Mon Petit Rouge

I usually write something about whatever my kids are up to, but I recently recieved some bad news and I feel compelled to focus on that for this post.
Jason and I had been married about a month when we bought our first dog. I had gone to the local animal shelter with a friend when I first met the sweet little dachshund mix that would become my Phoebe. She was quiet and shy. Such a lady and so polite. I just couldn't get her out of my mind. Every pet I've had since then has been chosen based on the qualities she had. They have to have "Phoebe eyes." I don't know what had come along before us, as she was a very humble little girl, but I know she was probably overwhelmed by all the love we showered on her after that. Not to terribly long after Phoebe we decided to add another friend to the family and purchased our second dachshund from a local pet shop. He was the last of the puppies, completely alone in a dirty little pen. I had to take him home. He was so tiny and rode home sitting on the back of my neck under my hair! Precious! He is a red dachshund with bright brown eyes that just look right to your soul. As a child, I saw a tv show or movie (I can't remember which) where a girl had a pet fox that she named Mon Petit Rouge, or My Little Red in French. As soon as I saw him, I remembered that name so of course I had to use it. We call him Reggie for short. (I mean, what would the neighbors think? "Where are you Mon Petit Rouge?" Sounds to strange.) We were a happy little family.
Phoebe always played with Reggie only when we weren't looking. She was so funny. Every time we would look she would stop. When he was still very small, he could run up under the couch away from her. She was much to large to fit in the tight space, so she would sit and wait for him to return. One day when we came home, we found her stuck half way under the couch after chasing him there. I don't know if dogs can be embarrassed but I truly believe she was. She was so funny.
About 6 years ago, Phoebe went missing. We searched and searched, but could never find her. I still wonder about her to this day. Losing her was like losing a close friend. I'll never have the closure I need, but at least I know that while we had her she was loved.
Yesterday, we found out that Reggie has prostate cancer. Even with treatment, there is really not much hope that he will live very much longer. My little red is dying and there is nothing I can do about it. I know some people would think I'm crazy for being so upset about losing him, but he has been a part of my life for eleven years now. He is a friend and a companion. He's a family member. That he is a dog doesn't change that fact. I don't know how I'm going to watch him slowly fade away, that vibrant spirit leave his beautiful eyes. He is an ornery, fussy old man. He likes his peace and quiet. He loves to play with the other dogs when no one is looking (he just came through running and playing with my two other dogs until I looked at him and he went and sat on the couch). He absolutely loves bread and would do anything for it. He is a beggar and a digger. We will be at the dinner table and his head will pop up from time to time at different points of the table. He likes to dig and root around in the covers until he's found just the right spot, then he'll dig some more. He likes to sit on the top of the stairs so he can see out the window and bark at the neighbors. He loves barking at children, especially mine. He grunts and wines and groans to get attention and loves massages. He takes up all the room on a king sized bed even though he's a small dog. He makes his presence known. He is a king and a commander in his domain.
I'm going to miss everything about him.

On the move!

Jason and I recently made a huge radical decision to ditch our digs and move in with the parents! We've all played around with the notion for years, especially when Mom and Dad bought a big house with a huge upstairs (enough to hold two families... maybe they had this all planned from the start). We officially moved in at the beginning of July and are now working on our home to sell it. At first, I really thought, "We'll see how long this lasts," but honestly I'm loving this move more and more every day. Our bills, of course, have gone down very significantly, so that's a plus... but it's so much more than that. We are creating traditions with our family that I wish we had done a long time ago. For example, tonight we all sat down at the table (no TV allowed!) and we read from the Bible before we gave thanks for our food. It was really nice.
Because of the move, we've been purging both of our households. I personally restocked Goodwill in the past 2 weeks. I'm in a throwing out and giving away mood. I've kept very little and I haven't missed any of the garbage clogging up my home that I "just had to have!" I think we took 14 bags of clothes to Wear Me Again. How on earth did we have that many clothes to get rid of? We are really reevaluating how we live and I really like the adjustments we're making.
I was afraid that I would feel like "I moved back home". Honestly, it doesn't feel that way. Even Jason is glad to be here. I know it makes him feel more at ease about leaving us at night for work. He used to hate that so badly.
I also got to redecorate! One day my mom and I were walking around an antique store, and found the idea for my bedroom. Someone had taken several interesting pieces of furniture and other odds and ends and painted them black them put them against a brightly colored wall. I went a bit crazy with some black spray paint, but I ended up with a really beautiful room. It's a really neat place to come home to.
Both of the girls also got bedroom makeovers and I was so excited with each of theirs. Anna decided that she loves zebra print and Faith had picked out a really pretty pink and green quilt. We had our inspiration, so we went with it. I'll have to post pics. They turned out so pretty!
I wish we had done this a long time ago.
I'm not saying that everyone should sell their home and move in with their parents or in-laws, but it's really working for us.

