Sad

Yesterday we had to make one of the hardest decisions to make. We had our little dog Daisy put down. We've been grappling with this for over a year. Her health has been in decline. But if you have pets you know how hard it is to make this final decision. We kept justifying the wait because she had "good days", because she loved Sunny, because we loved her. But the reality was that she really only had good moments. She was blind, deaf, and could barely walk some days. Other days she ran, played, and was engaged. You can see why we were so reluctant to come to this choice. I hope we gave her a good life. I know she was a joy to us. I will miss her terribly. Duke and Rascal know she's not here and are subdued. I know they'll perk up in a few days. It might take me a little longer.

It's Finally Finished!

Hallelujah! I finally finished Katie's quilt today. I have been working on this thing for five or six years. Literally. I am not exaggerating. We started buying the fabric that many years ago. It is such a relief to have it done. The quilt is entirely hand sewn. It is the equivalent of Queen Size. I am very proud of it. I can't even think about starting another one for a few months.

Overnight with Thunder

Thunder got to spend the night at Gramps' and Grammy's by himself for the first time this weekend. Sunny was invited to stay overnight at Tia Jessie's so Katie and Gabe took advantage to have an evening out for themselves.

On Friday night, we met Papa and Gigi (the Greats) at Olive Garden. Gigi held Thunder almost the entire time and enjoyed every moment!

Then it was back to Grammy's house for some rockin', singin', cuddlin' before bed time.

Dan had an appraisal Saturday morning and on his way home he stopped at Jessica's to pick up Sunny. In the meantime, Thunder, the dogs, and I had some fun playtime. I can't express enough my gratitude to Katie for her generosity in sharing her kids with us! It is such a blessing. Thank you Katie!

our mad faces

our happy faces



The Holidays Are Coming!

And I don't just mean Christmas. You can see that I've gone a little overboard with holiday countdowns at the top of my blog. That's for my benefit. So I will realize that each Fall/Winter Holiday is fast approaching and I need to get myself in gear to be ready for them!

Fortunately, I don't really have to do anything for Halloween. We'll go to Katie's house to trick or treat with the kids.

Same with Thanksgiving. Katie is hosting this year so I just have to prepare and take my assigned food.

Christmas? Now that's another story. I love Christmas and enjoy having some part of it at my house. This year we're having our family Christmas celebration on 12/17. Then Katie has invited us over on Christmas Day to watch the kids open their gifts.

I love this time of year. It seems as if there's always something to anticipate!

It's Fall!

Today is the first day of Fall. The high today is forecast to be 106 degrees. Tomorrow is forecast to be 105 degrees. Then it will supposedly drop into the high 90s. It's not typical for what the rest of the country experiences as Fall, but it's normal for us.

Yesterday Sunny wasn't feeling well so she couldn't go to school. She came to Grammy's instead. She had moments of running around, joyfully playing, followed by "hold me" time in Grammy's lap in the rocking chair.

Mad Face, Happy Face

Sunny is working on her mad face. I first saw it this past Saturday when Katie said "show Grammy your mad face". It's hard not to laugh at it.

I wanted to take a picture of her today and as usual she was not cooperating. I said "show me your mad face". She obliged...

Then I said "show me your happy face". I guess that's what I'll say from now on when I want to get a photo of her. It worked!

Belated Birthday Party

Although Dan's birthday was 8/31, we didn't hold his party until yesterday. Here are some photos of our fun event:

Skye, Sunny, Thunder, Gramps

Gramps with Thunder

Look who's sitting up!

The birthday boy - cake

He blew out all the candles in one breath!

Grammy and Thunder

Katie, Skye, Dan

Grammy and Skye

Gabe

Ashley and Katie

Tio Zach with Thunder

Sunny helping Tia Jessie with her stitching

Thursday Thoughts

SSMT #18: If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 My choice of this verse needs no explanation. Every citizen of every country in the world could be justified in leaning on this verse in these times we live in.

