Saying Goodbye to Sasha

Today was a very very hard day . . .

I have to put my pure bred shih tzu to sleep tomorrow; she is full of tumors that they assume to be cancer & she is suffering. She turned 11 yrs old this past May.

Last year she had all these lumps all over her - a couple of them were oozy with stuff - we had a couple of them removed and had one biopsied but nothing showed and then soon after they all disappeared and never came back (she had had about 15 of them). Then about that time she also started with seizures - maybe 2 a month for a few months then probably 2 a week for 2 mos then they stopped the past 4 or so months.

Then last month she got a growth on the inside of her ear that was oozy and we treated with antibiotics and cleaned it and that went away & she seemed fine for a few weeks.

Then about 5 days ago she started breathing heavier than normal, at first I didn't think too much of it but it continued the next day and the next so I called the vet last Friday & they asked me if she was still eating, drinking etc. and I said yes so they said just make an appt on Monday which I did.

I took her in to the vet today & they did bloodwork & xrays and found several masses in her lungs, large lumps in her chest around her heart area and her liver was enlarged.

The vet was not so nice when I asked what I should do - she said well some owners put their dogs to sleep if they pee on the floor. Then she was saying i could have this test done and another test where they insert a long needle into one of the masses via watching on an ultrasound then possible chemotherapy etc. etc. Ok lots of suffering for my dog passed before my eyes. My dad had cancer, my dad suffered and wished someone would put him to sleep - he begged us but we had to let him continue and suffer & die slowly - i was not going to do this to my dog.

So I have a friend that works at another vet a couple towns over up the road a ways from the vet I first too Sasha too, so I called her. She said to bring the xrays to the vet she works for & they would look at them for me for free.

When i asked the other vet for the xrays so I could get a 2nd opinon (people do this all the time so why not for our pets?) they got mad but gave them to me but charged me for an emergency office visit even though i had an appt ahead of time, charged me for a lyme disease test (ok would u do this if a dog is dying of tumors?) - I didn't look at the bill until I was driving to the other vet with my Sasha & the xrays. So i had just paid it in full and went on my way. When i looked at it I was really upset & surprised on top of what is wrong with my baby. They so charged for things that probably were not even done - they were suppose to do xrays and blood work.

When I got to the other vet where my friend works, I left Sasha in the car & my son & I (he's 8) went into the other vet w/the xrays - he had a full house of patients but took the xrays immediately - he came back out about 5 min later & asked if I had my dog there & i said yes, she's in the car - he said to bring her right in.

He brought us into one of the exam rooms and looked at Sasha and could see her having a hard time breathing. He said she is full of tumors and that really there was nothing they could do. That at this point it was not a decision that we could spend this & that & do this & that - it was that there was no way the dog can survive and she's in pain so she had to be let go.

Of course all the ?'s running thru my head, why why why - why so fast - how could she have been fine last week and now suffering so much today - why my dog - my little Sasha?

He asked if I was ready to put her to sleep there and I said no and I asked him if I could bring her home tonight.
He said yes so that's what I did. My son and I sobbed all the way home. Sasha as sick as she is climbed from the passenger seat over to lay in my lap. She's such a trooper!

But. . . tomorrow she will have to be put to sleep - the decision to do this kills me - i feel like i'm a murderer and it makes me sick. Then again as I watch her tonight struggling to breath & when she goes to the bathroom it has now turned to being blood I think I should have put her to sleep today in the office right then and there. But I wanted one more night but is this about I - it should be about her and how to end her pain - but then we are murdering - but i have no choice but it sucks and kills a part of me right along with her.

Ok yes I know she is a dog - but to me she's not "only a dog" she's a buddy i have been with every day for the past 11 years, she was here when my son was born - grew up with him - she's a part of our family.

It hurts me to see how she's breathing. She is still eating, drinking, (they are strong little troopers) but heaves in & out when breathing & looks so weak. But still perks up when i call her name. We have taken many pictures tonight along with a couple video's when Sasha hears something and still guards us by going to see what or who it is and barking.

It's even more hard accepting all this with Sasha because just a couple months ago I went thru all this with my 16 yr old dog Uno who was part Shepard & part Siberian Husky. He was not sick just elderly and failing. I had to make the decision when or if it was time to put him to sleep and it killed me because Uno was born under my bed on my birthday and I had him for 16 great years. So it makes it even harder now losing another dog so soon after losing my Uno and now having to have Sasha put to sleep.

