Finally!

I know it's been forever since I've posted but the last couple of months have been very busy and filled with changes. Shortly after my last post our cat Gordon took a turn for the worse. He'd been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism in April. He seemed to be responding well to the medication but then developed high blood pressure and then his kidneys began to fail. And while he fought a brave fight, he was just too old and became too frail to fight anymore. It was a very difficult decision but we knew it was best to let him go. We decided we didn't want him to be alone in his final moments so we all went with him to the vet and while Shane waited in the waiting area with Christian, I went with him into the exam room. As Christian requested, he was wrapped snugly in Christian's favorite Superman blanket. Gordon loved to curl up on it and nap on Christian's bed. As the vet began the process I held him in my arms and sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the Itsy Bitsy Spider to him until he drifted off and took his last breath. Afterward, Shane and Christian came into the room to see him one more time and give him one final pet. A very sad and emotional experience for all of us but I think it helped Christian to understand and accept that he was really gone. He was very brave and handled it exceptionally well. Gordon was a part of our family for a very long time and we miss him terribly.

Christian & Gordon - 2009

In the week afterward it was very hard for me to come home to an empty house. I knew it wouldn't be long before we'd have a furry friend in our family again. Shane and I talked about maybe getting a puppy but ultimately decided Christian was still a bit too young for the responsibility of a dog. We liked the idea of getting another cat from a rescue shelter. So I started looking around at a few places. The weekend rolled around and Christian and I headed out again to the local shelters. One of the places we went back to was a place I had visited earlier in the week. And while there were lots of wonderful kitties there, Christian was particularly drawn to two little black ones. We learned that they were bonded brothers and they would only adopt them as a pair. We also learned that they were miracle kitties who had survived contracting distemper from their mother during birth. This is usually fatal but somehow these little guys had the will to live. We decided it was meant to be and brought them home with us that night. Their shelter names were Mac and Toby and Christian thought that if we changed them they might be confused so they remain Mac and Toby. They've adjusted well to their new home and we have all fallen completely in love with them. We are sure that Gordon would be happy knowing that his paws were so big to fill we had to get two furry friends!

Mac and Toby

Grandma GoGo Goes to Washington

Christian had a week break between the end of the school and the beginning of summer camp and Grandma GoGo came out to hang out with us and we had a blast. Christian loves his Grandma and was very excited to spend a week with her. We did a lot of sight-seeing downtown -- the monuments and the Smithsonian. We also spent one of our days at the zoo and another at Luray Caverns. We loved the caverns -- very interesting place. I'm including some pictures from our week. We miss you Grandma GoGo!

Trip to the Zoo

Down in the Caverns

Luray, VA

Resting on the way to the Lincoln Memorial

In front of the reflecting pool

Christian, Grandma and Abe

Washington Monument

On the Metro

Happy Birthday Granddad!

My father-in-law’s birthday is today. When Christian and I were talking about it a few days ago he wanted to know if we were going to visit him to celebrate. When I told him that we wouldn’t be able to go on his actual birthday since it was in the middle of the week but that we’d visit him over the weekend instead, he was very disappointed. I suggested that we could call him and wish him a happy birthday to which he replied, “I know, maybe we could send him something over the computer so he could really see me”. I told him I thought that was a great idea.

Most members of our family already know about the close relationship Christian has with his Granddad but for those who don’t, these two have a pretty special bond that started the very day that Christian was born and has not wavered since. From the time Christian was just weeks old, Eddie was our best babysitter. He would drop whatever he was doing to stay with him if we needed to be away for something. He never shied away from a single dirty diaper, didn’t mind the spit up on his shirt and cleaned up many a “projectile” without complaint. He took him for walks in the stroller, fed him, read to him and held him for hours on end. And, as Christian grew so did the bond. As soon as Christian began to walk, Granddad would take him by the hand and help him along. He would take him outside and they’d walk up and down the sidewalk “practicing” and Granddad would talk to him, point things out and tell him what they were. They were two peas in a pod.

As Christian got bigger, those practice walks were replaced with trips to the park, rides up and down the boardwalk in the bike buggy, endless pushes on the tree swing and lessons in boxing techniques (much to my dismay). When I asked Christian what things he liked doing best with his Granddad he said, "building sand castles at the beach, playing cards and playing hide & seek". And when I asked why he loved his Granddad he said, “because he gives me Bertucci buns and treats, gives me money for my piggy bank and lets me watch cartoons whenever I want”. To which I replied, “well, you know that your Granddaddy loves you very much don’t you?” and Christian responded, “oh yes, I know that he loves me all the way to the moon and back”.

