School

Pre-School started this week in the Whitt household. The kids preschool asks that they each have a bag to bring home their tremendous amount of scribbles...um no...I mean artistic renderings.


Lily colored hearts on hers and then we ironed on a sparkly heart. I tired not to gag at all the pink. It's the bag Pollyanna would die for. Jamison got a lion iron on.

Lily next to her cubby. For you observant ones, yes, she is wearing a different dress. I brought my camera on Tuesday to take pictures only to have the battery die on me. So this was actually the second day of school.

Lily with her best friend, Ella. I think they made commitments to each other to only wear dresses and to reject pants for the rest of pre-school.

And the look on Jamison's face says it all. "We're doing this again? Please don't leave me." For the first week of Jamie's class one of the parents are invited to stay for the first hour. We're told to bring a book and to be boring. Jamison does not think I'm boring....but we're working on it. He hasn't cried - yet, but he continually comes over to me and talks to me. He's in the same class as he was last year so I'm not worried, I just wish he wouldn't make such a show about me leaving.

Beach

As I was going through my posts I realized I created this one, but never posted it. It's from our time at the beach back in July.

A butterfly landed on Jamison's hat. You can just barely see its' wings in the picture.

When it flew away he saw it and screamed. Then he tried to chase it.

I love that they can now smile on demand and look cute doing it.

Up until this year Lily called the jet-skis "little boats".

Jamison squealed every time he saw the jet skis. Call us stupid, but we assumed that meant he would enjoy riding on one. He put up a good fight but we knew that once he went for a ride he would enjoy it. And he did. But we won't rub it in his face. If he needs therapy for this later in life I will own up to it.

Wind-blown hair from the jet-ski.

The only way they could be more pale is if they were vampires. But they don't sparkle so I have confirmed that they are not un-dead.

This picture was taken last year (2008) of Nathan, Emerson, and Lily.

And so I had to take one for this year. I wonder how many years I can keep this up. Will they be 20 & 21 years old complaining to me when I line them up in the water for a picture? Most likely, yes.

Harvest

You may remember that back in April we planted some vegetables - Roma tomatoes and baby carrots as well as some marigolds and morning glory's. And the poor oregano that got blown off the porch during a storm and was spread across the yard.

By the end of May the little green leaves were showing. The kids were so excited and actually thought that the leaves were the end product.

And in the past two weeks our tomatoes have gone from green to orange to yummy red. (she's saying "tomato" as I take the picture, not singing an aria.)

Yes, they are little. And it's probably my fault. Apparently I didn't read the directions thoroughly enough and neglected to thin out the plants once they started to grow. So they were very crowded for the majority of their short adolescence. So lesson learned and next year will be different.

See the tall marigolds in the back? Again, I don't think that's normal and is a result of me not thinning them out.

I didn't realize soon enough that the morning glory is a climbing plant and needs to...climb. So it started to climb a bush that is next to our porch. I moved it to our light post but that move delayed it's growth.

It's amazing that these plants even flowered with my ineptitude. I think this just proves that God exists, otherwise all these plants would have died.

The kids and I loved looking at the plants every morning. Brian was even kind enough to take care of them when we were at Camp Hunt. Next year we will do tomatoes again and green peppers. The carrots are fun but you can't watch them grow because they're underground. The kids have picked more carrots than not in trying to determine if they were ready to be picked. (Do you see the dilemma?)

Yet, even after four months of observing and talking about the plants Jamison has still not learned to DO NOT PICK THAT FLOWER JAMISON or STOP TRYING TO EAT THE LEAVES JAMISON. At this point I'm wondering if he is just doing these things for fun.

Angst

It's a long-ish story that I will tell another time but I haven't been able to post sooner because I was in Nashville all last week. In my preparation for our trip to Nashville I packed a suitcase I hadn't used since I packed for Camp Hunt in July. In the front pocket I found a letter that a camper graciously let me photocopy.

Why did I want to photocopy a letter from a camper? It epitomized one of the reasons I enjoy teenagers - Teenage Angst!

