10 Years!

It doesn't feel like we've been married for 10 years already.  We dated 4 years before that, so 14 years of my life have been with Bruce.  Crazy to think how quickly time really goes.  We didn't plan anything big--just dinner out alone.  Cooper stayed at the neighbor's house overnight and we were free!!!  We decided to go to the casino because it's close to home and the steaks are SO yummy.  We ate, we laughed, and it was nice to relax together and focus on us.  I really did luck out with him. 

I always admired my parent's relationship because they truly liked eachother.  As I got older, I realized that all parents aren't like that and how lucky I was to grow up seeing that. I was even luckier that I found a person to be that way with.

I met Bruce in college and didn't have the best impression of him at first.  We had a class together and he was always late, goofed off and I was on time, at every class, and the teacher's pet.  The next year something changed and we just fell into place.  (The football coaches had a little assitance in it and Bruce's never-ending charm.)

Thanks for the great life we have built together, the family we have made together and the adventures we've been on.  I can't wait to see what the next 10 years brings (especially the vacation you've promised me!!!!!).

Ek Family Weekend

Bruce went hunting in Nebraska for the weekend, so I asked my parents if they would come up to entertain Cooper and me.  Mom and I went to the First Friday Art Walk and she had fun.  The boys stayed home and no one was crying when we got back, so we counted that as a success.  The next day Dad stayed home and relaxed while we ran around just a bit.  Cooper had to show Grandma all that he wanted for Christmas at Tractor Supply...We came home and relaxed at home. It was SO unlike us, but wonderful.  I'm still trying to convince them to move in to our basement, but it hasn't worked yet!

Me and my best buddy, Scooter

Being crafty and painting tin cans like candy corn

Coop made mom "beautiful" jewelry out of glow sticks. 
If we lost her in the woods, we'd be able to find her now!

Doing what she does best

Doing what he does best

Scooter's favorite place when someone's cooking

Cooper's bath with glow sticks. 
I didn't think we'd ever get him out of there.

Dove Season

So, apparently it's dove season here.  This is the time of year that begins to melt together...dove, duck, deer and Bruce is dressed in camo constantly.  Knowing my wonderful husband, I'm sure there will be other random animals thrown in there from other places and our freezers will again be filled to the brim with meat.  I never thought I'd eat any of that stuff (I'm kinda a Dillon's girl), but Bruce cooks and grills so well that I can devour almost anything he tries--except frog legs--that's just wrong!  So, when trying to decide what the weekend activities were going to be (and suffering terribly from allergies) it was decided that the boys were going to the farm to hunt and see Papa Danny and Grandma Diane and I would stay home, take meds, clean and enjoy the amazing weather in peace and quiet--or music of my own choosing and tv that wasn't animated.  Perfect plan for everyone!  Coop was going dove hunting for the first time and was very excited to take his bb gun and wear his hunting clothes.  I got updates later and they'd got birds, Coop shot the big gun and got a bloody nose (Bruce wasn't sure if it was from that or being all dried up), and my son shot a frog all by himself.  Oddly enough, I was really excited for him.  I guess that's part of being the mom to a boy.  I got to go to dinner with my friend, where we enjoyed wine, food with spinich in it, and amazing pasta.  Did I mention that there were no kids anywhere?  It was a meal in peace and quiet and a chance for us to recharge before heading home to our wonderful lives.

They look even more alike when they're dressed the same.  I am one lucky mama!



Even got a pliers carrier to work on the farm.



Kindergarten Here He Comes!!!