Can't stop now

On January 31st, I started what was to change my entire perception of food. I started a diet and found a way of life. I started a 7 week program to lose weight and ended up finding out a lot about myself.
I am addicted to food. I do not use it as a fuel source so that my body can function, but instead I see it as a comforter when I am sad or depressed. It is something to do when I am bored. Every event in my life is centered around it. It's more like entertainment. I think about it even when it is not time to eat. I don't even have to be hungry to use it. Sounds bad doesn't it? When did my life become so centered on food? Yeah, you have to have it to survive, but you should be the one consuming it. It shouldn't be consuming you.
So, for 7 weeks of my life I stuck to my plan. Yes, I still had to think about food, but I was thinking about what it could either do FOR me or do TO me. I stayed away from the kinds of food that would do something to me and managed to lose around 30 lbs. It was wonderful! I was full of energy and my clothes were to big. I had to go buy new jeans because my old ones were literally hanging off of me. I had people telling me how great I looked. I felt so accomplished. My lifestyle completely changed. I was eating to live instead of living to eat. Everything got better. I've had knee problems since childhood, long before there was ever a weight problem. Sometimes it would hurt so bad just to walk around the house, much less any where else I needed to go. Several years ago I was diagnosed with GERD. The constant reflux issues left me with a sore throat that never went away as well as other fun things I had to deal with on a near daily basis. Once my diet changed, these things changed too. The reflux pretty much stopped. I wasn't feeding the fire, so to speak, any more. I hiked around Stone Mountain with NO pain! My girls loved that, let me tell you! I was a new person.
Unfortunately, this story isn't all happy. I had a hiccup in my plan a couple of months ago. For one excuse (because that's really all it can be called) or another, I just up and quit. Why would I do that, you ask. Well, I really don't have a good answer. I got tired. I got lazy. I gave up trying. When you've dealt with an addiction like this for as long as I have, you really have to put effort into changing and I just got tired of putting all that effort into me. I now am worse off than I was before. I'm sick all the time. My back and my knee hurt just about every day. I just feel awful. But I'm not completely upset that I've done this to myself. It really validates my reasons for making the changes that I made. It helps to remember just how bad this way of life feels. I don't want to be like this any more. I like the changes that I've made in myself.
So, starting tomorrow morning I'm back on track. I lost 30 lbs in 7 weeks so I can't wait to see where I am this time next year.

Summer is finally here!!!

