Kindergarten School Year

Time flies! There were so many things happening that I didn't have time to blog. Picking up where I left off, here is our school year in a few quick snap shots.

In October, Evan had his first field trip. He enjoyed Apple Hill so much that he decided we needed to go again the following weekend with Grandma and Papa Mac. He loved the hay maze, and we had an extra special surprise when we went to buy his ticket. His babysitter, Ashton, was working behind the counter!

At school we had twin day, and Evan learned so much! He started challenging me to contests during bath time and keeping score...I usually lost. He also quickly realized how awesome his teacher, Mrs. Carter, is!

For Halloween we met up with his best bud Caleb, a.k.a Harry Potter. We tried something new this year and went trick-or-treating in Downtown Placerville. It was fun, but a bit crowded for us.

As per tradition, we started Thanksgiving week off with a trip to Macy's so Evan could write his letter to Santa. He asked for a day to do whatever he wants, mint chip ice cream, and for me to allow him to eat at McDonald's. He shocked Titi by writing the entire letter himself! As soon as he dropped it in the slot, he realized that even if he got everything he wanted, he wouldn't have anything under the tree. Yikes! So, he wrote a second letter and asked for The Rookie. 

We had Thanksgiving at our house again this year. We started the day off at Run to Feed the Hungry with Titi, grandma, and papa. Then over to Titi's for brunch with the Bandera crew. We followed up with dinner and pie at our house with the grandparents, Donteal and DJ. 

The next day the boys went to the Kings game, and grandma and I went to a class at Painted. It was something new, and we both enjoyed it. So much so, that I plan to do it again this summer. I found the most beautiful artificial tree at Under the Arbor. It fits perfectly (well, close enough) in between our windows. 

 

Evan had his first fundraiser at Buckeye, and thanks to generous family members, he earned all sorts of "cool" prizes (see mustache picture below). Sue Prock joined us for our very first Ugly Sweater Run, and really many more should join us next year. We almost didn't go to the run because Evan was having so much fun playing in our front yard covered in snow!

December is always a time for celebrating in our family, but this year was especially fantastic because Titi wasn't sick! She threw her most fabulous birthday party yet. Her house was transformed into a winter wonderland complete with Santa and an elf. 

We went to the Nutcracker at the Harris Center again and enjoyed it as much as last year. I hope this tradition never dies. 

Amazingly enough all of my siblings were home for Christmas. Okay, it was the day after and only for a few overlapping hours, but we made it happen!

January is typically a welcomed calm after the storm and this year did not disappoint. Evan got to kick of 2014 with his "Do Whatever He Wants Day" that Santa left under the tree. He could do ANYTHING that he wanted, and what did he choose? All he wanted was to not leave the house! Wish granted! This sports fanatic played all day long and loved every minute of it.

February was a month of firsts. Evan joined his first T-Ball team (the Diamondbacks) and went bowling for the first time at Caleb's birthday party. A little apprehensive about the bowling, but not about T-Ball. I have never seen someone so excited!

 March was all about T-Ball! I am sure other things were going on, but T-Ball was our life. I looked forward to their games each week because watching them learn how to play the game was highly entertaining. Next year we will try to get Ev on a team with one of his friends. He enjoyed meeting new people and getting to play against his friends' teams. Because of course, if you ask him, his team won every single game.

April was all about family! We spent the first part of our spring break in Arizona seeing the MLB Diamondbacks, the White Tank Mountains, horse races, and animals big and small. It had been almost a year since we had seen our Burrows family, and we had missed them!

We finished off our spring break by celebrating Grandma Audre's 90th birthday! It was a long walk down memory lane. Almost the entire family was there, and we have a LARGE family! We stayed at beautiful Whaleshead Resort, but not nearly long enough. I didn't get to spend enough time with my cousins, so I am looking forward to a special wedding this summer to get my cousin fix.

We finished off the trip with an Easter egg hunt with the cousins, and Easter dinner with grandparents Mac. Then we headed home to see Ben and Shadow who had to miss out on all the family visits because of work and illness. 

May brought about the end of T-Ball season. The weekend before the last game, we went to Little League day at Raley's Field. They got to parade around the field holding their banner. 

Luckily for Evan he got to end the season playing his favorite position, first base. However, it was a sad, sad day. 

We also met up with our UC Davis play group and bought a new car! Another Prius for us:). Evan also finished off his kindergarten year. May 30th was his last day, and now we have a big first grader! Hard to believe. Birthday post coming soon!

Shadow

 Shadow

I haven't blogged in a long time, but something happened yesterday that I really feel the need to write about. I was too emotional to write about it yesterday, but I am going to give it a shot tonight. Many of you know that our dog, Shadow, has been sick for a few months. He got what we thought were hot spots, but they just wouldn't heal. We tried antibiotics, steroids, grain free food, topical wound treatments, thyroid medicine, more antibiotics, and more steroids. Nothing was working, and the vets couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. He would go in waves as far as his energy and interaction levels, but never lost his appetite. It was hard to watch him go through this, and so frustrating to not know what it was or what caused it.

