Our newest addition

Meet Abbi our sweet 10 week old kitten. We weren't planning on adding another pet to our family and we certainly were not going to do it 4 days before we left for vacation. But, like all things, God's plan was obviously quite different than ours.

Yesterday the girls and I were at the uniform store buying Sarah's things for school. As we were waiting in line, Sarah looked out of the window and saw these words on the marquee next door, "Abandoned Kittens need loving homes". Sarah begged me to just go and take a look. Reluctantly I agreed.

Once we went in to the vet's office I knew we were not leaving without one of the cute little bundles. There were 8 of the sweetest looking kittens ever. However, that's not what hooked me. It was their story. A woman brought the kittens in and explained that they were in her neighborhood and a dog was going around killing the babies. So, she gathered them up in hopes of finding homes for them.

So, I told the girls that we would talk about the kitten at dinner and if their Dad agreed we would bring one home AFTER our trip this weekend. The vet tech agreed that they would keep the kitten until Tuesday for us. Not good enough, the girls wanted Dad to come and see the kitten NOW.

So, I called Dave who, after hearing what I was asking, began to yell, "NO MORE CATS"!! I listened and then asked him when he could get to the vet's office. WIthin 15 minutes he was there. Within 2 minutes of his arrival, he promptly fell in love with Abbi deemed that if she was coming home then he got to name her. Dave calls her Fish Bait, we call her Abbi.

Welcome home Abbi. Now if we can just convince Duchess and Clarence to like you then peace will reign once again!

Life is fragile

My intent today was to update the blog on our wonderful, busy, month of June. However, I woke up this morning with some time before I had to get the kids out of bed and took a moment to catch up on some of the blogs I love to read. Well, over and over I read about stories dealing with children, sick and dying children.

There are so many parents suffering because their little ones are fighting cancer, finding out their unborn baby will probably not survive and/or a brand new baby dying in spite of the best medical care.

How does a parent go on when the bottom has fallen out of their world? The grief would be unbearable, yet the need to continue on for the remaining children would be so important. How do you continue to wake up each morning knowing that the little child you loved so deeply for 8 long, or is short, years will never run through the house again?

Is it harder to lose a child who has been part of the family for years or to lose a newborn baby? Is there a comparison?

Today I spent some time chiding myself for complaining about my busy schedule with the girls. How many parents would give anything to be able to drive their child to a gym or the dance studio or watch them celebrate another birthday-- just one more time?

It wasn't that long ago that I struggled with infertility and grieved each and every month when I did not get pregnant. The pain I felt thinking that I would never hear someone call me Mom or be able to celebrate my child's accomplishments was, at times, overwhelming. The loss I faced when my first adoption fell through after the birth of the baby pushed me to the brink -- I remember having to make the decision to either get up and get on with my life or die right there on my couch.

And that grief was for the child(ren) I never thought I would have. Now that I have children that grief is only a portion of what I imagine I would feel if I lost one of them.

Today I said some prayers for the Chapman family, Ellie's parents, Jake's parents, Cohen's Mom and Dad, Kate and her family, and for the nameless others who are all grieving and fighting a battle for their children. I then prayed for the health and well being of my children.

And then I woke up my children, and the 4 other girls who spent the night, to begin our wonderfully busy, crazy day! Thank you God for this day and for the many, many more days in which I will get to spend with these special gifts.

Are YOU someone's Happy Ending????

Hope is Fading from Allan Rosenow on Vimeo.

Shoes definitely do NOT make the man!

Since Dave's promotion he has been rubbing shoulders with some VIP's. Two weeks ago he was invited to go golfing with the Dean of College of Science, a Cobb County Board Member, and a retired Vice Chancellor of the University System. Since Dave loves to golf it was not hard to jump at the chance!

It has been years since Dave has gone golfing due in part to lack of time and money. However, he still has his clubs and a nice pair of golf shoes. So, he pulled them out and waited for his day out on the course.

What a day it was! Dave came home and told me that he had a great time but was horribly embarrased. Why I wondered? Well, he explained that once he got to the course he found out that metal cleats were not allowed. Not a problem, he went to the pro-shop and had plastic cleats put on. Pretty uneventful.

The embarrasement came right on the first hole. After teeing off Dave noticed one of his yellow plastic cleats had fallen off. Confused, he picked it up and pocketed it.

Then he started to walk toward his ball and stumbled on something. He looked down and didn't see anything on the course, so onward he went. Again, a slight trip. He looked down and realized something was wronng with his shoe. He lifted his foot up and the entire bottom of his shoe was hanging off. OMG!!! Dave made a joke about his shoe and moved forward only to realize that the OTHER shoe had also fallen apart!!!

Thank goodness for humor! Dave turned the situation around and the guys all had a good laugh! However, Dave had to walk, or drag, in those shoes the entire afternoon. At least he finished in second.

Wonder if he'll get another invitation?