Sugar Slide Show

Baby In The House!

How 'bout that... a photo of my "baby" holding my "baby. :) Things at our house have been turned upside down for a 2 and a half pound Yorkie Poo that has stolen our hearts. She is sweet, sweet, sweet! What keeps me going is knowing that one day, when all this aggravating training is done, that we will have a precious little companion in our home. Inevitably the kids are going to leave me one day, and then I'll have this precious little rag mop to comfort me and the nest won't be completely empty. :)

Already I am her favorite - this is good and bad. It's hard to get things done when she "wants me" all the time. I guess it could be that I'm the one that takes her outside at 3 a.m. to potty and cleans up all her messes. Sugar is a blessing, a challenge, but a blessing. I didn't get much sleep the first week she was here, what with her howling and barking for sometimes 3 hours straight in the middle of the night, but we seem to have evened out and she is mostly sleeping through until 5:30 or 6 a.m. each morning. Of course she thinks that's a great time to be up for the day and she's not content to just be in her exercise pen - someone better pay attention to her or we're gonna hear about it. So... spoiled little brat that she is, she snuggles with me until it's time to get the kids up for school, it's the only way I can get a few more z's. Luke really "loves" this. One day this will go away, I hope.

She has done pretty well with the potty training up until now. It is cold and rainy here and I guess that little miss priss doesn't like to potty in the rain. (frown)This would be much funnier and cuter if that didn't mean she had to do her job somewhere else! GRRRR. Thankfully, many times she chooses to do her business in the exercise pen in the kitchen which is on laminate flooring and easy to clean up. The hardest part is what to do when we need to leave her for several hours. I'm torn about whether I should put down a puppy pad in the exercise pen or put her in her tiny little pet carrier. She sleeps in the carrier at nite and I'm afraid if I stick her in there for 3 hours at a time, we'll go back to the not wanting to be in there at nite. On the other hand, if I put her in the exercise pen with a puppy pad to "do her job on" am I giving her the idea that it's ok to go in the house? That's what i'm afraid of. I would love your suggestions if you have experience in this area, so please pass on info if you've got it. Overall we're doing fine and enjoying our new little family member. I think It can just get better... when she's fully trained!

Happy Day!

Yesterday was a fabulous day in Hays, Kansas! 74 degrees... who can complain about that?! Trixie, our precious little Australian Shepherd/Border Collie, was long past due for a bath. She is a white dog, but had taken on a tannish gray appearance and became very sad when she pranced her cute self up to someone for some lovin' and pettin' and there were no takers due to her less than desirable dirty appearance. This is usually Luke's job, but he was out of town - so I took it on knowing how desperate the poor girl was for a bath. She was a bit apprehensive at first, but with some stern direction she came to me and let me bathe her... what a good girl! She's white again and after a washin' her collar is also clean again. The best part is when she decided to shake herself off... onto the girls who were sunbathing on the front deck! :) There was lots of screams and laughter.She then joined them in sunning herself and provided several cute photo opportunities with her "am I pretty?" expressions. She was actually "smiling" in the photo of her and her sister, Ciara just hangin' out like girlfriends. I'm afraid some of our kitties were just a little more than attentive to Ciara and Tina as well. ha ha.Trixie is always a good subject for my picture taking and always has to be right there in the middle of everything. :) She's got personality comin' out her ears and we just love her to bits. She is the best dog ever.

Actually... everyone was in a great mood yesterday due to the perfect weather and we had a lot of fun together. Brandon was at his first day of track practice and the girls and I hung out for a while then went on a Taco Bell run in Ciara's car. It was fun!I think we've all had cabin fever... seems we were all beginning to get a bit grumpy and irritable from being cooped up for such a long winter - but things are turnin' around and we gladly welcome spring and spring break - which is next week.

It was such a great day and Trixie seemed so proud of her appearance after her first spring bath, I just thought I'd share the joy! :) Have a great day yourself, it's gonna be another nice one here.

