Life Back To Normal
Last week at this time, Warrick and I were driving home from Houston after picking up the girls from their long plane ride. Two days ago I was sent the last of the photos, which included their last day in England, and their final trip to London.
As is typical for those who travel, when you ask what they did, or what they saw, the girls intitially said almost nothing. It takes time to process memories and to think things through. So I am hearing more this week than I did last week.
This photo was taken in London:
And this one with Michael, their cousin, on their last day in the UK:
Labels: Hayley Teagan, Michael, UK, Warrick
Kitties and their Owners
Drake has now been with us for a week, and is getting litter boxed trained, but still is only on kitten formula although I have tried to introduce him to solid food. He licked some gravy off my finger the other day and that was major progress!
Yesterday while I was driving through to Houston to pick up the girls from their long plane ride, Terry put a movie on for the boys. The opening credits had some loud music and Drake immediately went into attack mode! As you can see, the fur on his back is completely raised, the ears are back and he's looking for the danger.
This evening as I was helping the kids put away laundry upstairs, Terry fed Drake. I came downstairs to find them both on the couch, and could not resist taking this great shot!
Labels: Drake, Terry
Drake - a 7-inch bundle that has the dog petrified!
A couple of weeks ago I had to visit our local vet to pick up some medicine for our one cat (who is getting surgery this week). While there I saw the receptionist feeding a tiny kitten. Apparently it was found abandoned at a local
Vulcan Materials company, when he was about three days old. (I think the mother cat might have been trying to move him and lost him somehow.) The workers took him to the vet's office and that's where I first saw him. He was all of 10 or 11 days then.
Last Thursday Terry suggested I go and fetch him. We knew they were looking for a home for him, the receptionist had asked me if I wanted him; so they were most happy to hand him over with a can of kitten formula! He is about three and half or four weeks old, and still needs to be litter trained, and to be taught how to eat solid food. It really is like having an infant in the house again!
Joshua, our dog, was petrified of him! Today is the first time he has relaxed somewhat and follows the kitten around as he stumbles through the office. Serena, our 'senior' cat (she is almost eight) has warmed up a little, and will give him the occasional lick, but gets most indignant if he tries to nurse. Chloe has taken to hiding in the boy's room and hisses every time she sees me. Her nose is out of joint anyway because her girls are not here - she will feel much better about life when Teagan and Hayley return.
Here is the 'huge' kitten who's causing all this commotion!
Labels: Drake, Joshua, Terry
Safari Park Antics
So the girls have been having a blast since they arrived in Europe. They spent three days in Paris, one morning at a local elementary school, an afternoon at
Bedford Oasis Pool, an indoor water playground. The piece de la resistance so far has been the day they spent with my brother and his wife Jenny and our nephew Michael at
Woburn Safari Park.Here you drive your car through the grounds and see lion, bears, zebras, hippos, giraffe and other wildlife in a fairly natural setting, but the best part (according to my girls) is when you get out of the car and get to interact with the monkeys and lemurs, wallabys and other small mammals. As you can see from the photos, great fun was had by all!
Teagan meets a monkey
Jenny and Michael with the lemurs
Hayley befriends a wallaby
Labels: Hayley, Safari Park, Teagan, UK
Empty Nest?
On Wednesday March 7th Teagan and Hayley flew into
Gatwick Airport to spend two weeks with my parents.
This past weekend they took the
Chunnel to
Paris, for a visit of all the famous sites.
They will also tour parts of
London, including a personal tour of
The Houses of Parliament. They will spend some time in a local school and all in all just have a great time.
The girls are also getting to meet my side of the family for the first time. My sister in law, Jenny, took the girls along with her son Michael to a local Mickey D's where they enjoyed ice cream. As you can see, Michael loves his!
On Friday night, March 9th my mother-in-law, Star, drove in from
Carrollton, to take the little boys to spend a week with her and Richard. On Saturday they spent some time at a
PT Cruiser show. They have a busy week ahead of them as well.
This leaves the house empty all day until Terry and Warrick return in the evening from their respective jobs. I believe this is the first time in almost three years that we have had this amount of time away from the kids! Yesterday after church Terry and I went out for lunch and our bill was tiny in comparison to what it would normally be!
i guess in a way this is a harbinger of days yet to come when all the kids move out. Feels weird, but it was nice to have Terry all to myself again - even if it is just for a few days.
Labels: Carson, Garrick, Hayley, Teagan, Warrick
He's Seven Today!
My 'baby' is seven today! Where does the time go? Nine short years before he starts driving, and wanting to chat up girls, and...
Carson was born early on a Sunday morning, the only one of our children not to arrive on a Wednesday. He was also my heaviest and longest child, weighing in at a respectable 8lbs 8 oz; and measuring 23 inches in length. Where he'd been hiding those extra inches is anyone's guess, because I carried 'small' with him - compared to some of my other pregnancies where I looked 9 months pregnant from 6 months on!
This morning he took his cupcakes to school, excited because although he has already had his party, he is officially seven today. Knowing him he will milk the birthday for all it's worth, telling the teacher he won't need to do work because it's his birthday.
Carson has come a long way. There are moments when I look at this child who cracks jokes, reads "Calvin & Hobbes", plays with Star Wars toys and loves the movie "Cars" and I am in awe of what he has become. From a diagnosis of autism to this...I am forever grateful to God for the miracle He brought about in Carson's life.
Labels: Carson
