Fonzie goes to sleep

We put Fonzie to sleep yesterday and we all miss him so much. All of us were in the room with him when he died. He was our dog, part of our family. We all talked a lot about him last night and Sofia said this morning that he was her brother. Samantha agreed with her. Daddy and I still think every jingle is Fonzie's dog tags.  I don't know when or if we will get another dog. Fonzie had such a great disposition and was very tolerant of kids... He left such a void that we are all feeling now, but time will tell and we are all too raw from the loss to make any decisions. For our last day with Fonz we took him to his favorite place on earth... The dog park. He played with the other dogs and smelled everything, as per usual. Since it was such a hot day and the age he's at (over 100 in dog years), Fonzie was worn out pretty quickly.

I'm grateful to Fonz for forcing me to get over my fears of big dogs, for teaching me how to live in a pack, and all the years of annoyances, adventures and love.  In all the walks he went on, someone always pointed out his beauty. I'll never forget the strange looks from people whenever we went rollerblading, or correcting all the folks who thought he was a wolf. I'll remember the times he ran over our kids and others, the wrestling matches and his reaction whenever Daddy said he was going to pick him up (Fonzie would run).
Fonzie is forever a member of our family and is forever loved by us. We will miss you Fonz, so much.

Rest In Peace, old friend. 

Happy Birthday Fonzie!

Fonzie is 13! Our buddy and much loved beast of a Husky dog made it! He got a large amount of treats all day!

The entire family came to his birthday party today! We all ate a fantastic dinner. Thank you Daddy and Papa! Best of all, we enjoyed plenty of time with all the kids. They all had fun running around and playing. Sofia, Samantha, Dylan and Jordan are wonderful and so cute to watch! (Though Nana sticking her hand in Jordan's diaper knowing there was poop and then touching Daddy... Could've done without that.).

Fonzie's hearing is going, but not enough to drown out the fireworks that normally occur with the holiday. He is starting to seem like a really old dog, especially with this heat wave. Fonzie is loved and a member of our family. I was extremely pleased that he went into "spaz" mode and demonstrated his ability to run at full speed around the back yard this afternoon! It's so cool to see!

This is the face Fonzie makes when I take a picture of him eating his birthday present from Nana and Papa.  I think it means, "Aw Mom! C'mon!"

A woman never panics! Even in the face of rodents!

It has a happy ending for us! The mouse was in the trap this morning, so no more mouse! The problem has been eradicated and prevention measures have been successfully applied. I will also remember the squeaking sound Samantha made for days afterward.

On Dec 1, 2010, at 12:53 AM, I wrote an email to my husband (who was in the last throes of a stomach illness) as described below:

I was just falling asleep when my peripheral vision caught something move by the entertainment center. I looked with the flashlight and stared into the eyes of a mouse. I'm seriously freaking out and you're thankfully asleep. After I calm down, I'm going to Sofie's room. I set a trap.

I just can't handle rodents in the house.

By the way, your dog never left the chair (next to the mouse on the floor) throughout the whole thing. I will gladly clean up the mess if he kills it. Protect us Fonz!

A night for the kids

I knew Daddy needed as much sleep as possible due to a sore throat/cold/horrendous ailment that he's currently afflicted with. So when Samantha went to him after vomiting in her bed around 3 am this morning, I was glad that I woke up and Daddy didn't. Also because Daddy physically can't handle vomit without joining in. (Yes, I've seen it happen. Multiple times. It's not worth the battle, so I'm always on vomit detail.) I took care of Sam, helped her get cleaned up and got her setup for another round, just in case. Then I again thought of Daddy who reacts about the same to the odor of vomit as the actual presence of it and figured I better wash everything now, despite the hour of day.

In the midst of cleaning Samantha up, Sofia came out of her room desperately wanting a diaper change. I soon realized that her diaper had leaked and her bed was a mess too. It was at that point I flashed to a particular scene involving sick kids from the movie, "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood". I smiled, knowing it could be worse and delirious from the consecutive nights lacking sleep. I got Sofia back to sleep avoiding the mess. Samantha was still wide awake from the excitement and/or drama of throwing up so we talked some more.

As soon as I got Samantha settled down and Sofia was sleeping, I headed downstairs to monitor laundry and watch TV. Soon I was nodding off, which meant that it was Fonzie's turn of course. He managed to look sheepish when I asked him if he had to go outside which was actually comical. I let him out, set my phone alarm to let him back in and got him taken care of.

Thankfully we don't have many nights like this and more importantly we can deal with it when it happens. Life is short and finding the humor in the truly messy moments is one of the best ways to lead by example.

Ducks and a pretend zoo

Earlier this week I stayed home with Samantha in another effort to help her recover a bit from the croup/cold/allergies/unknown stuff that she's been struggling with. The cough sounds so painful and the poor kid wasn't able to sleep that well so I offered to let her stay home. We played 'Sorry' and she enjoyed teaching her pretend class too.

Once we picked up Sofie, we raided all the stuffed animals to set up a pretend zoo. Both girls had an array of bears and dolls that they were responsible for watching. We toured the giraffes, monkeys, zebras, found a dolphin and a kangaroo. Then I performed a wolf show starring Fonzie as the wolf. He cooperated wonderfully while I imitated the trainers that I've seen at zoos. It worked out and the girls were enthralled! We even had audience participation and the girls each brought their group up to pet "the wolf". It was definitely a good mommy moment and so fun for us all!

