Nala

Sister

This particular trashbag-destroying-incident involved rags covered in blue paint

The infamous downspout episode

Nala fishing with Lenn on a pontoon at Cabin Hill in Goshen

Yesterday was a rather terrible day in the life of our family. I really don't know what I want to say. I don't know how to express in words how much it hurts to have lost our dear Nala. She was not a perfect dog but it is some of her naughtier moments that come back to mind so fondly now that she is gone. She always wanted to please us and sometimes she chose to present her latest wildlife capture as a gift to us.......I remember her with mouthfuls of dove or bunny.......once she even presented an entire family of baby bunnies. On another occasion, because she was a retriever and had good hunting blood somewhere deep in her ancestry, she captured a chipmunk in our neighbor's downspout and in the process actually tore the downspout from the brickwork on this neighbor's house.

Nala used to like to do laundry, as Lenn and I referred to it, whenever we would be away from home for awhile and leave her behind unattended. She would find whatever articles of clothing of ours that were within her reach and she would scatter them about.......her act of expressing loneliness or displeasure at our leaving? Sometimes she would act out her separation anxiety by completely destroying any available trash bag........leaving a huge mess. Once when she was on vacation with us in North Carolina, we locked her in a hallway and came home to find that she had actually chewed up the doorknob in order to escape. Smart girl.

She loved produce........especially tomatoes and bananas. She used to pick the ripest, nicest tomatoes right off of the plants in our backyard and then would eat them. Or when she ran out of ripe tomatoes, she'd settle for green ones and then just drop them in the yard. But her favorite treat was bananas. She could beg like nobody's business when someone was eating a banana. I got to the place where I never denied her a bite of my banana......I knew it brought her such joy and I didn't really care if I was rewarding bad behavior........she was an old girl, after all. She was entitled to some quirks in her old age.

We rescued Nala from the Golden Retriever rescue when she was about 3 yrs old. The first day we got her, we brought her home and had a housefull of college friends over for a visit. There were two young children in the mix and here we had just adopted this dog that we really didn't know very well and yet we were all immediately comfortable letting these children love on her and crawl all over her. She was truly the best family dog. She loved all of her people. She endured much hair-pulling and having her tail stepped on and ears tugged as we worked to train these children of ours how to be gentle with our doggie. She was exceedingly patient. And she had a special fondness for her Papas. Papa Don would always present her with a dog bone when he would visit and she would hold it in her mouth and wag her whole body and make this characteristic Nala-sound of pure pleasure. Papa Carl was also near and dear to Nala as he would often walk her whenever we would visit Carl and Evelyn in Nappanee. She loved to be on duty with all of the squirrels in Carl and Evelyn's backyard.......she never caught one but boy did she try time and again.

I can't believe how fast our 9 years with her flew by. I was not at all ready to let her go and yet I had too much respect for her to make her endure even one more day of a life that had lost its beauty. She was such a constant in my life and it feels so empty to not have her here with me. I knew it would hurt to say good-bye to her but I guess I wasn't prepared for this much heartache. So many friends and loved ones have expressed kind words of sympathy and I know that we are not alone in our grieving. She was well loved by many and will always hold a very special place in our hearts and in our family. I miss her so much.

A Heartfelt Good-bye to Grandma Pauline

My dearly loved grandma, Pauline Demas, passed away this morning in Columbus. She was 93 years old and lived a wonderful, long, full life. She was mother to twin boys, grandmother to 4 boys and me (the only granddaughter......a really great position to be in my whole life!), and 8 great-grandchildren.

Grandma had not been herself for quite some time but today I'm choosing to reflect on the ways that I will remember her. She was fiercely loyal to her family......she was always my #1 cheerleader whether I was playing in a piano competition or competing for fair queen......whatever the event, she was always very supportive and frankly thought I should win every time (which I didn't.......1st runner up at the fair). She stayed actively involved in my life for as long as she was able. I spent a lot of time at her house over the years and the memories are fond. Mom, Dad and I would frequently meet Grandma and Grandpa halfway from Vincennes in Bloomfield or Bloomington and I would go back to Columbus with my grandparents.

Grandma had the most amazing dress-up clothes. She had saved dresses from 40 or 50 years ago and would let me play with them. Oh my. And her shoes......boy did she have shoes. It was very sad to me when my feet outgrew Grandma's shoes (by a country mile......I wear a 9 and she topped out at a 6 1/2!!). And then there was the jewelry. Grandma had such beautiful things and she wanted to share them with me and let me dress up like a grown up and be a little lady.

I remember fondly cooking several Greek dishes with Grandma. A special tradition was the kotopita (chicken pie) or tyropita (cheese pie) that we would make at New Year's. The tradition was to hide a coin somewhere in the pie and whoever finds the coin in their piece will be lucky in the coming year. Grandma learned to cook wonderful Greek food as an act of love for her Greek husband. We have all reaped the benefits of this ethnic fare!

