Sir Charming Chauncey

Today we made a hard decision, but the right one to put our dog, Chauncey to sleep.

He had a terrific life and picked up many, many birds. In one year alone he picked up over 400 birds in a hunting season. That is a good life for a hunting dog. In the picture above Chauncey is on the far right, Cali (our dog also) is next to him, and next to Cali is Star, Chauncey's daughter.
Chauncey turned 13 on January 5th.
Jeff has had him since he was in college and before he knew me. They were best buds.
Chauncey's quality of life has deteriorated and it was time to let him go.
He was such a good dog! Great with Caitlyn and Brent! We will miss him very much.

Caitlyn knows best?

Caitlyn has been giving me a couple of suggestions lately.

She got a lot of neat toys for Christmas. Usually we purge and give away toys in November and I haven't gotten around to it yet. So her room is a mess. She looked around her room the other day and said, "Mom, we really need to clean up my room this weekend and give some of my toys away."

I was cooking some bacon for a great dish, Bacon and Tomato Pasta. It turned out so well by the way. She came over and helped me cook for a little bit. She assessed the situation of the bacon cooking and even though it was her first time ever seeing bacon cooking she said, "Mom, I think the bacon needs to be flipped over." Can't wait until she is the cook!

She is cracking me up lately.

She has been asking about Heaven a lot lately. She wanted to know where it was. She thinks Heaven is in Missouri!! We have lots of family that live in this great state: Aunt Kari, Aunt Betty, Grandpa and Grandma and so many more.

O-Kay!

I wish you could type it the way Brent said it all day today. Everything I told him to do, he would say, O-kay. He said it so sweetly and with a bit of a twang!

I just simply want to remember it forever. Tomorrow it might be NO again.

Happy New Year

2009 was a great year and I'm excited to see what 2010 has in store.

I am looking forward to reorganizing lots of toys and small furniture in my home in January. I can't wait to get to it.

What are you looking forward to doing?

Happy New Year!

My Bed

My sweet girl asked me this morning with the most excited voice, "Mommy can I please make your bed?" Of course I agreed. She ran and threw her arms around me and told me thank you for letting me make your bed. Now I will admit that I make my bed um, once in a blue moon. I know shocking! She worked very hard and when she was finished with decorative pillows in all. She stepped back and we looked together with such pride. She asked, "What do you think?"

It looks beautiful.

I just want to savor this moment.


Brent has been sick this week. Cold, cough, laryngitis, and fever. Many times Caitlyn would tell me that Brent was sick. She was very concerned. They would lay together on the couch. One time I found her holding him on the couch. The love between my two children is so precious. I am so blessed!

It's Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Christmas!

This weekend was busy! I managed to get the Christmas tree decorated and the Christmas cards in the mail.

It was a pleasure to have my darling Caitlyn help me! She is becoming quite the organizer. I showed her how to lay out the ornaments first so we would know what we had to work with and how to start with the red and white ones first. She did very well actually. There are many clumps of ornaments and my tree has been redecorated multiple times already but it is being well loved!

Brent is doing well with the Christmas tree and he even hung a few ornaments. His sister gave him directions and he was sure to follow! It's amazing how he listens to her better than he listens to me.

Caitlyn and Brent figured out how beautiful it looked with the lights out and Brent quickly become in charge of the lights. It has also been really nice to have Caitlyn turn on and off all the Christmas lights in the house.

Today we enjoyed hot chocolate in front of the Christmas tree while we stuffed Christmas cards. Caitlyn really enjoyed putting labels and stamps on the envelopes. She did an excellent job too. She is such an excellent helper! Can you tell I'm so proud?

There is much more to do but I'm taking it one moment at a time and enjoying it all! I hope your Christmas preparations are going well too. Merry Christmas!!

Happy Thanksgiving

There is so much to be thankful for this year! Wow what a wonderful world we live in. It might not be perfect but we have so many wonderful advantages! I'm so thankful that I know that Jesus has blessed me with everything I have!

I am thankful for husband who loves me and I'm still not sure why!

I am thankful for two precious children who play so well together and I pray that they will always love each other the way they do now.

I am thankful for my entire family that has taught me about Jesus, relationships, friendships and has set good examples for myself and my children.

I am thankful for great jobs for my husband and I that we enjoy going to every day.

I am thankful for a terrific church to raise my children in.

I am thankful for a safe neighborhood and terrific, fun neighbors!

I am thankful for my friends to make each day as fun-filled as possible.

Thank you for being in my life. I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!