mommy vacation... a sad ending

One of my cats went missing this weekend. She didn't come home in the evening. It was a bit odd. She's a total homebody. It was raining. We figured she found some dry place to curl up for the night. She never made it home.

Wes and I got up Sunday morning and went for a walk. When we got home we spent some time in the front yard discussing our fence (that fell over) and what we'd like to do with the yard. While we were still there a car pulled up and stopped in front of our house. It was our neighbor how lives back behind us. She found Pepper while out jogging that morning. She took her to an emergency animal hospital. Wes and I called and drove down to see Pepper. She wasn't doing well. She was very sick, very cold, very sad. We ended up making a decision to put her to sleep. It was a hard decision to make. We cried. Hard. Then the Dr. came in to tell us she died on her own. So as it turns out it wasn't our decision to make. They put her in a kitty casket. There were blankets and a pillow for her head. She looked peaceful. We brought her home. We dug a hole. Under a tree. Way in the back. Josiah came home.

We had planned to pick Josiah up at Grandma and Grandpa's. But called and they brought him home. He'd had a fun time. It was his first triple nighter. He was ready to come home though.

Today we went to run some errands. Josiah asked, "Where Pepper?" I told him, "She died. She went bye-bye. She's not coming home. She died. We just have one kitty now." In a small, quiet voice, Josiah replied, "Yah."

Spring - a photo essay - part 3 (the end)

Spring - a photo essay - part 2

Spring - a photo essay - part 1

mommy vacation - day 2

Another mommy day off. I'm liking it. We slept in. So nice. I made us breakfast. I called my mom to make sure things were going okay. Talked to Josiah on the phone. He told me something like: "Mommy at Josiah house. Josiah at grandma house. Bye-bye momma." Then Josiah talked to Wes. He told him the same thing except substitute Daddy for Mommy. I'll take that as: "Things are good, Mommy. I like hanging out at Grandma's with Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Scotty. You and Daddy have fun. Love ya!" Today we went out for lunch. This evening we're going to a GRACEworks dessert. It's been good.

I've narrowed down my photos for my photo essay. I'll get them posted soon.

Mommy vacation...

Last night we dropped Josiah off with my parents. So today I had a whole day off. Wes had to work this morning. While Wes was at work, I did something I haven't gotten to do in a very long time. I went shooting!!!! I was going to go to Washington Park. There are all kinds of different things there I could have shot. But I discovered that I left my wallet in the diaper bag with grandma. So I took a walk around my neighborhood, camera in hand. It was so much fun. I decided that since Spring has just begun, that I would look for signs that it truely had. I was a bit skeptical since it wintered on us just two weeks ago. But I discovered that Spring had turely arrived to Portland.

Upon arriving home I discovered a big box on my porch. My ups man left it there. It was full of marvelous VBS materials. I'm getting so excited about doing VBS. VBS is one of those things that I absolutely love and just about pull my hair out over at the same time. It's a crazy thing. Every year I talk about passing on my director role, and every year I come back for more. I believe this will be my sixth year. We're having a Fiesta. It's going to be so much fun. Does anyone have a mexican blanket or two I can borrow for a week?

Wes took that afternoon off. He too wanted to take full advantage of his Daddy vaction. We split a can a soup for lunch. Then we pittled around the house till dinner. We opted for a hot meal at the Racoon Lodge. When you're a parent, it really doesn't matter what you order. As long as it's hot, you don't care what you're eating. What's important is that it's hot. Hot is not something that happens at home. You're too busy feeding everyone else.

After dinner we spent our evening downtown under the Burnside bridge. No, really. We went to Night Strike with Bridgetown Ministries. Wes and I topped off coffee most of the evening.

So now we're home. 24+ hours of vacation are over. It's time for bed. I'll post my photo essay on Spring tomorrow, hopefully.

tree

What do you think of when you see this picture?

ANTS!!!!!

I'm so repulsed right now. I've kill over 100 huge ants since Josiah and I got home. I've seen one here and one there over the last month or so. But this was just too much. Wes, when will you be home?! Get rid of them, please.

portrait day

We had family pictures done the other day. Aren't we a lovely bunch. Okay, this isn't really us. It's just a really close representation. I look a bit stressed. It snowed here in the middle of March. I can't recall it snowing any later than mid February before, and that seemed really late in the winter for us. So Josiah and I spent a couple hours playing and this is what we ended up.

patriotic flames

FIRE!

There's nothing like curling up with a book in front of a toasty fire. I love watching the flames dance. Sometimes I get a chance to capture those flames. This photo was taken at the West Hills Christian Church annual picnic. Each year they retire a US flag. First you cut the stars from the strips, then you burn the two pieces. I could look at this photo for hours. It feels like it's still burning...

the first post

So I've been meaning to "get around to it." Well, now I have. I created my own blog. I'm planning on posting mostly photos and such. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of excitement in the life of a mommy that I figure anyone really wants to read about. But hey, I have a few cool pictures to show anyone who interested. Well, time for bed. Josiah will be up in seven hours and I need some sleep.