Thanksgiving and whats REALLY important.

As I was doing some cleaning today while Wyatt was at school and Annalee was taking her nap I decided to turn on the TV for some background noise as well as distraction from cleaning. I just so happened to turn it on to some celebrity news show that I usually can not stand to watch and it was all about what celebrities want and are giving people for Christmas along with all the "IT" gifts this season. I paid somewhat attention as I cleaned and found myself feeling quite sorry for these people and the priorities and "stuff" they spend their days chasing! At that moment I saw how empty and sad their lives must really be if they place that kind of importance on things. At that moment my worries of paying the bills, and not having what I thought was "enough" seemed like such a blessing! I may not have much as far as the world is concerned, my clothes may not be in style and my home is far from glamorous, and I could sure use a makeover as far as my hair and makeup are concerned but I am blessed beyond measure because I know what my priorities are and what is the "IT" things in my life and I can assure you none of it can be found in a store or in some magazine.

I spend my days caring for everyone BUT myself. I feed, clothe, and care for two tiny people that can not do it on their own while at the same time trying to teach them to do it themselves. I wipe noses and bottoms and dry tears and get screamed at, spilled on, climbed on, and even sometimes hit by a screaming toddler. I get the honor of hearing my son read a book for the first time and tell me minute after minute what time it is because he finally gets it. I get to play interpreter to a toddler who repeats herself over and over again until I finally understand what she is saying. I pick up the same toys 20 or more times a day and sweep up the same messes over and over again.

I have a husband who loves me even when I loose it and when I complain about how tired, fat, pregnant, hungry, hot, sore, sick, moody I am. We don't fight and if we have a disagreement we can talk about things and come to some sort of peaceful resolution. Not too mention he is pretty darned handsome and manly too.

You see I don't have stuff. I don't need stuff. I don't want stuff! I am happy with my life and it's pretty monotonous routine. I am glad I know what is really important and that I have all the "IT" things I could possibly desire.

My life is pretty simple and plain and I would not have it any other way.

Me and Wyatt's bedtime tradition.

A while back Wyatt and I came up with a fun bed time tradition. First we read books together, then we say prayers, and then we think of something really cool we can go and do together in our dreams. Let me tell you we have had many adventures in our dreams! We have gone to Disneyland, the beach, nascar, football games, ice cream parlors, camping, skiing, and the list goes on and on. Wyatt is usually the one that comes up with these ideas and we usually spend a few minutes planning out our excursions. We talk about how we will get there, what we will eat, who else may be invited, who we are going to see there. It really is quite amusing. Then when it is all planned I wrap things up by saying "OK Wyatt, I'll see you there" to which he replies "Don't be late!" and that is how we say goodnight!

I had better get going because tonight Wyatt and I are going camping in the backyard and I am in charge of building the fire and making us smores and I had better not be late!!! :)

Feeling under the weather

It seems despite my best efforts the crud has made its way to my house. Last week was bad as I had to go to the ER for some mystery pain that was nothing short of excruciating and along with I could not stop throwing up. Nice huh! Shortly after that Wyatt came down with a runny nose, cough, sore throat, and a low fever. I kept him home from school for a few days and home from his soccer game this morning which he was not happy about. Poor kido! Well last night my nose started running and the sore throat started last night as well and this morning I feel like I got hit by a bus. I just want to go to bed but we all know that is not even an option when you have little ones at home. I just to feel better so I can do my mom and lady of the house duties without wanting to crawl in a bed and go into a coma.

OK now that I have gotten that off my chest I want to talk about my little Monkey Annie. She is a CLIMBER!!! It is quite frightening! She has discovered two new places she likes to climb. The first being my computer hutch! She drags a kitchen chair over to the computer hutch and climbs up onto the part that folds down when you open the hutch and then she climbs over the laptop and into the hutch!!! It is terrifying! It is in no way built to hold a child. Then as if that wasn't bad enough last night as I was cooking dinner I heard Wyatt scream MOM!!! I turned around to see Annie standing on top of the kitchen table holding a pair of scissors that were left on the kitchen table supposedly out of her reach! HA! She found a way to climb on the table and get them. The thing that makes this so odd is how tiny Annie is. She is 19 pounds, 20 on a good day, is 18 months old and is still wearing size 12 month clothes. She is itty bitty and the fact that she has the strength and agility to climb like that amazes me! Wyatt was a tank of a kid and never was a climber. He was more of a bulldozer so this whole climbing thing is freaking me out! I can't let her out of my sight for a minute or she may end up breaking something.

Now onto Boston! Seems my dog has a thing for sippy cups! I keep catching her stealing Annie's sippy cups. Then she lays down on the ground and kinda milks the sippy cup nozzle with her paws to get the juice or milk out! It is hysterical to watch! My dog is nuts!

