The Good, The Sad, and The Silly

The Good
I took the children up to Charlotte last Friday morning so we could spend some time with my Aunt Joyce.  She was working on Friday so I decided to take them to the new Discovery Place Kids which opened in Huntersville, NC, in October 2010.  It's an extension of the ever-popular Discovery Place in Charlotte, but directed towards the younger children.  It was crowded because it was rainy out, but the kids had a blast playing waiter in the restaurant, rock climbing, flying an airplane, building towers with legos, being veterinarians, and just being silly!  I forgot to take my little camera with me on the trip so I snapped these with my cell phone ... forgive the clarity - I hope they still portray the fun they were having!

We went out to dinner with Aunt Joyce that night - Big Daddy's Burgers ... oh my!  What a delicious hamburger!  Ian told me in the middle of his dinner, "this is the best party ever, mommy!"  Needless to say, the kids enjoyed the trip!

The Sad
Most of you know our bulldog, Baxter, has been with us for over 13 years.  In the past several months, and especially weeks, he's started to go downhill - struggling to get up the stairs, tee-teeing throughout the house, but most importantly, not eating!  I took him to our precious vet last week and she advised me that there was definitely something going on internally and that it was time to put him down.  I cried hard; even though, he's become grumpy in his old age and I am scared at how he will react to the children at times, he has been there pretty much since the beginning and he was our "first born".  Stewart took him today to be put to sleep.  He will be missed tremendously ... in fact tonight when I was saying Ian's prayers, he said, "Mommy, I bet Baxter is up in heaven playing fetch with Baby Jesus!"  :-)  I will miss Baxter so much, but know that he and Millie are playing tug-o-war as we speak.

Sweet Baxter

from Newnan, GA

May 1998 - July 2011

You will be missed!

I do have one super funny story about Baxter ... it might take a minute to read but just bear with me.  When Baxter was just a little puppy, I came home from work rather late one evening and Stewart was out of town.  I walked in the house and Baxter was in his cage and would not wake up.  Well, I panicked ... and, of course, tried everything to wake him up.  He was breathing so that was a relief but he would not get his lazy butt out of the bed.  Well, I decided to walk outside to see if he might be incentivized and follow me - no chance of that happening but when I opened the door, I found a sample bottle of cough syrup lying on the patio with 1000 little teeth marks in it.  Needless to say, Baxter had gotten into the "good stuff" and was enjoying a long slumber!  He will be missed dearly!

The Silly from Ian & Bonner

Bonner Lingo:

- "You can't bite people, but you can bite waffles!"

- "Ian is my soldier, mommy, and we are getting married!" (as she grabs his hand and walks him "down the aisle")

- "When Ian flushes my tee tee, mommy, it makes my heart feel good!"

- We were saying the Pledge of Allegiance the other day and it seems that Bonner got the words confused with her favorite grocery store when she said, "And to the RepubliX"

- Bonner fell down one day and Ian asked her if she was ok.  Bonner said, "Ian, you are a good prince to check on me!"

- They are going to "camp" at their school off and on this summer and they start each morning out with their "morning meeting" where all the children come together in the chapel.  Well, it dawned on Bonner one morning on our way to school and she said, "I have a morning meeting like mommy has a meeting!" (whenever I leave them, I usually say that I am going to a "meeting")

- "I like to wear my hair behind my ears so that I can hear!"

- Only time will help her to understand the irony of this comment she made to Ian the other night; "Ian, break my heart, please!"

- "Mommy, I have a prince at my castle and he protects me from the eagle, eagle (aka "evil, evil") huntsman!"

Ian-isms

- After passing a rather plump man the other day, Ian said, "That man has a baby in his tummy, mommy!"

- "Mommy, your computer is wonderful!"

- Whenever the children and I are apart, I remind them before I leave that I will pray for them while we are apart ... you often wonder if they really get it, but the other night, they were asleep before I got home so the next morning, I told them that I missed them "while I was at my meeting".  Ian immediately turned to me and asked, "Did you pray for us, mommy?"

- And again, "Mommy, I bet Baxter is up in heaven playing fetch with Baby Jesus!"

It's birthday week around here.  I cannot believe that Ian and Bonner will be 3 this Friday.  They are truly the apples of my eye and I am so thrilled God picked me to be their mommy!