New Family Member

As most everyone knows, we lost our sweet Gracie a few weeks back. 
Gracie was a wonderful family pet.

We miss her terribly.

She gave us a lot.

Way more than we gave her.

She also left behind a grieving life mate.

Chisum.

Chisum has made great strides since Gracie died.

But he needed  a friend.

Meet Pascal.

The most laid back dog you will ever meet.  

He is already making a place for himself.

 

What a great pup!

Spring Break

Whew!

The week flew by.

Randy and Judson went here...

 And saw so many wonderful sites like...

Took a selfie...

And basically, had an awesome time.

Meanwhile back at home, we....

had fun!

Only 20 more days left until our home school year is over!

2 in 1!

I know you are thinking, 2 updates in 1 week?

Crazy!

Better do it while I'm thinking about it.

First, a huge shout out to Camp Sunshine.

They blessed us with tickets to a local theater's production of

"James and Giant Peach"!

THANK YOU!

The kids LOVED it (as did the parents).

Although one kid balked at getting HER picture made. 

(She's a bit prickly when it comes to photos)

Funny side note:
Prior to the play the actors came out for a 'meet and greet'.
Apparently, Sawyer made an impression.
After the play, one of the 'handlers' passed by and said,
"Aren't you Sawyer?  The actors loved meeting you earlier."

One of the reasons someone might be grumpy today was that she had a sleep over with a friend Friday night. (She loves sleepovers at M's house.  They do ART stuffs because they both have a passion for art. )  Saturday they went to an art class AND roller skating.

She had a blast!

Now don't go expecting regular updates.

Busy Week

Judson received his 1st Class rank in Boy Scouts

Judson and Ansley participated in their History Fair

We got to see the Harlem Globetrotters!

Super Cool!

Had a good checkup and 'teria visit

Weather warmed up and we were able to get outside!

Can't ask for more!

Just How I Like It!

Just enough snow for the kids to get excited.

   Just enough to make a teeny, tiny snowman. 

And then,

It all disappears!

Where Have We Been?

Honestly?

We're just trying to stay healthy.

Doing as little as possible.

We did have a pretty big MLK weekend.

Randy took Ansley and Turner to Birmingham to the science museum.

They spent the night and had great time.

Judson went on a polar camping trip.

He also had a great time.

Sorry no pictures.

(when Mom doesn't go, pictures don't get taken)

Sawyer and I stayed at home.

Watched movies.

AND

turned

THIS

into

THIS

Pretty pleased with the outcome.

As you can see, we are still running a geriatric hotel for pets.

1 cat, 2 dogs in their teens.

All are in good shape for the shape they are in.

We almost lost one in December.

She either got into wild onions or bit by a snake.

Or both.

(She's blind)

We were not here, so I cannot be sure what happened.

Anyway, she  made a miraculous recovery.

School is back in full swing.

Scouts are going strong.

Looking forward to the end of flu season and hoping for no exposure to measles.  

(Yes, we've been immunized.  However, Sawyer has a very compromised immune system.)

I declare January an overwhelming success!

Now, bring on February.

The Characters

Two of Sawyer's favorite things:

Rides

Characters

He absolutely loved meeting the characters.

Make-A-Wish set up a meet and greet with Belle and Beast.

Then characters from the parks would come to Give Kids The World each morning.

THEN

When we went to the parks, the characters actually sought us out.

Amazing.

 This is my favorite because he said,

"will you marry me?"

We showed up at the end of Gru meet and greet.

The handler came over and asked us to wait by the gates.

After everyone had gone, they came out just to meet us.

On our first day at Universal, a young boy came up to Sawyer and gave him a very large Minion stuffed toy.  Such a sweet thing.

Judson is my only Harry Potter fan.

Didn't matter.

Dream come true to meet THE BEAST.  

Meeting Belle was cool, too.

Jesse followed us out and kept hugging Sawyer.

She obviously was touched in some way by Sawyer.

She touched us, too.

There are even more character photos but I will stop with these.

Amazing experience!

My Favorite

My personal favorite park was Sea World.  

It is the perfect balance of rides and shows. 

Plus, I love the animal interaction. 

We petted and fed the sting rays and the Dolphins. 

We saw the whale show too!

We rode rides too!

Sawyer loved all the rides.

(Yes, I rode rides but not spinning rides.  I also sat out on rides just so I could get a glimpse into their faces.  Priceless!)

I was telling Sawyer's oncologist about our trip.

I told her how much Sawyer loved the rides, especially roller coasters.

Her comment?

"Boy am I glad we gave him platelets before you left"

It seemed like each day produced an act of kindness.

This day, we received trays of shrimp to feed the sting rays.  It was not part of our 'package'.

They also gave us sting ray teeth.  We were given a little science lesson.

Apparently, sting rays shed their teeth frequently.

To the tune of maybe 10000 teeth in their lifetime.