Well I think it would be wise of my to at least try and get dressed out of my pajamas and try to get some things done around here even though I feel rotten.

Wish me luck.....

Oh me oh my....

OK I really need to get crack-a-lackin and write in this poor old neglected BLOG! It has been a year since I have written anything. I used to be so good and writing faithfully nearly everyday and then I just got tired of it I suppose. I know it will most likely take me a while to get back into the of things but at least I can try right?

It is nearly 5pm, Seth is at work, Wyatt is enjoying some playtime after school and homework has been done and I am trying to keep my eyes open! I am tried all the time! But hey I managed to get some vacuuming done, laundry in the wash, and bathrooms cleaned oh and a quick trip to the store for milk so it hasn't been a total waste of a day!

This is the first week of Seth's new schedule and I am hoping that I will like it. Seems like there is no great schedules in his line of work, so you take the good with the bad and make it work I suppose. Mon-Fri 8-5????? Yeah now what would THAT be like! HA!

Still have no idea what to name this little baby girl of ours. The names came so easily with Wyatt and Annalee but I am at a loss this time. I am hoping that her name will come to me so I can have some time to get used to the idea. It is such a big responsibility to give someone a name, one that I do not take lightly. After all they will have that name forever so you want to make sure it fits and that they like it!

Well as I write this little Miss Annalee is hanging on my shoulders saying "melmo!!! melmo!!!" and trying to grab the mouse away from me. Her Daddy introduced her to the oh so wonderful world of Youtube and showed her videos of ELMO! Now all day long she climbs up to the laptop and slams all the buttons shouting "LaLaLa MELMO!!!" My laptop may never be the same. What is it about Elmo anyway? Wyatt was fascinated with him too haha!

Well I think that is about all from me for now!
Until next time... Kara

Lonley night and morning shopping.

Howdy folks.

Can it really be true that it is the day AFTER Thanksgiving? I am not too sure that I am ready. But ready or not here CHRISTMAS comes. Wyatt said to me this morning... "Mom. You know why I am so happy today?" "Because Thanksgiving is over and that means CHRISTMAS is NEXT!!!" Boy oh Boy!!! haha.

Last night was the first night I had to sleep in the house by myself AND without Luke. Seth returned to his regular schedule and I had MAJOR anxiety not having my guard Dog Luke around. I woke up with every little sound and kept checking on the kids over and over again. I miss him so much!

My sister was so sweet and actually did a portrait of Luke. It was very thoughtful of her and mean a lot.

This morning once the kids woke up I drug them out to Walmart and Kohls to do a little shopping. Nothing too exciting, just jammies for the kids and clothes for Wyatt. He needed them sooo bad so I had been holding out for the sales. I did good and got him some nice new things. No toy shopping as I had both of them with me and that would spoil all the surprise for Wyatt haha! Another day...

Well I really really need to do some laundry and pick up the house but I wanted to post a few thoughts before I get on with the madness.

Until next time... Kara

Just some thoughts...

Morning Friends:

It is a chilly, rainy morning here in Arizona. It is fantastic! Anything other than hot and sunny is a nice change for me. It has been pretty lonely around here with out my pal Luke. I really miss him! Every morning when I wake up and he isn't there staring at me to let him out is tough. Then there is getting out of the shower and ot having to give him a few good pushes to move from in front of the door. Man how I miss that Dog!!! Wyatt is still asking me where he is and if I am sure he is really dead. I know he misses him too! We all miss him! We got a card from the vets office... a break on all the bills would have been nicer though! We should be getting Luke's ashes back in about a week. I am not too sure where we are going to put our sweet Luke, but I am sure we will find a place for him.

People have been asking me if we are going to get a new pet. Short answer is yes. Someday we will. Hopefully not too far away. I think we all just need some time to recover before welcoming a new member of our family. Not too mention it is a lot of work helping a new pet adjust. We will just have to see I suppose. Then there is of course the matter of all of Luke's things. I have left everything alone so far. We have a whole bag of food and bags and bags of treats that I am thinking of asking my neighbor if they can use it. Also there are tons and tons of his tennis balls around the yard... his favorite. Breaks my heart!

OK... moving on... on the list today is Pre-School. Wyatt and I have school this afternoon and we are having a mini feast for the kids. Should be fun I hope. We are going to my sisters tomorrow so I do not have much of anything to cook which will be nice. But all Wyatt can talk about is playing Mario Car on the Wii. If I had the money I would LOVE to get a Wii for the family. But those darned things are soooooo expensive!!!

My little Annie is getting pretty good at sitting up! She is so little and cute. I wonder if she will be getting any teeth soon???

