Alex and Elvis

Alex was the only one of the kids that Elvis ever got testy with. He snapped at Alex after he punched him one day. Alex was always playing rough with Elvis and Elvis was really good about it. He would just get up and go to another room. We were not sure how Alex would take Elvis leaving. He came home after morning pre-k and said that nobody was home. I think it was at that point that he realized that Elvis was not coming back. This afternoon when he went to go out into the backyard, he said that he was going to yell at Elvis to come back here. He shook his little fist up at the sky when he said it. When I told him that Elvis was not going to be able to come back here, he really began to cry. The school counselor gave us some books to read about when a dog dies. One of them is called Dog Heaven. It is the best book. I highly recommend it. It talks about when a dog dies, God does not give him wings because God knows that dogs love to run the best. It also talks about the cloud beds and the dog treats and the angel children that play with the dogs. I think one of the best parts is when the dogs start thinking about their families, the angels bring them back down to visit their old homes. And when we die, our dogs meet us at the gate to Heaven to be with us again. These books have really helped Alex deal with this. He has talked about going to Heaven to see Elvis again. I hope he continues to find comfort

with that thought.

Lauren and Elvis

Elvis was here before Lauren was born and we were worried how he would take it when we brought her home from the hospital. We should not have worried. The only problem he had was when she cried. He did not like it at all and would come look at me as if to say " Don't you hear her? Let's go see what is wrong." He would go into Aaron's and Lauren's rooms when I put them to bed and lay there with me while I told them a story or read to them or rocked them. I would put my feet on him while I rocked and rub his back or belly at the same time. Lauren would crawl over, on and under him and he would be rock steady. In the first picture, we had not explained to the children what might happen. In the second, she did know. Clark asked her if she could smile and she said only if she stood on her head, she was too sad. She spent the entire night holding his collar and walking around with it. She said she loved it when he would stick his head through the curtains to look out the window and when his collar jingled while he walked. She said the house was too quiet without him. I agree with all my heart.

Aaron and Elvis

Aaron was four when we got Elvis from the Great Dane Rescue. He and Elvis would play and play. Elvis liked to nibble on Aaron like he was a puppy. Elvis would also run at Aaron and swerve at the last minute to mess with him. Aaron is having a very hard time with this. He does not want to talk about it but I bought a Littlest Pet Shop Great Dane toy that he is sleeping with. He says that Elvis was fun to play with and one of his best buds. Aaron has a sensitive soul and I hope that this gets easier for him.

Elvis "GREAT" Dane

This is Elvis, our Great Dane. The date is wrong on the pictures. This was taken yesterday, November 28, 2007. Elvis had been part of our family since we rescued him in 1999. We got him when Aaron was 4 years old. He put up with three children crawling over, around, and under him with grace and style. He would just look at you with a look as if to say, "Could you please help a dog out?" He went on numerous walks and wore many things tucked into his collar. He had patience with noise and mayhem in the house. He was a companion, playmate, pirate, carrier, snuggle buddy and all around great friend. He loved all children. Halloween was one of his favorite holidays when all the kids would come around to see him.

He was a great protector whenever anyone came to the door and he would always wait up until everyone was home. We know that he kept at least one person from breaking into the house. He loved to bother our cats especially Simba. They would sound like they were fighting (Simba thought they were) but Elvis's tail would be going full speed and he would be having a great time. His tail was another adventure. I received numerous bruises from his tail and several things were broken as he wagged it. It is hard to watch for a tail that was waist high! Recently, he began to decline and stop eating and did not want to get up anymore.

God received Elvis in Dog Heaven today where he can run and play without pain or getting tired. We will miss him a great deal.

The Holiday Season

The holidays usually mean decorating, baking, shopping, and that kind of thing. Well, for my family there is something extra added. It is now casino party season. My husband owns a casino party company that does parties. He supplies all the tables, chairs, chips, and dealers for whomever wants to book a party. The company has Blackjack, Roulette, Craps, Let It Ride, and Texas Hold-Em tables. You can book as few tables as you want or book the whole company. The link is http://www.boldmagic.com/montecarlo.html. All this means that we don't get to see Clark much on the weekends during December. As a matter of fact, he is working on the tables this evening. The kids and I spend time sorting out chip trays and card shoes. There does tend to be some stress at the house during this time. It does make for an interesting time for us trying to find the balance for the kids. Clark does a great job and a lot of times goes without sleep when we have something planned. I do need to figure out how to get lights up on the house this year. I know that I will NOT be doing it!! Oh well, things could be worse. I have a friend that has no heat tonight and will not have heat until maybe tomorrow. It is COLD here! I also have a friend who spent last Christmas in the hospital with her daughter. This is a good year for them, though. Check out her blog to read about Emily. I have a link, all you have to do is click.

