Yo-Yo

Yoda - September 2007

Dottie & Yoda - September 2007

Well, the last two weeks have been tough. In early November, I noticed that my little Yoda was drinking lots and lots of water and then he began having problems holding his bladder.

We took a trip to see his vet, Dr. Carol Ryan, and unfortunately, Yoda was diagnosed with Diabetes. This meant that I had to start giving him daily shots of insulin - now if you know Yoda, you know that was not an easy task.

Yoda began feeling better but I was afraid to leave him alone and was sure that no one else would be able to give him his shots. This meant that he had to go on a trip with me. We traveled down South and spent several days on the beach. Yoda loved it and he seemed to be bouncing back and feeling better. He regained his appetite and was even able to go on walks. He also like laying out in the sun with me (make sure you get to see the pictures at the bottom)! In Mississippi - one of many potty stops! He loved the sand.... I think he is like his momma and liked the feel of it between his toes!

Just hangin' out on the deck, listening to the sounds of the sea! When we got back he did okay for a few days but when we went for a follow up visit to Dr. Ryan, he had lost another pound. That's a lot for a dog that only weighs 7 pounds to begin with. Week after week, I could see my little buddy fading - he kept dropping weight, couldn't control his bladder, drank so much water it made him sick, began having seizures and on December 17, I knew it was time. I couldn't hang on to him any longer. He could hardly hold his head up and was mostly sleeping alot.

That morning, Yoda slept peacefully with me - he was wrapped up in his favorite red blankie with his sweater on and he even let mommy have some kisses and cuddles.

I took him in to Dr. Ryan and she gave him a shot to relax him and I was able to spend several minutes just loving and kissing him and telling him I would miss him. Dr. Ryan then gave him the final shot he would ever have to have.

Needless to say, my heart is broken. Yoda was my buddy, my baby, my best friend, my companion. I got him from Homeward Bound Humane Society when I first moved to Wentzville eight years ago. Since that time he has been by my side....or on top of me or under my shirt or...just anywhere near me. He was like an appendage! Making the decision to end his life was the toughest thing I have ever had to do. I kept praying that he would just go to sleep and not wake up and I wouldn't have to do it. But that morning I knew I couldn't let him suffer anymore.

Every time I walk into the house, I cry - it seems so weird not having him there to greet me. No matter what happened that day, Yoda was always there - sometimes, actually many times, he left a surprise for me in his kennel - he just never really did get the hang of being"kennel trained" but regardless, he was always there and happy to see me. Every night at bed time, Yoda practically beat me to the bed.... he loved to cuddle under the blankets and he snored like a person. I'm having a bit of a hard time sleeping without his warm little belly up against me.

Like I said, my heart is broken. I miss him terribly and somtimes think... I wish I could bring him back. That would be selfish though..... I think he hung on as long as he did for me. Hoping that I would be able to let him go.

Leaving you with pictures that bring back so many wonderful memories of our time together.

Hogging all the covers.

On Momma's lap in the recliner - watchin' a little TV.

Begging me to pick him up - spoiled!

Yoda and Smokey - May 2008 - keeping watch over their little Brookie. Or ticked that she is in their bed! :)

Whenever we would go to my grandma's house, Yoda always sat in her recliner with her. This picture makes me think he is saying "Momma! Where did this kid come from and why is she on my Gramma's lap??" This would have been taken in June or July 2008.

I love this picture! It was taken in May 2008 - he looks so healthy, hard to believe that just 6 months later he would be gone. :(

Tuesday, December 16 - the night before he died. Yoda was tired but he seemed to have a little more energy. I was able to get this picture of him with his Christmas bear and sweater on. You can see in his eyes that he is very tired.

Resting peacefully all cuddled in his red blankie - this is just hours before I took him in to Dr. Ryan.

This is the casket that I made for him - I took him home to East Alton where he was buried in my mom and dad's back yard with my other chihuahua named Bearsy. I imagine they are running and playing in heaven together.

"Time and tide wait for no one."

