A few months ago I started a new blog just for the pups and Linus kitty. So if you enjoy reading about our cuddle bunch join us at Two Pups and a Kitty. We are also on Facebook at Two Pups and a Kitty.
This blog will mainly be for posts about the other areas of our life.
Thanks for reading!
Pet Moments
Early morning cuddle, Lucy, Bonnie, Linus, and Belle.
Linus watching the snow
The other day the pups told me they were bored so we had a drop everything game of chase the ball. The pups have two totally different styles of play. Belle loves to chase the ball and will bring it back so it can be thrown again for her. Bonnie likes to chase the ball and keep it so she can squeak it forever or until we get tired of hearing it and then trade her another toy for it.
During the latest game of catch I threw the ball and the pups raced to get it then tussled over it a bit before I would then either take it or if Belle had it would give it to me. Towards the end of the game getting tired Bonnie decided that she would stay by me, let Belle fetch the ball and bring it back then she would take it from Belle. The last time I threw it Belle ran and got it, she then handed it off to Bonnie who then turned and dropped it in my hand. It couldn’t have gone any more smoothly if we had practiced it!
Lucy Kitty seems to be more willing to join the rest of the family. She is not hissing quite as much at the pups and will sit close although not next to Linus Kitten. She is coming up and sitting by me more like she used too which is making me very happy. It looks like my Lucy is back!
Linus is still a kooky kitten. His new game is to sit in front of the tv in order to watch and chase the images as they flash by. We so appreciate the fact that he saved us all from a drop of melting snow this morning by pouncing on it. And he has been ever watchful of the snow falling outside the living room window. We know we are safe when Linus is on duty 🙂
Well time to end this post and go have some cuddle time with the cuddle bunch!
December Highlights According to the Pets
Bonnie and Belle enjoyed playing in this season’s first snow fall. Lucy’s tree was put back up and Linus had something new to explore.
First snowfall of the year
Come on let’s go!
Exploring
Belle wants to go back out, Bonnie is all worn out after the play time in the snow.
Lucy’s patiently waiting for her tree.
Linus: Can I see? Let me see!
Lucy explaining to Linus that this is her tree
Bonnie: I want to help
Happy Bonnie Pup!
Belle and her Linus
Naptime
What a trio
Sisterly Love
Family Filled Memories
So much has been happening it’s hard to know where to start. We have had a lot of memory making family times. Trips to Blackberry Farm, a living history museum, lunch at a train themed restaurant where they brought lunch on a model train. Which by the way was a hit with the young and older members of our group. Play time at an awesome park where the oldest members of the group took a turn at the zip line. I will admit it was for little kids but was still fun and spontaneous. Several members of the family played in the alumni basketball game during homecoming weekend. It was fun watching them play.
We enjoyed a family filled weekend when the twins were baptized. We went to a pumpkin farm where everyone tried and succeeded in finding their perfect pumpkin. We had a movie night where all 13 of us gathered together to watch a fun movie. I loved watching the boy cousins, ages 5,4 and 2 years play, roughhouse and enjoy each other’s company. We played ball in the backyard. Well mainly hit the ball but we all took swings at it and it was good for the youngsters to see a different side of their elders. We girls had a “girl time” which is fun and does a lot to strengthen our bonds as the women of the family. We used to be outnumbered by the guys in the family but things are evening out a bit thanks to the addition of Kristina, Maya and McKenna to the group. 🙂 What is special to me is that the others seem to enjoy it as much as I do.
In between these two weekends Greg and I took an 8 day trip to Philadelphia and Washington DC. I was glad that we went to Philadelphia on the way out, we enjoyed seeing the Continental Congress, The Liberty Bell and the Constitution Center. Of course one of the highlights was meeting a 3 year old golden retriever named Baxter and his person. She was told us that they can now leave him alone uncrated in the house while they are gone for a couple of hours and he is just fine. That was an encouragement to us to know that someday we might be able to do that with our pups.
On Monday of that week we went to The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center National Air and Space Museum. It was amazing to walk in the door and look across and see The Discovery. We had an awesome guide who told many stories that brought the many planes ect to life for us.
The next day came the Government shut down and most of our plans had to be scrapped. I sent out a Facebook message that asked friends for suggestions of things we could do to fill our time. Friends and family members came through with lots of suggestions. I searched myself as well but it was good to have ideas from folks that had been to these places. We went to Fredricksburg and had fun on the tour, and going through the many antique stores and specialty shops.