In order to protect the innocent I have marked out the names on the letter and I will use different names during the story. The girl camper will be Bernadette and the boy camper will be Sonny. So back in July when we were all at Camp Hunt I was sitting at dinner with Bernadette's counselor. Bernadette had received the letter from Sonny via a messenger. Isn't that how it's always done?! Either that or the warm fuzzy board.

This is what Sonny wrote Bernadette in case you can't read his handwriting (which he admits is not so great):

Bernadette,

Hey; how are you? (semi-colon Sonny? really?) I wanted to write you a note to try to save all the awkwardness (I had to correct his spelling) of me just telling you. Ummm.....I really like you a lot but I don't want to ask you out in case you're not interested at all. I thought that if you were interested that you maybe you could just talk to me or something. I really didn't want to put you on the spot of anything and I really just want you to be happy. Well, hope to hear from you later.

Hope for the best,

Sonny

P.S. I'm very sorry about my terrible handwriting but I try my best.

So Bernadette had come over to her counselor with this note because she was not at all interested in Sonny. I was stunned. I had to intervene (I always do anyway).

"Bernadette, this guy is amazing. Why don't you like him?"

"He's nice but he's not my type."

In other words, she didn't think he was hot. And he wasn't. But I admire this guy for many reasons that I will now list.

1. "Save the awkwardness" - YES! perfect Sonny. Isn't that the worst part? I totally agree. How considerate to write it in a note and save face!

2. "In case you're not interested" - He gives her an out in case she isn't interested! He's humble enough to admit that he knows she may not like him back. Sonny, you are so mature for 14.

3. "just talk to me" - Oh that rips out my heart. He just wants her to talk to him.

4. "I just want you to be happy" - There goes Sonny being all mature again. He obviously likes her enough to think about her happiness. BERNADETTE - he wants you to be happy! Date him!

But alas, she didn't care about my arguments on his behalf. She did make a good point in that I didn't even know Sonny. But I feel like I know him just from these few lines. I hope that he finds a girl that appreciates him for who he is. Unfortunately, since I don't know the kid and I blacked out his name on the note there is no way I will ever know.

Ornamentation

I've been to Austin. I've been to San Francisco. And I can tell you, this car does not belong in Albany.

...And if it does belong in Albany it definitely doesn't belong in Colonie Center. More like Lark Street. But I'm glad it was at the mall since it made me smile. And it made me wonder what they are going to do in three months when they have to brush 6 inches of snow off the hood.

Tulip

Jamison has always loved our pets, especially Tulip. And since he is a hugger, Tulip received a lot of affection from him...probably more than she wanted.

But all of that affection turned on him last Thursday. I was upstairs getting ready for the day while the kids were downstairs eating breakfast and watching tv. Before I really got started I hear Jamison crying. At first I'm not sure what kind of cry it is - is he just whining or is it serious? By the time I make it to the staircase he is halfway up the stairs and the right side of his face has blood streaking down in. So yeah, it was serious. Luckily, my tendency to pass out was overcome by my adrenaline.

I carried him into the kitchen and started to try to clean him up but he wouldn't let me touch his face. The whole time I'm asking him and Lily what happened. Lily was coloring so didn't see anything and Jamie kept saying that "Tulip bit me". I look at Tulip and she is doing the guilty cry and is obviously upset about something. So something happened between Tulip and Jamie. Most likely, he tried to pull her off the couch by her front paws and so she did what any reasonable dog would do to defend itself.

Since it's only 8:40 in the morning I call our family physician to see if there is an appointment NOW for Jamison. They tell me if I get there in 15 minutes I can have one. I think I got there in 7 minutes. Brian met us at the doctor's so that he could focus on Lily.

By the time I had gotten the kids buckled in the car Jamison was completely fine. He was still bleeding (a lot) and wouldn't let me clean him up but he was singing his songs the entire time in the car - ABC's, BINGO, Jesus Loves Me, & God Is So Good. So I knew whatever damage was done to him at least he wasn't in a lot of pain.