Bubbles: Yesterday I got out the Gymboree bubbles. Oh my goodness, do you KNOW how much they cost?! I have to admit. I could not get my bubbles to blow. I checked the packaging, no directions. Of course not, who doesn't know how to blow bubbles?! I called Katie. Me: "Is there some special tip to blowing the Gymboree bubbles? Mine won't blow." Katie: "I have no idea. Check online." So I did. I found lots of comments about them from other people saying there's wouldn't blow. And just as many comments exclaiming their magical blowing power. One comment said "it takes a few tries to get them going." So, I tried again. And I got bubbles! Sunny and Rascal enjoyed them thoroughly. (yes, she has a sweater on. she gets cold in the A/C and asks for a sweater once in a while. Plus, it HAS cooled down to the 90s)

Imagination: I have commented on this recently, but I just have to mention it again. I just love watching Sunny's imagination develop. She's into a lot of activities now, but the one I'm enjoying the most is her interaction with her "friends". She constantly talks to them. Even when she's playing with other toys, she has one or two of them lined up and tells them what she's playing with. She always sets a couple of them up when she's having snack or eating a meal. Yesterday, she took Clifford the Big Red Dog in with her to go potty. She carefully set him on the step stool in front of the sink. When it was time for her to climb the step stool to wash her hands she said "excuse you, Clifford" as she picked him up. After washing, she used his tail to turn out the light. As she walked into the living room she said "good job, Clifford! High five!"



This weekend: I am so looking forward to Saturday. We are having Dan's BD party on Saturday. Dan is not a birthday/holiday lover. In fact, more often than not he's extremely grouchy on any special occasion. I don't know why, but it really irritates me. That's why this year I was very excited when he announced that he wanted to do something specific for his birthday. Upon his request, we're all gathering Saturday to watch the John Wayne version of "True Grit". Then we're pausing for pizza and salad before watching the Jeff Bridges "True Grit". Then we're voting on which one is best and eating cake and ice cream. It'll be a party!

Play Date

Yesterday Sunny and I had a play date with Joanna and her kids. Since it's too hot to play outside still we headed to a local mall with an indoor playground. I think this was Sunny's first time there. I know it was my first time there. (OK, my pictures aren't very good for this post. It's a measurement of my poor photography skills and the slowness of my camera!)

She walked in hesitantly and clung to my side as I showed her all of the climbing toys, slides, and tunnels. There were only one or two other kids there when we first arrived and she acted shy. But then some bigger, more boisterous kids showed up and that was all the encouragement she needed. She took off like a shot to play with them.

When Joanna and her kids showed up a few minutes later, Sunny squealed with delight and ran over to them. Soon the four of them were running wild over the play equipment. Joanna and I had the opportunity of uninterrupted conversation for about 30 minutes. It was wonderful!

Sunny came up and said she was hungry, so we went out into the mall corridor for some much needed snacks. She had a terrific time and so did I.

September 11, 2001

This is a reprint of a post written on Friday, September 8, 2011 for my political blog. It is accompanied by photos I took of the televised ceremonies at the newly opened memorial site at Ground Zero in NYC.

On the morning of 9/11/01 I awoke to the clamor of KTAR 620 talk radio at 5:53 am as always. Ned Foster was talking about a plane that had hit one of the World Trade Center buildings in New York City. I turned on our bedroom TV, watched the images, and talked to Dan (who was still dozing) about what kind of an accident this could have been. As I was watching, I saw the second plane hit. I screamed. I immediately knew we were under attack.

My world, as well as THE world changed in that instant.

My first thought was of Jessica. She was a freshman at UofA in Tucson. She was without a car down there. I called her to turn on the TV. I told her that if we had to, we'd be down to get her to bring her back to Phoenix.

Remember, this was all new. I knew we were at war, but with stories of WWII and Vietnam in my brain, I wasn't sure what this war would look like.

My second thought was for my friend's husband. He was an FBI agent and was on an undercover assignment out of state... waaay out of state. I called her next. She was not used to getting early morning calls from me and was not happy. She told me in later days how irritated she was that I called her so early.

In the meantime, I was getting the other three kids up, ready for school. I had every TV in the house tuned to the news. The kids, being kids, wondered if they would have school. Me, being the mom I was (and am) assured them they would be going to school.

 As the day wore on, I watched in utter disbelief as the Pentagon was struck, the South Tower collapsed, the North Tower collapsed, and the story of Flight 93 was revealed. Being a news junkie even in normal times, I stayed glued to the TV for hours for the next few days. Too many hours. The stories of the victims and the heroes were so compelling. I couldn't bear to turn away for fear I'd miss a single story.

The uniting of the country is those days was awesome. It was like nothing I'd experienced in my lifetime. I felt so optimistic, while knowing intellectually that it couldn't last. Staying true to form by being over analytical, I pondered the change in our country. I made predictions about the future. I rearranged my priorities.