As Christian gets older it's fun to watch their relationship evolve and change. I'm sure Christian will soon be tossing the football back and forth with you, going fishing and helping you work in the yard. He learns so much from you and looks up to you. He is an incredibly lucky little boy to have a Granddad who loves him so much and cherishes every moment you get to spend together. You are a very important part of this little boy's life and every day that Christian has you in his life is a gift.

So for your birthday here is a special message from your little buddy, so you can "really see him". Happy Birthday Eddie -- we all love you very much.

Gone But Not Forgotten

I've been very neglectful of my blog the past several weeks. Life has thrown a few loops our way lately so I've been a bit preoccupied and not in the right frame of mind to blog. But, the dust is settling and all is well so I'm hoping to get a new post with pictures up this coming week. I'll be back in action soon.

Christian Turns Six!

In Christian's very own words, "It was the best birthday party ever"! He and all his friends had a blast. And now, our baby is six years old.

He's such a great kid. He loves to watch Tom and Jerry cartoons, Scooby Doo, Star Wars and Harry Potter. His reading choices these days are any Magic Tree House books, The Legend of Mackinaw Island, Dr. Seuss and books about any of the Presidents and the Revolutionary War. When he grows up he either wants to be a scientist or the President.

He loves to build with Tinker Toys, Legos and Lincoln Logs, play swords and guns, and dress up in costumes. I've actually got him signed up for a week-long drama camp over spring break in a few weeks and he can hardly wait.

Some of his current favorite foods are rice, chicken sandwiches, Trix cereal, Bertucci buns, french style green beans and ice cream (wonder where he gets that one from?) He loves to play board games and Go Fish and he's pretty good at them too.

He's a green stripe belt in Tae Kwon Do and he's becoming a very good swimmer. He's shown some interest in football, soccer and baseball so we may look into those in the fall.

He's a very independent and outgoing kid -- not shy and good at making new friends. He's thoughtful and sensitive and has a goofy sense of humor.

And, although he's getting bigger he still loves to sit with mommy and read, snuggle in bed with us on Saturday and Sunday mornings and give hugs and kisses. The world is a much busier, sometimes frustrating, crazy, sweet place with him in it! Happy Birthday Budder Bear -- we love you.

Making a wish

Blowing out the candle

Whispering the wish in my ear

Christian and Megan

Christian and friends

Crazy Kid

Goof balls

Birthday Boy

We survived a Chuck E Cheese Birthday Party!

Four Score and

six years ago our baby boy was born. We're getting ready to celebrate his big day tomorrow complete with presents, cake and a bash at Chuck E Cheese! Today he had his pre-celebration at school with birthday donuts and special Transformers birthday napkins. I'll be doing a birthday post sometime next week. Stay tuned.

I Got Tagged...

THE RULES:
1- Post the rules on your blog
2- List 6 random things about yourself.
3- Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
4- Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
5- Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

1. I hate driving in D.C. because I always get lost! Whenever I go downtown I always take the metro or a cab.

2. One of my favorite things to eat is peanut butter and radish sandwiches. I use to eat them with my Dad when I was a kid. The trick is to slice the radishes really thin and layer them real thick and use lots of peanut butter. Sweet and crunchy -- Yummy!

3. I have one leg slightly longer than the other as a result of breaking my leg when I was 10.

4. I'm really good at ironing. I can press a shirt as well as any professional dry cleaner. I find it very theraputic when I have the time.

5. My feet are not ticklish.

6. When Shane and I first started dating one of our favorite things to do was tandem biking. We still have our tandem hanging up in the garage. Maybe when we have more free time we'll dust it off and take it out for a spin.

Unfortunately I have no fellow bloggers to tag that have not already been tagged!

The Next American Idol!

Okay, this is a pretty long video because he sings the whole song but it's pretty funny. Using the flag as a prop was his idea. He's such a patriotic boy!

Date Night

Shane and I actually had a date night this past Saturday and celebrated Valentine's Day. We very rarely go out but Christian's martial arts school had a special Ninja Night. For a small fee, from 6-10 p.m. they had special crafts and activities, a pizza party and a movie. He had a blast and we got a night out. We saw the movie Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood and we both really liked it. If you're looking for a good movie to see, I highly recommend it.

