When Eddie and I met, we were the animal version of the Brady Bunch. Eddie had two cats, Sophie and Maki, I had a cat and a dog, Charlie and Seamus.

Seamus...

Maki, around 2006 or so...

Charlie Cat...

Alas, I can't find any digital pictures of Sophie.

Three cats and a dog, are a lot of animals in one house! Through old age (Sophie), medical issues (Seamus) and attrition (Charlie ran away while Eddie moved into temporary housing in LV), we were down to one pet, Maki.

Yesterday we had to put Maki down. She was very, very old, and very very sick. We all piled into the car in the middle of the morning, the girls wailing and crying. Maki making a feeble "meow" every so often. We hadn't ever taken Maki to the vet since moving back to Oregon, so we didn't have a vet to go to. We picked a place close to home. In hindsight, we should have planned ahead, as the earliest they could try to fit us in was in about 2.5 hours. Fortunately, the vet on duty, a kindly older man, took us in between his next appointment on the books.

It probably didn't look good to have two little girls, under the age of 8 years old, crying their eyes out in the waiting room, while upcoming appointments came in.

The vet told us that we were right to bring her in. She was infested with fleas, which is common on animals who have begun their final days. She was dehydrated, he could tell, she had stopped eating, Eddie volunteered, and her breath stunk and she was starting to lose her teeth.

We probably should have taken her in a week ago, but Eddie wasn't ready to say good-bye and one has to respect that. I'm glad he did come to terms yesterday morning. She would have only gotten worse and it would have been a lot more difficult.

The girls said their goodbyes to Maki and asked good questions as the vet gave her a shot of morphine.

Eddie and I agreed it was important for the girls to witness the last stages of life of a family pet and to say their good-byes as well. Both of us had pets put down while at school when we were younger, and the feelings of being cheated on saying our good-byes are still strong in our memories.

Today, Lulu is doing better, but Bean has moments where she suddenly loses it and cries and sobs for Maki. I know it will be months before she is better. She still suddenly starts crying about a daycare teacher who left school before Christmas, and sobs and cries about how, "I miss Teacher Brooke, I miss her soooo much!" out of the blue while driving to or from school. Heck, she says the same thing about a current teacher who is still in her class, though usually this starts on a Friday night. I forget how big the world is to a 4 year old and how time seems so much longer than it actually becomes as you get older.

We opted to have a private cremation for Maki, like we did for Sophie and Seamus. We will find the right things to plant in their honor in the garden, with an honorary planting for Charlie.

And no, we won't be acquiring any new pets, in the near future. The girls (and Eddie) all know that we are going to be pet-free until Lulu is at least in high school. Not that it hasn't stopped the girls from trying...

I hope I haven't jinxed anything, now, by typing that paragraph above, out. Famous last words, right?

I bought some fun fabrics to make a dress for myself when I bought Bean's pigeon and pony fabric. I've had this Marcy Tilton pattern for about a year or so, and thought it was the perfect time to make it for summer this year.

I love the crabs! And this is perfect for me, because I'm the crabbiest in the family, next to Lulu.

This is the Marcy Tilton pattern: 8876:

Oh, and by the way. I got my hair cut last weekend. It's back into a stacked bob and Charles outdid himself!

My finished Tilton dress! It's comfy, but the zippered front version is a little short and the front hem slit makes it even shorter. This dress will definitely need to be worn with leggings.

Next project, same dress, but I'll make it a little longer, but I'm using this superhero words fabric and a red front zipper. I'm SO excited!

Last year, the girls got little bags of chocolate coins in gold foil from Grandma.

Because they didn't need anymore chocolate, I hid the candy up at the back of the glasses cupboard in the kitchen, in the ramkins, which Lulu inadvertently discovered when getting a drinking glass.

I totally played it off as the Leprechauns had hidden it there. My fib was more believable than I anticipated.

This year, I completely forgot about doing anything for St. Patrick's Day, other than making sure everyone had something green before walking out the door. Lulu, her memory like an elephants, made a beeline for the glass cabinet to see if the Leprechauns had come to visit us, again, this year.

"I'm pretty confident the Leprechauns aren't coming..." I tried to tell her as she grabbed the kitchen step stool to look in the cabinet ramkins. "I put Leprechaun bait out this year, so they shouldn't be able to come into the house. Leprechauns cause a lot of trouble, you know."

I had meant to say I had used Leprechaun repellent. Ugh!

Lulu was disappointed to find empty bowls, but checked again when we got home that night. Nothing.

Tuesday morning, she looked again. Nothing, again.

She left the kitchen and came back in after brushing her teeth to leave for school.

"Mom?" she asked me sadly, "Can you not use Leprechaun bait next year so the Leprechauns can come to the house??" She was so sad. "Sure, honey...I'll see what I can do." I replied.

I'm such a bad mommy!

After getting to work, I realized I needed to make the situation right. But where to find chocolate gold foil coins, and the day after St. Patrick's Day? I went to two stores by my office, and nothing. The checkout clerks, while not having children of their own, got quickly drawn into my story of woe and wished me luck.

Finally, I emailed Eddie and asked him to pick up two bags at Fred Meyers (I'd seen them there as a year-round staple in the candy aisle) and hide the coins in various places around the house so the girls could discover them.

Success!!!

The girls spent the next few days, blissfully discovering gold coins hidden in weird and unexpected places all over the house. And competing over who found what and whether the accumulating findings were fair.

I'm definitely making sure to get the repellent, now, for 2015!

I made two skirts for Bean this morning.  Both turned out really cute!

 

Twirling for the camera...Bean adores her pigeon skirt!

 

My favorite decorative stitch on my sewing machine is this one, which I call a bird foot. It works perfectly on Bean's pigeon skirt, too, don't you think?! I love this stitch! I use it on a lot of things I make for a pretty and interesting seam finish.

 

Lulu and I set out to do several necessary errands today. We finished by dropping the plants I bought for the office at IKEA off at work and then went around the corner to Sushiland for lunch. Lulu is all about going there when ever she can, and I'm thrilled she is learning to eat and love sushi, finally!

Seriously, Eddie and I thought this day would never come with her.

 

And of course, the "Aunt Dian Gene" kicks in once again and she hams it up for the camera. She totally and completely does this on her own. It's amazing. Does make a good picture, though, huh?

Today is Bean's Masquerade event at preschool. She is SO EXCITED and has been looking forward to it all week!

The kids were told they could wear fancy clothes to school and that there would be music and treats and juggling.

Bean however, calls it 'jiggling' as in "jiggle, jiggle, jiggle!" (While doing juggling handmotions to go with it.)

She dressed up in Lulu's fancy Belle dress she got from Aunt Dian a few years back. It barely fit but we squeezed her in and zipped her up! I put my 2013 fascinator on her head, and you can see how excited she is and beaming before we left for school...

Lulu was naughty at school yesterday.  She flung her rain boot off in the air, over the bathroom stall, and it landed in the toilet. Narrowly missing her classmate in the stall.

Why?

Because she was trying to say something and no one would give her their attention.

I love her pictures.

Its hard for me to keep my "mom is not pleased" face when she gets these...

Bad mommy!