I went shopping with an older friend this morning and some crazy lady came up and said that she wanted to pray for her. Well, she did. Right there in the store! It was rather surreal. We both looked at each other and let her go. She put her hands on my friend and prayed out loud. I suppose that any blessing, even from a crazy person, is good. The same lady walked into the checkout line behind us and then payed for my friend's purchases. Talk about odd.

I am now going to edit Aaron's lit. paper. FUN, FUN, FUN.

Blessings on all!

Break is OVER!!

Huzzah!!! School starts tomorrow. I know my kids are no where near as excited as I am. I have actually pulled out my Christmas decorations to get ready for the holidays. I have even gone thru a box to clear out Aaron's room for Alex to move into his room in preparation for Heather. I am so excited. No one is sick and everyone is going to school. I have cleaned the guest bath and the front two rooms, the kitchen is an ongoing job and I am almost caught up on laundry. I think I am in a fantasy world. Now that I have jinxed myself, I wonder what will happen tomorrow.

Black Friday

I think that I have officially gone over the edge. I was up at 2:30am, yes, AM. My sister-in-law spent the night and we were out the door to Kohl's by 3:15. We were standing in line by 3:30 to waiting for the store to open. After fighting thru Kohl's, we headed to Target for the doors to open at 5am, or so we thought. While in line, we found out that Target did not open until 6am and it was Wal-Mart that was starting at 5 am. My sister-in-law was slightly freaked, so I waited at Target while she headed over to Wal-Mart for what she wanted there. Just as I was handing the cashier my check to pay, the power went out and the system went down!! The million other people in line all gasped. I have actually never heard that happen, just read about it. It was kind of cool. I had to wait an additional 10 minutes for the computers to come back up and the cashier had to re ring my purchases. By 8 am, I was ready to go back to bed, but NOOOO. I came home to three kids who were just getting up. My wonderful mother came over at 6:30 to watch them after my husband went to work. Isn't she great!?!

There were people in line that had this incredible plan that included switching off in line while the other went to another store. There were some really good deals out there, but I was only looking for toys. I finished off four of the 8 children in the family and half of two others. It was actually fun in a twisted sort of way.

Every year I say that I am not going to do this, but there I went.

I am so getting a nap!!

Emily

Today we celebrated the anniversary of the event that changed Emily's life. I am so privileged to know such a strong spirit. This young lady has gone through something that could have sent her to such a chasm of self pity that she would have never been able climb out of it. However, not only has she maintained her lovely spirit, she has soared beyond. To go from the possibility of never walking again to playing around in Let's Jump like nothing had ever happened, is a miracle in itself. She is truly amazing. Emily, you are my hero.

Lauren

So my mom tells me that as they are coming home from Sunday School, she asked Lauren about her Thanksgiving Feast. Lauren said that she could have taken the medicine because the Feast was not that much fun. I am sure that I will never again get her to take a shot or she will miss something fun at school. I just hope to be able to remind her how much faster she felt better with the shot than with 10 days of medicine. She cracks me up.

Thanksgiving

I wish I could say I am thankful for the health of my family, but.... We are now on another round, but this time, I think it is just a cold. Or a couple of colds- Aaron and Clark. It might be bad allergies, but we are taking precautions. Quarantine isn't too strict, is it? I have had to buy another can of Lysol. I spray the couches every night. If I could get them to bathe in it, I would.

On another note, the play is over and Aaron did a great job. He did props with two other kids and for the most part things went smoothly. One of the young ladies is a very good friend of the family and she had a story to tell me one night. It seems the other young lady was feeling her power and said some unkind things to Aaron. On several occasions. When I asked Aaron about it, he confirmed it. I asked him why he didn't say anything and he said that he did not want to get into trouble and just ignored her. I am of two minds about this. It is good that he can ignore her because I am sure that chaps her hide even more. However, Mama Lion says to tell her to stop it and to shut her mouth. But as a dear friend tells me, I cannot fight his battles. So when the young lady in question came up and confronted me, I held my teeth as well as my tongue and went on. It was very hard! When he was younger it was so much easier. I got involved in all the battles. I think I am doing okay with this growing up thing. WHATEVER!! I am lucky Lauren and Alex are still young. Lauren seems to be able to take care of herself, though. We have had a conversation about getting the teacher involved before it comes to blows. Just on her part. I am glad she can take care of herself, we just have to walk that fine line.

