Mr. Marshall

Marshall would have been 14 yesterday....

Last Friday I had to put my dear little friend to sleep. He sat (purring) in my lap on the way to the vet... just as he always did.... no carrier for him.... and I thought about what a special little blessing he was.

When I brought him home at 8 weeks he looked like this......

I had just moved out on my own and decided I was ready for a pet.

Jeff and I took a little drive to a local pet store (we were still dating back then) and I saw this cute little gray fuzz ball.

The next day I was bringing that little gray fuzz ball home.

He was SOOOO cute and SOOOOO full of energy. He kept me up every night wanting to play. He dumped over my plants... he climbed the couch... he broke a few things.....I thought I was going to take him back he made me so crazy.

But he melted my heart when he purred, when he greeted me at the door, or when he fell asleep in my hand (he was that little).

Shortly after I got him I found out he had a digestive problem and the vet said he would maybe live 6 months. Oh my was that vet ever wrong.....

He kept me company when I lived alone... he became "our" pet when Jeff and I got married.... he moved with us to our first home.... then our second home... he slept with me when I was recovering from surgery or when I wasn't feeling well... he enjoyed Lily's bedroom while we waited for her to come home... he welcomed her home and loved her dearly.... he enjoyed Ty's bedroom while we waited for him to come home... he watched over Lily and I while Jeff was in China... he looked for Jeff while he was gone... he welcomed Ty home and loved him dearly... he moved with us to this house and seemed to like it here the most....he sat under the dinner table so Lily could rub him with her foot while she was eating...he waited outside the bathroom nightly when I gave the kids their baths... he went to each room while I tucked them in...then waited for me to come downstairs for the evening...

he knew our routine sometimes better than we did....

The last few months he started moving slower and in the last few weeks he started to have trouble walking. The vet said he had arthritis and it was pretty bad. They tried some medicine which worked for a few days and then one evening he could barely get down the stairs.

We didn't want to see him hurting and wanted him to go peacefully....

Peacefully he went...

We miss him dearly!

There will be another pet in our future but there was only one Marshall!

Happy Mother's Day

I am SO VERY blessed and thankful to be their mother....

Letters and 3 years....

I wanted to share a letter that Ty's teacher sent home last week...

Ty is such a joy to have in the classroom!

He is so kind to others and willing to help out anyone who needs it.

I really appreciate him & we love having him in our class.

We're going to miss him next year!

Just wanted to let you know, you should be very proud of him!

Last month we celebrated Ty's 3rd anniversary. What a blessing he is and YES... we are so proud of him!

Ty is a joy... he is the best helper.... he is so caring... he is funny...he is sweet... he is stubborn... he is smart...he likes to look handsome...he loves to give kisses and hugs... he loves God...

he loves his family... and he loves himself!

He will always be my Ty Baby!!!!!

Ty's signature pose....

He laughed his head off when I showed him all the times in the last 3 years that

he has done this pose.

This might be a new pose.....

Mr. Cute Cheeks....

We are blessed to be the parents of this amazing 5 year old and to celebrate 3 years with him!

Tooth Fairy and business cards

We've had some pretty exciting times lately.....

Miss Lily lost her first tooth and she couldn't be more excited!

She has been checking her teeth for MANY months now... just hoping that one would have a little wiggle. Well, we were in the car several weeks ago and here was our conversation....

Lily... This stinkin' tooth is driving me cookoo...

Me... Don't say stinkin'. I'll look at it when we stop.

Lily... Ok but I am about to lose my mind.

Me... We are almost there Lil.

Lily... OK... I'll try to wait.

I check the tooth and sure enough... it is loose.

Me... Lily, your tooth is loose!!!!!

Lily... What? Are you kidding me?

Me... No.. I am very serious..... it is loose!!!!

Lily... Oh my word... this is the best day ever!

Almost two weeks passed and the tooth was still in her mouth.

She wiggled it for days and then just got tired of the whole process and ignored it... she also decided if it was going to bleed she wasn't in a hurry to lose it.

One evening Jeff told her it was time to pull it and she decided SHE would do it HERSELF.

She sat in front of this mirror for quite a while... pulling and wiggling...

After about 30 minutes Jeff told her... You get 3 tries Lily and I get one....

Jeff's try was the winner and the tooth was out... she screamed, cried, and then laughed all at the same time.

