Never thought it would really happen.....

I talked to my dad on the phone yesterday. That, in itself, is not the shocking news, but rather what he had to tell me.

My dear, sweet, sixteen-year old cat passed away. Wally is gone.

The loving, sweet little furball that has been with me my entire adult life is gone. The kitty that has seen me through the best and worst times of my life. The little guy with the club foot that would yowl if he got up on a high table that he couldn't get down from. The kitty that would get lost in the dark in the house and meow indignantly from a corner. The lap-warmer that LOVED to be petted and purred so loudly he rumbled. The little guy that was ALWAYS coughing up disgusting hairballs and leaving white fur all over the place. The best cat in the world. Without a doubt, the most endearing and biggest personality-having cat of all. The one who was more like a dog than a cat, as he would follow you from room to room and beg for treats and attention. The one Glynn called, "my dog Wally". The one who could somehow look down his nose at you in such a regal manner that Karis nicknamed him, "Sir Walter Wally." The cat that all kids loved, especially Jenna and Brady (although he didn't love them back so much). My dad's best buddy, and mine too. The cat that would stay up late and study with me through high school, college, dental school and residency, and when he thought I needed a break, would come and sit on my books and look at me as if to say, "Enough already. Just give it a rest, woman." The one that would come hobbling in the room the minute I walked through the door to greet me with a big meow-ow-ow. The one who would talk to me on the phone. The little guy that walked along the walls as if he needed a guide. The one that would play up his limp whenever we had company, when in real life he could scoot as fast as any other cat could run. The kitty who never let his disability get the best of him, who would stand up on his hind legs and bat at me with his club foot to get my attention. Who would never let you read a newspaper because THAT'S the moment he needed you to pay attention to him.

The best cat in the world. My little Wally is gone. I never thought it would really happen. I always thought he'd live forever, kinda like some weird magical-type thing where he would be with me my entire life. God knows he's been there through the biggest part of it.

Today is a sad day. Even though Wally hasn't lived with me for the past almost four years, (we thought the move would be too tough on him), he's never stopped being my kitty, although my dad would disagree. I loved going to visit my parents because I got the added bonus of spending time with my little Wally-walls.

I miss him. I keep breaking out in tears for the loss of this incredible little creature. He will always have a special place in my heart, and there is not a cat in the WORLD who could ever take his place.

I have this special thought that he and Grandma are up in heaven together, sitting in her lap in a comfy chair in the sun. She loved him too. I like to think they're reunited now.

That's all I can do for now.

Spencer family campout, take ?

We've had so many of these nights, I've lost count.

We're having another one of our famous family campouts in the living room, complete with every pillow and blanket in the house, two air mattresses, and movies galore.

We've also had several snacks and lots of wrestling, tickle fights, and just general good times.

We watched Paul Blart: Mall Cop and are currently starting Elf. The girls have commandeered an air mattress, leaving me on the couch with the two snore-monsters: Glynn and Brady.

I love these nights. I've said it countless times before, and I'll say it again, and again, and again, until the day that I die: my family means the world to me. And it is even more special because we're finally complete tonight, with Annie and Sarah. I would give anything to never have to send them back. It breaks my heart every time. We're not a complete family without them, although we try very hard, and still have a great time, even though we miss them.

Today, I brought the girls to work with me, partly because I needed to do their checkups, and partly because we had a command picnic at 11:00. I couldn't bring the little ones because that was RIGHT at their naptime and I value my sanity. So we went, we saw, we conquered the moon walk, bouncy house, nacho and sno-cone stand, and the potato sack races and duck pond. We had a great time, and met Daddy at home before going to pick up the babies at school. (I promptly fell asleep in the chair at home and slept like the dead until they all came back together , but let's pretend that didn't happen. )

We have been in full-on camp-out/slumber party mode ever since. We all got in our jammies and had dinner, then settled in for a long night together in the living room. The girls and I are bedazzling everything lately (more of our mom/daughter projects) so we're currently working on designing our own t-shirts, aprons (another thing they love--- cooking with me), and beach bags.

I love my family. I can't get enough of them. I am in heaven, having us all together right now. Granted, it's a bit more hectic and loud, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love it.

Hoping the rain lets up so we can go out on the boat tomorrow. Hope everyone has a great weekend, I know we will!