On to other news. Heather, my step daughter will be moving in with us at the end of the semester. There are many reasons for this which we will not discuss, but we are very excited about it. Aaron and Alex will be sharing a room and Heather will be moving into Alex's room. We will be going through everything and paring down a great deal. There has been an ongoing joke that we have a toy store in our house. It might be true. I never realized how much stuff we have. I spent several hours deep cleaning the front room and going through everything. There was a bunch of stuff that has seemed to wander into that room from other places in the house. Now to be honest, it was not a straight several hours. I did have to stop for the stray Popsicle, snack, or referee. Not for me, for the seven children that were in my house. I am going to be working my way through the rest of the house doing the same thing. It should be an adventure. Sounds like fun, huh.

I have noticed that now that school activities have settled down,the holidays are coming up. How is that fair?

In an effort to make everyone happy, I have failed and made no one happy. My husband may have to work the day after Thanksgiving, we are not sure yet. If not, we are going to see his grandmother in Tennessee. If he does, we have the option to go to my brother's house with the whole family. I love my family, but sometimes it is nice to have a toned down holiday. Well, that seemed to upset everyone, so I said that we would have dinner at home and go to my brother's for dessert. No good. I was told that if we don't come for dinner, don't come. GRRR!! I understand what everyone has to say, I just don't want to be in the middle anymore. I am done feeling like I have to choose. I feel pulled apart. I know my family will be reading this and I hope that no one gets upset, but it is easier to explain in print. We have a very tough couple of weeks with everyone being sick and stressed at work and school. I just wish they could see it and understand. Well, I'll just put it in God's hands and let things go. I am planning to enjoy my holiday with whatever family I am with. Big Sigh!!

I am now off to explain to my six year old that she is not old enough to stay up past 10pm even if it is vacation. It is hard when you feel that you are older than you really are.

Lauren's Turn

Well, its official. Lauren now has strep throat. She was very upset because Friday is her Thanksgiving Feast at school and she was going to miss it. The doctor gave her an option; a shot or take medicine for 10 days. Lauren really thought about it and opted for the shot. She was very brave. It hurt very badly and she did cry, but she will be able to go to school on Friday. The kids are off next week, so she can really recover then. I am very proud of her for making the tough decision. While we were there, she asked the doctor what the difference between a virus and bacteria. The doctor gave her a very good explanation and did not talk down to her. I only had to explain what replicate meant. The doctor said that Lauren always had great questions. Even sick, she impresses me.

Car Pillows

My children have spent a lot of time in the car. They have been up early for crosswalk and only had a small nap in the afternoon for the same reason. At least one of them would fall asleep almost every time we would get in the car. This would lead to the inevitable "OW, my neck!" My sister-in-law bought them each a car pillow. These are small pillows that we leave in the car. Whenever they feel sleepy they get their pillows and go out. It was the best idea EVER! The pillows even have cool covers thanks to my brother. Every time we get in the car, I say thank you, Ne.

Mommy, I don't feel so good.

These are scary words in our house right now. Aaron turned out to be fine. I think his might have been tiredness and stress. This afternoon, I picked Lauren up from school and she seemed a little quiet. For those of you who know Lauren, this is not usual. I asked her how she was feeling and she said her throat hurt. AARGH!!! I looked and it looked a bit red. When we got home, I took her temperature. It was 101.3. We are so going to the doctor tomorrow. Insurance for the kids runs out at the end of November. I am not sure what we are going to do. Clark is going to try to get insurance through his business. Hopefully it won't be too expensive.

Well, I just keep thinking, God only gives us what we can handle. It may not be fun or easy, but if God has faith in me, I know I can handle it. The holiday season if coming up and that is always busy for us. Clark has casino parties, the kids have holiday parties, and there is always stuff to do around the house. Somehow it all gets done.

Aaron has been working on the play at his school (Alice in Wonderland). He is doing the props with two other people. I have seen it three times. It is so very cute!! The kids are doing an amazing job. The talent is awesome. I am hoping to post some music when we get the disc.
The performances have been Friday and Monday night, Tuesday and Wednesday during school and Thursday evening. He is very tired and trying to keep up with his homework. We are trying not to pressure him too much but this is all part of it. He is talking about auditioning for a part in the next one. He has an amazing voice. He sings like an angel.

Well, it is dinner time. I am trying out a new recipe. I'll let you know how it goes!!

