Wishing for more....

...time off...

These last 9 days of no school, little homework and slightly less activity have been wonderful for our very tired family.  I won't say we relaxed a ton or got a ton of sleep, but it was lovely not to race around town like chickens with our heads cut off, and also lovely not to travel like all the other suckers in Bloomy (I think half our city went to FL for fall break....I was happy to stay put!) :)  I was just so grateful for time at home...time with Kev here (he only worked one day of the break)...and so grateful for the small progress we did make on our house and in making decisions on moving.  While no great strides were made in any direction, we did enjoy some family time and down time and just loved our time with Nina and Aunt Sue too.  Makes me wish we could have a week off every month....and I am glad that Nov. and Dec. will be like this (plus some). 

Not super excited about jumping back into things full force tomorrow....sigh...

A fun fall day at the Orchard/Patch/Winery

Just a few quick "snaps" of our lovely autumn day at Huber Winery.  Not the closest pumpkin patch/orchard experience we could have chosen, but it sure was a beautiful 1.5 hour drive out there to southern IN....and we felt very blessed to have Nina G. and Auntie Sue tag along.  It was a perfect weather day and we had a grand ol' time at the winery area eating good food (and bringing lots home!) and also riding the tractors out to pick apples and pumpkins.  I didn't take many action iphone pics so all I have are posed ones, but I have lots of others on my good camera.  One of these days I'll download them.  I am bummed I don't have any of Aunt Sue.  She wasn't able to go with us on the tractor rides due to her healing foot.  But it was a fun, full day.  I love this time of year! :)

A welcome distraction...

Well, yesterday amidst the sadness of the passing of our sweet kitty, we decided to go on a home-parade and visit our other community across town.  It was more to distract from my sadness, but it turns out we walked right into the house of my dreams.  It doesn't look like anything super special from the pic above, but it's the perfect floor plan for our family.

 We went back today and showed the kids and Nina....isn't the openness of this floor plan and the great room/kitchen/sunroom just awesome?! (this is a view of the kitchen....with snack bar area and the sunroom in the back)

Above is the great room with fireplace and then Hays room is behind this (she would be the only one on the main floor, but her room is wonderful with a big bay window!

Anyway...it's probably all dreaming and not reality...but it's fun to dream.  Today we sat with the sales rep and planned this same house on a different piece of land.  We won't be ready to buy this house that is due to be complete in a few weeks....and we want a 3-car garage on ours and some other things.....but honestly if this house turned out to be ours, I would be ok with that!

It's fun to dream and it's showed me that we definitely need to be make an attempt to move.  The only downside of this new neighborhood is the school district, which is a major issue for our kids with solid friends.  Ugh.  If only things could be simple.  We will see what God's plan is....

Saying Goodbye to Sam :(

 Our Sweet Samantha went to kitty heaven today.  It was a sad day.  I never thought I'd mourn an animal so much...and she wasn't even "my kitty"...she was Kevin's choice at the pet store 16 years ago (Syd was mine).  But I have to say that Sam grew on me the moment her sweet little kitty self entered our lil' GR home.  Born on May 27, 1998...she and Sydney where our first babies before we had real babies.  She was a devoted kitty....a peaceful kitty...somewhat skitzy at first (we joked about how she used to squirt a little poop when she got startled...she thankfully outgrew this :)). 

 She was the cutest lil' kitten...she was Kevin's medium hair cat (Syd was my long-hair)

Aren't these sweet sisters so adorable...just 2 months old here...they loved each other til the end....they snuggled together, bathed each other...they were the sweetest lil' twin girls. :)  They had a nice peaceful life for 1.5 years before crazy kiddos entered our lives. :)  But they adjusted well to the fabulous five lil' Stegs...and were wonderful pets to our babies...even the craziest Loggy Steg who kept hugging on Sam til the end.

 Sweet Sam just went downhill really fast this week....on Monday she started to look sick...by yesterday she couldn't walk much (her back leg wouldn't work correctly...she had to be carried to her water bowl and would lay next to it and drink....then she threw it up....she couldn't even sit easily or get comfortable.  It was very sad.  I never thought renal failure would happen so quickly.  I think Syd  knew her sister was sick..she wouldn't get near her much.  She just looks sad in this pic.

