the idea of actually getting one. Then, N's school got a rabbit and she took each of us down to show us proclaiming, "We need one of these." The rest is history. I guess the first snuggle that bunny gave me pushed me over the edge. So, we have been enjoying watching him jump around and do flips. He seems quite happy here. The only disappointed one in the...

We had a lot of fun at a birthday celebration for N's friend Karis . N was so excited to see that her best friend Brenton (a.k.a. Shrek ) was there. They really are two peas in a pod! Which I guess is good considering they claim they are going to marry each other.

I have to admit, I feel at least a million years old lately with the whole back issue/sinus infection. It doesn't help that N seems to think so too. Today she says this: "Mommy, your tummy is squishy. Why isn't my tummy squishy?" I'm thinking to myself, well it started with a little thing called pregnancy. It gets better though. She then says, "Why is your hair plastic. I don't have plastic hair." Perhaps I should lay off the hairspray a bit and start doing sit-ups! Oh, the honesty of young hearts.

Funny how if I felt the way that I do today under normal circumstances, I would be miserable. But life has its own way of putting things into perspective. After feeling pretty much terrible for weeks now, I am seeing a ray of sunshine today. I made my millionth trip to the doctor yesterday- they just grin and shake their heads now when I walk in. He gave me a super strong antibiotic that you take only once to combat my sinus infection I managed to pick up on top of everything else. Hours of vomiting later, I actually feel better. I can breathe again!! I am just thankful for small successes! Mommy being sick has certainly slowed down the household. N doesn't always understand why I can't just jump up and play all the time like I used to. She spends lots of time kissing me and trying to make me feel better. For a long time now, I have been telling N stories- mostly stories about princesses, etc. Lately, she has been telling me stories and she is really getting good at it. Daddy e...

Lately, I have been feeling pretty terrible. My back has been hurting a lot and I haven't really accomplished much- other than dragging myself to work and crashing the minute N goes down for the night. I have so much to share and will hopefully be updating here soon. I have awesome bluebonnet pictures and stories of more Nixonisms . Thanks for the well-wishes!