As the 10th anniversary of that day approaches, I am once more glued to the TV. I relive the event through documentaries. The scenes are still incredible to me. It's almost like watching a movie. Except I know it really happened. I've heard pundits say that only the people in NYC and Washington DC are interested in 9/11 anniversaries. I beg to differ. I'm interested. I subscribe to the belief that unless we study history we are doomed to repeat it.

Yes, the immediate horror of that day has faded. The details of the hundreds of stories I heard have certainly disappeared. But I still recall the feeling I had the moment I learned of the first plane. The moment I watched the second plane. I will never forget...

Thursday Thoughts

Yesterday was a challenging day. I had a 9 am dentist appointment and as I was driving to it the car started making a strange noise. It sounded as if I was driving on a gravel road with the rocks flying into the undercarriage of the car. I stopped and looked at the car but couldn't see anything. So, I turned around and headed back home. Luckily it was Dan's day off from Sam's. He had a full day of appraisal business scheduled.

Challenge #1. He took the car to the shop and they said come back at 3 pm, it's a belt and we'll have it fixed in an hour.

He came back home and did what he could on the appraisals, but was unable to go out to do any inspections. At 3 pm, he took the car back to the shop. Found out it was NOT a belt. It was the water pump. It also needed new hoses, other belts, timing thingamajig. Since it needed all of that, he decided to have the rear brakes replaced too.

Challenge #2. They needed to keep the car for a day or two. We only have one car. He had Sam's to go to today. Luckily we were able to borrow a car from my folks.

Jessica picked him up and brought him home. Zach was here because he had just finished a job close by. We talked for a few minutes and then everyone left. It was too late to fix the meal we had planned, so we ran up to Sprouts to buy sandwiches.

 We got back home and he said "I need your keys to unlock the door." I asked him where his keys were. He replied that he left them with the car. I said "ALL of them?!" "I don't think I have my keys with me". Dumped out my purse... sure enough no keys.

Challenge #3. Katie has an emergency key, but she was at least 15-20 minutes away. I called Katie to come rescue us. Meanwhile it was hot, my blood sugar was low, and I had to start eating my sandwich. Dan picks up a shovel (what?!) and takes off into the backyard. Next thing I know he unlocks the door and says call her back, we don't need her to come. I'm not going to share with you how he got in the house... I don't want to give away any security secrets! haha

All's well that ends well. But that was definitely not the day we expected to have...

After all that drama I want to share some photos of my Fall decor. It helps me to imagine that it's not still 108 degrees outside!

Happy Birthday, Jessica!

Today my first-born turns 28. It just doesn't seem possible. I remember the day she was born as if it was yesterday. If I was more technically savvy, I would have photos from her babyhood and childhood scanned into the computer so I could share them with you. But I'm not. And I don't. Maybe by next year. So instead, I'll just share with you some photos from the past few years. And I'll tell you about my talented, intelligent, compassionate, creative, driven, motivated, kind, caring, loving daughter. Oh wait, I guess I just did. Just one more thing to add: I love her so, I'm exceedingly proud of her, I enjoy every moment I get to spend with her, I'm grateful she's mine. Happy Birthday Jess!

2007 Birthday

2010 Birthday

2011 Birthday

A Child's Imagination

Yesterday Grammy Daycare opened after a six week hiatus. Sunny is the only attendee as Thunder goes to work with Katie. I can see such a difference in her this past six weeks. I suppose part of it is due to becoming a big sister. But it's mostly due to just normal growing up.

Her imagination is such fun to experience. Now when she plays with her toys, she talks to them, talks for them, talks about them. Making up stories and scenarios that are far too advanced for me to understand based on her limited two years of life experiences. Her verbal skills are becoming more complex. It's such fun to hear the inflection and tone of her sentences. She will be entering the world of "why" in the next few months... I can already see it on the horizon.

I'm including two pictures that I took yesterday. In one, she lined all her friends up to lay back on caterpillar to listen to her recite "Go Dog Go" by memory. In the other one, she stood up some of her favorite books and then placed a friend in each book for reading time. Don't ask me how they could read when their backs were to the words... like I said, it's beyond my comprehension! I'm also including a photo of Dan and Thunder taken last night. (Katie and kids stayed for dinner).