Little Sister Duties

The Pie says she can't wait any longer for a playmate, but V-Pie isn't due for another 16 weeks. Luckily, Bella has agreed to "chip in" and take on some of the little sister duties until then.
As you can see, The Pie has gladly accepted her offer.
Because sometimes dolls just aren't enough.

{Yes, that is Bella and she is neither a rat nor a Chihuahua,
she is a purebred Italian Greyhound, fyi.}

Stardust

It's about darn time I update my blog. Sorry, folks, but lately I just haven't been up to it. Not blogger's block or anything - I just haven't felt like it. But by golly, I have not poured myself into this blog for almost 3 years now just to burn out and stop posting. Never.

It's 10:30am. Eisley and I just woke up at 10. I went to yell at the dog's for barking - we have an unusually high number of pedestrians in this neighborhood, most of them walking their dogs. Our dogs have to bark & howl at every. single. one. of. them. But this time it was Justin they were howling at, he ran up the walk and presented me with a white bag, which can only mean one thing, kissed me on the cheek and said, "Have a good day, I have to go!"

Just like that he was gone again.

A white paper bag means: a croissant from Trompeau's Bakery. If you live in the Denver metro area and have never been to Trompeau's you're missing out. A little hole in the wall, right across the street from DU, run by a real Frenchman - thus, he knows how to make a croissant like nobody's business. You MUST visit the hole in the wall and delight yourself with a ham & cheese, or perhaps a pear & chocolate.

Or pick one up in the morning to surprise your wife with.

So, me with my warm croissant & Eisley occupied by playing the piano with her butt {a daily morning ritual}, I now have a chance to update my blog and I must do so.

I give you: Stardust.
{The small one on the left.}

Eisley's first pet. We spent some of her birthday money on this little setup. Of course, after the pet store I read online that 1/2 a gallon is far too small for a betta {then why do they market this tiny betta kit???} so we'll have to upgrade Stardust's house here pretty soon...
Which is too bad, because it's so lovely to have a tank that mounts on the wall. Out of reach for small, curious hands, if you get what I mean.
Eisley loves her new pet, and feeding him has become part of our daily schedule. Now that she's two we're trying to create more rituals & routines in her day, such as brushing teeth & Lord's Prayer before bed. Feeding Stardust is a pre-nap routine.

My grandmother gave my sister & I each our own pet fish when I was about two years old. It's one of my first memories.

Cheers! Let's see how long it takes me to post again...

Goodbye Ferris

Today Eisley and I went to see the grandparents, and Ferris. Ferris was diagnosed with cancer almost two months ago now. My parents have been buying as much time as they could for Ferris, having to use the blender to turn meals into soup so he could eat. But unfortunately, the quality of life just wasn't there anymore.


Ferris was a Christmas present to me, from Justin, actually. That was in 2000. But really, Ferris was a gift to the whole family. He was our dog Ferris. We have many wonderful memories of him. One we get a kick out of is the time Ferris came with us all to drop me off at college in Washington. We took a third car for that dog! One morning in the hotel in Gig Harbor my mom and sister and I were in the lobby, probably waiting for breakfast or something.

Suddenly we hear an escalating noise:

badaDUMP! badaDUMP! badaDUMP! badaDUMP! badaDUMP! badaDUMP!

Everyone in the lobby looked around for the source of the growing noise - construction perhaps? And then suddenly, Ferris comes barreling around the corner and into the lobby, tongue flapping, feet pounding. Apparently dad had lost hold of him as they were exiting the room. You would have had to have been there to understand... the ruckus he made was unbelievable.
But that was only one of many good memories. Today he had a great time at the dog park, he perked up again and enjoyed life. Eisley got a kick out of watching him.

I think especially fondly of Ferris when I remember how much joy he brought to my aging Grandma Hartke when she lived with my parents. She completely spoiled him with treats, as she always made sure to have treats on hand.