Less posting in the summer?

I guess people are outside more and don't tend to sit in front of their computer so much during the summer.

All of the blogs I follow have slowed dramatically in posting frequency in the last couple of months. Which I totally understand. The only time I really post is when I'm at work and have yet another patient not show up.

But, it gives me less to read during those slow times as well. If only the world revolved around me as it should.......

Karis and company got home okay, but she of course left her cell phone charger behind. She warned me that she would leave SOMETHING, and at least it wasn't like the baby or something :-) Which I would TOTALLY keep, by the way. Isaiah's such a little cutie. But I don't think Brady or Maddie would be up for it, they got a bit jealous with Isaiah. They're not used to not being the youngest! It was a real eye-opener for me.

When I dropped them off this morning they were so excited, because their favorite teachers were already there. What a treat for them! I had slept in a bit this morning so we got a later start. Still trying to catch up on my rest from this past weekend! The littlest things wear me out lately. And I don't see any relief in sight, as my BIG GIRLS GET HERE SATURDAY!!!! I'm so freaking excited. I can't wait. I'll take the exhaustion, because it means my FAMILY WILL BE COMPLETE!!!! It's gonna be a great rest of the summer with them.

We've got the girls enrolled in summer camp at Maddie and Brady's daycare. They take 3 field trips a week.....to the pool, bowling, stuff like that. I think they'll really enjoy it. And Glynn and I are planning on taking every Wednesday off for the rest of the summer to spend with the family too. Which reminds me, I'd better start putting those leave requests in like, yesterday. Oops.

Off to do some important paperwork.....

Our last day together......

I went into work this morning for a single patient and came home early to spend an afternoon with Karis.

We had lunch at Oliverii North in Antioch and did a tiny bit of shopping. We also got the most wonderful pedicures in the WORLD today. With the best foot/leg massages EVER and now we have beautiful feet. Which was no small feat (hardy-har) considering the shape our callous-y heels were in. They almost had to bust out the power-sanders for us.

But now we have beautiful toes and are ready for sandal season!

I really enjoyed our time together this weekend. It's great to see Karis anytime, and it was nice to have more than just a few hours together like we usually get.....oh, every six months or so.

She's always been my sister. And we had a lot of fun this weekend. Reliving old times and making new memories. Talking about anything and everything, laughing our asses off (you'd think we'd be skinnier by now, LOL) and just having a great time. And the awesome thing is, Adam and Glynn get along so well too, they have so much in common. Both are into hunting, fishing, outdoorsy stuff, you know, just the typical guy things. So they NEVER have a shortage of things to talk about. And that's nice for us too.

And the KIDS! It's always great to see them. Little Isaiah has gotten so BIG! And Zeke just cracks me up. What really made my heart swell up and burst was that Maddie and Brady just snuggled right up to Karis and Adam like they'd known them closely their entire lives. Maddie wanted "Auntie Karis" to take her to bed, and Brady asks for "Carrots" at bedtime too. And they BOTH snuggle up with Adam like little barnacles. It's so cute. I love it.

I had a great visit and I'm going to miss them. But I don't have much time to dwell on it because my girls are coming on Saturday with Mom and Dad!!! It's gonna be a BUSY rest of the summer, and I can't WAIT to have our family together at last. I've missed the girls so much. It'll be awesome to have some time with them.

It's about time for my little munchkins to go to bed and say bye-bye to their Aunt Karis and Uncle Adam, because they'll be going to school very early tomorrow morning and the Morrows will leave around noon or so.

There's teeth to brush and little ones to tuck in, duty calls. I love it. More updates to come!

BIG night last night!

Brady bug slept in his big boy bed! All night! Only waking up once for a snuggle. He started to tell me he wanted to go back downstairs to his couch, but I talked him into staying in bed and he slept the rest of the night in his new bed!

He's currently napping in it as we speak. Hmmm. So THAT'S all it took to get him to graduate to a big boy bed! A cool Lightening McQueen bed.


Karis and co. got here this morning. Wow, Isaiah got so BIG! He's such a cutie pie, it's nice to have a baby around again! And Zeke is just as active as ever! This house is FULL of life now, even more than normal! And I love it.

I'm sure I'll have plenty to post in the coming days but it'll probably have to wait until things calm down next week. I think we're gonna be pretty busy this weekend......