Houston is 4!

I can hardly believe this guy turned 4 yesterday.

He’s my sweet boy, he doesn’t mind giving mommy hugs and kisses, he still loves to snuggle and he’s full of deep thoughts and questions. I say it all the time, he's got a mature soul, I can’t describe it. We keep warning Colby, he’s going to catch up with him before long, he’s solid.

He loves his brother, sure they fuss and fight but deep down they are best buds.

  Opposites in every way, and we love it!

I wish I could say I planned a magical birthday party but I didn't, no party.   And you know what, it’s okay, he had bat man cupcakes with his buddies at school and doughnut birthday breakfast and then we lugged him to our home away from home aka the ballpark to watch big brother.  His wish was to go to the lake and the beach and before you know it we'll make that wish come true.  Until then, we’re going to spoil him rotten all weekend long, this weekend is all about him (aside from Colby’s 9 a.m. championship game tomorrow, fingers crossed they bring home the victory).  He goes with the flow and I love that about him. 

Here's to you birthday boy, your our little ray of sunshine and we are so blessed to have you!

Catching Up

Whew, I think this has been a record breaking fast year for us, I've probably mentioned that a few too many times on this ole blog, but it's so true. Wow that was a run on sentence, yay me. Let me recap the past few months, in true Hagood procrastination style.

FINALLY had some professional photos taken this year. Wow family photos are hard to come by and I'm so thankful for these. We will treasure those pics and am thrilled that the boys did smile and they boys did get their dollar tree prize afterwards, as promised. We've got some handsome boys, if I do say so myself... Files are so large, I'll share one of my faves, I simply photo shopped the Merry Christmas banner to the established year so it could be used in our house all year round :). Moving right along, we had a wonderful, relaxing Thanksgiving, with only one house to eat at, that was a change, but so nice not to have to stuff our self twice. We've decided it's only fair to alternate years, so this year was the Krininger house. A day full of playing with cousins, eating, and a lot of sitting around digging through the sales ads planning the attach of black Friday. Did I mention it was a serious warm day, didn't even feel like November. Used the trusty tripod to capture a big family shot. Poor Colby....

We were so PROUD & SHOCKED that Houston learned how to ride a bike with no training wheels over the Thanksgiving weekend! What a big boy at only 3, but he's bound and determined to keep up with big brother.

Then we blinked and it was December.... Then came a magical night, with a visit to the North Pole, Polar Express style. They had a ball! Wished the "north pole" had some fake, snow it did confuse a certain 6 year old who has asked a lot of good questions this year. But you could see the magic and excitement in Houston's eyes, he loved every minute of it! Well, that's a wrap, be back soon with more Christmas festivities.

Halloween 2011

Lots of fun the week of Halloween! Houston was Dash from the Incredibles and Colby managed to only swap outfits twice, he was Batman and Wolverine. They had a ball trick or treating and have way too much sugar in the house!

Pumpkin Patch 2011

Fun time at the patch again. Highlight of the day was the real Indian that was teaching the Indian sign language and dances. Colby was amazed, he's learning all about Indians in school right now. Did you know there are 500 Indian tribes in the U.S. ? He taught us how to sign "good day" in a universal sign language that all any Indian tribes would understand. Colby's favorite song from school is "...we are the red men feathers in our headband, down by the den man, mmm pow wow, mmm pow wow." So this Indian appearance was a real treat!

RTR 2011

As you can tell I am emptying the camera this weekend, doing a little reminiscing of weeks/months ago. We took our little annual trip to T-town homecoming weekend. We always love the parade and all the excitement in the air. We enjoyed some yummy BBQ nachos from the strip! Bumped into Danny's high school sweetheart, that was nice! We also got to visit with Kayla, which was a the highlight of the day! Another fun moment was when ESPN videoed Danny pushing the boys in the double jog/stroller, we didn't see it on TV, but camera man said it would air sometime that day - the boys first few seconds of fame ;). We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. The boys were tuckered out as soon as we got back to the car.

