Our Sweet Cayman

Someone once said, and I don't know who, that a dog is man's best friend. I believe that is true. Cayman Hayes was such a good dog and friend in our family. This is the last picture I have of her, she passed away on Memorial Day at only 11 years old. May God bless her and give her a special place in Heaven with Prissie.

Cayman was a patient, true friend and we all miss her a lot. Andrew especially loved playing with her. It's funny how time passes and you forget she's gone. At the same time, the smallest thing can bring her memory back and the sadness of her loss returns.

Yesterday, I made a chicken casserole for dinner. I always had Cayman at my feet when the time came to dice the cooked chicken meat. She would watch my every move and wait until I would drop a piece for her to eat. Okay, so I'd drop multiple pieces...do you know how much fat is on chicken breasts today? :-) It occurred to me that I hadn't made this recipe since before Cayman passed away. There was no black nose to nudge my leg as I chopped chicken, and I got teary eyed.

Even though we know Cayman is out of pain and in a better place, the house is awfully quiet.

Growing kids, small bedrooms

Okay, so I have a problem. I have growing kids, and small bedrooms. Does that sound really strange? You would think having a four bedroom home with three kids is all I need. However, four bedrooms might not be perfect when the fourth bedroom is the size of a walk in closet. That leaves poor Andrew with a closet for his bedroom.

It worked great when he was just a baby. The crib, changing table and dresser fit nicely in the tiny bedroom. Then when it was time for his big boy bed, we purchased a captains bed. It takes up the entire wall...I cannot even get a vacuum between the foot of his bed and his wall. It's the only piece of furniture in his room. Even still, at age three we felt it was perfect and just assumed someday we'd buy a bigger home. Then he could have a bigger bedroom.

Enter the housing crunch! We just don't want to sell and move right now. We don't have a reason to do that. Our neighborhood is wonderful, the school system is fantastic, and we love the rest of our house. Andrew's bedroom is the only downside. So that leads me to this new project. Emma's bedroom is the same size as the master bedroom. It makes sense to move her out of the biggest bedroom and move the two boys in there. Growing boys, bigger bedroom!

There are so many things to work on in order to complete this move. All three kids have concerns, wants, etc. that I will attempt to satisfy. We have to repaint. We need to purchase a loft bed for Preston. It's a lot to take on, but in the end Andrew will not have to sleep in a walk in closet.

Summer heat

Summer heat has arrived, and after a relatively cool summer we are sweltering! It is difficult to believe how fast the summer vacation has melted away. At the beginning of the kids' summer vacation I was overwhelmed at the thought of having all three of them home. For some reason, the three of them are challenging when all three are together. Whenever there are only two in the mix they are fine, and it doesn't matter which two it might be. But add in the third child, and look out! What started out a daunting summer turned out to be our best summer vacation ever!

Our three children have grown up so fast this summer! They behaved, they didn't fight too much, and they were a joy to be around. There were milestones this summer! Emma and Preston both became much better swimmers. They both dive into the deep end of the pool now, and Preston even loves to dive off the diving board. Andrew learned how to ride his bicycle and I know he will be ready to take off the training wheels soon. Preston took a week of basketball camp and showed a love for the game. Andrew participated in Pee Wee Tee Ball and loved it!

Now it's already August 4th, and we only have 16 days left to have fun before school starts. I'm actually sad that we are running out of time. There is still a lot of things we want to do before school. We want to go to the Science center of Iowa, Living History Farms, The Iowa State fair, and go to the Clive Pool.

On a final note, it's no secret that August is my least favorite month of the year. Hot, humid weather is not my thing...I prefer cool, crisp autumn days. So I am taking a deep breath and enjoying each day even though I don't like the heat. We have been so blessed with a summer that has been cooler and wetter than average. I have compassion for everyone in Iowa who has suffered great loss during the floods of this season. But at least it has been cooler. I look forward to the first cool September day when it gets up to 70 degrees as a high, there is low humidity, and the low at night is 59 degrees. I will open all our windows and breathe in the refreshing air!

Happy Birthday! My youngest is four this month. I think he looks just like me. He is a perfect mix of Doug and I. Fifty percent Jennifer, fifty percent Doug make the fiesty, loving, stubborn, athlete that he is. I have to own to giving him some of my temper. But he also got my loud laughter and deep love for family. From Doug he got a hatred of change and a thirst for sports...more specifically the Hawkeyes.

Notice on his cake is a blue tractor...we don't know where he got his love of farming. It must be from Grandpa Hayes and Great Grandpa Kasha. It's definitely in his blood, because he bleeds John Deere and mowing. This winter has been hard on him. With all the snow he cannot go outside to mow the grass. Now that we are finally getting some spring weather he's excited to see some green grass growing.

I have been thinking a lot about motherhood lately. I've come to the conclusion that it's easier to raise and care for an infant. Infants need help with everything they do, but they don't talk back. In a home with a nine year old girl, a seven year old boy and a four year old boy my job is harder than when I changed diapers. My authority is constantly being questioned. And honestly, I don't know anything about boys! When they wrestle in the family room I just want to jump out of my skin. I'm a girls girl...makeup, perfume, chocolate, shopping, etc. Why, oh why do boys have to beat each other up all the while screaming at the top of their lungs? At least during those moments Emma and I get along. We have to rely on each other as the only source of estrogen in the home besides Cayman our black lab.

The past few weeks I've been so occupied with discipline that I haven't done anything fun for me. I'm behind on scrapbooking and cross stitching which is unlike me. I usually keep myself busy with something crafty all the time. Maybe I'm just fed up with the long winter we had.