Calvin

 

July 11, 1999 - Sept. 14, 2012

On September 14th, just over 13 years old, we had to put down our sweet, often smelly, always furry, forever loyal friend.  When we were visiting Washington this summer, really anytime we drove south on I-5, Eric and I talk about the September evening we picked up our puppy in Pe Ell, (Exit 77 - one of the odd facts forever imprinted on my brain). 

A month later and I still get choked up writing this.  It was the hardest, most heartbreaking decisions we have had to make, but as soon as we did we knew we had done the right thing.  He had a rapid growing tumor on his mouth that was not operable due to the large blood supply.  On top of it he had the general ailments of any 13 year old dog - bad hips, constant sleep, losing his hearing & sight, weight loss, and more than normal hair loss.  Another midwest winter would have been brutal on him.



His favorite pass time & entertainment for us...biting the slider

Always center of the holiday festivities

He was our first baby.  He was our companion in the years before we had children.  He was there on holidays, camping trips, beach trips, weekends spent on yard work, and lazy days before our focus became children.  However, with each baby, he welcomed his new sibling and eventually became their first best friend.  He watched over his kids and knew just when we needed loving attention.  In the 13 years he was with us our lives evolved - we expanded our family and moved multiple times, but he was our constant. 

 

 

I still envision and miss the big brown dopey eyes, cocked head, kid tolerant, and always ready for attention, exploding furball.  It is a loss that was felt deeply by each of us.  We certainly won't forget him and there is no replacing him. 

 

 

A New School Year Brings Changes

(Due to my late posting) my babies are all well into the school year. 

G loves kindergarten, and apparently his teacher too.  One night at dinner, soon after school started, I asked G what he thought of his new teacher, Ms. Hart.  He thought for a minute and then announced, "Her smile.  She has a nice smile." (Pause)  "And I like it when she wears high heels."  Hmm...  Well, he got a big thumbs up from his dad.

G & his best friend Rayna comparing new school shoes.

The girls jumped back in and are doing well.  Laney has a good 2nd grade teacher, and I think she will learn a lot this year.  We are still waiting for the "love of reading" to kick in with her.  Macie is already feeling challenged in some subjects, simply because she wants to give minimal effort.  I think she got a little too use to school coming easily.  I am struggling between intervening and or taking a step back and holding her more responsible (as directed by all the 5th grade teachers at orientation).

 

With a new school year, and my baby beginning kindergarten, it brought changes for me too.  I would say I am still a stay-at-home mom, but I do have a workplace I must report to (for 2 whole hours a day).  I am a Recess Supervisor at one of the nearby elementary schools - thankfully not my kids.  I work from 11:30-1:30, which is perfect.  I really struggled with what I could do.  Something that would still allow me to get the kids off to school, be home after school, be home on inservice days,  holiday breaks, late starts, and summertime.  I like the other supervisors and the kids, well for the most part, they are typical kids.  It gives me some insight as to what is happening in certain grades, (ie, attitudes, boy crazy, sneakiness, attitudes, back talking, flirting, attitudes, makeup, attitudes,...).  It has provided us a lot of dinner time conversations.  Some of my work skills have been put out of use while I stayed home with kids for 8 years, but not my ability to monitor kids on a playground.  I am a pro at that.  I have often wanted to discipline other peoples kids at parks and playgrounds, and now I get paid to do it...(insert evil laugh here).    I actually really like it...remind me of that again come November-February. 

 

 

Add to the list...

Add to the list of updates to come...Calvin, my 20th high school reunion (that I did not attend) and our 15th Anniversary.

Hmm, I should probably get started on all these posts pretty soon.

Coming Soon...One HUGE Recap

While on my blog hiatus (aka laziness) I have missed sharing some pretty big events...

Macie's 10th birthday, Valentines, Spring Break, Easter, Mother's Day & Father's Day, the long desired Deutsch-Rock baby, end of school/start of summer break, a visit from dear friends, Mike & Sarah's wedding, Washington & Sunriver vacation, Laney's birthday, the start of a new school, re-entering the workforce, ...just to name a few. 

Where to begin?  I might need some more time to think about it. 

More Depressing Revelations

In addition my haircolor revelation, there is also no longer denying that my baby is really growing up.  Last Thursday was his last day of preschool, and Friday night was his graduation.

I clearly remember his first day of preschool.  For that matter, I just as clearly remember the day we brought him home from the hospital.  Probably the fastest 5 1/2 years of my life so far. 

1st day of preschool - 9/2010

Last day of preschool

Today he zooms around without training wheels, plays baseball, flips it back to his sisters, and reminds me far too often that he is going to ride the bus next year.  Thankfully today, he also still loves to cuddle and grabs my hand to hold.

At graduation his teacher shared that when he grows up he wants to be an astronaut, police man, and a rockstar.  And that he is most looking forward to kindergarten because...he gets to ride the bus!  Oh, my breaking heart. 

My New "Natural"

I wish when I looked at this photo all I would see is the sweet boy, or even the fact that I appear naked.  Unfortunately, I can't take my eyes off my horrific roots. 

During the course of three pregnancies my feet grew a full size and my once dark blond tresses became undeniably brown.  In addition, (and again, thanks to the 3 children), the new brown is streaked with gray.

Eric is very disappointed, to say the least.  He feels like he has been dooped.  And while I would LOVE to be any of the 4 shades of blond in this house, it is time to embrace being a brunette.  There are just no two-ways around it. 

First, I HATE brassy blond, I have no desire to be an orange-head everytime I step outside.  Nothing screams brunette-in-denial more, (see above photo).  And I have been known to laugh/pity other poor women for this. 

Second, I am not ready for the gray look - I prefer being assumed to be much younger than I actually am.  And the stylist at the salon says the only way you can really cover gray is to be as close to your "natural" haircolor as possible. 

Lastly, I know at some point I will have to really fight the aging process, but for now I still like as low maintenance as possible.  Plus, I am too cheap to pay however much it is to color your hair at a salon...too much I imagine.

I don't insist on cramming my foot into a size 7 1/2, so I guess I should also embrace Loreal 6A (Light Ash Brown).  Now if I could just get Eric to embrace this and see that the trade off for his beautiful children was really only my hair.  And, he should just be thankful that I am not embracing the gray.

Love them

As I sorted through photos for my last post I found a few recent favorites that I have to share...so here goes a gratuitous post simply of my beautiful children.

And if there was ever any doubt that I have the sweetest boy ever, here is his artwork that hung in the church all December.  They asked the kids what they would give Jesus for his birthday.  As you can imagine, there were lots of firetrucks, barbies, x-box games,...

My boy thinks he needs a more comfortable bed.