Precious Boy

Today I had a good reminder of precious life is. This afternoon Eli was playing out back with a couple of the neighbor boys while Dan and I were inside. This is pretty much part of our daily routine, so I wasn't really worried. Suddenly, I heard the boys in the garage, so I sent Dan out to find out what they were doing. Upon asking them why they were in the garage they said they were looking for Eli and Moez. At first Dan didn't worry, assuming that they were out back, probably on the side of the house looking at the neighbors dogs. He quickly realized, however, that they had somehow escaped with unlocking the gate. Immediately Dan rushed inside to tell me that they were nowhere inside. After a few minutes we realized that a barrier we had placed over a hole in the back fence had been removed. So I peered through the hole expecting to see them in the yard behind ours as Dan rushed to get into the van and drive around the block. As I looked through the hole calling for the two runaways I begin to panic because they are nowhere in that yard either. At this point, I am on the verge of being totally frantic, knowing that they were somewhere out of the protection of the fences. Just then, as I am near screaming their names, I hear a woman's voice ask, "Are you looking for a little boy and a dog?" Crazily, I yell, "Yes, do you know where they are?" To which she responded, "They are in my front yard." I ask her to keep a watchful eye as Dan comes around in the van. As I calmed down I could hear Moez barking and two men talking, so I headed out front to watch for their return. As I waited, the fear of the situation set in and I sat on my front porch, crying, for what seemed like eternity, waiting to see my little boy return home. Upon arriving home, I hugged him and then shook him telling him never to leave the yard again and gave Moez a big pat on head. After all the excitement was over, Dan told me the man that was waiting with the two boys had tried to approach Eli, and Moez would not let him near. So it seems that we have found ourselves a good dog, who already desires to protect what is precious in our home. Looking at Eli in bed, has never seemed so sweet. Thank God for His protection.

Moez

Introducing the newest member of our family, Moez:

We weren't totally planning on getting a dog, but I looked online and saw this little guy and simply could not resist. He is a very busy dog that turned one year old just this month. We adopted him from PAL here in Tulsa. He is a Puggle (Pug/Beagle mix) but was bigger than his siblings so he was difficult to sell and ended up being given up for adoption. He already fits right in.

Little Artist

Now that Lillie is crawling, she is enjoying discovering all that she has been missing in her stationary life. In her explorations, she has recently found a new toy that she loves....the magna-doodle! The funny thing is, she actually puts the pen on the pad, like she knows what she is doing. Maybe she has a touch of her Aunt Hannah's creative side??

Lillie Finally Crawls

We have been waiting and waiting for Lillie to start crawlings, and last night she finally decided that it was time. Dan found her in the kitchen eating cat food. YEAH LILLIE! She has been crawling back and forth to the front door, so I thought I would share this little clip of her exploring her new found freedom.

Summer is on the way!

With summer well on it's way to Oklahoma, we loaded up this week for the first of many trips to the pool. This is Lillie in her little sun bathing outfit. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of her in her swimsuit, but I'm sure one will eventually make it to the blog. The kids had tons of fun! Madison hasn't skipped a beat on her swimming. She jumped in that freezing cold water and picked up right where she left off. Eli is going to be a handful (big surprise). Right now he is a little of leary of the water, but it is obvious that is not going to last long. We had to fish him out twice. Lillie is going to follow the other two in a love for the water, she loved to kick and splash. It will be a busy summer (which makes for some really great afternoon naps!)

Finals, T-ball, Work and Pink Eye

This week has been absolutely crazy, but it is finally over. The week started with finals; luckily, I came through with good grades in all my classes, which was a good way to start the week. Wednesday, I returned to my old job and have worked every day since. Meanwhile, Madison has had t-ball in the evening and it has been a true juggling act trying to figure out what kids were going with what person in which vehicle. CRAZY! So, finally, Saturday arrived and Dan and the kids came to visit me at work. As soon as Eli walked in the door, I knew something was wrong with his eyes. So I called Brad, our friend the optometrist (who, by the way, is getting ready to open a practice in Broken Arrow behind Panara), and he confirmed my suspicion that Eli had pink eye. As the night has progressed I have been shocked at how awful his eyes have become, so I decided to post a couple of pictures, but this hardly does it justice...they are nasty.

Needless to say, it has been a crazy week. But, what are you gonna do?