Birthday Boy

We now have a 7 year old. I cannot believe it. It seems just yesterday that we brought him home. His birthday was friday and to celebrate it we took him to a local fun park with our friends Jason and Stefanie and their 3 kids. Kristian had a blast on the jungle gym (which was free by the way, what a smart boy) while Luke and Jason spent their time on the video games.

Later, we went to my Mom's house where we had lasagna (not for his birthday party, Daren's sister Cindy was visiting and we just happened to be invited) Aunt Cindy got the kids cupcakes and they all got to blow out their own candle. It was a nice time to visit with them and Kristian got to spend time with his cousins Seth and Sarah.

On Sunday, he had a pizza party where he got to open all his birthday presents.

Luke decorated the birthday cake this year. He did an awesome job!

And here he is opening his last birthday present. Luke wrapped this one which was really funny because it was loaded with walmart bags and the present was at the very bottom. Walmart bags were flying everywhere. I wish we would have used the video camera to capture the moment. Thank you to our family and friends for all of your love and support these past 7 years. We could not have survived without you!

Duets

Life after Frannie

I don't know what happened, I posted my pics and they showed up in reverse order. This blogger really baffles my mind sometimes. Anyways, it has been 5 days since we lost Fran and it has been a tough week on all of us. Sully has made up for it in his own little way. He has been pretty sweet and this morning he decided to jump into a laundry basket. I could not resist the urge to take lots of pictures of his cuteness. He is such a cool kitty.

He has been playing alot more which is good because he is a little obese.

He really loves feathers. Its even more interesting when you find them in the litter box.

His name really should be Garfield! I think he is the spitting image of the ultimate fat cat only he is gray. Sully says, "Why are you taking pictures? Get in that kitchen and make me some Lasagna now, Human!"

Rest in Peace, Frannie

I decided to put my selfish needs aside and let Frannie go. I was told that I would know when it would be time and when I woke up this morning I knew way down in the pit of my stomach that it was time. Luke made the appointment and I felt a huge wave of guilt and despair. I prayed that God would give me a sign that I was doing the right thing. I received one when I got home. I could not find her anywhere. I called my Mom and she said that that was my sign. I eventually found her in the spare room under my sewing table, she did not come when I called. We took her to the vet and we stayed with her to the very end. We buried her at my friend Marie's who is also a lover of cats. This is really hard and the house is very empty. I am really, really sad. But, she is no longer in pain and I believe that God has a special place in Heaven reserved for our lost pets. She was always there when I needed her and she saw me through some real tough times, she is my Angel Kitty. Someday I will see her again. I found this poem on a website called Rainbow Bridge and it is how I will honor my Frannie.

God Bless Our Pets
They say memories are golden, well, maybe that is true. I never wanted memories, I only wanted you. A million times I needed you, a million times I cried. If love alone could have saved you, you never would have died. In life I loved you dearly, in death I love you still. In my heart you hold a place no one could ever fill. If tears could build a stairway and heartache make a lane, I'd walk the path to heaven and bring you back again. Our family chain is broken, and nothing seems the same. But as God calls us one by one, the chain will link again.
Author Unknown

I Beat Luke at Risk!!!

The other day when we had so much snow, I asked Luke if he and Kristian would like to play Risk. They both eagerly obliged. If only they had known what was to come...... Total annihilation. Kristian (yellow men) isolated himself way up in the corner somewhere in the vicinity of Russia. I was green and Luke was blue. This picture was taken right at the start of the game. If you have ever played Risk, you will already know that it takes a long time to play. We were still playing past Kristian's bedtime. It became apparent that Kristian was very unhappy that he was not winning so we sent him packing and he went nighty night.


And here was the final play. Luke had two countries left. I was the champion! Ruler of the world! (insert maniacal laughter here)

Frannie Part 3

The vet was supposed to call me on Monday or Tuesday with Frannie's viral results and no one ever did. So, I finally called them yesterday to find out what was going on. A vet called me a half an hour later to tell me all of Frannie's virals were negative and that her liver was very damaged which means she likely got into something. I told her how upset I was with the previous vet and I never wanted her to see my pets again. She told me that was understandable and she would get to the bottom of why no one called me. She also told me Frannie needed to be hydrated to flush her liver of the enzymes it is creating. We went to the vet and she showed us how to administer iv fluids which we have to do 2 times a week. She is on a liver medication and we have about 3 weeks left and when they are gone we have to take her back in for a blood test to determine if her liver values have gone up or down. If they are down, that is very good and she will likely recover. If they are up, we will have to put her to sleep. I am having difficulty not being angry with this other vet. She knew how bad Fran's liver was and we could have been giving her an iv at home while we waited for the test results.