I can't do it. Sasha and Uno were best of buddies too. This is so hard to do - i'm just going to cuddle her all night tonight. She's my baby girl . . .

This picture is of her and our cat who is her buddy very recently on 9/14/08 - she went
downhill so so so fast - how can this happen?

http://www.slide. com/r/ZI69Xle90T 9Vm7tLPtCzYnS3k4 n1pT2G?previous_ view=mscd_ embedded_ url&view=original

Please keep her in your prayers so she makes it thru the night not in too much pain and passes quietly tomorrow when we put her down. I pray for me to have the strength to go thru this yet again and be strong for my son as well. He sobbed his eyes out tonight. It was heartwrenching!

For now I will sign off and take my little Sasha to bed with me so I can hold her all night, her last night here with us on Earth.

Soon she will join Uno - her best buddy and be at rest and at peace again with out pain & suffering.

Our New Twin Grandbabies - Ace & Ava

Ok here is a slide show that took me hours to make but was worth it - our newest grandbabies - the twins Ace & Ava along with some pictures of their awesome big brother Landon who is 2 now, their Uncle Garrett who is now 8 and of course us, Grammy & Bampa!!! Oh and the parents Sara & Nate too hehe! Enjoy - they are pure miracles.

I have been so bad - I need to update my page LOL

Ok I have SOoooooooooooooooo much catching up to do in my blog - i keep my myspace page more updated but I will write more blogs later because after reading thru some of my older ones here it brought back memories and is pretty neat. Hmmm will not forget the flood at our house on Debra Lane - what a mess or when our new boxer puppy broke her leg on Christmas - ummm tuft bills at Christmas over a holiday is NOT what you want to do.

But below I put in a couple slide shows - one of our new home and our pets & us LOL and another of our crazy new puppy we just got from VA from a rescue - Scott Jr drove up from NC with him on his way home on leave in June!

So come back for more updates soon!!!!

Karen :)

Our New Terror of a Puppy Chopzilla

Family

Our Year 2006 Recapped

Our Year - 2006
MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!


We find ourselves with another year gone by way too fast. They seem to go by faster the older we get. We are recapping some of the highlights, so you can share with us some of the things that took place in our family the past year. I am still licensed for home daycare. Hubby is working full time & is still a volunteer Fireman in the town we live in. Gman is doing great in 1st grade this year & is still “Mr Popular” & makes friends everywhere he goes. We still have our dogs Uno & Sasha & our kitties Gitmo & Spike. We also acquired a new addition, Callypso (Cally for short). Our new boxer puppy that was born in May 2006. Hubby still has his reptile collection & his hobby is taking care of them. Our older son, SJ is over in Iraq right now with the 82nd Airborne & my step daughter C is in the 10th grade & living in the city with her mom.

January: *Hubby celebrated his big “40th” Birthday on the 2nd at our home with family. SJ started Airborne jump School at Fort Bragg, NC on the 10th,, also on the 10th, our Grandson J (D’s son), celebrated his 5th birthday. Hubby & me attended the “last” Military ball on the 14th (the last that we would go to because of Hubby's retirement in July) Hubby started a math class at College on the 24th & when finished got an “A”. On the 26tth, SJ graduated from jump school at Ft. Bragg, NC.

February: *Gman started taking Karate classes on the 8th. We had a nice Valentines dinner out on the 14th. Also this month hubby received a phone call one night with a great job offer for a job right in the town we live in, after lots of consideration about retiring from the Army when he still had 2 yrs left that he could stay in, he decided the job offer was too good to turn down. He accepted the offer but wouldn’t start work until April.

March: *We celebrated my 41st birthday on the 12th with a cake & dinner at home with our family. On the 27th, Hubby, me, & Gman took a trip to Ft. XXXX in XX to out-process & sign all the paperwork for hubby's Retirement from the Army. We stayed overnight on base & returned home the next day. March 31st was Hubby's last day working in the Army (his retirement date is July 1st though but he took leave & vacation time).

April: *On the 3rd, Gman lost his first baby tooth. That was a big day in our household. & on the 6th he lost his 2nd baby tooth at school. On the 9th I gave my daughter S a baby shower that turned out great & she got lots of great gifts. On the 10th our grandkids J & E came to live with us full time for a few months while their mom D got her apartment all set up for her & the kids. The 16th was Easter & we had fun the night before coloring Easter eggs with J, E, C, Gman, S & her husband N. The next morning they all had to find their Easter baskets & then have the Easter egg hunt. It was fun. During school vacation week hubby painted the outside of our house from mauve to a nice tan color. It looked great! On the 24th Hubby started his new job as a “Civilian” as the district manager. On the 27th Gman started T-ball!!!!