Update on teacher meeting

Well... it went ok, I guess. The principal joined us. There were lots of things (emotional things) that I didn't get to say, but in a nutshell the principal explained that kicking her off the team was a snap decision - and she is allowed back on the team because she is a valuable asset, but not without consequence, so she won't be allowed at the next 3 tournaments. At this point I'm not sure if she can be convinced that she should participate - so we'll see. She is pretty humiliated and hurt. We got everything worked out and another, calmer conversation is going to take place between her and the teacher to iron out the rest of the awkwardness of it all. Hopefully it will just go away soon. You know how small towns are, the rumor is going around among the students how she "let everyone down" by not going to this thing. I guess it was a way bigger deal than any of us realized. When all was said and done, all parties involved agree that this was an experience that we all learned from and the conference ended on positive, friendly terms - so I'm thankful for that, and for your prayers. Now...we just wanna move on and forget about it. Hope this gossipy little town will let us. Oh, I do hate the drama. This too shall pass.

Thanks to those of you that offered your support and prayers... you have no idea how much that means to a confused, hurting mom, you're the best! :)

"For when I am weak, then I am strong"

"But He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

Ok, I'm weak. There, I said it. Praise you God that you're strong for me! I truly believe that I feel this way because I have not made time in the midst of chaos to "tap into the vine" John 5:5 says "I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me." "YOU CAN DO NOTHING WITHOUT ME". I truly believe that apart from God we will have struggles far beyond what we can comprehend.

I know some that "search within themselves" to make their way through this world. It is all up to them. YUCK. I don't want it to be all up to me, cuz for sure... I'll mess it up! The only hope I have is in Christ and his promises. I sincerely can't for the life of me figure out how people live a Godless life, not to say that I'm so righteous, but I recognize my need for a Savior, a deliverer from this pathetic world. I've learned that God is the only one that never disappoints. What a revelation that was! and here all this time I've been taking my problems and woes to those around me instead of taking them directly to the one that has the power to affect change! Shame on me for wondering why nothing's happening when I'm not seeking him out in the midst of my trials. (which according to James make me stronger...yay, there is a point to all this!*smile*)

Maybe I've been trying to do things on my own too much, maybe that's why I feel so anxious and overwhelmed, maybe even "attacked". I don't know - things at our house have been wild lately. I wonder if it's any more wild than usual or if I'm just responding differently because I'm not "prayed up" like I know I should be, like I'm most comfortable being. Seems like there are so many demands thrown at me some days, I dont' even know where to begin. Right now we are having a conflict with one of Ciara's teachers and Luke and I get to go in and talk to her this afternoon, at our request. It doesn't matter what age your kids are,a momma still feels the need to protect her babies. We are trying to teach our daughter to handle things on her own and make some of her own decisions to prepare her for adulthood, but then we still have to be there to catch her when she falls. Apparently she made a bad decision to not participate in a forensics tournament this last monday (in which she would have had to be up at 3 a.m. and drive into town to be on a bus by 4:30 a.m. and on a school day - which happened to be the first day of her softball practice) and so she has been kicked off the team. Not so funny thing is that there are other kids that didn't go and they are still allowed to participate. Ciara is being singled out because "she is such a valuable part of the team" GRR!! Not only that, the teacher blamed a lot of things on Ciara that weren't really her fault or responsiblity (aka... the teacher's babysitting problem) Give me a break! So... anyhoo.... yeah, that's what I have to look forward to today. Please pray for us, for wisdom and strength and that we would handle ourselves in a way that honors God. Thanks!

"For when I am weak, then I am strong."

I will repeat this to myself until I do indeed feel strong. *smile* Thanks for listenin'!!

"Charlie Bit Me"

I laugh even just thinking about how cute this video is, thought you might like it too! :) Check out the British accent on this little guy, oh my goodness! Adorable!!!!