Happy Spring!!

It's a mighty chilly morning for the first full day of spring!! But Mother Nature reminds us in the middle of the day with the sunshine and warmer temps that spring is on the way. The snow is all but gone except for a few patches along the driveway from plowing. I have traded my snowshoes for mud boots and realized how easy it is now to just merely walk instead of trudge thru show covered trails in the woods(it was a great workout, though). Soon we'll be setting our dogwalk and A-frame upright and getting out jumps and tunnels to start practicing for our first outdoor agility trials in May. Right now the dogs are loving the big yard space to play frisbee and ball. Next weekend I'll take off for VA to visit Irene and the girls. I wonder if I'll need shorts??? Happy Spring.....

MOTHERS

Real Mothers don't eat quiche;
They don't have time to make it.
Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils
Are probably in the sandbox.
Real Mothers often have sticky floors,
Filthy ovens and happy kids.
Real Mothers know that dried play dough
Doesn't come out of carpets.
Real Mothers don't want to know what
The vacuum just sucked up.
Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'
And get their answer when a littleVoice says, 'Because I love you best..'
Real Mothers know that a child's growth
is not measured by height or years or grade...
It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother...

The Images of Mother

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!
8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!
12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.
14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.
16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.
18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!
25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it!
35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.
45 YEAR S OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?
65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

Holding On.... (part two)

I woke up this morning thinking about Cindy's post where Lucas is turning two and having a hard time with him moving from his "baby phase". Every parent is different and looking back I always wanted to get past those times . With each child, getting rid of feeding times, nap times, diapers, strollers and such just meant a little more independence for me and the family. We could go more places and do more things... little walks turned into longer hikes and times to talk and laugh together. School time meant a little more scheduling and rushing around, but I wouldn't trade going to all the school events, concerts and sports for anything. We were able to see and experience lots of new things. Then came summertime where we could spend lazy times at the lake with our friends and only worry if we packed enough food and snacks to keep everyone happy for the day.
We then had to transition everyone to a new school system 1/2 hour away from home. I miss those carpool days when you could find out about everything that was going on just by "listening" from the drivers seat. Saying... "How was your day" over dinner every night.
I think the hardest transition for me has been sending each of my kids off to college and into "adulthood", marriage and families of their own, although it has certainly been the most rewarding. Watching them each accomplish goals and become wonderful adults, spouses and parents is more than we could have ever fathomed when we were going thru the "terrible twos".
So, I guess in the long run, the hard part is not "Holding On"..... it's "Letting Go".........
...... How was your day today?
Love,
Mom

Happy 2nd Birthday Lucas

Happy Birthday Sweetie!!

We love you!!

Ramblings....

Well, Nancy and I took off for an Australian Shepherd Club dog show in NJ on Friday afternoon. We had a nice drive albeit some traffic thru Hartford and Waterbury and we stopped at a cute little Diner for dinner. Our hotel was an Extended Stay, so we had a little kitchen complete with refrigerator to store our drinks and food for the show. That was where the fun ended. Saturday we got to the show site to hear that the bathroom wasn't working and that we would have to use the porta-potty out back. Well... at least the weather was beautiful and it was probably 70 degrees, so we brushed that aside. My friend Robin wasn't feeling too well after the first show and continued to get worse with stomach problems as the day went on. She was there to show dogs and do photos of the winners, so she couldn't leave. Saturday night we went out to dinner at Longhorns and another friend's 10 year old daughter was feeling ill, so they left in a hurry. Sunday I woke up and took the dogs outside only to come back in to Nancy getting sick in our sink. She still wanted to go to the show, so off we went. She really wasn't feeling well, but still wanted to show her dogs, so, since she was driving, we stayed. She only showed one dog in the second show, and just as I was getting Denver out of her van he caught his foot in the crate and ripped the side of his nail. There was blood all over the place and luckily I had brought some first-aid stuff to bandage it. I had to scratch him from the show and just showed Tucker.
After that we packed up and got on the road only to get caught in bumper to bumper traffic from an accident. We managed to get off the highway and loop around to avoid the accident site.
We had to stop off and on along the way for Nancy to use the bathroom, so it took us about 6 hours to get to her house in CT. I then had an hour to drive home. I was never so happy to reach my house and get into my own bed. I took a complete shower and washed everything, but to no avail. Monday evening it hit me, too. Boy that is a fast moving virus.
Anyway, today I feel a little better and have been able to eat a few things. Hopefully it will get better from here on.
So... on the whole, it was a weekend that was a calamity. I don't know if I'll be too quick to go to that show site again any time soon.... too many bad pictures in my mind.
I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend and was able to enjoy the wonderful, warm weather.....

In Like a Lion....

Well, we're not done with winter, yet. Just when we were getting used to seeing some of our lawn, 'ole Mother Nature decided that we needed another storm and dumped more than a foot more on us. Boy... I'm getting sick of shoveling. Lee even worked from home today. I think that's a "first". Hopefully the proverb will hold true and March will go "out like a lamb".

Happy 14th Birthday Bailey