Brothers

I had a Dr's appointment today. It was just easier to take the kids...so I thought. There is a little area with toys for the kids, so the boys automatically go there and play while I check in. I headed to the bathroom with Mique to do the necessary. As I am sitting on the toilet (on the other side of the building) I hear what sounds like Ahser screaming. I pause, listen and then become convinced that it is him. I try to finish quickly, get all the layers back on, wash my hands and rush out the door. As I round the corner and the noise increases, I see Caleb with his hands wrapped around Asher's head. He is shaking him while Asher has his hands on top of Caleb's trying to set himself free...while crying and screaming. I b-line it to them and notice, out of the corners of my eyes, all the other patients in the waiting room and workers behind the desk silent and looking on with faces that read "holy crap, what should we do." I get close enough for Asher to see me and he started yelling, "Caleb hit me." I separate, put kids in chairs, cover Asher's mouth until the crying is no longer piercing and try and let them both know how much trouble they are in without causing an even bigger scene. Mique in the meantime takes off and enjoys uninhibited play with the toys. Oh "brother!"

Homework

I think I hate homework way more now than I did when I was doing it for myself. Seriously who likes homework anyway (except Caleb of coarse), and I thought I was done 7 years ago. Here goes to at least 18 more years of homework.....ughhhhh!

Shopping with me

The other day I went to Target while I was in ABQ. I needed to get some diapers and a few other things. I made my way over to the valentines section to see what was on sale. I found a table with t-shirts marked down and needed a new white one for Asher. I turned to the table for less than 2 minutes, and when I looked back at the cart, this is what I found:

Yes that is a whole HUGE Hersey's bar she masterfully unwrapped and to which she helped herself. Note that there were no Hersey's bars in that section so she must have snatched it some other place in the store, hid it, and waited for the perfect opportunity to unveil and enjoy. I wanted to be mad, but could not help but laugh. Thank goodness for cel phone cameras!

Olympics

Yesterday Asher was watching the final two men's figure skating performances with me. Evan was the first to skate, and when he took the ice Asher said, "Mom, is that a girl or a boy?" I replied, "It is a boy." The routine started and Asher immediately said, "Then why does he dance like a girl...I want to watch the skiing and shooting." I am pretty sure he made his father proud in that moment. It made me chuckle.

Sad Day

Yesterday was a very sad day for our family. Athena went in to surgery to get a biopsy of her intestines to try and see what was going on. All tests pointed to no kidney or liver problems. Though, she still had diarrhea and increased difficulty eating. She had lost over 10 pounds in a matter or weeks. I was thinking of her being in surgery when I got a call from the vet. She was in the middle of surgery when she discovered a very large mass. She went to remove it, then discovered many other masses. Her cancer was so bad it, the vet said it was best to just put here to sleep then. I said we wanted to do what was best for Athena, so she was peacefully put to sleep amid surgery. I texted Grant (he was in a meeting and could not talk.) Caleb kept asking who called, but I wanted to tell Grant before anyone else. I held it together for about 5 minutes (yep that is all) and then the tears flowed...and did they flow! I never would have thought I would have been so upset about the loss of our dog, but I was. I felt bad that we did not really get to say goodbye. We thought she was going to come home. I did not get that last picture...I tried the night before, but the kids moved and I thought, "I will get it when she comes home." Grant did not get to see her before I took her to the vet, I felt terrible for him. I was worried about how the kids would feel. I cried buckets yesterday. I was sad that I would never see her again...I did not get to kiss her one last time. The last look she gave me was those sad puppy dog eyes. Grant (the greatest man ever) brought me beautiful flowers to remind me of our dog. We told the boys, Caleb cried and asked a lot of questions. Asher did not get it, I still do not think he does. He talks about giving things to Athena when she comes back. I told Jamison when she got home. She wailed, such sad cries! She kept saying she just wanted Athena. We looked at pictures of her and printed one of for her to carry with her. She took it to school today. Grant went to the vet to settle everything. He got to see her one last time. He touched her and kissed her, and reality hit. Our sweet dog was gone. We will never see her again, at least not in this life. She was about as good as a dog as they come, and I feel bad I did not always give her that credit. Her stuff is still around, I am not ready to pack it up yet. I have to say I am glad she is no longer suffering. It got bad, really bad at the end and we felt terrible for her. Caleb blessed her in his prayer to be good for Jesus and Heavenly Father. We will miss her a great deal. I have been surprised at my own attachment and sadness. I am sure pregnancy has aided the emotion, but really it boils down to, I loved our dog and I miss her already.

Athena: Born January 1, 2005/ Came to our house March 6, 2005/ Died February 10, 2010

Sometimes

Not always, but sometimes I think I have the sweetest kids ever. I went down to pick up the downstairs and found Asher had made his bed all by himself without me even asking. I started cleaning the kitchen, and James cannot wait to help mop. Miquelyn took the rag from me and started to wipe down the table and chairs. Caleb vacuumed the living room. So yes, sometimes they are as sweet as can be!

Athena

Athena came to our family when Caleb was 5 weeks old. I have to admit our relationship for the first couple of years was not ...well fabulous. I had little patience for potty training, and she was not easy. She came around and turned into a really good dog. She is fairly mild as far as boxers go. I have only heard her bark about five times in her five years. She is as friendly and loving as they come (to the point of helping a robber to carry out a tv if it meant she got loves.) The last couple of weeks she was what I termed depressed, just laying around with a sad look on her face. I tried to play with her, but she quickly became uninterested. Then the more potent signs of sickness set it. She stopped eating and had flu-like symptoms. After almost a week of cleaning up messes (on top of Mique being sick) I was beside myself. She got ill enough that I had to lift her up to get her on her feet and lift her to help her lay down. She finally ate, and regained some of her energy, but the bowels never got better. Being six months pregnant was not helping my situation. On Wed I took her in to the vet thinking they would give me some meds, and her issues would clear up and we could move on (ps, I was not in a good space when I took her.) After a short exam, and telling the vet the situation she did not hesitate to say that Athena needed to stay and get tests done. I called the next morning to get some of the results, but more tests were needed, and the only thing we know is that her liver might not be working. The thing that has been a little surprising to me it how not having her here feels weird. My routine is off, when I put the kids to bed, I put her to bed. As soon as we walk in the house, we let her out of her kennel. I keep going to do these things, but realize it is not necessary. The kids ask a lot of questions, even Jamison (and I always thought she did not really like Athena.) Asher cried when we left her with the vet. Caleb is counting down to her return. I guess I never realized how much she is a part of this family until now. So now it is the waiting game. Hopefully we get some results this evening.

Some Background

Last night we had the Morrows over for dinner and the kids got to bed late. I kept warning James that she could not be grouchy when I woke her up the next morning. Since the cause of contention in the morning is often clothes I asked her if she wanted to pick them out last night. I got her jeans out and asked her what shirt she wanted to wear. She said, "hmmm, can you give me some options."

A couple of weekends ago Mikael was watching the kids while Grant and I snuck away to ABQ. They wanted to watch a movie and Caleb asked Mikael, "Do we have to agree?" Mikael said, "What?" not knowing I usually make the kids agree on a movie so I do not hear complaining about what was picked...and Caleb's retort: "Do you know what agree means?"

"Sweet" girl

Jamison did such a cute thing yesterday. She somehow got a hold of jolly ranchers. She remembers from over a month ago that Grant's favorite lifesaver is the purple. She found a purple jolly rancher and saved it to give to Grant after church. How thoughtful of her...at least I thought. Sweet girl!