So, as a teacher, there is a bittersweet part of the first day of school.  We all congregate in the gym, get into our class lines, listen to a few lines from the principal and away to our classrooms we go.  Wait.  Did I mention the part about the Kindergarteners and their parents?  Well, as is custom, lots of mamas and daddies come to school with their little guys for the first time and end up wiping tears away as a lot of the kiddos cry openly and scream for their mommy's.  Not a pretty scene.  It gets a LOT less pretty when I'm standing behind my class crying because they are all crying.  (I'm a sympathy sobber!)  Anyway, this year my little guy was starting too and I was prepared with Kleenex in hand, but it was not to be needed.  He was awesome!  Besides a few run-ins in the hallway when our classes met up, the first day was a success and has gotten better every one since then.  We LOVE Kindergarten!!!

Thanks for the idea Pinterest!

Lucky for us, Daddy was off today!

He isn't used to posing, is he?

The Rochester Wildcats!

Our Angel Puppy

This is going to be hard to write.  It's been hard to think about, talk about, everything, because it's about one of my babies.  My first baby actually, Scout.

Scout was a birthday present from Bruce when I had just moved to Westmoreland after college, substitute teaching and horribly, horribly homesick.  I had never and still haven't seen anything more adorable than a baby basset hound.  He instantly was my whole world and overnight I became one of those crazy dog people. 

Everyone liked Scout (except my brother and that's just because he outran him) his personality, his long ears, short legs, and the best howl in the world.  He was a great guard dog and sounded really scary, even if he instantly rolled over for a belly rub as soon as you crossed the thresh hold.  He was cuddly, loved to go on walks and ran around like a crazy man after his baths.  He was fine to hang out on his own or go everywhere with you.  He was a great dog.  Was.

Scout definitely had 9 lives.  A lot of people would have given up on him long ago and when his seizures started, when he had to endure surgeries, but not us.  How could you do that to your little guy?  If there was a medicine or surgery that wouldn't make us sell the house, we did it.  This summer was different though.  It was pretty obvious that he was slowing down.  He was 11 after all, so that was understandable.  He tolerated Cooper and had even grown to love him.  He was still always excited when we walked through the door.  My mom is the one that mentioned that he had a bump on the side of his neck after Cooper's birthday party.  I admit that I'd noticed it before, but it wasn't anything alarming and honestly, it was under his ear and because I couldn't see it, I kinda forgot about it.  However, we noticed it again and it had gotten bigger, really bigger and really quickly.  We got him in to the vet and with bloodwork and a check-up, found out it was cancer.  The one word you NEVER want to hear.  His counts were low and there was a medicine to try as it wasn't in nis nodes yet.  We tried it and nothing changed.  The lump got bigger.  We tried another med and talked about setting something up with K-State for removal, but it was in too tough of a spot and we thought he may not make it through that or the recovery.  Without saying it outright, our family was preparing for the rough road that pet owners have to take.  Scout was weaker by the day and not himself at all.  I took him into the vet for a check up and he ended up staying for 3 days.  Three very long days and many, many phone calls within those 72 hours to check on how he was, how he felt, if he was doing any better.  Finally the nurse gave me the good news that he had perked up and could go home.  When I walked into the vet that night, he was barking in the back. I hadn't heard Scout bark in weeks and my heart was elated to think he had improved that much!  When they finally walked him down the hallway, I was crying so hard that I couldn't talk, the nurse was crying, the doctor was crying and a man waiting his turn on the bench beside me was tearing up.  Scout was back to my good old boy!  I truly didn't believe I would see him alive again and here he was wagging his tail and hustling to see his mama.

Sadly, it wasn't meant to last.  He was on his seizure medicine, chemo meds to shrink the tumor and antibiotics to help with his immune system from the chemo meds.  He was doped up and slept nonstop.  We had to wake him up to go outside.  I had to carry him down the steps to use the bathroom and then back up when he was done.  That was not very easy with a 50 pound sack of potatoes and a house full of stairs.  It was not going well.  In our hearts we knew that we had limited days with him and tried to spend as much time with him as possible.  We were in dog hospice. 