On Wednesday I went downstairs to feed him, and he didn't greet me at the door. I brought his food to him, but still nothing. I got him to eat some string cheese so I could give him his medications, but he wouldn't eat anything else. He was just laying there and moaning every once in a while. I heard him start yelping, so I went to see what was going on. Even though his 5 gallon water bucket was only four feet away, he couldn't get up to get to it. For the rest of the morning, I would bring him drinks of water in a small Tupperware container.

He had an appointment at 1:00 at the vet, so at about 12:15 I got the truck situated next tot he hill, so he could get in easier. Then I went to get him. He hadn't moved. I tried to lift him to help him stand. Nothing. Evan tried making a string cheese trail to the door. Nothing. He just looked up at me with his big eyes. As, I called the vet and shared the situation with him. He said he was willing to make a house call and would be there in 30 minutes or so.

The doc took his temperature, and he was running a low fever. Then he gave him a shot of penicillin in each shoulder and called in a prescription for more antibiotics. We were supposed to call him if he hadn't improved by the next day.

By eight that evening, he couldn't be left alone. He started making these horrible choking, yelping, gagging noises every time he was left alone. As soon as we would open the door, they stopped. But, his breathing was ragged and he could not get comfortable. He still hadn't stood up, which means he hadn't gone to the bathroom all day.

When Ben got home he was able to get Shadow to eat some canned dog food, but nothing else had improved. Ben was up with him all through the night, but by six in the morning, we knew we were going to have to make the hard decision. Ben called the vet to update him, and he agreed that it was time to let him go.

When Evan woke up, we told him that we were going to take Shadow to the vet, but that he wouldn't be coming home again. In a very round about conversation, he eventually understood that Shadow was going to die because the vet was going to give him something to ease his pain. Evan wanted to go downstairs and spend time with Shadow.

Even as we are all sitting there crying, Shadow was struggling to turn himself around to face us. He was trying to make sure we were okay. He did this whenever someone was hurt or crying. He often knew when we needed comforting before we did.

We had to wait until nine, and then it took both of us to lift him on to a blanket and carry him to the car. I sat there in the vet's office for over an hour waiting for the technician, and Shadow could not get comfortable. As soon as the receptionist came in to tell us it was going to be another half hour or so, he magically found a comfortable position and fell asleep.

About twenty minutes later, I sat up and realized that I had a bloody nose. Literally seconds later, the technician walked in and asked if I was ready. I thought maybe the bloody nose and the fact that Shadow was resting so peacefully was a sign that I should just take him home and wait it out. But then I looked down at him, and his back full of sores, and knew that I was only thinking that because I wanted it to be true.

She returned, and I held his head while she administered the shot. It was quick, and within seconds his heart stopped beating, his eyes closed, his breathing stopped, and he was no longer in pain. I haven't cried that hard in a long time. Within seconds, Ben called. The timing was amazing, as if he somehow felt what had just happened. I couldn't talk through my tears, but he knew. It was a horrible feeling leaving him there on the floor. It took every ounce of strength to walk out of that office yesterday.

All day yesterday and today I kept thinking that I heard him downstairs, or up on the deck. Evan and I were playing ball in the yard, and I kept waiting for him to poke his head around the corner, letting us know he wants to join us. I know eventually this pain will go away, and that I will always have the ten years of fabulous memories we made together, but that does not help with this ache I have in my heart today. He was a part of our family, and he will be missed.

First Day of School

I can't believe Evan is a big kindergartner! We love being at the same school, and we love his teacher! He is very thankful for Mrs. Carter, and so are Ben and I. We are lucky that he has had such a positive experience to kick off his education. 

Thank you to mom and the Alyshas for bringing him to schoool, 

and thank you Mrs. Carter for documenting his first day. 

Giants and A's

Giants or Athletics? That was the question of the season. Evan started out as a Giants fan, but I think by the end of the summer he was A's all the way. He and Ben went to two A's games and then in September we all went to a Giants game for Ben's birthday. 

 At the A's games it was a little more affordable to get the good seats. 

 He was so excited they were close enough to see the players!

After the second game they went to, Evan got to run the bases.

 I was excited that they were close enough for me to see them on the TV/

After a little (okay, huge) meltdown, the boys finally got past the fact that Evan is too big to go in the kids zone. Once he went downstairs and got to play with the big boy toys, they were a little happier. 

The view from our seats. 

 He is a little passionate:)

  

Playing with Posey on the ferry ride back to the hotel.

 Oh yeah, did I fail to mention that he caught a ball at his first MLB game? But...he didn't want the former A's player sitting behind him to autograph because it would get dirty. Yah.