Awana's Awards Night

Last night was the last night of Awanas. But as Zoey would put it "NO it is not the last night, we will take a rest and then come again!" She loves going and I'm sure will miss it this summer. But we will plenty to do with swimming lessons, and vacation Bible school.

It was Awards night and the whole family went. Chris and I went up to accept Zoey's award with her since all of her studying and "homework" involved us reading and helping her memorize her versus.

Cadee did pretty well, got a little restless, but what can you expect. We all enjoyed refreshments and social time downstairs afterwards.

Poor Cadee woke up this morning w/ a 102 temperature and took her into the doctors to find out she has an ear infection, and too much wax buildup (after cleaning her ears out after every bath we knew she was a waxy girl) but they gave us some antibiotics for the infection and some drops to help her ears stay cleaner. So Chris stayed home w/ her this morning and I am home this afternoon. Been pretty quiet for me, as she has been sleeping since I got home at 11:45.

She went to bed fine (and extra tired since it was late, but woke up miserable). Hope she feels better soon!

Cadee is Walking!

Little stinker crawled early, cruised early, and now at 16 months old is finally walking! It is so adorable, she is now to the point that she prefers to walk (meaning when she falls, she will get up to walk and not crawl). So as long as Zoey, Willie, and Barney (and random obstacles on the floor) stay out of her way, Look out world, here Cadee comes!

Posted is a picture of Cadee's first trip to Chuck E Cheese with Daddy, Zoey, Nana, Papa Dave, and Aunt Sarah (I was in MN, he emailed me this pic and I just loved it!)

Wonderful Weekend

I had such a great time this weekend, what beautiful weather we had! At work I won tickets to go see dinner theatre Macbeth at TCT. Another couple at work had also won tickets but they were so kind to trade seats with our friends Wayne and Kelly who bought tickets to the show. We had always talked about doing a theatre show together and this just fell together. We had a great time. Thankful for Papa Craig and Grandma Di for watching the girls.

Saturday morning the weather was so beautiful. We all packed up and headed in for many errands and a chance to walk the Topeka Zoo. We did grocery shopping at Walmart, bread store, got dog food at petsmart, had past lunch at Pizza Hut, went to the Zoo, went to browns to check out a shoe sale that didn't work out, and stopped by Kansas Sampler to look at KU champion shirts! Needless to say Cadee fell fast asleep on the way home.

What a great day to go to the zoo. The zoo was celebrating earth day and there was all kinds of free goodies, snacks, drinks, coloring information. The weather was so nice and there was a lot of people, but not too crowded. We really had a great time. I am so kicking myself for not bringing my camera. Guess was too rushed getting out the door.

Saturday evening after mowing, we got to grill out and all took a long walk around the neighborhood, it was so great to get out and enjoy spring!

Sunday morning Chris and Matt went out super early to try their luck at Turkey Hunting, no luck for them, but they did catch a nasty beaver that has been bothering Matt and his fishing pond.

After Chris got home and cleaned up we decided to visit the Christian Church service there in Auburn. I am so enjoying the ladies in my Bible study from there we thought we would visit (and didn't want to travel back into Topeka again for the $$ gas). The people there are very nice and seems to be very community focused. It was a good experience. Several people from the church called in the afternoon and came by to visit to thank us for coming by and to see if we had any questions. It was a nice touch, they really care.

Sunday evening we headed out to Vicki's as we had promised several weeks ago that we would bring Barney out so he could meet Dennis. It was fun to go and visit them. She has stuff out for her grandchildren that Zoey loves to play with. She has all wooden floors so Cadee was able to get around just peachy! She took a look at Barney's sore and was pretty concerned, she had never seen anything like it. (make me a bit concerned, since she runs a rescue and has seen all kinds of doggie owies). For now we'll just keep an eye on it as he seems to be getting better.

I really was able to enjoy this weekend, Monday comes all too quickly! :)

More Barney Drama.....

Poor Barney. The Saturday after his neutering (I was away in MN) Chris noticed that he had some "oozing" from his sutures, of course this was after the vet was closed. By Monday the oozing had stopped, but Chris called the vet anyway. The vet said if it had stopped and he looked okay everything was probably okay. We went with that.


Starting on Monday and Through Thursday we noticed that he was getting a mass of fluid on his belly, and that it kept getting larger. It didn't bother him when we messed with it, but he was starting to get more and more immobile and not interested in eating. By Thursday lunch he would not do the stairs and I was really concerned so I made an appointment and the soonest I could get in was that afternoon at 4:30. I took him in and realized that he had an infection and a 3 degree temp (a lot for a dog). They gave him a shot to help boost recovery and he got put on lasic (to help drain the fluid) and a antibiotic.

I went to bed Thursday night feeling pretty good that Barney was going to be on the path to recovery. Unfortunately Friday morning was so ugly. Barney was dripping blood from his underside. We knew we had to take him in immediately. Chris took him in right at 7:30. There was a hole on his underside (not near his sutures, but on the other side where you can actually see up in him) (I've never seen anything like it, looks like a flesh eating virus, but isn't) The infection had caused a buildup that must have itched like nothing else and he itched and bit at it all night and it drained and drained. The vet said it looked alright that it would heal from the inside out and since he is on antibiotics it will keep infection away and to keep an eye on it. Couldn't believe it.