When the nurses come into the room I held him down while one nurse tried to hold his head so the other could clean him up. It became apparent that Tulip had gotten him on his eyelid, on his temple, and under his eye. The doctor came in and gave us some great news - they were just superficial wounds, there would be no stitches or glue (been there, done that), and there was no damage to his eye. She gave us an antibiotic and we were out the door.

I really didn't want to take pictures of his cuts because (I think) they are scary. But keep in mind that he was perfectly fine and actually tried to hug on Tulip again the minute we got home. This didn't slow him down or change his opinion about dogs whatsoever. Is that just testosterone? Or stupidity?

I took the next two pictures with my cell phone so they aren't very clear.

See? He's happy. I wouldn't be, but he was.

When I went into his room Friday morning to get him I gasped. His eye was completely swollen shut and it had bled during the night so there was dried blood all over the eye. It freaked Lily out. "Why is Jamie only looking at me with one eye? Wake up your other eye Jamison! Make him open it Mama!" Then she tried to pry the eye open with her fingers but luckily I was fast enough to stop her. See, he's happy again:

Profile:
(notice Tulip in the background. She was very ashamed)

And now the problem. This wasn't the first time Tulip had bit Jamie. The first time he was sitting on my lap on the couch and she jumped up next to me. He lunged at her for a hug and she nipped him on his jaw. It scared her just as much as it scared him (and me). We got it to stop bleeding and put a band aid on it. No big deal, it was just one of those things. But then there were those few times that we separated them just in time. And then a few more.

And then this happened. So two instances within six months, a few close calls, and no telling when it could possibly happen again. Both of the times she bit Jamison he was the instigator and she never would have bitten him if he wasn't so rough. Imagine if you were 50lbs of a lazy basset and a 30lb boy came running at you full speed. I'd do whatever I needed to do as well.

But even the doctor said that if Tulip had meant to hurt him she could easily have blinded him if she had bitten a little harder. So do we risk our child's eye because we love our dog so much? Do we risk another child's safety because we love our dog so much? What if next time she got his lip? or his finger?

So we decided that since we couldn't give Jamison up we would have to give up Tulip. Jamie is a rough boy and despite our warnings to always be careful around the dog, we know without uncertainty, that he would still be rough with her.

Brian made all the arrangements because I couldn't handle it. Her foster mother picked her up today at 1:00. She stayed for about 45 minutes and at the end of the time said that if no one adopted her she would keep her since she seemed to be a sweet dog. And she is a sweet dog! Especially if there are no crazy two year old boys flinging their bodies on top of her in the middle of her nap.

So 9 years and one month after we adopted Tulip from a random dog shelter in Paragould, AR we had to give her up. Brian and I were married on June 24 and three weeks later we adopted Tulip. She has always been with us.

I took some pictures last night and this morning. I have tons of pictures of Tulip from when we were living in Arkansas, but none on digital. So these will have to do.

If I knew anyone would be interested I'd write all the crazy stories about her jumping in strangers cars, jumping out of ours at a drive through, jumping into the mailman's truck and freaking him out, etc... but I won't go on like I'm at a funeral. (too late?)

Her usual post in the mornings - waiting for the kids to drop some of their breakfast on the ground or just leave it unguarded.

We told the kids that Tulip went to go live with some doggie friends since she was old and lonely. There are two other bassets in the foster house, one named Rose. I was waiting for Lily to ask if Grrrmam would go live with some friends since she's old too but she never made the connection.

Jamie is looking at Tulip sadly in this picture because he didn't want to take the picture. He's been asking for her every 30 minutes so I'm hoping that within a month it will only be once a day. If you enlarge it you'll see how nicely he's healing.

And now she's gone. And I'd like to pretend that we never had a dog named Tulip and I was never in love with her.

Slip N Slide

There isn't really a lot of commentary for this post because it's just a bunch of shots of a slip n slide. The main thing is that Lily never slipped down it, always walked down it and Jamison was either completely dressed or naked while using it. That just about covers it.

Jamie preferred flopping his body into the pool end more than anything else.

And then the clothes were just getting in the way.

Group shot of slip n slide fun.