It's been a long time

It's been a long time since I've written anything.  We lost Blackie back in October of 2017 and then Koko a year later - I lost the will to write much.  Work got in the way too and we all got a little depressed.

Now it's 2020 and it's the end of the world as we know it.

I've retired from my commercial job to focus more on my family.  I also became a Realtor and started designing custom homes.  I've never been busier in my entire life. 

Whoops.

At least I'm working from home.  Which I thought I'd love, but not so much.  In between the "mommy, look at this You Tube video!" and the "Honey, do you have just a sec to look at this" interruptions I feel like I never get anything done!  

 

The boys are in 5th grade and we DID send them back to school.  They left 4th grade at Spring Break and never went back, so we weren't falling for that again.  The school put them in the same classroom to reduce exposure which I appreciate, but there are only 2 physical classes this year for the 5th grade and they have 25 kids in each room.  They have separated the desks and put plexiglass around the perimeter on 3 sides, but they are almost on top of each other.  They do wear their masks all day which is good, but their faces are breaking out so they now wear acne medicine.  Thank you Covid.  

Sean tells me that if he buys his food, which is all packaged this year, and he can't open the package he has to wait until lunch is over and take it back to his desk where he can open it with his scissors.  None of the staff members are allowed to touch his food and help him.  They can't open it for him in any way.  My baby starves all the way through lunch.  At least they let him eat his now-cold food when he gets back to his desk.

SURELY SOMEONE HAS GLOVES. 

Christopher is 4 1/2" shorter than me and I steal his tennis shoes.  They are comfy.  

Sean is still 3" smaller than Christopher but he's mighty on the soccer field. 

 

Paul bought them (and himself) dirt bikes this summer and they are all pretty good at it.  Paul used to ride as a kid and Sean is convinced he's going to compete when he's older.  Chris just likes the ride...

I keep the mythical dream that I'm going to get a new kitchen.  One day.

 

We did get a new Border Collie and named him Jake aka J-Dog aka Jakester.  He was hard to love as a puppy.  His favorite food was poop.  Cat poop, dog poop, bird poop, but he preferred his own poop.  Dang, I'm going to throw up just typing about it.  He's out-grown that, thankfully, and we adore him now.  He's tied to Paul's hip and loves playing/herding the kids.  We're writing a rap song about him.  It's called J-Dog.  You must read this in a low growly voice.

My name is J-Dog

A Border Collie

They call me Jake tho

But that's just folly

 

When we go walkin'

People be hatin'

I'm so good lookin'

Do I smell bacon?  

 

My job is simple

Protect the fam-ly

Bark at the neighbors

I'll bite your Camry

 

That's all I can remember at this point.  It's in a notebook that I can't find. 

 All for now.

A Very Sad Day

We lost Blackie on Friday October 6, 2017. He was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in January of 2014 and at the time he already had a lot of muscle atrophy in his rear legs. Our veterinarian put him on lots of pain medications and told us that there was no cure for the disease. And it would get very bad for him. And it did. 

A few months after the diagnosis, he couldn't jump into the back of our SUV by himself anymore. He'd walk out to get in the car and he'd stand up and put his front legs on the back and we'd have to help him get his rear into the car. He could always jump out by himself and he loved to go for rides in any car any time of day. 

By January of this year, we had to pick him up to get him into the 4Runner as he couldn't jump at all anymore. By this June on a trip to Ruidoso, he couldn't walk up two steps to get into a cabin we rented. That's when things started getting really bad for him. The rapid deterioration of his back legs led to him not even being able to stand up by himself by July. The vet put him on even more pain pills and recommended a harness we could put on him to help him get up. He did okay on the new harness for about a month before he started having some type of pain that was causing him to pant constantly and drink lots, and I mean, lots of water everyday. We had tests for everything and they couldn't find a cause so we just had to deal with him as he was. A geriatric puppy who still thought he was a three-month old pup. 

In the last two weeks, his front legs would no longer hold him up most of the time and he'd lay down wherever we helped him lay down. The poor guy had two modes, asleep and panting if he wasn't asleep. He finally couldn't even stand up to relieve himself. 

It was painful to watch him go downhill so quickly and even more painful to know that it was never going to get better for him. He was such a great and happy pup even in pain. Everyone who knew him loved him dearly and we are all so very sad that he's gone now. As the Irish always say, "May he rest in peace." We miss you so very much little pup. 

July 4th Weekend

Better late than never I suppose.

Aunt Jill and Great Aunt Debbie had us all out to Tyler for the Saturday before the 4th of July - the 2nd.  Jill has completely renovated her old home in Tyler and it looks so GOOD.  Not sure why I haven't featured it yet on The House Enthusiast.  Oh yeah.  I'm lazy. 

"Stay tuned for Jill's renovation on The House Enthusiast!"

Anyway, she had her back yard all decked out.  There was a zip line, trampoline (brand new), a fire pit (not used ... because July in Texas), two big fans, and picnic tables.  I was impressed. The boys had a great time with their cousins and I got to catch up with family.

 Brent and Paul putting the trampoline together

 fun on the trampoline

#Christopherdarling channeling his inner #MileyCyrus

 Hey - Cristy finally showed up!

 

Just chilling - or at least trying not to bake

 

  Cousins

 

 

 Of all the things offered here in Jill's Backyard they choose to play in the dog crates.

 Maci eating a watermelon.  Christopher told us he ate 8 pieces..... 

#parenting

 Woah.  When did Andy show up?  And of course I have NO pictures of his illusive wife.

 Girls only

 Here we are, pretending to look at my phone.  I'm sure it's off. 

#acting

 Also pretty sure Christopher is back there eating watermelon.

Thank you Jill and Debbie for the wonderful day!!!

Just Keep Swimming - 6th Birthday Party

Wow, It's been a while since my last post.  We've been settling into the new house and the boys had another birthday.  They are 6 now... I can't believe it.  They are my most favorite people in the world.

They have also both lost their 2 bottom front teeth.  This was the last picture of them both before that started.

This was taken by my talented cousin Wendi Kessler. 

For their birthday we took a couple of kids to play at Shenaniganz and then had their classmates over for a pool party.  It was an all day affair.

They had a great time!  Aside from all the kids, Aunt Peggy, Uncle Pete, Uncle Bobby, DiDi, Pop, Terry, Chris, Marc, Laura, Kellye and Stefan were there.  That means that mommy had a good time too :-)