May: *On the 23rd SJ called us from Ft. Bragg to tell us he got his first tattoo. He got a man in the moon on his shoulder just like his dad has. On May 24th S went into labor & her hubby N took her into the hospital at 11 am. On the 25th our new grandson, L was born & I got to be there for the birth. L was born on (Uncle) Gman’s 6th birthday. So now our son & our grandson have the same birthday. LOL On the 26th Gman sang in a Memorial Day concert at school & did a great job singing.

June: *On the 3rd we celebrated Gman’s 6th birthday (May 25th) with a birthday party for him & his school friends at a bowling alley. The kids had a blast bowling & we found out how much Gman loves to bowl. We had a huge flood in our basement (our sump pump failed) and it was a huge mess. On June 10th SJ came home from NC on leave & we picked him up at the airport. The 16th Gman had his first field trip with his Kindergarten class to the Apple Farm to pick apples & see the animals. I was a nervous wreck all day but Gman had tons of fun & came home with a big bag of apples. Father’s day was the 18th & we had a huge family cookout at my
mom & her bf's place on the Lake. It was great & everyone got to see SJ before he headed back to NC then to Iraq. We all got to go out on my mom’s new party boat. It was a great day with all our kids & family all together. On the 25th we took SJ back to the airport to go back to Ft. Bragg. It was great having him home & seeing him again. It was hard saying bye to him at the airport cuz we knew he may have to deploy to Iraq & didn’t want him to go. The 26th Gman started his 2nd yr of swimming lessons. Our grandkids J & E moved back in with their mom in an apartment in the city. We had a very full house for a while there.

July: July 1st was hubby's “official Retirement Date from the Army”, after 22 years of Service. On the 3rd we went over to the Lake to watch the fireworks. We all went out on my mom’s party boat in the middle of the lake to watch them. My sister has a summer camp on the lake
too so they were here for the summer with their kids. It was nice watching the fireworks out on the lake. On the 9th Gman finished up swimming lessons for this season, he did a great job. The 13th was our 4th wedding anniversary. On the 14th we left for the a few days at the ocean. Gman stayed with my daughter S a couple nights & one night with my mom. We had a great time & perfect weather. We headed back home on the 17th & were missing Gman a lot. On the 23rd we picked out our new boxer puppy Cally. She was born on May 5th. On the 29th SJ turned 19 out in NC & on the 3oth C turned 15. Also this month we were out for a drive just looking at new homes in our town to see what was out there & came across an open house for a brand new Colonial home. We went & looked at it & loved it. Of course we didn’t ever
imagine that we would be buying it. Our ranch house needed so much work & then even more work because of the flooding that occurred in our basement earlier. So when the real estate lady called & told us that the builders of the new house would be interested in buying our home so we could buy theirs we started the process.

August: Our Daughter D celebrated her birthday on the 6th. The week of the 7th we watched our grandkids J & E while D took a vacation to Penn to see her family there & to NY with her boyfriend B. On the 8th, SJ deployed to Bayji, Iraq for a year. The 20th Aunt M had her summer cookout, which is always a fun time & great to get together with family. On the 23rd, S & N celebrated their 3rd wedding anniversary. The 26th Gman started up his 2nd season of soccer. The 28th S had to return to work after her maternity leave & I got to watch our grandson L. Gman started his first day of 1st grade on the 29th & C started in the 10th grade.

September: On the 12th Gman started his first year of Cub Scouts. We spent most of the month getting rid of things we didn’t want to take with us when we moved & beginning to pack. On the 28th we closed on our new house!!!!

October: By the 4th, we were all moved into our new house. It was a lot of work & we were so glad when it was all done. On the 6th SJ came home on leave from Iraq. Hubby & Gman picked him up at the airport. We were so glad to have him back home again. On the 11th, our daughter S celebrated her 25th birthday. On the 15th was our grandson L’s christening. SJ was asked to be L’s God Father which of course he accepted. On the 21st we had a nice big family dinner with lasagna (SJr’s choice for dinner) & on the 22nd it was another hard day as we had to take SJ back to the airport cuz he had to return to Iraq until August. Please keep him in your prayers. On the 27th Gman was in a “Halloween” parade & dressed up as Ninja. On the 31st we went trick or treating up town w/S, N & L. It was L’s first Halloween.

