Wordless Wednesday...Baby Guinness

Monday...UGH!

Monday...ugh! I just can't get it going today.  It is hard to go to work and try to keep your personal life personal.  It is hard to listen to children whine about not feeling well when you yourself are not feeling 100%. 

Grief is a tricky thing...it gets you when you least expect it.  I personally hate the whole process but it is life.  My biggest struggle is helping to teach my kids how to grieve.  I have a feeling I need to make a trip to the library, I have been told about some great sounding books to help the kiddos.  Who knows maybe they will help the mama too! 

I don't want to just write my complaints because everyone has to go through this but I needed to vent a little.  If any of you readers have any suggestions on books or how to remember your pet please feel free to share we are trying to come up with a way to celebrate his life.  Thanks!

Our good boy!

A lifetime ago, literally, Seann and I fell in love.  For my birthday we found and brought this amazing dog into our lives.  He was the best present I had ever gotten at that point in my life.  He was instantly our family start. I knew Seann would be my life partner and Guinness would be there for a large part of that life.

This was his first day at home.  He melted all of our hearts, including Papa Dave's whose foot/slipper he is destroying in this picture!  Thus began a very expensive shoe fetish that took some of the mama's favorites!

By the time Christmas came 5 days later he was already home.  And I am sure he thought all of these gifts were for him!  He spent lots of time under the tree that year.

He always had a beautiful smile and was always ready to play.

But would settle down when you were ready for a break too!

This is Black Rock Mill.  His absolute FAVORITE place to go.  We could still be a mile or more away and he knew where we were going.  He would stand, pace and just smile with the excitement of what was coming.  This was taken on his last trip.

My favorite memories of our boy include these hikes and swims.  He loved us and we loved him.  Some of the best memories I have of him are when I was pregnant with each kid.  He always knew and took good care of mama.  He also loved them fiercely once they came home to him.  He would let us know before we could hear the kids crying.  He protected them and loved to play with them.  Even as he grew in age he still smiled when they would lay on him or tug on his ears.  His ears perked up every time one of their little voices called for gigi.

This is our last walk with our boy!

We were followed on this walk by a red cardinal, which really shouldn't be out and about at this time in Maryland.  But there he was along the trail.

See him up on the wall...this is at the humane society on the other side of town...after I walked our boy inside.

We believe it was our little angel looking out for us and waiting to help Guinness on his way to heaven.

It is very quiet in our house today and tears are flowing freely as we remember and grieve for our dear friend.

We know however that he is at peace and that he is in heaven with Papa Dave and his good friend, Bailey.

My thoughts this Thursday...

So a while back I wrote about my girl and our struggles.  I am happy to say....we are doing much better.  We have (fingers crossed) gotten over the hump of regression.  I think our biggest challenge was just getting into a real routine.  We are blessed to have a permanent childcare provider.  We are blessed to be healthy.  We are blessed with so many things in our lives and hopefully she is realizing just how blessed she is.

Lent...and not the bellybutton kind!

So I come from a family that has always been very active in their church.  I mean Dad is a pastor.  We aren't catholic, which is how Seann was brought up.  We are (shhh, dirty word for Catholics) protestant.  I joke but, in the grand scheme of churches to me they are all similar.  It is finding the right community and core beliefs that make each church unique.  Most churches celebrate the same church calendar as each other but each one judges the other.

Growing up my parents had "quiet time" with us before bed.  Basically what that entailed was reading from the bible a verse or a story and then talking about it.  Talking about how we can strive to be more "God-like", not in a creepy, preachy way but, in our everyday actions.  They also taught me how to pray.  Pray from my heart, be truly grateful, make humble requests and truly mean what I say.   

For about a year now I have not been able to commit to my spiritual growth. And that has left me feeling empty lately.  I also feel like I am letting my kids down somehow because I am not emulating my faith and beliefs.  So instead of giving up something for Lent like I usually do, I am adding something to our evening routine for Lent.  I am bringing back "quiet time".  We had our first experience with it last night and they were surprisingly very receptive.  Now I just need to to keep it up...40 days will make it a habit in our lives...right???  I may not be able to take them to church but I can still help guide them into our faith community.

Caitlyn is TWO!!!!!

I can NOT believe this little girl...

has turned into this little girl, in two short years!

Here is what Sesame Street looked like at our house for her party!

A big THANK YOU to all our family and friends who helped us celebrate!

Wordless Wednesday...Party planning/crafting

Thank you Pintrest!

This is going to be an exciting trip to Sesame Street!