My little walker

It's official...we have another little "toddler" in the house. My mom always says that the reason they must call this stage "toddlerhood" is because the baby toddles around. We see this to be true in our little Shylie as she wobbles and toddles all around the house. It's just too cute!

Makin Daddy's lunch

The kids love to make Daddy's lunch. Today Poppet asked if she could make it. Thus began a joint effort with Lolly to make Daddy the best lunch ever. Making a peanut better sandwhich. (There was lots of licking fingers and spoons)

Almost done.

Done and cut in half. (Notice she used the heel of the bread. lol)

Notice the big bite out of the sandwhich! As she stood showing me her finished product the dog jumped up and swiped a bite!

A new sandwhich was made and she is feeling good!

Megan

Megan made it thru the night and in the morning started throwing up blood. We ended up taking her in and having her put to sleep. The vet was so great and allowed Shelbie to be right there with Megan. It was very peaceful and we were grateful to see her be out of pain. This was very emotionally hard for Shelbie so we would covet all prayers. Those that know Shelbie and her personality can understand how difficult this was for her. Nights will be hard for a while as Megan slept right next to her head and kneaded in her hair every night. She would follow Shelbie around the house. They truly were best friends.

This is the yucky part of being a pet owner. We know that most likely we will out live them and have to deal with their loss. Maybe this is how the Lord teaches children about life and death on a level that they can understand. As a parent this just down right stinks. I hate seeing my child hurt and not being able to take that away. It's just another reminder that, thankfully, this world with all its pain and suffering is not our home. I am truly grateful at this moment for that.

Please keep Shelbie in your prayers!

This was before Megan became blind. She had beautiful blue eyes.

She would stay right next to Shelbie even while she did her schoolwork.

8 years ago.

About 4 months after Shelbie got Megan. This was how they slept every night!

Prayers please

We would appreciate prayers for Shelbie's cat, Megan. The kids posted a few months ago on how she suddenly started going blind. Over the last couple of weeks her health really started to deteriorate. Her kidney's have started shutting down. The last couple of days she will no longer eat or drink and she is down to about 4 lbs. Shelbie has been praying about whether or not to have her put to sleep. Today we can tell the end is near. I really don't see her making it thru the next few hours let alone the night. We are all praying that she will just die peacefully here as it breaks Shelbie's heart to think of handing her over to someone to be put down.

Megan seems to be laying peacefully and at times almost seems to not be breathing, but then starts again. Shelbie has been sitting by her day because she is very concerned about Megan dying with her not there.

Please pray that this happens quick and peaceful. We would also love prayer for Shelbie. As she has said, "I can't remember life without Megan." She was 4 years old when she got her kitty and they have a bond that none of us have ever seen before with a cat. Shelbie is our quiet one that really only needed her cat and a good book to be happy and content.

Thank you in advance for all your prayers for tonight and the days ahead as Shelbie will be needing them!

Happy 2010

As much as I love the Christmas season I always look forward to taking down the tree and cleaning up the Christmas decorations. The kids hate it and would leave the tree up year round if they could, but there is something invigorating about getting it all cleaned up and ushering in the new year with a clean house. I love the feeling of a new start and I usually love to clean and organize. That is exactly what we have been doing around here!

Duane had vacation the week after Christmas and we tackled the garage...well kinda, Duane and the boys actually tackled it. Every job needs a task manager and that would be me! Duane and I came up with the ideas of what needed to be done and they did it. They tore down shelving and rebuilt it to make better use of the space, they cleared out an area for the kids to use as a play area with their toys and hockey table. Duane also hung up a huge whiteboard for the kids to color on. We also have the treadmill and elliptical out there. Hopefully those actually get used this year!

My in laws gave me a labeler for Christmas. (I asked for it!) It was the best gift ever and I have had so much fun labeling everything I can...spices, the baking cupboard, toys, and even small children. Okay, maybe not the small children, but someone has ended up with a "kick me" tag on their backs a time or two. Shelbie is my organizer buddy so she has enjoyed this too!

The girls and I are also working on making meal times easier. We came up with the idea to create a "meal binder". We used to make monthly menus and last year when I was sick that kind of fell by the wayside. Time to get back to that, but add to it. We are making rotating menus for Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer. On the back of each menu we listed all the ingredients for each week of meals so we don't have to look them up each time we need to go shopping. The binder is divided by months. We are working on putting each recipe in a sheet protector under the month that recipe will be used, that way we never have to hunt for a recipe, it will always be at our fingertips.

We are also ready to rebid chores and make some changes with that too. It's very funny to me that my children actually get excited about this. They have been asking me daily for a week when we are going to bid.

I have high hopes that 2010 is going to be a good year. 2009 really wasn't that great. I have been feeling really good, praise the Lord, and I am praying that things stay that way. I hope each of you has a very blessed New Year!

My spice rack.

My baking cupboard

Toys too! (Did I mention that I love my LetraTag labeler!)

Our Menu binder

Monthly menus

Our shopping list