Some of my college friends will remember Grandma's letters that she used to send. She would decorate the envelopes with stickers and it always brought a chuckle beacuse after all, I was an adult in college receiving stickers from my grandma. It's interesting how time can change one's perspective......now as a Mom who understands how busy life can be, I see Grandma's letters and stickers as a sacrifice of time and a labor of love. Just the fact that she wanted to stay involved in my life is a testament to her love of family. She was an encourager and a friend to me.

I feel blessed beyond words to have experienced such a close relationship with my grandma. I know of many people who have never known this kind of closeness with a grandparent. It is so difficult for me to say good-bye and to let go of this defining relationship in my life. I have never known life without my grandma in it.......I suddenly feel older, less child-like. I am so thankful that she was able to spend time with Nicholas, Ella and Mae. I am saddened to realize that they probably won't remember her. They always call her "Yia Yia" which is Greek for "Grandma". Maybe Nicholas is old enough to remember Yia Yia as he gets older. And we will always be able to share stories and pictures with our children to keep her memory alive.

I am really grieving today and I realize that there is blessing in the grieving as well. To me, the grieving speaks of the love I have for my grandma and the closeness of our family. Praise God that I will be able to see my grandma again one day in eternity. Until that day comes, I will hold these dear memories close to my heart.

I love you, Grandma.

Nicholas has glasses!!

What a big kid! Now if Mommy can just figure out how to get pictures without reflections in the lenses!!

Nicholas requested that we take a silly picture

Our girls wanted to get their picture taken too

Today was a really big day for our boy. We picked up his glasses from the eye doctor's this afternoon. We had noticed he was having difficulty reading the clock that Lenn and I could both easily see. Then we tried a few other things and he would have to walk forward and squint. I took him to the eye dr about 10 days ago and right away we were told that he couldn't see well far away. So, he got to pick out glasses.

He's handling it all so well.......so much better than his mother. He's excited to wear glasses and to be able to see well. I don't want him or any of my children to have to deal with something like this until they're much older.......or preferably never. But thanks to genetics, Niko is blessed with the good and the bad and we'll chalk the nearsightedness up in the bad column.


Nicholas garnered a lot of attention at the eye dr's office today and as you can imagine, now Ella wants glasses. How could she not? The little girl glasses are not what they used to be......now they have several different choices of "Disney Princess" frames. Oh my!!!

Winter Fun

We've had so much snow this winter......I heard on the news today that we've had 33 inches so far and that's about 15 inches more than the average for our area. Last week was a crazy ice storm. I'm not sure how much ice we officially got but based on the ice we're chiseling away on the driveway, it seems like about a 2 inch solid sheet of ice everywhere. The ice made for great sledding. Lenn's office was closed part of Tues afternoon and all of Wed (2/2) and he was a super Daddy and took the big kids outside for some sledding both days. Then we received a surprise 5 inches of snow on Saturday so on Sunday afternoon, we took all 3 kids outside to build a snowman and have a snowball fight. This was Mae's first experience in the snow and she did great. She was not a fan of gloves and a hat but she eventually got used to it and just bolted around.

More Florida Fun

Ella with her favorite princess, Sleeping Beauty, in Downtown Disney

Our happy and nearly healthy family.......I'm holding a chameleon I had found for Ella......he bit me the first time I picked him up......then I found my courage and picked him up again......then I held onto his tail while I placed him on Nicholas's palm.......then he got scared and jumped to the ground.......and then I was holding just his tail and it was still moving!! Yuck!

Ella with her daddy.....on our last morning in Florida......our vacation house is in the background......I never did manage to get any good pictures of where we stayed......oops

Nicholas holding his piggy bank from "Piggy Bank Adventure".......his favorite activity in Futureland........he set a savings goal (retirement, vacation, college or bedroom remodel) and then took his bank to 3 different stations to play games and make money for his savings.......so cute.....he played 3 times!

Inside "Bruce the Shark" from "Finding Nemo"......we are smiling because Bruce isn't real......those are not real teeth!!!

Outside of the Living Seas area

My boys at Epcot

Lovin' the ocean......we stayed about an hour and Nicholas was completely drenched and happy as a clam by the end of our playtime in the water......he didn't seem to notice that the water was COLD!!

Ella's first ocean experience

Our boy dipping toes in the Atlantic Ocean!!

On Thursday, Lenn and I took Niko and Ella to the beach so they could see the ocean. We had totally worn them out the day before at Magic Kingdom but we wanted to try to get a beach visit in while we were in Florida and only 1 1/2 hrs from the ocean. We drove to Cocoa Beach and had an interesting time there.......Nicholas wasn't excited about going at all but ended up loving it, Ella slept most of the way there and then slept on a towel on the beach while Niko played. We now know that she was gearing up for the second round of major fevers and illness for the week. Poor girl. The boy, on the other hand, had a blast and did not seem to care that the water was freezing!!