November: Our granddaughter E turned 4 on the 7th. She’s getting so big too fast. She is a real cutie too. The 14th was a meeting with Gman’s teacher to find out how he was doing in 1st grade. We were very pleased to find out that Gman is in the top reading group in his class (he loves to read to us) and is doing excellent in Math as well. He was the only one that got 100% on a math test they had in class. He’s doing great in School & we are very proud of him. On the 16th Gman had a trip to the dentist to get his teeth cleaned. No cavities & all is going well with his teeth. That’s what we like to hear. He loves going to the dentist. On the 23rd we had a big Thanksgiving dinner at our house. S, N, L (his first Thanksgiving), C, D, J, E & my mom all came to our new house for dinner. Me & my daughter S cooked most of the day making a perfect dinner. We lit our first fire in our new fireplace & we all enjoyed it a lot. We really were missing SJ a lot though & said prayers for him at dinner. He called from Iraq & it was great to talk to him.

December: On the 9th we went to Hubby's company Christmas party while SJ’s friend J babysat Gman for us. We had a great time & Gman loved having Jenny take care of him. On the 16th we went to another Christmas party, S & N watched Gman that night. On the 22nd Gman has his Christmas party with his class at school. C comes over on the 22nd to spend Christmas with us & will stay until the 26th. We are really missing SJ – it will be his first Christmas not at home. We sent him a little xmas tree w/ornaments & lots of goodies etc. though. He also has a new tv & we sent him his xbox & a new folding chair so he was happy.

December is always such a busy month. SJ calls us about once a week from Iraq & is doing okay. We are very proud of him. Please keep him in your prayers. Please also pray for all our other military troops & their families.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!!
All our love & best wishes!

Catching Up Oct 2006 - Feb 2007

Ok I'm back but I sure do have lots of catching up to do. Sorry for the long lapse in no posts. Thanks for all the support & prayers for my step son who is over in Iraq. He's 19 years old & has been there since Aug 2006. We hear from him about every 1 1/2 weeks which we are happy about. We miss him like crazy.

This post is just going to be a quick caption about catching up but will post more details about certain things soon.

In Oct 2006 we moved to a brand new construction home & left all the moldy wet in our flooded basement behind. It worked well for us cuz the house we bought, the builders of it bought our old house. Weird i know but true. Our new house is 4 bdrms, 3 full baths, 2 1/2 acres of land, etc. etc. We love it.

We also bought a boxer puppy back in July 2006 when she was 10 weeks old. She was born on May 5th, 2006 and now is 9 mos old but in Dec right before xmas she jumped off a 3' stone wall in our yard & broke her back leg. It was horrible. She had to have a very costly surgery but is doing fine now.

My husband also retired from the Army in July 2006 after 22 years & is having a tough time adjusting to a civilian work place but I'm so proud of him cuz he does have a great job & he is doing a great job. We both miss him being in the military though.

Our youngest son who is 6 is doing awesome in 1st grade. He's reading at 3rd grade level & his teacher said he's very smart in math. That made our day.

Well here is some updates I am taking from some of my e-mails that will have more info for now til I catch up:

12/26/06
My boxer is 7 mos old & her name is Callypso (Cally) for short.
Well this summer she had lyme disease. She was limping one day so i took her to the vet & they said she had lyme disease so we treated her for 30 days for that & after only 2 days on the meds she was running around fine again. Anyway the other day I had her outside w/me - she loves to run around & play outside. And we have a stone wall that is edging on our driveway that is about 3' tall & at the bottom there is about 3' of grass area then the driveway. I called Cally to come to me & i was in the driveway & she wags her tail like to say ok mommy i'm coming & i turned around to walk to the side yard & i hear her yelping in pain & turn around & she's jumping around in a circle screaming in pain. She jumped off the wall but she must have hit her hind leg or something. I didn't see it so i don't know. This was Sat & most vets were closed for the holdiday weekend & referred us to Tufts animal hospital. So we put her on her dog bed & drove her to the hospital. They admitted her & got her on an iv with pain meds. They took xrays & said it was a totally clean break ( we saw the pics) above the growth plate (so that was good) but that she would need surgery & have a plate put in. Its costing us $75 a day for her to stay there - it was $140 just to walk thru the door & they said with surgery it will be about $3000. Now i wonder since its a "clean" break why they can't just put her in a cast like people do for clean breaks of bones til they heal? Why do they have to put a plate in her leg & do surgery?? They are scheduled to do the surgery tomorrow at noon cuz they were off til tomorrow cuz of the Christmas weekend. Also we wanted to bring her home til the surgery cuz she has a cast thing on now & is hopping around & seems in good spirits, would have saved us about $600 in fees for her staying there. Our Cally girl is only 7 mos old & we miss her alot. I'm sick about her breaking her leg cuz i called her to come to me. This is a bad time of year to have to come up w/an extra $2700 for surgery but we will find a way.

