R.I.P Shiver

Today we had our first real family loss. Courtney's pet guinea pig, Shiver, died while resting with her this morning. I'm glad I took lots of pictures with them together when she first got her. She felt comforted by seeing the fun times they had together. It was a very emotional time for both the kids and myself. Not because I will particularly miss the guinea pig, but because my daughter was so heartbroken.

Shiver's passing was a good time for me to explain the shortness of life and the fact that none of us is going to live here forever. I was in my office working on a school project with Andrew when we heard her sobbing. I had a feeling.... we went up to her room to see her holding Shiver to her chest and crying. She begged me to take it to the Dr, so that they could fix her, and Andrew left the room and went into his room and started praying that God would fix her. It was so sweet and so heartbreaking at the same time. I explained that the Dr couldn't fix her now, that she had passed away and we decided to give her a funeral. So off to the backyard we went to bury her and say our goodbyes. Then we created a cross so that Courtney could remember her always.
It didn't take long before they asked if they could get another one, a new friend to cuddle and take care of and I couldn't say "No". So off to the pet store we went. I'd like to introduce you all to "CoCo" the newest addition to our family. Though he will never replace Shiver in Court's heart, he has already eased the pain of losing her first pet and her first experience with death.

We will miss you Shiver - especially Courtney - but it was fun while it lasted!

Prayer

The slippery slope of SCHOOL STARTING and Andrew's behavior issues has begun. It started with no sleeping again....then moved on to being extra sassy and disobedient...and yesterday progressed to the violent talk. He told me he was gonna have blood on his hands, that he would get a sword and get blood on his hands. Where in the world does he come up with this stuff - and why why why does it have to come back each year after school starts. I am doing my best not to let it get to me and to be compassionate while he is in this phase.

Please pray that the progression stops - I just don't want to have to go thru the hitting, kicking, biting, spitting and hair pulling for three months again. I guess I should be thankful it goes away for 9 months and see the glass 3/4 full instead of 1/4 empty.

Thank you friends.... Am

Skipping School Pictures!

So I got tired of always needing retakes and wishes you could do retakes of retakes so I decided to do my own pictures of the kids this year. If anyone wants one just place your order!

Holly Baby Shower!

Well we had a fun night last night with friends and friends of friends to celebrate the impending birth of a new little girl! Congratulations Mandy and Cameron and thank you for letting us help you celebrate the fact that your family as well as your wasteline is expanding - I'm sure this helped!!

CFS 2009

So it has been has been almost a full 15 years since I spent a week at Camp Forest Springs for family camp. See Eric isn't a big fan of camping so it took a while to get him to agree - but we went last week with the kids, Joy/Kory/Jada/Elijah/Mom & Dad and had the bonus of another family we used to go with and all their kids and spouses. It was a blast. The kids spent alot of time everyday at the Mini Farm - as you'll see from the pictures below even Eric enjoyed it. One of my personal favorite places is the air rifle range - so we taught the kids how to shoot bb guns at targets while I worked on starting over my ranking with my left hand. Became an Expert rank with my right in 1992 they said........wow that was a long time ago.
Eric's favorite was the high ropes course. And yes, it was very very high. He and Kory did it once together and then Eric/Kory/Joy/Dad and myself did it the day before we left. Needless to say - 55 feet in the air - walking on a wire - holding onto 4 other poeple to get across without losing your balance I'm sure was quite amuzing to watch from below. The end was a jump off the last platform to hit a teather ball and then be lowered down. I can say I honestly didn't want to do it - but Joy went first so I couldn't look like a whimp :) We also did a mini-triathalon our last day. Eric did a 1 mile run.....very fast I might add....and then puked his guts out..... Dad and Kory rowed a canoe around a course and then I did a swim. We came in 2nd, 13 seconds behind the winner of the first heat. It was fun - but like 60 degrees and I was freezin!
Anyone who has kids of any age should consider joining us next year - that place holds amazing memories for me as a child and they have added so many more amazing things since I have been gone. The spiritual aspect is really one of the major reasons I wanted to go - not many vacations where you get to enjoy worship and God's Word everyday and have someone take your children and do the same.
Anyway, below are some photos from our trip - and when I get the high ropes ones from Joy I'll post them too!

It has been a hard month for me.....Andrew has regressed, something I was prepared to happen the few months after school began. Not now. Its not been physical this time, yet, just lack of sleep, verbal lashing out and constant stimming. I recieved the item below via email today. Since it's that time of the month probably not something I should have decided to read, but its these times when things are hard that I am both reminded of this lifelong fight we have and how how much harder it could be. I encourage you to read every word... and then to pray for the sentences that touch your heart and for the families that are struggling with this disorder.

I wasn't able to get this to come up as large as I'd like, so here is the link if you can't read it.
http://campaign.constantcontact.com/render?v=001r74t9Hd65LoWPCDKh_r_mZCOfUw-lykB0EGRGzsZIKJ9GhJBqXVOjxKrbJw67PKxWUs8fWvDMaKpHkN_NgWa4ip18uentGIOsv6NiGztDwPiAqS87aV3Og%3D%3D

Andrews Haircut

Now there was nothing special about this haircut - nothing different than any other time. He gives me 10 minutes on the kitchen microwave to complete said haircut and then I commence the cutting.

Half way thru buzzing the back he reaches up and touches his head....."Mom, I'm almost out of hair!" He says. He's never really cared what I did to his head, he just wants it done in the 10 minute time limit so it was hilarious that he thought i was cutting off all his hair.