I've been busy! I didn't realize how long it has been since I updated this site....seems like I don't have much time to get on the computer these days

Things are moving along..... I spent some time traveling in November and was fortunate enough to go to my favorite place in the US..... FLORIDA! Because it was the off-season, I was able to get a great deal on sail-boat rides. I was able to go out almost every day - this is JP, the guy who own's the business - he was quite a hoot. If you know me very well, you know that I HATE feet...well JP had the most disgusting feet and toes I have ever seen. I think they were fried from walking barefoot on the beach all the time. (Not sure why I felt the need to share that but I did and they were GROSS!)

Yoda had to go with me on this little trip because he has been really sick - he is diabetic. I have to give him shots every day and well... let's just say he won't let anyone else do it, so I had no choice but to take him. He did very well though and even laid out in the sun with me... check this out:

If you ever go to Panama City and you are looking for a great place to stay, the Sandpiper-Beacon Resort is awesome! Found this place by accident just because I needed somewhere that allowed pets. I love it and they have great off-season prices!

I missed the girlies while I was away! Suzanna is doing good, though the 5th grade and all the things kiddo's have to deal with at this age are a little tough on her. She actually could use a few extra prayers - just that she is able to enjoy being a kid and leaves worrying about things that are out of her control up to the adults in her life who love her.

Brooke is doing great, too. She is just getting so big and so smart! I am still amazed at how much she learns and grows every day. She is counting to 10, recognizes some of her colors and is attempting some of her ABC's. You can practically hold a conversation with the girl at this point. If you tell her, "I Love You" she will respond.... "I Love You, More!" It's wayyyy cute.

Can you believe that this child who has never been afraid of anything is suddenly afraid of Santa Claus? She is even afraid of the santa ornaments on the tree! Not sure what that is all about... I guess her Christmas picture this year will have to be without Santa!

This picture of my mom, dad and Brooke was taken on November 4th - we met them in St.Charles to celebrate my dad's birthday.

Here are a couple of pictures of the girls....taken in the last couple of months.

Last but not least.... I am going to attempt to post a video...the quality isn't too good because it was done on my cell phone. But...it's funny! This is Brooke dancing at my cousin Pam's 40th Birthday party. Before you wonder.....NO it is not in fast forward, that is how fast she is moving.

Hope that left you with a good laugh! I am going to try to be updating more often.... check back for the latest!

Happy Holidays!

A Heavy Heart....

last night my good friend, Otto Rice passed away. They think he had a massive heart attack.

Otto was a great man. He dedicated his life to the field of parks and recreation... Otto and I worked together when I was at East Alton for all of the years. When all the things in East Alton were really getting me down, it was Otto who assured me it was okay to walk away that I could find another job doing what I loved.

We stayed in touch...though not nearly as much as what I wish we would have. I visited him recently and introduced him to Brookie. He loved her and she loved him...they played together at the Round House. On that day, Otto was smiling as much as he ever did, just like in the picture above. What stands out in my mind the most though is that when I walked in, he greeted me with a great big hug and his famous words.... "What's Shakin'"

Like every0ne who knew and loved Otto, I think I am just a bit shocked right now.

If you want to read more about Otto's life and legacy, you can read it on:

http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/rice_18359___article.html/river_wood.html

The girlies are doing great. Suzanna is definitely acting like a 5th grader these days... a bit sassy but sweet as ever. Brookie...well..she's wild and crazy and sweet as ever, too. I need to take a copule of recent pictures of Suzanna to post, but for now here's one that I really like of me and Brooke.

August Update

I can't believe August is almost over! This is going to be a quick update just to show you a couple of the things that have kept me busy in August.

First of all .. Suzanna is now in the double digits! We celebrated her birthday with a surprise party at the pool. Here's a picture of her with her friends, Brooke and some of her "new" cousins! (Suzanna loves that I have such a big extended family and she fits in perfect and now calls it all her own!)

Here she is excited over the Guitar Hero that her Dad got her. You know, I have always said I could probably become addicted to anything except exercise and health food.... well this little beast of a game has proven my theory to be true. Little did Suzanna know that she'd have to share her favorite gift with me. Thanks Mike for buying that for us! :)

Ya know ,Brooke is just spoiled rotten - here is what happens when she doens't have 100% of the attention. She just does something silly like this! Thank goodness she doesn't really throw fits yet! This is on the concrete under the pavilion at the pool - while Suzanna is opening presents.

