Drew's Western Day at Preschool

January 22nd was Western Day at Drew's little preschool.  It is always such a fun event for all the little preschoolers!  I go to BSF on Wednesday mornings, and I was signed up to work in the nursery on the 22nd.  I was so sad that I would have to miss Western Day.  :(  Thankfully, Super Dad came to the rescue and went up to the preschool for a little bit to see our cowboy in action.  He took pictures and everything.  What a guy!

Drewster was looking mighty fine!

First up was the petting zoo.

 Then pony rides...

 Melt. My. Heart.  Such a cutie!

Mrs. Chay sent home this precious picture of Drew in a cute handmade frame.  Just adorable.

I'm told that Western Day was a smashing success, and Drew had a great time.  I love these fun preschool days!

Chinese Lantern Festival

Our sweet friends that live across the street spent their New Year suffering through the flu.  :(  We felt so bad for them!  The flu has been just terrible this year.  Unfortunately, they had tickets to the Chinese Lantern Festival in Dallas that they were unable to use.  They were so kind to share them with us!  It seemed wrong to plan this fun event when we knew that they were all so sick, but they insisted and assured us that the tickets would go to waste if we didn't use them.  We had planned to go on the night of January 3rd.  Sadly, that was the day that we had to put Sydney Girl to sleep.  We briefly debated about missing the festival, but decided that it would be nice to get out of the house and do something fun.  The festival ended up being a good distraction on a really sad day for our family.  I'm so glad that we went!  It was a super fun night.  :)

I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I envisioned lots of hanging lanterns and a carnival like environment.  In actuality, there were tons of scenes and floats that were lit up.  It was really beautiful!

There were acrobats, dancers, and a bian lian performer (a dramatic art where the performer switches masks in a split second).  It was really fun to watch!

These towers were made out of dishes.

 It was soooo cold!  This little Buddy had the best seat in the house - bundled up with many layers and blankets, perched in his stroller, enjoying the ride.  :)

Thanks, Katy & Carlos, for sharing your tickets with us!  It put smiles on little faces that had been quite sad all day.  We are so thankful!

Our Sydney Girl

Well, our New Year got off to a bit of a rough start.  On January 3rd, we had to put our dog, Sydney, to sleep.  :(  While we were somewhat prepared that her days were coming to an end, it was still so much sadder than I ever dreamed that it would be!

During the last week of December, Sydney's mobility drastically declined.  She has struggled with her hips and back legs for the last couple of years, and the winter has seemed to be especially difficult for her.  After Christmas, we noticed that she would randomly fall while walking, tumbled down the stairs when her legs gave out, and would lay on her back and cry.  It was pretty pitiful.  :(  I felt bad for the old girl!

On January 3rd, we decided that she needed to be seen by the vet.  Wade and I were both fairly certain that they would encourage us to put her down.  We decided that it would be best for the boys if we prepared them and gave them an opportunity to say goodbye.  We took some pictures of them with Sydney.  I'm so glad that we have these pictures of our boys and their first dog.

We also went to McDonalds and got Sydney Girl a cheeseburger and fries.  She was pretty happy about that, and the boys loved getting to feed her.

Wade took her to the vet and the doctor said that she had a progressive neuro-muscular disorder that was causing her to lose the use of her legs.  She could give her medicine to slow the progression, but it would not undo the damage that was already done.  She advised us to let her go and walked Wade through the process.  Wade called to fill me in, and Clayton pushed hard that he really wanted to be there.  He was so passionate, that we allowed it.  He was very mature about the whole process, and I am glad that we let him be there.  He handled it really, really well. 

The vet gave us the option of getting her paw print in clay.  My sweet husband forked over the extra dough and bought the keepsake.  I am really glad to have it.

We miss our Sydney Girl so much.  I'm not much of a dog person, but she was an important part of our family.  Wade and I got her when we had only been married for 4 months.  She has moved with us four times and been at there when we brought home all three of our babies.  She lived a good, long 13.5 years with the same family.  I'd say that is pretty great for a pooch.  :)

Tiny Sydney as a puppy

 Beagles are such cute puppies!

 We were babies - all three of us!

 This was our Christmas card picture in 2001.

 Sydney and Baby Drew

Poor girl got roped into many of Clayton's shenanigans.  ;)

 She was always very happy to see Wade when he returned from a business trip.

 She tolerated our kids so well.  :)

 I'm glad that we threw her a birthday party this Summer.

 If Sydney was missing, we knew to look in our closet.  She loved to sleep next to Wade's shirts.

The jury is still out on what kind of dog we will get next or when that will be.  The boys are pushing hard for a Golden Retriever, but I'm really enjoying taking a break from being a pet owner.  We shall see...  Sydney was a pretty low maintenance dog, and the thought of starting over with a puppy is a bit daunting.  I'd like to get Owen potty trained before I have another little one to clean up after.  ;)  Sydney was a good dog for our family, and she will be missed.