Go Giants!!

ROCKY our Rocker Doodle

Today as I write this my heart is heavy. I’m not the best story teller, I tend to leave out important parts or rush over the details, but hear it goes. Over a year ago our beloved boxer Rocky had a large mass/tumor removed that had engulfed one of his kidneys. Tumors are removed all the time from dogs, but this one was a shocker to our vet, its size was massive and the tumor was cancerous, rare according to our vet. The doctor bragged of what a tough boy Rocky was, a true miracle to have survived the extensive surgery, he proved to be a real fighter to stay alive. The mass was so large they saved it in a cooler and sent it to Auburn for vet students to dissect – they showed it to me and let me feel how heavy it was, bless his heart for carrying that heavy thing around. Rocky recovered great from his first surgery, we fattened him back up with silk balls (meat ball recipe we found on-line) and he was back to his old self, full of life. But after about 10 months we noticed Rocky started not eating and snubbing food he would normally gobble up, he got thinner and thinner and laid around a lot more, and threw up if he did eat, he became skin and bones. All the while we were being good dog parents and taking him in for his periodic x-rays to keep an eye on any growths. The x-rays didn’t show anything abnormal. The vet treated him for an infection instead. We knew without the x-ray that the cancer had come back. This past Saturday I was at the ballpark, it was Colby’s first flag football game; Danny & Houston dropped Rocker at the vet for yet another x-ray. After the game the vet called, a small mass was showing up and he couldn’t tell exactly what it was attached to, he would need to keep Rocky over the weekend to strengthen him up so that he could endure surgery on Monday. Little did I know that Saturday would be the last time I would see my sweet Rocker Doodle again. When the vet opened Rocky up Monday morning we got the numbing call “while he’s asleep I can…” the cancer was everywhere, GI track, his spleen, organs that he would need and couldn’t be removed, he would continue to deteriorate and throw up and be in pain. We had to make that tough dog parent decision to let him go. Monday ranks as one of the saddest days ever. Our beloved boxer, Rocky aka Rocker Doodle went to doggy heaven, and as coincidence or fate would have it, it was his 8th birthday. Our hearts are heavy and broken and our house feels so empty without him. As I write this, the tears still poor, my eyes are sore from crying, I know it’s just a dog, but for a dog he was the cream of the crop. But he was such huge part of our family; he even appeared on at least 2 of our Christmas cards. I keep reminiscing of what a precious soul he was. He was so gentle and happy and at the same time ferocious to guard anyone who would think about crossing into our backyard – he was doing his job and he did it well. He started out hyper as any pup would be, but as he got older wow he turned into just the most wonderful pal. The ears of our house, the greeter to the door, and the simplest of things pleased him; the mention of a “walk” sent him into a happy orbit, the toss of a Frisbee he’d eagerly fetch nonstop. The Cook’s pest control man was scared of him, little did he know he’s all bark. He did have a hunter instinct; if a creature came in the backyard he would fight and usually win (turtle, raccoon, and armadillo). The mention of “bath” sent him hiding. The word “go” made his tail wag. Danny and I had only been married a few months when we decided it was time to add to our family. We handpicked him from a house way out in the country one October afternoon. He was the runt of the litter and the cutest puppy I’d ever seen and he hung around us and seemed interested in us too. So we carried him home, our first baby to take care of, what a gem. As the years went by and the kids came into our family, he loved them and protected them too, so gentle with them from the start. The boys poked and prodded him, tried to ride him as a horse, and he put up with it and licked them in the face. He shared his backyard some days with his best boxer buddy Henry, and they became best of friends. It’s hard to even look out to the backyard right now, his memory will always remain I can picture him now galloping through the grass, so gracefully and fast, like a deer. Pets can really teach us a lot, their unconditional love is inspring, so easy to forgive and finding so much joy in the simplest things in life. It’s so hard to explain this loss to the boys, the innocent questions they ask break my heart even more. We will miss our Rocker Doodle to pieces, may he rest in peace.