A New Beginnning

One year ago today, we had to make one of the hardest decisions we've ever had to make. We made the decision to get rid of our beloved Golden Retriever, Sammy, of 5 years. He was just too aggressive towards neighborhood children and animals, even after attempts to socialize him. He even attended 5 weeks of puppy kindergarten, something that sounded absurd to me at the time. However, in the end, it was a decision that had to be made for the safety of our friends and neighbors. Cole was particularly traumatized by this turn of events. For the past year, he has avoided looking at, or talking about, dogs and cats. In an effort to turn this trauma around, I took him to the local pet store last week in hopes that I could get him to at least look at other animals without getting emotional and depressed. Little did I know it would lead to this:



Meet Simba. Our newest family member and tail-less feline friend. Sorry, Mom. You'll have to load up on antihistamines and steroids once again when you come to visit us. My intention was never to bring home another animal. Trust me! I had told Jason that I was finished with pets. I didn't want the mess of fur, litter boxes, walks, vet visits, boarding, etc. I was done, I tell you, DONE! But, when that sweet little boy who wouldn't give animals the time of day due to his emotional state looked at me with those big blue eyes, tears in them, said "can we keep him?," what could I say? Jason and I talked about it and prayed about it and even had 3 visits with the cat to see if he was the right one for us. In the end, he had the right temperment. He is Butterscotch incarnate. For those of you that don't know, I had a cat for 17 years, Butterscotch, and he had the best personality of any cat I'd ever had or met. Simba is 11 months old, weighs 10 pounds and is the sweetest, even-tempered cat ever. Today was his first day with us, and although he has an adjustment to make coming into a house with 3 energetic kids, he's done phenomenally well. He keeps to himself, lays back and just watches everything going on and runs on occasion to hide from the wee little hands and squeals that come his way. Simba.....I think he'll be around awhile.

Our Spelling Bee Winner

In third grade, Cole won his class spelling bee and moved on to the school-wide spelling bee. He lost in the third round with the word "bureaucracy". At the time, I couldn't even spell that word and I feel pretty confident in my spelling abilities. Anyway, his love for the spelling bee grew.



Once again, in fourth grade he won his class bee and came in as runner up in the school bee. This year, he was bound and determined to win...and win he did. We are so proud of his hard work and determination to aspire to greater things.



In the picture below from left to right are: Dr. Williams (his principal), Austin in 2nd place, Cole in 1st place and Brandon (Cole's best friend) in third. Cole said the night before the competition that he hoped it came down to him and Brandon because then he wouldn't care who one. It almost did and I thought that was such a sweet thing for him to say. We found out the day of the bee that Brandon prayed for Cole the night before to win or to place high in the competition. That is true friendship right there. These are some great kids.

They all three won trophies and free meals from Texas Roadhouse. All of the competitors also received medals because they are all winners for having made it this far. There were 33 contestants.

I tried to load video of the end of the bee, but it wouldn't work. I'll keep trying.

Me & My Cuties