Amazing Koala

I saw this news story this morning about a koala being rescued from the devastating bushfires in Australia. I was so touched by this story I just had to post these pictures. Amazing!

CFA firefighter David Tree shares his water with a koala injured in a bushfire at Mirboo North. Photo / AP

Sam the koala is being treated in a wildlife shelter after being saved from a burned-out forest. Photo / AP

Reward Chart! Please Help!

We're reinstituting the responsibility/reward chart at our house again. We used one once quite a while ago with success and we're hoping it will work again. The morning routine has really become a problem for us and I'm going crazy having to ask Christian ten times to go brush his teeth!

I'll tell him it's time to get dressed so off he'll go to his room and when I go check on him ten minutes later I find him sitting on the floor in his underwear looking through a book!!! I tell you, it's driving me mad! So, starting tomorrow morning the chart will be back on the wall and not only will there be rewards, there will also be consequences! If anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears!

Let it Snow!

We finally got some snow and Christian was thrilled. He absolutely loves to play in it and he really likes getting a day off from school because of it. Shane stayed home with him and they had a blast. Here a couple videos of their snowy adventures. For those of my Michigan family, I realize that the snow on the sledding hill is a bit pitiful by U.P. standards but here in our neck of the woods you take what you can get!

Getting this snowfall made me feel a bit homesick. I remember how I felt on those mornings finding out that school was cancelled because of a blizzard. In Sault Ste. Marie, they closed our schools because we got 5 feet of snow, not 3 inches!!!! But we would all ( I had 5 brothers and sisters) get bundled up in the morning after breakfast and all the kids in the neighborhood would play outside -- usually all day long -- building snow forts. We would have so much snow that we could really tunnel into the huge snow banks created by the snow plows that plowed out our driveways and we could hollow out spaces big enough for a couple of us to crawl into and sit down. And, these tunnels and forts would last for a while because it was so cold and we could play in them for a days on end.

Ah, the cold, that is a whole other story too. When I was a kid it was no big deal for the temperature to drop below zero. As a matter of fact we welcomed the freezing temperatures because that meant it was cold enough to build our own ice rink in the yard. My dad would help us section off a large rectangular space in the yard and then we would use shovels to pack that space down really flat and smooth. This would create a wall around the perimeter a few inches high and then we could flood it with water from the hose. Before long all that water would freeze and we'd have our very own ice rink. I learned how to skate on one of those homemade rinks. I started out with double runner skates and I'd hold onto the back of an old kitchen chair for balance and push it around the ice. I took many a tumble but I always had a brother or sister close by to help me back up and eventually I got the hang of it. Gosh, it's been years since I've been on ice skates. What a great place to grow up!

If any of my brothers or sisters are reading this post, I love you and I miss you and I remember! :0)

Christian's Day Yesterday

Here is a video of how Christian looked this morning after getting dressed for school. He was very excited to be wearing the new corduroy sport coat his Grandma Bailey bought for him over the weekend. I cannot believe how much this boy loves to dress up and wear ties! This weekend he asked if we could go shopping for a blue suit!

And, this is what he looked like when I picked him up from school in the evening! He was so excited about losing another tooth and I have to say that this awkward toothless smile is so darned cute I can hardly stand it!

Our little man is growing up so fast!

Longjohns

One of Christian's favorite Christmas gifts this year was pair of red longjohn pj's from Uncle Ted and Aunt Connie. He loves the button flap in the rear-end! My little redneck boy!

Special Shout Out to Grandma GoGo

Christian still loves to get dressed up for school and this morning he wanted to wear the new shirt and tie set he got for Christmas from Grandma GoGo. This kid cracks me up.

Just when you thought you were having a bad day!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,477385,00.html

First Date of the New Year!

Christian and his girlfriend Megan had another "date" over the holiday break and once again had a blast. Christian was so happy that she was coming over he even sang his "Megan Song". Here is a video of it.

These two have been friends since their first year of pre-school together when they were both 3 years old. It's very sweet to watch them play together and listen to how they interact -- sort of like an old married couple some times. I'm sure that in a year or two it will all be different when boys become "stinky" to girls and girls become "icky" to boys. But until then it's fun when they get together and Megan will definitely be the little girl I remind Christian about when he's older. Here are some pictures from their afternoon play date.

Dancing in the kitchen

Climbing on the furniture and

Jumping on the sofa cushions

And a popsicle break while pretending to take a walk in the rain.

Oh to be 5 years old again! Do you remember your first love when you were that young?