12/29/06
Cally is home from surgery for her broken back leg!!!!

We picked Cally up tonight & we just got back home. Keeping her "quiet" for the next 8 weeks is going to be VERY hard to do. She's use to being caged at night (thank God) but not all day. We walked her around outside for a few minutes so she could go to the bathroom then kept her leashed & she walked around the house but if we let her off the leash she thinks its playtime & will race all over the house so we can't do that. But the problem is when we keep her on the leash or cage her, she's NOT happy in the cage she scratches at the door trying to get out & crying horribly. I feel so bad & don't know what to do but they said to keep her from playing, running, going up stairs etc for 8 weeks.

But the good news is she already puts weight on her leg & she seems great. The surgery ended up being about $500 less than they said!!! YAY!!!

Cally thinks she never even had surgery. But that's the problem with keeping her quiet for the next 8 weeks.


(1/21/07)
I have been really sick for over a week now. Wicked sore throat, earache on the left side, massive sinus headaches & a cough that makes you gag & cough up green & yellow stuff. Its so gross. Even my 6 yr old son tells me, "mom that is so gross." When i can't stop coughing. This morning i couldn't take it anymore after 3 nights of coughing all night & no sleep, i called the dr on call. I have taken so many meds & cough drops now my stomach is sick. They didn't even see me, just called me in some cough syrup with codeine, antibiotics & afrin nasal spray (which is bad for you from what i hear lately).

I had been in there last week & they didn't do anything. I am so sick of feeling like shit & being sick. Gman has been sick too & has been to the dr 4x's in the past month. He has had a dry cough for over 2 months now & an itchy eye that gets red around the outside of his eye at times. Its not bloodshot inside the eye & its not goopy. And the eye thing has been going on for a few weeks.

I think i am going to switch him to a pediatrician instead of our family dr - only thing is our family dr is here in town, a 10 min drive & the closest pediatrician i can find that will take on new patients is a 40 min drive away. Not sure what i should do but the 4x's he has gone to the dr he has seen 4 diff dr's & all have said he had something different so that scares me. One of them said they think its asthma even though we have no history of asthma & his lungs sounded fine??? She wanted to put him on a week of prednisone (steroids) to see if it "knocked" his cough away sort of like a test to see if its asthma or not. Hubby & I talked & even though i filled the perscription we didn't feel comfortable giving a 6 yr old w/out any signs of breathing troubles in his lungs prednisone.

Anyway have I have to go dose up on my cough syrup & try to sleep. Hope
everyone is doing well. On a good note, our son that is in Iraq wrote me on myspace today. He said he would call but hasn't called yet. Usually we get the phone call about 3am. LOL He sounded good. Said the weather is really crappy rainy, cold, windy & that he's not addicted to hot chocolate so to send him some hot chocolate.



2/7/07
Cally went back to the vet today for her follow up xrays from braking her back leg and having surgery to put a plate in it back on 12/29/06. She's been on restricted exercise since then but doing well.

The vet said the broken bone healed up well. He said he didn't like the plate they put in, he said he would have used a pin (but unfortunately it was xmas vaca & he wasn't around ) and we had to have the surgery done. He said to keep her on limited exercise for another 2 months. He found a spot on the xray just below her knee that looks like a gouge out of the bone. I don't think it was in the xray that we saw from when her leg was broke. He is a bit concerned about it but said he hopes it will be fine & just to watch her & if she ever shows tenderness or limping to call him.

She weighed in at 48.6 lbs & is 9 mos old.

I can't wait til we can just let her run around again without telling her no Cally stop. She's a puppy that wants to run around & play.

Ok well that's some of the updates - will post more later.