Tomorrow is the last day of the 2009-2010 school year for the teachers and staff at CES. It is always a bittersweet day for me. I miss the kids already. They become such a huge part of your life. I sometimes feel like I see my school kids more than my own! Next year some will come back to visit or say hello, but they must inevitably move on to bigger and better things. I'm so proud of all our kids accomplished this year! I'm so glad I had the privilege of being one of the people to welcome them into the world of education that they will live in for many years to come. I hope that I helped instill a love of education in them. I hope that I encouraged them to want to know more and not be satisfied until they do. I love my job! Who else can say that they get paid to play with play doh and color and pretend? Who else gets paid to invent new games and act out stories and play in paint? Who else gets to go to work and have a pretend birthday party, attend a rock concert, and build a pirate ship and all in one day?! I've got the best job in the world!
I'm so excited to get to come home and do all those things with my girls for two months! I can't wait to got to the summer reading program at the library with my girls or go to the dollar movies. I can't wait to swing and laugh and play at the playground or splash in the pool. I can't wait to stay up late and cuddle close on the couch to watch old movies that make us laugh and cry. I can't wait to play outside and chase bugs and plant flowers. I can't wait to take them skating and laugh when they beg me to try it to. There are so many things I can't wait to do. It would take the whole summer to get them all written down.
Every summer is always "going to be the best summer yet" and I have no doubt that this one will live up to that statement just as each has before.
I'm so grateful for my life and I just can't wait to see what God has in store for me next!

......

Found this little guy on the top of my car. He was so funny looking that I just had to take a picture. His front legs were longer than his whole body! He was very sweet and posed for several shots before deciding that he was done with me. Was hard to get a non-blurry shot because he was SO tiny! Just thought he was interesting....

SNOW DAY!

Snow is on the ground! School is out! It's time for some fun!!!

I never thought we'd be up and out so early, but the girls and I headed out of the house for some early morning play by about 8:30. I'm so glad we decided to go out early. There was lots of screaming as the girls threw snowballs at each other and stuffed icy cold mittens on each others faces and necks. We made a flat snowman because there wasn't enough to make one standing. I thought he was pretty cute. Both girls had to make snow angels of course.
Anna found their boogie boards in the garage and found that they make an excellent sled on our drive way. Then we decided to go out exploring after eating a late breakfast and warming up while playing the Wii a bit. Our back yard was transformed into a winter wonderland that the girls just wouldn't ignore. Faith kept calling back to me "Come on old lady!", because I couldn't keep up trying to push my way through the underbrush in the woods. We found there is a tiny creek behind the house (technically behind the neighbors house) and the girls had to go check it out. It was there I realized I'd lost my glove (should have been stuck in my pocket while I was trying to take 30 second videos on my cell phone LOL) somewhere back behind us. The girls, thankfully, found it for me. After deciding we were freezing and hungry we came back in for some more play time on the Wii. After being completely humiliated for my lack of skills, I decided to take a break and come post some pics. Tracey pointed out to me I'd abandoned my blog for quite some time, so I'll try to catch it up a bit. :)

I have not kept up with this in a while. It has been forever since I last updated. Not that anyone is reading it... LOL.
I signed up for the Trojan Wellness program they have at school and I have completely neglected it the last two months. I have yet to get started. The few times I did do something I did not record it or repeat it. So, I woke up this morning with a renewed desire to do something about my self and my bad habits. I know it may seem like a bad month to start changing my eating habits, but that is just an excuse. I love Halloween, I love candy, and I didn't want to give up the one time I can chow down on some candy corn and snickers, but honestly there will always be some excuse... But its Thanksgiving, you have to pig out on Thanksgiving... But its Christmas, you have to pig out on Christmas... There is always some holiday coming where I want to give up my health for a second helping of something. It's wrong and I'm teaching my girls a horrible lesson and I'm going to stop.
Today I got up and rode 3 miles on my bike (recumbent and in my bedroom, but still a bike LOL). I turned on some fast paced music and rode for 20 minutes. I recorded all I did and I made some November goals that I'm going to keep. If I can say No to my girls about something I think will hurt them, I can certainly say No to myself. This month is the 3 S's ...

No sweets, No sodas, and No seconds.
Anyone want to join me?

Camp!

We got back from camp yesterday and though I loved every minute of it I'm so tired! I helped cook for the campers all week. My arms, back, and feet just ache, but the trip was so worth it.
It was like living at a gospel meeting. No pressures or distractions from the world, just focusing for a week on serving and praising God. It was amazing. I can't wait until next year!