We were very happy to discover that Mount Vernon was not a federal operated museum and was open for business. It was amazing to stand on the back porch and look out at the same Potomic River that The Washington’s so many years ago. An added bonus was seeing the golden retriever, black lab and two yellow lab puppies that were in training to become seeing eye dogs. We had the pleasure of talking to the trainer of the golden retriever while waiting to tour the house.
We went into Washington DC one day and visited the Newseum, it was great, informative and very enjoyable. That evening we took a tour of the mounuments at night and although many were closed we did have the chance to stand at the gate of the White House and see the Pentagon which were only added because of the shutdown.
So while things certainly did not go according to plan it still turned out to be a great trip.
Looking back over the past several weeks I am struck by the feeling of how family bonds were strengthened as we hung out together, played, helped and just spent time together. You can’t beat it.
God’s Got It Covered.
I have been participating in an online bible study called “What Happens When Women Say Yes To God” by Lysa TerKeurst. This week’s lesson posed the question, what little thing is God asking you to do?
It’s funny how God works and how He uses people and situations to help us to grow. I like my comfort zone, I really, really like it, think snuggly kitten comfortable. My “what little thing is God asking me to do” is very simple commit to giving a family of kids a ride to church when their mom can’t. We belong to a little country church, and this family just moved from across the field to 10 miles away from the church. So even though this should have been a no brainer, an absolutely yes moment it wasn’t. It required a lot of prayer, and are you sure God? moments. What’s more when I wanted to put qualifiers on this to make it “easier” I heard that still small voice saying “No qualifiers, I’ve got the details covered I just need you to say yes.”
Of course I played the “God please let me know if this is from you or one of my ideas I need to be sure game”. The first clue I had that this wasn’t my idea was that instead of taking this and running with it I felt like our Golden Retriever pup Bonnie who often needs to be convinced that yes, she wants to go to bed or yes, she wants to go outside when it’s not her idea. When I realized I was pulling a “Bonnie” I came a bit closer to saying yes. Then the next day one of my devotions that’s not a part of this bible study talked about obedience to what God wants us to do and that it’s not convenient. That it can be messy and uncomfortable. I knew at that moment that this was something God wants me to do and said “Ok God, I’ll do it.
I have no idea how it’s all going to work out, but the beauty of it is, I don’t need to know. God’s got it covered and I just need to be open and willing to go where He leads.
#Say What?
My Say What? moment came last year. My Pastor had asked me to lead the adult Sunday school class in his absence, he suggested that I share a devotion from one of the online devotionals I receive daily by email.
I agreed although was I was filled with doubt, Prayerfully I started looking through the devotions I had saved over the years and narrowed it down to two of them. One I really wanted to share and the other because I felt the nudge that I was supposed to share it. I fought that leading tooth and nail for nearly a week as I continued to prepare for the class. It was too hard, the subject matter would offend some of those in the class, I wasn’t equipped to share and lead on that subject. All the classic “No God, I can’t be hearing you right and just in case I am these are my reasons why I can’t do this thing you want me to do.”
The night before the class I had both devotions in a folder in the middle of my dining room table, Bonnie one of our golden retriever puppies who was very proud of her new found ability to reach things in the middle of the table, grabbed my folder and carefully pulled out and chewed up the devotion I wanted to share. The devotion that God had been nudging me about was untouched even though it had been right next to the one that Bonnie snatched. “Ok God, I get it, you want this devotion shared with the class, I don’t know why, I am not sure I can do it but Yes, Lord I will share this devotion.”
The next morning the Bonnie pup story started the class out on a humorous note, I then went on to share the struggle I had had regarding sharing this devotion, and the class began. After the devotion about sandpaper people and ways to deal with them had been read, everyone around the table and I mean everyone even those who never say much had an experience to share. Then one of the ladies who was only in the class because she didn’t have a class to teach that day, quietly said “I needed to hear that today” and went on to tell her story, about a difficult situation she is daily living with, when she was finished sharing there wasn’t a dry eye around that table, and the class time turned into a time of prayer for her and her situation.
Immediately I could see why God had wanted that devotion shared, This sweet lady who is always there for everyone else needed to talk and she needed prayer.
