Reflecting on November

Wow, so it's already the last day of November! Where did the days go? It's been a good month in our household. Ava turned five and had a wonderful party, my parents came and spent several days with us, and we had a terrific Thanksgiving.

There's also been some exciting weather..lol and for those of you who know my obsession with weather, you're probably wondering how it took this many blog posts before I was speaking meteorology. We had some sleet on Thanksgiving night that gave us all something to talk about. Then in breaking news, this morning we had some amazing snow flurries. All in November no less. Definitely not our typical southern weather, but I'll take it. All of this is a sure sign that winter is right around the corner.

Even though Thanksgiving has come and gone I try and remember to give thanks for all of my blessings each day. God has blessed us with so much. Is it everything we want? No. Is it everything we need right now? You betcha. 

Yes, a good month indeed.

Our birthday girl's fifth celebration

We celebrated Ava's fifth birthday at Chuck E. Cheese last Friday night. The place was packed and we had to wait for 20 minutes for our table, but we didn't let that dampen our mood. The manager was really great about the whole thing and even threw in some extra tokens for our trouble. Our party hostesses were spacey, but they managed to get the job done ok. Gotta cut the newbies some slack I suppose lol. The main thing is Ava had the time of her life. She was the little birthday star and that's what mattered above all else! Turning FIVE is a big milestone and she lived it up.

I can't believe my third baby is five years old. No longer a baby, but a smart big girl who will be starting kindergarten next year. Where do the years go? I'm here day in and out and swear that many days, weeks, months haven't passed. Birthdays don't lie though. They come around once a year for each of us, as a reminder that we've loved, been loved, and experienced 365 more days of life. I look forward to the celebrations, but it's hard for a mom to see her little ones growing up. We still have many years to go before all of our girls are grown and out on their own, but I know time will continue to march as quickly as it has since our first baby girl drew her first breath. I try to remind myself to take some time each day to stop and look around, and take it all in. I want to remember as much of their childhood as I can. I love making silly memories with them and hope to relive them all one day when they have children of their own.

The loss of a dragon

The death of a pet is one of the worst things to go through. They become these little members of your family that you grow to love fiercly and they love you back with such unconditional love. I can understand why some people don't want pets, so they won't have to experience the pain that loss brings. That being said, I'd rather have all the love and joy I can get for the time we're granted.

Our Bearded Dragon, Bindi, died on Tuesday night. It was a normal night and Michael was working. I was sitting in the chair when suddenly this overwhelming need to hold Bindi took over. Now we made sure to hold her almost everyday, because she loved the attention...you wouldn't believe this unless you saw it, but it's true..but this feeling hit me out of left field. I picked her up, held her, and even took a pic on my cell to text to Michael. I let her soak as she did three times a week, but when I went to get her out something was wrong. She was making jerking movements and it suddenly hit me that she was dying. I grabbed her up and was trying anything I could to save her. It's a heartwrenching moment when you're holding your pet while they're slipping away. I'm thankful for the intuitive feeling that sent me to pick her up that night. The whole scenario reminded me of the night we lost Xena, which only worked to intensify the grief.  Even though it was painful to watch Bindi take her last few breaths, I'm glad she wasn't alone.

I never thought I'd grow to love a lizard. It's true though that I did. I loved her and know in her own dragony way that she loved me right back.

It's almost here!

Today is October 24th. It's my nephew Hunter's 13th birthday. I'm excited for him, but that's not what has me in a tizzy today. There's an important date looming. One that thrills me despite it's negative connotations given by others. Have you correctly guessed by now? Yep, HALLOWEEN!!! This is the day I look forward to from November 1 to October 30th each year. I love all things from spooky to kooky. Bring on the costumes, the candy, the decor, the candy, the horror movie marathons, the excitement..did I mention the candy? I can't wait to dress up the girls and head out to trick-or-treat. I delight at the prospect of watching them knock on the doors of our neighbors and hold out their little pumpkins. Only one more week. I can handle that. I'll bide me time buying last minute costume supplies, carving a pumpkin, and watching every scary movie I come across.

There's a new blogger in town

"Hey, Mr. Ornstein, here I am!" LOL if only I could sing it like Barbra Streisand! I'm the new girl in the blog world. I've held out for years and often said I wouldn't start a blog. Now here I sit typing out my first post. I have Kara to blame for this lol. Now I get to wonder if I'll post often enough or deliver enough interesting tidbits. I can't promise that, but I can promise life is definitely never dull in my house!