Next, Brooke and I spent a couple of days in East Alton - my mom and I took her to see the Wiggles. In the meantime though, she entertained Grandma and Grandpa with her swimming skills. And in case you are not sure you are seeing this picture correctly... YOU ARE! Yes that swimming pool is sitting on the back deck at my mom and dad's house. Anyone who knows my mom knows that she thinks she is a sun goddess - she's been on my dad to put a pool in the back yard for years. This is her pool that she lays out in. I promised not to post a picture of her on here in her bathing suit...so ...those are my mom's legs and I will admit that at one point, I, too was in that little pool with them. All was fine and dandy until the little princess decided to take a poop in it. :) Thank goodness I wasn't in at that time!

The Wiggles show was great fun. Brooke wanted to sit on Grandma's lap the whole time and as you can see in this picture, they were both having a blast. This little baby girl watched them from the moment they got on the stage - she sang and danced her little heart out.

While my mom and Brooke were having all that fun, I met a little friend. My mom swears that every where I go I'm a magnet for little kids. Well this one takes the cake. My little friend who's name was Sophia was dressed in a ballerina dress and rain boots... just like Dorothy the Dinosaur. Anyway, Sophia was really into the Wiggles and she kept grabbing my hand so I would stand up and dance with her. Anyone who knows me well, knows that it usually takes a 6 pack...or maybe even a 12 pack... to get me to dance. And when I get to that point, it is usually not a pretty scene. (By the way, I don't drink like that anymore!) Anyway, not only that, but Sophia that I should have lots of Wiggles stickers - she thought it was perfectly fine to stick them on my arms, my pant legs and ... my belly and breast. I must say that I had quite a good time...thanks to Sophia! I do love kids and actually I had a blast with this little cutie but it was just toooo funny.

Anyway... so here are my me and my mom and Brooke. When you take a grandma that works midnights and hasn't had much sleep, a 1 1/2 year old and a 34 year old with ADD, it's difficult to get a picture where everyone is looking, but here's an attempt....

And last but not least... in case you are wondering what in the heck is the Wiggles...here's a couple of pictures:

The Wiggles in their big red car, coming on to stage.

Dorothy the Dinosaur (Brooke and Sophia's favorite character).

Hope you enjoyed this little update. The next couple of weeks are busy - preparing for the Hill of Thrills Soapbox Race. If you have a child that is at least 8 years old, between 55 - 120 pounds and 4ft - 5ft tall, sign them up for this cool event. We use to do it in East Alton (they still do it there but I'm sure ours is much better!) and started it here last year and people LOVE it!

Have a great Labor Day Holiday!

Fun with Brooke!

Well the last couple of weeks have been busy and fun. First of all, we spent some time at the county fair last week - Brook got 3rd place in the cutest baby contest! Here's a little bit of the show she put on for the judges.

I know you can't see her very well - but see how her hand is on her chest? She is doing the sign language "Please". She wanted the ink pen the judge had in her hand.

Here she is riding on her first ever carnival ride. There was only one ride that she was big enough for but she rode it several times and I think you can see how much fun she had in this picture.

She looks so big, eh??

And here is one last fair picture - she and this little girl were dancing at the Sh-Boom concert.

I'm hoping this little pole dance is not an indication of a future career choice!

We spent most of the rest of the weekend playing on this new 4-wheeler! She loves this thing!

I feel bad for Yoda - she likes to chase him around on her new toy. By the way - this is old grumpy Yoda for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of meeting him yet.

After all that playing, they were both wore out!

Surprise! Brooke finally figured out how to climb out of her crib so it is now converted into a day bed.

And yes, my little angel sleeps with his cover and pillow :)

These next few pictures are of Brooke with her cousins - they are here for Suzanna's surprise birthday party tomorrow - she turned 10 yesterday! I'll have plenty of pictures of her party to share on here!

Here's a picture of Brooke with Tomi (holding her), Robi (in pink) and Sami Jo (in yellow).

Here she is with Robi sitting on top of the climbing rock.

Here she is with Tomi, going to the top of the playground for a ride down the big slide.

And here is Sami Jo - ringing the bell and being a cutie!