My only regret is that it took me so long to say yes to what God wanted me to do. Since then I have been working on saying yes faster and trusting that He will equip me with what I need to do what He wants me to do.
Linus the Mighty Kitten
Wanna play?
Nanny Belle staying close
Always room for one more
Going Home
Last Sunday Linus a 7 week old kitten joined our family. Lucy kitty has been moping around since Pete cat died a few months ago. So we thought it was time to add a kitten to the mix.
Linus is just a little thing but he apparently hasn’t gotten that message. He holds his own with the pups and has gotten the best at least for now of Lucy kitty.
Belle has appointed herself as Linus’s Nanny, wherever he is she isn’t far behind, he gets lots of kisses from Belle. Bonnie would rather play with Linus and when he meows it sounds a lot like a squeak toy so Bonnie might think that Linus is just a really fun toy we aren’t sure.
Linus has joined the morning snuggle ritual with Greg and the pups, There is always room for one more.
Linus is living in the front room so he has a break from the pups. I figured when he was old enough to climb up the child gate separating him from the pups (and the rest of the house), he would be bigger and better equipped to handle said pups. Guess he feels big enough, after living with us for only 3 days Linus climbed up and over the child gate. So now the gate is about 5 inches from the floor high enough for the kitten to walk under but low enough that the pups can’t get under it although they certainly try.
This morning Greg used the kitten as a “leave it” training tool for the pups. I just hope Linus doesn’t start thinking his name is Leave It! The pups did really well. It was very hard for Belle she wanted to lick Linus sooo badly but she listened like a good girl as did Bonnie.
And what of Lucy? Well they hiss at each other then pretty much leave each other alone. This morning during their daily hissing match Linus let loose a loud meow, so loud in fact that Lucy was startled and ran upstairs. I am sure given a bit more time Lucy will realize that Linus is not a threat to her life at all. We will keep reassuring her and she finally get the message that there’s more enough love for all of them.
Update on the July 4th Outreach
This past week as you know our church participated in an outreach during Leland’s 4th of July celebration. We didn’t know what to expect, but things went well. We had a lot of people stop by for a cold bottle of water and a tract. While there were many people we didn’t know we did see several people that we hadn’t seen in awhile so it was like a mini reunion.
Everyone there played a vital role, whether is was on the front lines handing out water and tracts, or further back in the tent filling the coolers, playing the electric keyboard that provided background music, setting up chairs so that people could have a place to rest for a bit or preparing a meal for all of the workers everyone worked together.
Today we had our worship service at the park, which was the 2nd part of our outreach event. The music, message and fellowship were great. Looking back over the whole event it’s evident that it was God’s outreach we were just his hands and feet.
Just Show Up.
Sometimes it’s easy to get overwhelmed by life. Even when there are lots of blessings and answers to prayer. Even when things are going well.
Things have been incredibly busy in our family these past few weeks. We have had lots of family time which is awesome. I love to soak in the essence of babies, toddlers, preschoolers and grown up 5 year olds. And I enjoy spending time with the adults in our life.
In addition to our family time and our normal work schedules which have also been hectic, we have been getting ready for an outreach event our church is participating in on the 4th of July. Greg has been building a display box for the pamphlets that the workers will hand out along with ice cold bottles of water. I am part of a committee that is making staff t-shirts. We needed to find 17 t-shirts all the same color but various sizes. (I recommend the Hanes online store.) Another part of the task was to print out the transfers that another committee member created and lastly help iron the transfers onto the bright lime green shirts.
Being slightly introverted this outreach is way out of my comfort zone and I realized today that’s just where God wants me. I have no idea how things are going to go. I don’t know what my task is going be. I just have to show up, be willing, keep my eyes on Him and God will do the rest.
So if you are in Leland Illinois on the 4th of July stop by the St. Petrie tent for a chat and a cold bottle of water. You can’t miss us we’ll be the ones in the lime green shirts 🙂 See you there!
Happy 1st Birthday Pups!
Going Home at 9 weeks old
Belle settling in at home
Hey, there’s enough for both of us!
Hugs please
“Please, just one more!”
A happy pup
Snuggling puppies
Bonnie’s grownup pose
Belle and her toys
The pups are 1 year old!
Random Thoughts From My Everyday World 