Yuck I know, but I do get to end on a positive note. Over the weekend Barney is really starting to do well. His mass is almost gone and he is really getting back to his puppy self. We took a really long walk on Saturday and he kept up well. Makes me so thankful to see that. I feel good that we are now on the road to recovery (cross my fingers). We have to go back to get his stitches out on Saturday (got postponed because of the infection) so the vet can take another peek. Hopefully all will be alright.

P.S. Believe me, you'll be glad I don't have pics to post w/ this one! :)

Weekend Getaway

Last weekend I took a fun weekend getaway to visit my cousin in Minnesota! When I saw her last summer at the reunion she was giving me a hard time about how she had been the last one to make the trip, so I promised I would come out in the spring.

2008 rolled in and I started checking ticket prices. I was thrilled to find a $200 ticket and when I shared the great price with my Mom, she wanted to come along to visit her sister.

A couple of Thursdays ago (gosh time is getting away on me) Mom made the treacherous trip up. She was fighting a snow storm when she left NW Kansas, but made it up alright. We left Friday afternoon when I got off work, and got to the airport in plenty of time. Unfortunately each of our flights, we had a layover in Milwaukee, had an hour delay, so we didn't arrive in Minnesota till after midnight, way after my bedtime!

After spending the night in Krystal and Cory's adorable townhome (I'm so jealous of her knack for decorating) we got up and knew we had a big day of shopping ahead of us! :) Mall of America here we come. We went to the bare essentials store and got makeovers, which was so fun! I had only been doing the makeup with the help of Krystal over the phone and the video, so it was fun to have feedback and try new products with a professional.

After lunch we headed up to an outlet mall, which was very fun. They had an outlet coach store that was so busy! They had some great deals, wish we had one like that closer! Krystal and Cory took me to a local grill for dinner and we hung out and reminisced over pictures at her home. Sunday morning she took me to a church they are considering for a home and I thought the pastor was fantastic, a really great speaker. We went to my Aunt's house for lunch where I got to see the rest of my family that lives in the cities. It was nice to see them all.

The weekend was over way too quickly. Monday Krystal had a work related errand she had to tend to downtown before meeting Mom, Aunt Beth, and I for lunch. After lunch we were dropped off at the airport and the flights home went smoothly and were on time!

It was so fun to walk in the door and see Zoey so excited to see me. I really enjoyed my weekend away, but it was great to see Chris and my kiddos again!

Barney

My heart is heavy for Barney tonight. Barney had a busy day today. We knew that we had to bring him in for repeat Xrays because the machine malfunctioned last week when we tried to have them done. So we decided that we would multitask. Today Barney had Xrays on both elbows, was neutered (but was a more complicated surgery because he only had 1 testicle descended), got micro chipped, and nails cut.

Busy day for Barney. The surgery went well. He came out of that good as can be expected and we will go back in 10-15 days to remove the sutures.

I was able to pick him up after work and take a look at the Xrays with the vet. Bad news for Barney, he's showing signs of arthritis in his elbows. And she can possibly see where a growth plate was damaged (in playing or a jump or fall) that isn't helping. Had Barney been an older dog our vet would have recommended that he go on prescription dog food ($$) but because he is barely 6 months old it is important for us to keep him on puppy food till he he is 1 year and we will try a nutrition supplement of Glucosamine. It is important for us to really watch his weight and to make sure he gets careful exercise and to minimize running and jumping. (Hard w/ a puppy)

Maybe not everyone who reads this will know Barney, but everyone who meets him comments on what a cool dog he is. He has the best disposition and personality. So laid back and sweet.

I am very sad to know that there is not a good solution for him. We will do the nutrition supplement, then the Rx food, and then she said that as he gets older there is a prescription for pain meds that we can do, but to hold off as long as we can because it will all too soon become a staple for him. I am such a big baby as I sit here with tears running down my face writing this message. When you get a breed of a dog, you typically know some of the risks associated and we knew these risks, its just harder when it hits home.

I hate to end this on such a sour note, so I will go back and write about the beginning of my day. This morning I took the girls to work with me for a short time so it would be easier for Chris to drop off Barney. Zoey and Cadee were busy playing and Zoey was drawing on my whiteboard. (Last time she was in she drew a cute picture of "her" and "I", of course that got deleted first thing when she came in) So she was just drawing thins like a "Pool" and then I asked what it was and it was a "scarrry monnnster" and I said I'd rather have a picture of her and I or of Barney or something, but she wouldn't honor my request, so I just ended up back with my blank ol whiteboard!

Today just ended up to be a cash flow day because on top of Barney's vet visit, Chris had to make an unplanned visit to the dentist due to a chipped tooth and found out that he needs a crown as a replacement! wow!

Had a very enjoyable evening at my Bible study last night and it was great to see KU take the national championship! Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU! :)

Belated Easter Pics

Limited picture hosting ability on the blog, so feel free to come check them out. They did turn out pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself! :)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=33114&l=da24e&id=719761904