Some Things Change, Some Things Stay the Same: Part One

It's been a while.  A long while.  The longest span of time I've had between posts.  Dang life just keeps getting in the way of my novel.  So lots has changed and so much has stayed the same since my post almost a year and a half ago.  Life is wonderful.  Life is overwhelming.  But overwhelmingly wonderful.

Since my last post was Christmasy, I will say that one thing stayed the same this year and Lily loved Christmas.  Though she was still sitting in the pew with us on Christmas Eve instead of singing her heart out on stage, we still sing last year's songs on the way to and from Parent's Day Out.  Maybe next year we'll get the new CD!

Oh! And we took a family vacation to Colorado since Santa brought our family an early Christmas present.

Lily's First Airplane Ride

If you're good at clues, I just had one in the paragraph before last.  One thing that has changed is Lily started Parents' Day Out this last fall.  She finally quit crying when we dropped her off  in the morning, two weeks ago.  Yes, time may have flown since my last post, but time stood still when it came to the day arriving for a smile and a hug instead of stalling, tears, and her quote "Don't pick me up not that long."  It was tough on her dad and me (and apparently her) but on the bright side, she did love it once she was there and we made our getaway.  And she is getting so darn smart too.

Pets will be my next topic and maybe the last of this post.  This post may need two parts so I actually finish this thing.  I will never get back in my blogging groove if I try to completely catch up on the first day, right??  (Let me add Part One to my title...)  So back to pets and off my slacking.  Pets that are the same, Daisy and Cheesebone.  Daisy is still kicking it and the best dog ever.  She is slow and needs help getting in the car but still loves to go.  She got a huge new pillow for Christmas and loves it.  Cheesebone is getting a little chubby.  She is quite the hunter and you never know what surprise will be waiting by the door.  This poses a little problem since Lily likes to save and love all animals as I will prove as I wrap up this post.

What has changed in the pet department?  We have 12 pets, people!  We ended up losing all the chickens and guineas during the summer.  Dang raccoon.  But last month, we started over.  I came home one day from working at the shop (I will update you on that part of our lives next post!), and Lily ran up excited that she had a surprise for me.  I knew I should not have trusted her and her dad alone!  That was the day we added 3 chicks (Bruce, Gladys and Rosie) and three ducklings (Cinderella, Mo, and Maddie).  We have no idea if they are boys or girls.

Summer before last, we adopted a turtle.  Its name has changed several times.  I am not sure why but its been Dora, Sparkler and Kalotlie to name a few.  A few weeks ago, Jason was walking into his shop and noticed a tiny turtle, so that turtle was quickly added and also has many names.

At the end of last summer, we added a guinea pig, Chloe.  She has adjusted well and had many adventures (see photos).  She loves kale and carrots...and long road trips.

Our last addition is a bird.  Jason was shredding and noticed a bird that could not fly.  He was afraid Cheesebone would get her, so he brought her in the house and of course, Lily was in love. We lost her a few times hopping around the house but finally upgraded from a cardboard box to a fancy cage.  Her name is Brayce and is chirping and singing as I write this. She must know she is getting promoted.  

Our temporary pet list varies from day to day (Yesterday it was a mouse and a toad. Today it was a caterpillar).  Lily thinks we still need one more (just one more!) pet, a bunny.  I wanted to tell her something has to kick the bucket first, but that probably wouldn't be the best thing to say to a four year old :)

So I think that does it for this post.  Wow! That felt great.  Oh how I've missed you blog!  Blogging really just does something for me that nothing else in my brimming full of goodness life offers.  And that is a little clue of something else that has changed since my last post but you'll have to wait to hear about it!