Friday was another rough day for Ella but we left her to convalesce with Meemaw and Papa while Lenn and I took Niko to Epcot. We thought he would love visiting all of the different countries but his real love was Futureland. There were lots of computer games there.......like making your own video game.....fun. We also rode the popular 3-D experience called "Soarin'" where you feel like you are in an airplane flying over California and you can smell pine and orange trees, you feel the wind in your face, you feel like you're dipping your toes in the ocean, etc.......really cool.


Lenn and I are still trying to decide if we really feel like we had a vacation.......one of our friends told us prior to going to Florida that when you go away with your children, that is a TRIP and when you go away with just your spouse, that is a VACATION. So, no, we did not have a vacation but my oh my did we go on a trip!!!!

Florida Vacation--part 2

Ooh La La.......Fireworks!!!

Mae's thoughts about the fireworks.......she did so great all day.......she was a happy girl most of the day despite only getting two short naps

All bundled up and ready for fireworks (Ella is in the stroller......you just can't see her in this handy dandy self-made photo!)

Mickey and Minnie in front of Cinderella's Castle......the castle changes colors at night......nice!

Niko and Meemaw watching the parade......it was so sweet watching our boy wave to all of the characters going by

Trying to get Mae to nap......she did give up the fight on the train ride

Ready to ride the Dumbo ride

Meemaw and Papa with the grandkids.......soooo excited to finally be at Disney World!!!

Niko and Ella in their mouse ears.....posing on Main Street

My Mae Mouse in her mouse ears......the beautiful part was that she left her ears on for a long time!!! Cinderella's Castle is in the background.

On Wednesday, the troops were feeling much better so we pulled ourselves together and headed to Magic Kingdom. We really did have a magical day. The weather started out chilly and rainy but turned into a beautiful day. We rode as many rides as we could squeeze in, we saw several really great shows, and we ended the day by watching the fireworks over Cinderella's Castle. We had the best day.



Some fun surprises of the day......Mae loved the pirates in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Ella covered her ears and sometimes closed her eyes because she thought they were a little scary but Mae just waved and smiled at all of them......too cute! Also, I have now discovered my roller coaster buddy. Ella and Nicholas were going to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad......a medium-sized roller coaster that goes whipping around and through and over and under a mountain........we got to the point of climbing into our seats and Niko got frightened and backed out......so Ella and I rode by ourselves. She had a blast and as soon as it was over, she asked to ride again......so we did!! We were also surprised that Ella had no interest in waiting in line to meet the princesses and get her picture taken......don't know if she just didn't want to get that close to the "real" princesses or if she didn't want to wait in line. It saved us a lot of time not having to wait for princesses all day!



Niko's favorite attraction: The Monster's Inc laugh floor

Favorite ride: Peter Pan's Flight

Ella's favorite attraction: The Philharmagic 3D Show

Favorite ride: Big Thunder Mtn

Florida Vacation January 21-29, 2011--Part 1

Excited kids getting ready for their first airplane ride....Indianapolis International Airport

GATOR!!!!!!!

Ella and Mommy in the education center at Circle B Bar Reserve....we climbed up onto a platform that sits inside a huge tree.....so cool

Mae could not figure out this sculpture.......she really wanted that book!

Really cute tractor to play on at Barnett Family Park

Which boy is real?

Healthy Ella playing on a saucer swing at Barnett Family Park

Wow! We did it! We flew our busy little family to Florida and have now made it home safe and sound. We had quite a week. The good times were really really good and the bad times were really yucky. Little did we know going into this trip just how sick our family would be. Only the first 24 hours were illness free.......then the coughing started.......then the fevers.......then the Orlando Children's Hospital emergency room.......not exactly the Florida attraction we were interested in visiting!!


The week was full or highs and lows but thankfully we made it through and did enjoy some really fun family outtings. On Sunday, we drove to Lakeland, Fl to Barnett Family Park and the kids had a big fun time playing on all of the really neat playground equipment. We also walked down to the water and saw lots of seagulls. After lunch at Crispers, YUMS, we went to the Circle B Bar Reserve. There was a really cool education center with a huge tree to climb and several nature displays and interactive stuff for the kids to do. Then we hiked. Oh my did we hike. I forgot the sling so I carried Mae FOREVER because she was tired and needed a nap and couldn't get settled in the stroller. We were on a mission looking for gators.......and we found 'em! And an armadillo......so cool!! Ella started feeling poorly on our hike and ended up quite sick by the next morning.......that's when we headed to the hospital. We drove past the exits for Magic Kingdom and Epcot on our way to the emergency room.......talk about depressing. She was thoroughly checked over and was diagnosed with a viral infection. No appendicitis, thank the Lord, and no UTI. So no family outtings on Monday or Tuesday but Lenn did kick me and Evelyn out of the house on Tuesday and told us to go shopping. Woo hoo!! Of course, I love to shop but I didn't want to leave my girlie and my son, who was dealing with his own 103 degree fever and coughing.......YUCK. Evelyn and I worked through it and spent a few hours enjoying some shopping therapy at the Florida Mall.


Next post.........Wednesday......one of the most fun days ever for our family.......Magic Kingdom!!!