And so today it was time to say goodbye to Ferris. My Christmas present. Dad's fishing companion. Mom's "darling". It was not easy to say goodbye to such a friend. The weary look in his eyes made it easier, though. He was not himself anymore.
Do pets go to heaven? This is an issue for so many people, there are 12.5 million Google results when you search "do pets go to heaven." I, for one, like to think that they do. We have a loving God. A God who loves all his creation.
""In Paradise there was complete harmony between man and animals; one day again that harmony will be restored and all creation will be made anew as Christ will be in all and all." - Martin Luther"

So I humor myself and think about today, around 1pm when my parents took him on his last car ride {to the vet} - that around 1pm {mountain time, of course} in Heaven some angels and saints standing near the pearly gates might have heard an awful ruckus....








badaDUMP! badaDUMP! badaDUMP! badaDUMP! badaDUMP! badaDUMP!

...turning and searching for the ruckus, only to see our Ferris {cancer free} barreling towards them.

And if that happened today, there, of course, was one person waiting for him, I'm sure. Someone who wasn't surprised at the ruckus, but instead was prepared. With treats. Ready to spoil our Ferris.

Kittens & Crafts

First, the kittens are huge! At only a few weeks old, they've already quadrupled in size.



The nice thing about weekends is that Justin and I can take turns watching Eisley and working on projects. Justin was able to work on the car while I watched Eisley. I, surprise surprise, did some crafting.

We even found the time to rearrange some furniture, which I've been dying to do for some time now.

I made pumpkin bread and muffins using this recipe. They turned out really well!

I made myself a new wallet using this tutorial. I love it! It's definitely not the best quality but I'm going to make more to sell if I can. The first is always the trial run and I learn via trial and error from it.


And Eisley napped. A little bit. (She also cried a bit but we didn't get pictures of that so you'll have to take my word for it.)

Kittens!

Yeah, so, *that* was kinda psychotic...

To make a long story short, my cat Sugar (named after the prostitute in the book The Crimson Petal and the White - as suggested by my sister) , has been expecting kittens and we've been watching her get bigger and bigger and we've known the day has been coming...

Well, I knew she was about to give birth - she's been showing the signs - but it was still a surprise to me this afternoon when I came upstairs and looked under my bed to find Sugar in labor, 3 kittens already born. One was stillborn, sad :(

One was just fine and nursing happily.

But the third, was still attached to the cord, which was still attached to the placenta that was still IN Sugar.

NOT good.

I called the vet, she needed to go in. Holly (Justin's mom) came to help me, thank goodness, because Eisley was fussy and Justin was working a long day and I was a bit frazzled.

$80 later, they got the placenta out. The vet told me that at least one more kitten was still on it's way...

It was born on my lap in the car. Niiice.

Oh well, all is well now! And we have 3 adorable kittens!
See for yourself:

A Harvest Soup Kinda Day - RECIPE!

Today was cold and drizzly and foggy... it was a harvest soup day! My mom made up this recipe when we were little and it's been a family favorite ever since. It's hearty and healthy and quite delightful after a long cold day.

So when I woke up to foggy cold weather today I knew: I had to make Mom's Harvest Soup. Eisley and I made a trip to the store and spent less than $6 on the ingredients, you can't beat that! And the pot of soup will get us a few days worth of meals, so it's incredibly cost efficient.

Justin and I goofed around before dinner:

There's more embarrassing pictures that were taken with this one, but I'll spare you:

Too bad pictures can't capture all the giggles and silly voices we were doing when these pictures were taken...
While Eisley slept and slept and slept. [Note from the next day: Eisley slept and slept all evening and was up pigging out all night! She ate 4 times during the night and was full of energy - growth spurt much?]

Here's the recipe to Mom's Harvest Soup!

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs ground beef
6 cups cold water
6 beef bullion cubes
2 cups sliced carrots
1.5 cups chopped onion
1.5 cups sliced celery
3/4 cups barley
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
4-6 bay leaves (this is my favorite ingredient, don't skip it!)
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
8 oz can tomato sauce

Directions:
1. In a large pot, brown ground beef, drain, and cool for 10 mins. Add cold water and ice cubes, skim off fat.
2. Add all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour.

- Remove bay leaves before eating. Also, feel free to add more water if the soup feels too thick after simmering for a while or reheating the next day.

Enjoy!