Keeping with the animal theme, a family of mallard ducks has moved into the side yard. There are 7 ducklings that I've seen and the mom doesn't seem too concerned with Fonz. It's been fun for the girls to watch them!

Fonzie's walk and Sofia's puddles

One of the great things about the recent warming trend is taking Fonzie for walks. He doesn't get out much during the winter without Momma's office to run around as we've done in previous years. Yesterday Sofia, Grammy and I banded together to take Fonz for a stroll. The pace wasn't fast, but it was fun to watch Sofie play in the various puddles on our path. She was soaked by the time we got back to the car, but she had a great time!

Since I have lifting restrictions for my disc problems, Grammy got to be the one who gave Sofia a piggy back ride. While I was jealous that I couldn't do it without risking more injury, I'm grateful for this picture. The other picture is Grammy helping Samantha with her homework. My girls love their Grammy and they are blessed to have her! Grammy is a fabulous Grammy!

A day to do nothing

I love days where we don't have to do anything or be anywhere. They are rare so we appreciate them. It's true that we actually end up doing things, but this is our time to be a family without any external distractions. It's just us and it's important that we take that time. We have all been struggling with colds and we have been too busy so we took yesterday for some downtime.

We did get out of the house to take Fonz to the dog park though. The girls played with their Dad at the playground while I chased Fonz. He had a ball socializing and getting some exercise!

Weekend of strange illnesses and fun

We had a busy and fun weekend!

Auntie She came by on Friday for a slumber party. Grammy stayed for dinner and I mentioned to the girls that we were blessed to have loved ones with us to celebrate Shabbat. We munched on pizza and Sam helped to make s'mores for dessert. Then the S girls (including She) changed into our pajamas and set up our beds in the basement to watch "Finding Nemo". I then noticed that Sofie had a fever and about two-thirds through, the girls ended up in their beds. We made a huge breakfast the next morning and Auntie She headed home.

Saturday Nana and Papa came by to watch Sofie since she was quarantined while Sam and I headed off on our own adventure. We picked up her friend from preschool, Ella and her mom for an afternoon at a painting studio. It was something we have never done and it was fun! Afterwards Sam got to play at Ella's house for a bit. They both enjoyed themselves immensely and I got some video of their stage performance at Ella's!

Sunday was a low-key day. Sam enjoyed watching football with Daddy and all the grandparents came for dinner. Sofia came with me and Fonzie for a walk at the dog park. She was very sweet talking to all the dogs. "Hey bud/buddy/dog/doggie" while holding out her hand to them. Sofie then got to play at the park while I tried to scrap the dog poop off my shoe that I had accidentally stepped in.

For reasons unknown at this time, Sam has been throwing up since midnight. She thankfully does not have a fever, but we are staying home. Sam is upset that she doesn't get to go to school, but we're looking at it as a snow day because we've been watching it snow all night! I think it's a little soon for winter!

Sofia caught it later in the week, but thankfully it was quick. Daddy and I both stayed home with her Friday and got through it just fine. Below is a shot of her taking comfort in her pacifiers (which are thankfully gone now). Apparently one is not enough!

Full week

After the long weekend, it was hard to leave the girls and head back to work. I enjoy them so much. This week it has been difficult to leave them and I miss my kids!

This morning I was (as Sam put it), being pokey. I wasn't carpooling so I relaxed my routine and hung out with my family. I ended up dropping the girls off on my way into the office and sincerely cherished the experience. I miss doing that every day...

Tonight Daddy had a haircut so the girls and I took Fonz to the nearby dog park. I've recently gotten brave enough to take him off the leash and let him go. Sam has joined me a couple of times (she did not enjoy getting wet), but I had never taken Sofie. Fonzie took off and the girl's pace was not going to keep up with him. When we got to the far side, Fonzie had already moved on to the front side and we finally got Fonz on our next lap. After that, we resumed our routine of park play. We followed that with some family cuddling time and an episode of "Dragon Tales" before bed.

No, they are not fighting... this is the best picture I've got at the moment and it showcases the cute (and cheesy) matching dresses!

It was a good day!

Fonzie turns 11

July 3rd is Fonzie's birthday and he just turned 11 years old! He's a good dog and great with the kids. We celebrated Fonzie's birthday by taking him to the dog park and let him run. Sam joined me and enjoyed the walk. She especially liked it when he went in the lake. It was time to go when Fonz started repeatedly dominating (a.k.a. mounting) another dog. We all gave him lots of treats and love. He struggles with the noises of fireworks, but I think he still had a good day. Fonz is a part of our family and we're grateful to have him!

Sofia takes on The Fonz!

Fonzie is our very large Siberian Husky. He's 10 years old and definitely is the coolest dog in the world, at least as far as our family goes.

Sofia had already taken Fonzie's new toy (the ball in the picture), so I gave him another toy.

Followed by Sofia seizing the opportunity to amass more toys...

Witness Sofia's triumph and Fonzie's concession!

Sofia does this constantly while Fonz follows her around hoping that she'll drop the toy so he can grab it back. He tolerates it well thankfully!