So Long, Wesser Dog

Although my previous post was written before I knew about this situation, it seems I am on a roll with the theme of canines and the after life. Our family in North Carolina said a sad farewell over the weekend. Long time family pet (and first born in this particular family, because we all know dogs acquired before babies are really just like...well, babies) Wesser went to the happy hunting ground. Wesser accompanied Steve and I on our first date, so she holds a special place in my heart. Apparently Steve thought he would woo me with a cute springer spaniel. It worked. I was wooed. She lived a long and happy life, but that probably doesn't make it any easier. So long, Wesser dog. We'll miss you.

Keepin' It Real

The scene: our breakfast table, oh-dark-thirty
The characters: wide awake, inquisitive, verbose Luke and extremely tired mommy

"Why is that dog on the front of the paper?"
"He died" (no need to couch it, let's be honest, right?)
"Died?!"
"Yes, died. All dogs die eventually."
Gasp! "Even our dog?"
"Yes."
"Will we get a new one?"
"Maybe. We'll be sad for a while, then we'll get a new one." (I'm sure he's headed for therapy at this point).
"Can he come back again after he dies?"
"Nope. Only Jesus did that."
"Well, what about papa's brother? He came back, I saw him."
This is when I realized that he couldn't grasp the concept of my dad having more than one brother. Hmmm...if we're confounded by number of relatives, how do we even attempt the really fun stuff like eternity?
"Papa Dave has 3 brothers, one in heaven and 2 here."
"Here? Where?"
"Well, not here. They live in Colorado. That's another state." This day is just getting longer and longer by the minute.
"Colorado. Oh, okay, got it."
He moves off to the couch with his chocolate milk. I return to my coffee and newspaper.
"What happens when you die?"
Did I mention it is maybe 6:15 in the morning? Unbelievable. I decided to be realistic, yet simple.
"Well, we believe that you either go to heaven or someplace yucky." I couldn't bring myself to delve into H-E-double hockey sticks. Perhaps after lunch, when I'm feeling a bit more perky.

"Someplace yucky? Where is it?"
"I don't know, I've just heard it is yucky."
"Hmm. I'll ask dad when he gets home, maybe he knows."
"Yes, let's ask dad."

"Mom, could we ask God for another baby?" Coffee nearly spews from my mouth.

That's our Lukester. Just keepin' it real.

Whew! We Need A Weekend from Our Weekend

Uncle Steve, Luke and the cousins getting this pumpkin party started. The kids love it!
Andy chatting it up with Grammie. It was nice to see her laugh a little bit.
Everybody say, "pumpkin guts!"

We didn't intend to be so busy this weekend, but it definitely panned out that way. I always estimate that time will stand still on Saturday mornings, no one will need anything and I'll be able to check several tasks off my "list". Ha! It was soccer Saturday for our family. Luke had a game in Enumclaw, so we loaded up and headed south. The other team scored repeatedly, as we don't seem to grasp the concept of defense yet. Luke would run as fast as he could to catch his opponent, but wouldn't quite attempt to take the ball away from him. Yet he dutifully returned the soccer ball to the referee each time his opponent scored another goal. I finally gave up. I realized winning was not as important to him as it was to me. Just to remind me of what really matters, we spent the late afternoon at my niece's soccer game. I guess you would call this 'select' soccer or 'club' soccer. She is the smallest and probably the fastest kid on the team. She definitely possesses some skills for an 11 year old. We were impressed. However, I was not too impressed by the attitudes of the other adults in the stands. After five minutes of listening to them gripe and complain about every single little thing and belittle the coach's knowledge, I had to get up and move. I went and stood at the fence to record some footage with the video camera. Suddenly, I was thankful for my little 4 year old and his care free attitude on the soccer field. He didn't care about winning or the choices his coach made. He was just happy to run around and be a boy.

We finished the evening with some spaghetti and pumpkin carving with my family. What a fun Saturday!
Today, Luke was scheduled to sing at the church where he attends preschool. Not a solo, mind you, but a group effort. I stayed home with Andy because I thought he would be a wreck after all the excitement of yesterday. I didn't watch the video yet, but Luke informed me that he didn't want to sing because all of those people were looking. That's totally what I would have done, too.

A Day On the Farm

We enjoyed a wonderful preschool field trip to a small farm in Enumclaw today. I packed our winter coats and hats, but it was surprisingly warm when we got to the farm. I was so grateful for the sunshine. A rainy day on a farm just sounds a bit...well, muddy. The first stop was a huge pit of corn, complete with a slide. Preschoolers of all shapes and sizes were wading, jumping, sliding, giggling their way through the kernels. I have invested in cars, trains, more cars, costumes, DVD's...I've had it all wrong. A vat of corn kernels is what I need for hours of endless entertainment. Who knew? They explored a hay maze, which Luke says was his favorite part. We also took a short hay ride, which Andy screamed bloody murder about. He must have been scared, because he couldn't wait to get off that thing. He was quite pleased to see the sand box full of dump trucks and diggers, though. I want to take them back again, just to play in that sand box. We wrapped up our adventure with the much-loved selection of the pumpkin.

The Great Escape

Steve and I enjoyed a weekend away from the little cherubs. My parents were kind enough to take care of them for 48 fantastic hour of freedom. We flew KID-FREE to Spokane, stayed in a cozy little hotel and did whatever we wanted. It was glorious. We actually attended my college reunion. It's been 10 whole years already. Wow! We caught up with my roommates and their spouses, watched a football game (Steve watched, I chatted with people I hadn't seen for a decade). The president gave us an update on all the achievements/improvements the campus has experienced. For a few minutes, I longed for that sense of community I so enjoyed for 4 years. I am grateful for my life experiences, my family, the places I've traveled...but just for a minute, I wanted to go back and tell me not to worry so much about tests, papers, future career plans. It was all over so quickly. I did have fun seeing familiar faces, meeting their spouses and admiring their children. Good times.