So my idea for this is to kind of jot down our life, in snippets, which is what I am assuming a blog is. Here we go:
This week something happened that made me want to start writing things down again ~ I realized how clever my children are, and how quickly they are changing and growing up. Jacob and Katy are both in the phase of teenagerhood that involves hating being at home - if friends are not involved, life simply isn't worth living. And the funny thing is, I remember that feeling. It seems like just yesterday I was laying across my yellow canopy bed, staring at the wall, wondering why I had to be the lucky one who ended up as ME. Probably some plans had fallen through, or a boy hadn't called, or my braces hurt, or something - and life was over. And now I am the parent, and my kids have no idea how much I really do understand. In four years Jacob and Katy will both have graduated; how dare I take a minute of this for granted. (Which is why, for days now, I have been reading Proverbs 31- it has to sink in at some point, and I want those kids to be blessed by me somehow. ) The main things I keep coming back with don't seem very spiritual - feed them, keep them warm, look out for them, and of course, honor their father. Hmmm. How is this turning into a blog about my weakness as a mother and wife? New subject.

OK, the other thing that I thought was clever was that Zach realized that the bottom of the freezer has a sheet of ice that would be perfect for ... ice skating! Once I shot that idea down, he ran to get the wooden Polar Express train, to simulate the scene from the movie that has the train sliding across the ice. It was definitely a better idea, but, again, I told him he had to stop playing in the freezer. So he ran into his room and returned to the kitchen with a blanket from his bed. Which he threw over my head, crying, "Now you'll never way 'NO!' again!" He is so smart.

While I was sick earlier this week, John had to run every one hither and yon, and finally got fed up with Rowdy.
A little history on Rowdy - he is a wonderful dog and what I am about to impart makes me feel like a complete social reject. We have been trying to find him a nice home because we just do not have the time or emotional resources to deal with the dog he has become - lately he has a vendetta towards us, and has started pooping at will, just to make life difficult. (By the way, that is a very good strategy - it absolutely worked.) While we were in Michigan we thought we had found a home for him, but apparently the family had another dog that sparked very amorous thoughts in Rowdy. Rowdy kept at the poor thing for four longs days, and the minute we were back in town, Rowdy was back, too.
Well, John had had enough, so while I was in a coma on our bed, he announced he was taking Rowdy to the SPCA and off he went. The next thing I know, the phone is ringing, and I am scrabmling around looking for my AAA card. John is on the other end of the line, explicitly detailing the abrupt turn he took into a snow bank when he had realized Rowdy was squatting and ready to unleash his secret weapon. The driver's side door was wedged into a snowbank, with only enough room for Rowdy to escape. Which he did. In the end we were out forty bucks for the towing company,and one very sneaky little hound dog. In all honestly, I feel terrible and John keeps consoling me with the fact that he was right down the road from the SPCA and Rowdy is probably fine.