 Here's her last picture today in the Yukon.  I've never seen her so peaceful in a car.  She used to howl and vomit on car rides.  I think she was ready to leave this world and not suffer any more.

 We had a memorial this afternoon in honor of our girl.  In a lil' box we put our favorite pictures...a note written by Shelby with a picture of her treats on them...a popcorn kernel (Sam loved popcorn and would come running when we popped it...she always sat by us during movies and ate it)...some of her fur from her last kitty combing today, her favorite last cat nip made by Auntie Sue and one of her whiskers.

 We buried her memories under our willow tree in our backyard. Nina helped Ash arrange the flowers.  Dylan added a mini pumpkin.

Shelby made the "tombstone"...Born May 27, 1998, Died October 9, 2014.  We love you, Sam!

She lived a good, long (16.5 year) life.  She was a good, loyal kitty.  She will be missed, but never forgotten.  Rest in peace, Sam.  We love you, girl. (tonight we eat popcorn in your honor)

A beautiful day for the Zoo!

 Another wonderful day with Nina in town!  This time we headed to Indy for a fun day at the zoo...where we also met Nina and Poppy Stegs for a belated bday celebration for Ash!  Here's a few i-phone snaps...of us waiting outside the gate for Nina and Poppy.

 D running like a cheetah....sooo close!

 Shelb with her long cheetah legs.... :)

 Logster and Hays on the zoo train...so sweet....it was like the only time he sat all day...he loved the zoo (unlike zoo-hater-Hays!)

 A family shot with the zebras (though our family is so big we blocked the animals...heck, we're like a bunch of wild animals anyway...so who needs real ones?!) :)

 D is evidence of the wildest animal in our family :)  Crazy kid!

 A group shot....you can sorta see a zebra on the right...
It sure was a beautiful day. The weather was pretty much perfect...slightly cool, but soooo much warmer than yesterday and the sun was shining.  It was a tad bit busy at the zoo due to Halloween festivities, but still so fun.  It was Zoo Boo too so the kids got lots of candy even though we didn't dress in costume.  I think Ash had fun celebrating there.  Wish Pops could have been with us too...he loves the zoo!

 Ol' Loggy after no nap all day....he couldn't fight it any longer in the trip to Nina and Poppy's house....he snuggled up with his ball and was fast asleep :)

Nina and Poppy went all out for the 6th bday celebration....they got her the biggest Frozen balloon I've ever seen....she was on cloud nine!  Yummy pizza for dinner...and they got her just the Cold Stone ice cream cake she wanted...in Frozen colors!  She was a happy camper!  Thanks for making the day so special, Nina and Poppy!

A Good (but Cold) Day!

Another wonderful day with Nina here!  Started out early with 2 hours at the soccer field.  I think Nina was an icicle after that endeavor!  I can't remember it being that cold this early in Oct.  Brrrr!  And the wind was biting.  It took me a couple hours to thaw after.....but we did enjoy watching Ash and Dyl race around the field chasing that soccer ball.  Nina put on a brave face amidst the bitter cold.  She then enjoyed half the day with her Shelb....taking her to McAlisters for lunch, Orange Leaf for dessert and the Dolphin Tale 2 movie.  I am sure Shelb felt very special.  She loves her Nina time.  Hays and I got Nina all to ourselves tonight at IU's Fall Ballet.  Quite a treat for us ballet-loving girls.  And there was lots of fun in between at home just hanging with Nina and the kids enjoying their time with her. (I even grabbed a nap while they played....yay for me!)  The one thing missing from this equation right now is our Pops in FL.  Not fair that he can't hang with us too...and sport his shorts in this bitter fall cold weather! teehee :)  Miss you, Pops!

Happiness is...

Having Nina Gritz here for 3 whole weeks (she arrived last night!)

Having Auntie Sue moving here from CA (she left today!)

Having 9 days off for fall break (no school for a week, no big travel plans...nothing stressful in the foreseen future!)

It's been awhile since I've felt this peaceful. :)

Life is good.  :) :) :) :) :)