The last morning he was at the landing on the basement steps whining.  At the top of the steps was a huge wet spot.  I don't know what happened, but he'd had a few accidents here and there.  That morning I found 4 inside and he'd been outdoors a few times.  I thought he was gone when I tried to give him a piece of bacon and he didn't even open his eyes, lift his head, wiggle his nose-nothing.  I called for Bruce to come help me get him upstairs.  We knew this was it.

Bruce talked to the vet and the plan was to take him in after-hours at 6.  Cooper and I stayed home because I think Bruce knew I wouldn't handle the situation and secretly I was relieved.  He took him in, they gave him a shot to calm him, another to let him go and that was it.  Bruce drove him up to his grandparent's farm, where he loved to run and play and buried him. 

I haven't been able to make it up there yet.  Some people might read this and think how silly I am, he was just a dog, but they're wrong.  Scout was our first baby, the first grand-dog.  He was there when we brought our son home from the hospital.  He has been with us through it all and I loved him as much as people do their kid.  There is a hole in our hearts, a void in our lives, a missing brown and white lump on the dog bed, that Scooter refuses to lie on.  We love you Scout Henry.  You blessed our lives like only the best dog can and hope you are running and howling in Heaven. 



Scout and Scooter

Always the patient pup

A nap with daddy after opening Christmas presents

He hated to dress up, but we loved it

The three amigos

My handsome boys

Admiring daddy's deer

Aunt Laurie and Tyler giving a belly rub

One of my favorites.  They loved eachother.

Great Wolf Lodge

With Bruce's job change and wanting to do something ALONE for our 10th anniversary this year, vacation got put on the back burner.  Mom retired though and we thought it would be fun to take the kid and do something for a few days, which only could mean Great Wolf Lodge in KC!  I've never been there and we kept it a secret from Cooper.  He knew we were going to Kansas City, but couldn't figure out any of our clues.  It would be an understatement to say that he was ecstatic.  The hotel was wonderful and catered to him and made life easy for the two of us.  We shopped at Legends the first day and it was SO fun to shop with mom.  It was the first time I remember us ever shopping in the same section of the store.  I'm so proud of her!  After that, we pretty much stayed at the hotel and chased him around.  We had a great time and were glad to come home to daddy when it was over.

Getting his tattoo

Wiley the Wolf

Having a snack at the water park

Our little fish

They LOVED the hot tub!

Finally big enough to play the big kid games!

The little bag that he picked out and I colored most of...

Deep in conversation on the balcony

Showing the fake animals who's boss

The wolfpack

Finally got him to stop hiding from the wolf at the restaraunt

His new stuffed animal

Another successful family trip!  Thanks for going with us mom!

Mom's Retirement

My mom has worked at the same place my entire life.  When Seth and I were in school, we had to come home and call her everyday to tell her that we got home.  That phone number and extension are so programmed into my brain that sometimes I dial it on accident when I'm trying to call the house.  Finally after 32 years of being there, she is retiring!!!  My Aunt Monica and other friends planned the party for her at work.  Mom, of course, didn't want anything over the top, so they did different dips at break and it was very low key. The fun part was that she didn't think that any of her family was coming, but we all showed up to surprise her!  It was hard to keep a secret from her and not ruin it by Cooper saying something, so we had lots of little fibs and plans going on.  I truly think she was surprised.  My nephew, Tyler, ran up to her first, followed by some cousins and then she saw Cooper, which threw her off and then me.  After several minutes, she also saw dad.  She was a little overwhelmed I think. :)

the reception table

The family--and yes, those are shorts, not a short skirt like my brother thought...

Aunt Monica and Mom, had to take it fast before the tears started again...

Dad (who dressed himself and looked pretty studly)

Danica, Josie, Monica and Addie Mae

Opening her gifts at home

Coop was pretty excited about this part!

Later that night, we went out to eat supper together.  Oh how spoiled I am having an independent little man.  These two turkeys are BUSY BOYS and keep their mommy and daddy even busier!  This was towards the end and they were beating up on Cooper.  I love these boys!!!