"And Now these three remain: faith, hope & love" 1 Corinthians 13:13

Our Flooded Basement

Well about the flooded basement. . . . It all happened the night of June 3rd - it hasn't stopped raining here in New England for over 3 weeks straight & the water tables are very high & tons of flooding. I hope we see some sun soon cuz its so depressing & very wet. Anyway our sump pump in the basement must have crapped out during the night. My step daughter Cara & I were watching a movie & it was actually about a mom & her daughter that moved into a high rise apt bldg in NY & it kept flooding. So after the movie Cara went downstairs to bed (her room is down there) & she came back up & said, "Mom, is there suppose to be water all over the floor downstairs." I went downstairs to look & sure enough water was coming in on most of the sides of the foundation. So I woke up my husband & he went down & looked at the sump pump & confirmed it was not working. Then he said we probably wouldn't get much more water in & he went to sleep. When we got up on Sunday am the whole entire basement (all 7 rooms) were flooded bigtime, every last inch of the basement was soaked with between 2-4" of water depending where you were. We lost lots of carpets, vinyl flooring, an entertainment center, anything that was on the floor, boxes of pictures, etc. I now learned the hard way I will NEVER pack anything in boxes again, always in plastic bins. Cuz ya never know when that one time flood will happen. I've lived here for 14 yrs & never had more than a tiny bit of water come in the basement near the bulkhead. This was horrible. Its still so wet down there & now the whole house smells like wet musty smell. If it ever stops raining maybe we can air out a couple of the carpets we are keeping & get them to dry out. I need the sunshine soon . . . can anyone send some sun my way please ................................

My New Grandson is Here

My new grandson has arrived & he is soooooooooo cute. He was born on my son's 6th birthday. Uncle Gman is so thrilled. There is 18 years between my daughter & my son. My daughter & her husband were so happy to have their new little son here with them. They named him Landon. I was able to be there for the birth. I have given birth twice but never watched the whole thing & boy its quite an experience (we'll leave it at that, lol). It was a long labor, she went in about 11:30pm on May 24th and he wasn't born until late afternoon on May 25th. He was well worth the wait though. I am lucky too that I only live two houses away from them so can visit him often & when his mom returns to work he'll be staying with me . . . his favorite Grammy. hehe

So tons has gone one since I made this blog & never blogged so I will have to play catch up but had to get this news in. Also have to post how we had my two step grandkids living with us, my son and his adventures in Kindergarten which is now almost over for the year, my step son joining the Army & is living in NC & deploying to Iraq in August (he's 18), my husband retiring from the army after 22 years & starting a new job in civilian life as a manager (boy its lots different than the Army), and our latest huge flood of our basement due to the rain for the past three weeks in the northeast. I NEED THE SUNSHINE!!!! Ok so i promise I'll post & fill ya all in very soon.

After creating heaven and earth, God created Adam and Eve. And the first thing he said was "DON'T!" "Don't what?" Adam replied.

"Don't eat the forbidden fruit." God said.

“Forbidden fruit? We have forbidden fruit? Hey Eve..we have forbidden fruit!!!!!"

No Way!"

“Yes way!"

"Do NOT eat the fruit!" said God.

"Why"

"Because I am your Father and I said so!" God replied, wondering why He hadn't stopped creation after making the elephants.

A few minutes later, God saw His children having an apple break and He was angry! "Didn't I tell you not to eat the fruit?" God asked.

“Uh huh," Adam replied.

"Then why did you?" said the Father.

"I don't know," said Eve.

“She started it!" Adam said

“Did not!"

“Did too!"

"DID NOT!"

Having had it with the two of them, God's punishment was that Adam and Eve should have children of their own. Thus the pattern was set and it has never changed.


BUT THERE IS REASSURANCE IN THE STORY! If you have persistently and lovingly tried to give children wisdom and they haven't taken it, don't be hard on yourself. If God had trouble raising children, what makes you think it would be a piece of cake for you?

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT!

1. You spend the first two years of their life teaching them to walk and talk. Then you spend the next sixteen telling them to sit down and shut up.

2. Grandchildren are God's reward for not killing your own children.

3. Mothers of teens now know why some animals eat their young.

4. Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said.

5. The main purpose of holding children's parties is to remind yourself that there are children more awful than your own.

6. We childproofed our homes, but they are still getting in.
ADVICE FOR THE DAY: Be nice to your kids. They will choose your nursing home one day.

AND FINALLY:

IF YOU HAVE A LOT OF TENSION AND YOU GET A HEADACHE, DO WHAT IT SAYS ON THE ASPIRIN BOTTLE:
"TAKE TWO ASPIRIN" AND "KEEP AWAY FROM CHILDREN"!!!!!