The Bad Mommy Book

I am sure that every one of you know about this book. It may be called something different in your house or it may not even have a name. It is the book that your name goes in when you send your child to school when they say they don't feel well. You say things like: "I'm sure you'll feel better when you there. Maybe you just need to get going. " Or other phrases like that. You send your child and hope you don't get the call. You know the one. The one that says that you need to come pick up your child because they are in the nurse's office. You also know that your child has told everyone "I told my mom that I didn't feel good this morning". Can you imagine the looks? I sent Alex to school after him telling me that his throat hurt. Yes, I got a call from the nurse and when we went to the doctor it was Strep throat. Well, today I sent Aaron to school after him telling me that he threw up. He has a play performance this evening and he is needed. If he stays home for throwing up, he can't go tonight. I am hoping that I don't get the call.

Oh, well. It won't be the first time.

Aaron

My son Aaron is such a great kid. He received 6 "A"s and 1 "B" on his report card this past semester. He is also taking two pre-ap classes, math and science and they are talking about putting him into pre-ap language arts as well. He is also in the school play doing props. He has been at school until 6:30 or 7:00pm all week and the play is tonight. He is supposed to be there from 4:15 until after 9pm. This is all while keeping up with his homework. So, with everything else going on, I decided to keep him home today from school so he can rest up. I found out that the star of the play is also at home so I don't feel so bad. These kids are only 12 and 13 years old. I know they think they are invincible, but they are still just kids. He will be taking a nap today and then getting a shower and going up to school. He has worked so hard on this play. It has been a great first time experience for all of us. I think his theater arts teacher will be taking a break after this. She has been pretty stressed. I'll let you know how the play turns out this evening.

Wednesday

Today was very busy. Alex and Lauren had their fun run. They took pledges for each lap they went around this track. Half of the money raised goes back to the PTA and the school. The guys who ran the fun run were excellent. They had the kids swimming, driving, dancing, riding horses, etc. It was hilarious!! Alex did 27 laps and Lauren did 32. They did great. I took plenty of pictures.

I also had to go and get some more Girl Scout candy. I will be so glad when this is done. I am so getting more help when cookies sales start.

Aaron had play practice until 6:30 and them had to come home and eat and get right to homework. He is very tired!!We are very proud of him. This semester he received only one B. The rest were A's and the B was an 88. Way to go!!

When we got home from play practice, two of the neighborhood boys told us that a man had come from our backyard with my son's bike. When they asked him about it, he gave them the bike and left. I have a lock on my back gate that he broke into. Our backyard backs up against a busy street and we put in the back gate so that we could mow the easement. He must have come in off of the street and just took what he could see. Needless to say, I am getting several new locks first thing in the morning! I filed a police report, but since nothing was taken, I am not sure what will be done. It just scares me that we could have been here while he was in the backyard. All I can say is Thank You Angels!!

I am mentally and physically exhausted. I am going down!!

Halloween

I am sorry that I do not have the pictures yet for Halloween. But the kids were so cute. We had a friend of Lauren's from down the street come by three times to make sure that we were going to go around with them. We got our costumes on and Aaron volunteered to man the candy at the door instead of go around with us. Clark had a magic show that night in Dallas. Alex was a bat and Lauren was a woodland fairy complete with wings that moved when she moved her shoulders. We had such a good time running from house to house. There were six kids and four adults in our group. We took turns being in the front and corralling the kids. It felt a lot like herding cats.

We got home and finished about 8:00 pm and then divided out candy. Aaron got some of the loot because he worked. The kids kept about a quarter of their candy and gave the rest to the Halloween Witch. For those of you who have not heard of her, the Halloween Witch take most of your candy and exchanges it for books or toys or other fun stuff. The more candy you give her, the more fun stuff you get back. This way, the kids get some candy to make them happy and they also get other non-candy things. This year Alex and Lauren got several books and a couple of Littlest Pet Shop critters as well as a Webkinz. (www.webkinz.com). You have got to check this out. One of the girls in Lauren's Daisy troop told us about Webkinz and they are so cool. It is an interactive website that only costs the price of the stuffed animal and is good for a year. There are actually learning opportunities for the kids on the website. Aaron got an origami kit and a Marvel comics magnet set.

Back to the story... I was really glad that we had the incentive to see what the witch brought us the next morning because we got up an hour later than usual!! Everyone was dressed and eating before they could see what they received in their treat baskets. We actually made it to school on time that day!!

Clark had a really good time at his magic show. It was a success!! The client seemed happy.
I have been running around too much the past couple of days and I am really tired in the evenings, but I am still going to scrapbook tonight!! I should probably get some of my film developed. I only have 10 rolls or so. Oh, well.

I am off to do a million loads of laundry and then pick up Alex.

Welcome to steam of consciousness from Karen!!