Wild Boyz

I had 2 wildmen in my house last night. It was crazy. Kids were screaming, dogs were barking. It was 2 words.........in sane. Bret decided to take Kristian's papers and throw them on the ground. Kristian would faithfully pick them up. Then it became a game. Bret would throw them down and he and Kristian would laugh. Bret is a little blurry because he was moving faster than my camera could handle. Note Kristian's diabolical grin.

Oops! Kristian falls down and meanwhile, Bret is in the background doing his best "I am a mime trapped in a box with a Frisbee on my head" impersonation.

Now this picture defies explanation. Kristian looks like a crazed dancing giant and Bret is a little wee bald man with a Frisbee.
Frannie says, "Children constipate me."

Frannie Update

I spotted two napping kitties in my closet. They look pretty cozy, no? We have force fed Frannie for 4 days. This morning we did not feed her. I locked her up in the bathroom with a dish full of soft kitten food and she was pretty mad and she did not touch the food. I have determined that she does not like soft cat food. Sully on the other hand, loooves it. If anyone has benefited from the whole ordeal, it has been him. I let her out and she went into to the litter room where she proceeded to throw up. Then what happened next caused me to shout for joy. I witnessed a bowel movement. Wow! I was impressed. At least now we know she is going poop. She also made an attempt to eat dog food, which was good. My mom brought over some goulash for lunch and Fran was all over me. So, I gave her some goulash and she loooved it. So I know that she is hungry and trying to eat. So either the antibiotics are working or she is getting tired of Luke shoving a syringe in her mouth! I am still waiting to her on her viral tests which I am certain will show nothing. Anybody know any good vets? Suggestions? I am about to fire mine.

Husband and Wife Promotion

I had another karate promotion on October 4th, and it was kinda brutal. Here I am in Kokustsu Dachi. A very difficult stance. I had to spar and since I had no one to spar with who was my rank, I had to spar with a Blackbelt, Sensei Kevin. I did not know if I would be sparring with Sensei Kevin or Sensei Mike and 2 minutes before I had to spar Sensei Kevin came up to me and said "I guess it's you and me Babe!" If that doesn't freak you out! I ended up getting hit in the mouth, thrown down, and I rolled my right foot. I did eventually score a point to his 5 points he scored on me. It was scary, but my Sensei told me I did well.

Luke promoted, too. He was the highest scorer in the class. He did really well. He is a machine! He is practicing his kata in the photo.

This was my last kata. I was tired and I still had to spar yet.

Lucas and his orange belt. Don't cut yourself Luke on that new belt Luke!

Faces of a Bored Child

"I am Borrrrrredddddah!" said Kristian. We have been remodeling our living room all week and Kristian has not been a happy camper. Friday night, he was waiting for his Aunt and Uncle to pick him up and the anticipation proved to be too much for Kristian. So I decided to entertain Kristian's boredom and take pictures of his many silly faces.

I was actually trying to get a picture of a newly lost tooth, it is on the top, to the right of the front teeth. The Toothfairy paid him a visit last night and he was very excited.

Last Ditch

Well, I went to Petsmart this afternoon looking for something Frannie would eat. I took a stroll down the kitty aisle when I was spotted by a young clerk. She asked if I needed help and I told her my story. She immediately led me over to the dog aisle and showed me some very cheap food syringes. She told me to mix soft kitten food with kitten milk and I went on my merry way. She was more helpful to me than the people at the vet clinic. Then Luke came home and I told him of my plan to force Fran to eat and he agreed if we wanted to see improvement that it was something we had to do. So, I mixed up some chicken liver kitten food and the kitty milk and we had a very foul smelling soup-like substance. I let Sully lick the bowl and he completely approved. Frannie was not happy but she swallowed about half of what was in the syringe. About a 1/2 an hour ago Luke fed her another half (about 15 cc's) and I just spotted her eating dog food, what is it with the dog food? This whole thing is really strange and I am really befuddled. But, we are not ready to give up on her yet.

I don't even know how to title this one..........

I am really really sad. My kitty is sick and I don't understand why. She spent the night at the vet's and $500.00 later they still want to run more (insert your own bad word here) tests. She has some liver damage, she was constipated again and dehydrated. They put her on antibiotics and some kind of liver medicine which they couldn't even tell me what it is what it does or how long she has to take it for. We are waiting to see what her kidneys look like and if she has feline leukemia. Get this, they told me because she was a ranch cat she had to be tested for feline leukemia and if she had it we would have to test our other cat as well. Well, it turns out 2 years ago we did have her tested and it was negative. Now their idea is that our other cat gave it to her. So, if the feline leukemia test is negative which I am sure it will be, they are going to want to do a ultrasound to check her gall bladder. And then what if everything is ok there? Then what will be next? We can't keep going on like this and I keep telling myself she is just a cat. But, she is not just any cat she is like a baby to me, she sleeps right beside me and she comforts me when I am lonely and she seems to understand everything I say to her. She is just a cat, right?