Snow Day at Last!

Finally, a day to play outside. We all came in tired and happy from sledding and throwing snowballs, soaked to the skin, hungry, and ready for warm baths and hot chocolate. Life is good...and hopefully we'll get enough freezing rain tonight to keep Daddy home from work tomorrow.

Welcome to the Family, Albert

Welcome to the family, Albert Stripe. Sam left a void too big to go unfilled by another boy kitty. Today, Matty picked you out as the new guy, because he and Dad were feeling outnumbered. It is not without sadness that we bring you home, but you are a sweet thing, and we all are taken with you and your very cute personality. You are charming and lovable, a people cat all the way around, and every bit a playful kitten. We hope you like it here with us.

Goodbye, Sam

This Sunday morning we said goodbye to our friend of 10 1/2 years...Samson, our cat. Last night he had another bad seizure (he'd had one in November, alerting us to the fact that he was not well, so we were prepared). This time he didn't fully come out of the seizure, and his whole left side was paralyzed. Both Glen and I felt the time was right to let him go peacefully, knowing that his situation was not going to get any better. He was a great cat--a big ol' lover-boy, flycatcher extraordinaire, chewer of paper, (especially of important documents), faithful alarm clock, hunter and presenter of gruesome gifts, companion, friend.

He will be very missed around here. I can't help but be thankful, even in the sorrow, that God allowed him to be entrusted to us for a time. It is a privilege to care for God's creatures, and we are blessed by the joy they bring to our hearts. Goodbye, Sammy-ol-boy. We love you.

Happy New Year

The new year is upon us. It was a lovely, quiet, and simple holiday season this year. We didn't go away, didn't visit with a million people, didn't cook until we couldn't find the kitchen anymore. We did eat until we couldn't see the numbers on the scale anymore, but that's a different matter! I've been blessed to be able to spend some time making art, played board games with the kids, started one of our new books with kids--The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. Monday, it's back to school, time to welcome back the old routine, with a few new improvements, I hope.

I'm never one to make new year's resolutions--okay, i am, actually, but i'm never one to keep them. This year, however, I only want to have one resolution. A friend of mine had this verse on her Christmas card: "We have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men. (I Timothy 4:10)" This is my resolution for 2009. To fix my gaze upon Him, to listen every day for that day. To walk according to His word.

Happy New Year, from us...