Then she had to make some calls to share the news.

She was beyond excited to use this cute little tooth fairy pillow (thanks Amanda)....

The next morning she couldn't wait to tell me what the tooth fairy left......

MOM... she left me green money and her business card.

**I must admit I was a little teary eyed that my Lilybug was losing her first tooth...... It took me back to a moment in China almost 5 years ago (similar to the one below). She would smile so big to show off her 8 little teeth.... then I wondered how the time went by SOOOOOOO fast.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

This morning Ty was going on and on (because he was super excited) about his St. Patrick's Day party at school and he had to wear green so he didn't get pinched.

Here is our conversation.....

Ty... Mom, I have to wear green for my party today because it is St. Patrick's Day and if I don't wear green I gonna get pinched.

Me... Good idea Ty.. how about your Lucky Charm shirt.. that is green.... you won't get pinched if you wear that?

Ty... That's a good idea because it has a funny guy on it (leprechaun) and it is green. I SOOO excited to wear that to my party.

Me... Ty, do you remember wearing that shirt last year and you were SUPER excited to wear it on St. Patrick's Day?

Ty.... You sure about that mom?

Me... Yep, I bought it a size too big last year because I knew you would like it and want to wear it a long time.

After school....

Ty... Mom, you sure I wore this last year?

Me... Let me show you a cute picture of you in it... you liked your shirt so much we took a picture of you in it.

Ty.... I love that picture mom... maybe we take a new picture of me in my Lucky Charm shirt.

I so glad to wear my shirt last year and this year... maybe I can wear it next year?

Click to see last year's picture

I am squeezing him pretty tight because he thinks it is hilarious to climb me or tickle me or anything that looks silly in the picture...

Climbing on mom.....As seen here.....

He kicked the table that the camera was sitting on which is why the picture is blurry.... which he also thought was so funny that we looked all blurry.....

Happy 6th Birthday

WELL.... 2 weeks ago (February 11 to be exact) Miss Lily Feifei turned......

It is hard for me to believe that my little girl is 6.

It really feels like yesterday that she was turning 2.

Lily has been waiting for her 6th birthday pretty much since the day she turned 5.

It just happened to work out that we celebrated her birthday over about 3 days.

She was thrilled.

A Lily for a Lily.

Ty says.... MAMA there are 6 red things in the middle just like Lily is 6.

For her birthday she wanted a roller skating party.....AND... Grandma & Grandpa N surprised her with new roller skates. We surprised Ty with a new pair as well.... because these littles are like twins most of the time.. when one gets skates the other gets skates.

Roller skating gift bags (for her friends)... these were a lot of fun and very easy to make.

The boys had purple bags with black laces... per Ty's suggestion.

The cutest and most delicious cake! Thank you Christine!

Lily couldn't wait to see this cake... she was so surprised.

Let's just say that Lily and Ty LOVE to skate.

Neither of them are afraid and they both do a great job.

BUT

They each have very different skating styles.

Lily is very graceful and takes her time. She sort of glides on her skates.

Ty is FEARLESS!!!!! He runs on his skates and the faster he can go the better.

I think he has a future in hockey. He thinks so too!

He loves her Pinkalicious book.....

Pottery Painting

SO... last month the littles and I took a trip with Grandma Glenda to paint some pottery.

We enjoyed it as much as the littles!

I can't wait to go back!!!!!!

**Side note... photos taken with my new little purse camera... Canon Power Shot S95. I still LOVE LOVE LOVE my SLR camera and especially when it comes to photo quality. But I sure love this little camera. It fits so nicely in my purse and I am not missing any snapshots or any moments of OH I WISH I HAD MY CAMERA. It also has video.

A little lunch break at Red Robin....

Mr. Serious Business Ty.... He wanted to paint... and paint... and paint...

AND

He wasn't happy when we had to finally leave.

Lily's color palette

Miss Lily applying her first coat of paint and wondering what grandma was up to...

Since Grandma was doing so well on her own Lily convinced her to help with her base coat application....

Lily adding another color to her masterpiece

Ty's frog of many colors...

When I asked Lily what her plan was for her pottery...

she replied...

MOM... It is for my doo-dads

Ty's frog of many colors is proudly displayed on his dresser

My pottery... Lily wondered if she could also use mine for her doo-dads....