Lot's of things going on in the next few days so I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures!

I love this heat!

This is the time of year that I love... I wish I could be outside ALL day, laying by the pool of course but...outside!

Summer really seems to be flying by. I can't believe that it's already July 21st (by the way today is Mike's birthday - Happy Birthday to you!

Brooke is really growing and I think you'll enjoy the pictures in this update. In August my mom and I are taking her to see the Wiggles at the Scott Trade Center. Since Brooke was a few months old she has loved to watch the Wiggles DVD's and to listen to their CD's so a couple of weeks ago my mom called to say they were going to be in St.Louis and we should take Brookie - I think we are probably going to enjoy it more than Brooke! Anyway, so when you say "Brooke do you want to go see the wiggles?" She stops whatever she is doing - drops anything that might be in her hands and doubles her fists up, pumps her arms up and down and says ..."Me Wiggle!"

It's too cute. It is so fun to watch how quick she is learning new things. She is getting big, too. In the pictures she has a pair of sandals on that I bought just a month or so ago and they are already too little. So.... that will be our next shopping trip! New shoes!

Suzanna left yesterday to go to girl scout camp. She was pretty excited to go and I know she was looking forward to it. She was slowed down a little bit this week by the stomach flu but by Saturday night she was feeling better and couldn't wait to go. Mike said when he dropped her off there was a little girl she knew and so they were off to get water and she didn't seem to be concerned about missing him at all. I'm sure she will but ... I think that he ...and I will miss her more than she misses us!

She comes back on Friday - which is her birthday. She's going to be double digits! Then she starts back to school on August 13 - it sure seems like the summer flew by!

Here are some pics:

Brooke loves her wagon.... I have made the mistake of putting it next to the front door, so every time we go in or out, she goes straight for the wagon and if I don't take her for a ride she screams. So yesterday morning I felt bad for not getting her out there early to go for a wagon ride. I decided not to put her church dress on her and to let her play in the wagon for a few minutes... so, here it is. She smiles the whole timeee....even after the ride is over and I want her to get out!

So when I finally got her out of the wagon, I sat her in the back of the hatch and put her dress on. As you can see, I was having to be really goofy to keep her from screaming over the wagon.

I'll take those sweet little laughs over screaming any day!

Then she had to do some more roaming around before we left. I'm sure the friendly neighbor next door doesn't mind her smelling the flowers! Speaking of which, I'm looking for a house - probably to rent for now, if anyone knows of one.

And then she must go down to the end of the sidewalk and get in the grass - notice that she is carefully backing down that little bitty step. I think she's still a little bit afraid on the concrete because she doesn't carefully do anything else!

And here we are again...back in the wagon. How can you say "no" when you look into those beautiful blue eyes???

I'll show you.......

You act like a complete and total idiot, singing and dancing the Wiggles (and praying none of the neighbors see you) and tickling and anything else that will make this girl belly laugh!

That's it for now - hope you enjoy!

Pics and the Olympics....

Here are the pics of Brooke and Suzanna that were made the weekend of Mother's Day.... aren't they great?!

Now, on to the Olympics.... I am a competitor at heart and man do I love watching the trials and then the actual games. This weekend I am hooked on watching the softball games - I'm telling you it just makes me miss the game sooo much! Suzanna only has two games left in the season, it's been fun watching her improve and learn a bit about the game. I'm not sure she has the love for it that I had hoped she would but.... maybe that'll come??

Anyway...so I know there are others of you out there that do this, but I must at last confess. When I watch these athletes competing at this level I get so emotional! I mean, I cry when they lose, I cry when they win... I'm not kidding! Did anyone else see Corey Hall miss his chance for one last Olympics in the 50 meter free style? Well...lemme just tell you, I cried like a baby! I do the same thing when I watch the superbowl or the World Series and the Stanley Cup playoffs.

I really miss being able to play at a competitive level. Actually, I just miss being able to play... I'm not sure I miss the hard work it takes to play competitively!

Anyway... that's my blog for today! :)

Oh wait... .a couple of pics that are just too cute not to post....

My girl does not like anything on her head!

I'm not sure if she is admiring her belly or looking for her toes...either way someday she will hate me for posting this picture!