I am hoping to find some really good deals on clothes for Wyatt on Friday. All of his pants are like boy capri's hahaha! So if anyone finds any great online deals please send them my way!!! I am NOT dragging my two kids out at the crack of dawn to shop by myself. NO THANKS!!!

Well I think that is about all from me for now.

Until NEXT time...

Until we meet again Luke...

LUKE

April 23 1999-November 23rd 2008

For as long as I can remember I wanted a yellow Lab dog. I have always had a fondness for the breed. 9 1/2 years ago I met Luke for the first time. He was a round, fluffy, yellow fur ball who was living on a family farm and was the last pup in his liter. He didn't pay any attention to me as he was running after the neighborhood kids. I instantly fell in love with Luke and I took him home that day. Luke got his name from the main character of Star Wars, Luke Sky Walker. I named him this because I knew how much Seth liked the movie and I wasn't even supposed to be getting a pet dog.

Later that night when Seth was coming home from work I prepared him for the newest member of our family by saying "You are going to be mad for a minute, but once you see you will get over it." I was right because as soon as Seth saw Luke and was greeted by those big brown eyes, wagging tail, and puppy kisses he too was in love.

Since that day we have enjoyed 9 great years with Luke. He moved with us and lived in 6 different houses, 4 different states, and two different coasts. He swam in the pacific and the Atlantic oceans, a few lakes, streams, and swimming pools as well. There has been many a bush sniffed and tree marked by our pal Luke.

He welcomed and loved our two sweet children into the family. He greeted friends and strangers alike and always had a smile on his face.

Luke loved to chase balls and could run like the wind. He was a great swimmer as well and loved to swim any chance he could get. I will always be grateful to him for being such a great sport with Wyatt. Wyatt absolutely loved his friend Luke. Wyatt would always drag Luke into the backyard to "keep an eye" on him. Luke was such a good sport and would diligently sit outside while Wyatt played and would even let Wyatt drag him all around and boss him around too!

Luke was also very protective of our family. He would bark like a mad man anytime the door bell would ring. He would shove past you and be in front of you when you opened the door. Although it drive me insane most times there were instances where I was grateful when someone frightening would come to my door. In his old age his barking got to be a bit much. It seemed he barked at every little sound. But now I miss that sound!

Luke also loved to eat! Some of his favorites were peanut butter, cheese, and bread. You had to really be careful what you left lying around or it may not be there once you got back. One time when we ran out for a quick errand Luke somehow got into the Pantry and ate 5 boxes of Fiber One Granola bars!!! There was also the time when he ate threw my bag to get at a granola bar I had zipped inside. He also ate threw Wyatt's back pack to get at something inside. Yep Luke loved to eat anything he could get his his paws on.

One of his favorite places to be at in the house was lying in our closet and in front of the shower door. Most mornings I would have to give him a few good pushes with the shower door in order to get him to move so I could get out of the shower. He loved to hang out in the bathroom!

Luke had the softest ears you've ever felt!!! But his favorite place to be pet was on his belly! He would sneeze several times when you would rub his belly. Anytime you would go to pet him he would instantly roll onto his back for a belly rub. Luke also was determined to get everyone to like him. If he sensed you didn't care for him or for dogs he would try that much harder. He aimed to please and would follow guests in our home wherever they went even waiting outside the bathroom door!!!

It breaks my heart to have to say goodbye to my dear friend Luke. The illness he was fighting took his life quickly. It seemed to me that he was sad to see us so sad! Almost as if he was worrying about US during his final hours. He fought the illness as long as he could and we had to let him go. As much as I would have like to spend even a few more hours with my sweet dog Luke I could not be so selfish to ask him to continue on in pain and sickness.

I can only hope that we did the right thing in having Luke put to sleep when we did. The doctor reassured us that we were making the right decision. He reassured me that it was the most humane and peaceful way for Luke to pass. We got to hold him and pet him and tell him how much we love him and how much we would miss him. Although it was so hard I am glad he went how he did and that he seemed at peace and not in pain. I am glad I got to hold him and pet him as he made his final journey to return to his Maker.

Seeing my son cry and ask me over and over again if his dog is really dead is heartbreaking. Although I had been talking to him before this all happened you can never really prepare a 4 year old for the death of his first pet. I can only hope the memories and good times he had with Luke will help.

My home doesn't feel the same. Something is missing and every where I turn I am looking and listening for Luke. Every room and corner of my home reminds me of my friend. I know in time it will get easier and my life will return to normal. But for now words can not express how much I miss him.

Luke thank you! Thank you for being a part of my life and my family. Thank you for being my loyal and loving companion for 9 wonderful years. You are a joy and a light in my life and my heart than can never be replaced. I will forever remember you and your sweet smiling face.


Until we meet again my friend...