Bye Bye Avery

Avery just left to go to Kentucky with Mimi and Pop. It was a far cry from the goodbye we had with Bogey on Saturday. She'll be back in a few days and we'll be happier than ever to see her. She had no reservations about leaving. She woke earlier than usual this morning telling me she had to go. This might be the best birthday gift I've ever gotten!

Bye Bye Bogey

We took Bogey to meet his new family tonight. Although it was heartwrenching, it was good to see him with his new playmate, 9 month old Dora lab mix. They got along well and it made me feel better knowing he would have a friend. He'll also have 2 other friends of the feline variety. Not sure what he'll think but given his friendly demeanor, I'm sure he'll be just fine. I'm so appreciative to Don and Lyla for giving him a new home and an opportunity to just be a dog without all the restrictions we would have had to place on him here. We made our exit fairly quickly because I was afraid I might not follow through. Macie sobbed the entire way home. Chase cried but was pretty quiet. Owen was at a party so he had a good distraction. Avery just kept asking Macie what was the matter. She really got me tonight though when I was rocking her. She said "we have to go get Bogey." I said, "no, we aren't going to get Bogey." She said "we go get Bogey later." I just hugged and kissed her and cried.

Cuppa Joe

I guess Avery decided she needed a little afternoon pick me up.  She moved a stool over, climbed up on the stove, got out a coffee mug, poured a cup of coffee(no it wasn't on) and put sugar in it.  Talk about a girl who goes after what she wants!!!!!  Hopefully she won't find the liquor cabinet anytime soon!

Macie

On Sunday we headed out to the Botanical Garden for a day of family time.  On our way it began to rain so we detoured to West County Mall.  Let me preface this with the fact that 1.  Stew hates malls and 2.We haven't been to this mall in years.  We initially went in search of a new computer since our trusty rusty one has finally died after nearly 10 years of use!  Anyway, we headed to the Apple store where the kids can play on all the computers, ipods and iphones while we do a little hands-on research.   After leaving the Apple store we were approached by someone handing out fliers for a spelling bee at Macy's.  Macie and Chase were excited because it's for 8-12 year old so without any real agenda for the afternoon, we head to Macy's.

The spelling bee is set up to take place in the kids department.  It is sponsored by Macy's, The Magic House, Reading is Fundamental and Radio Disney.  We register and the bee begins promptly at 2pm with about 20 contestants.  In between each round, Radio Disney hosts games and contests for all the kids there.  Owen participated and won the crazy dance off.  Stew participated in the crazy parent contest, while Macie, Chase and even Avery got in on the fun in between.  Chase completed the 3rd round before he was eliminated.  He seemed unfazed and enjoyed the afternoon with the rest of us.  Macie continued spelling and to our surprise, ends up winning the whole thing!!  Her winning word was magnetosphere.  Her prizes included a $150 gift certificate to Scholastic books, a one-year family membership to The Magic House, a year of online tutoring from Kaplan and 2 round trip airline tickets and 2 nights stay in NYC to compete in the finals!  Apparently this bee had been advertised in the St Louis Post Dispatch, Riverfront Times, The Magic House Website and Facebook.  25 other Macy's stores across the country held spelling bee's that day too! 

 So it looks like Macie and Stewart will head to NYC the weekend of September 26 for a little father daughter bonding, some sightseeing and perhaps another spelling bee title!  I bet she's the only Macie in the bunch!!

Snow

I had forgotten about this poem that Chase wrote in second grade until I was telling a friend about it. His class had a poetry day in May and each child memorized a poem and also wrote one. All the kids did a great job but Chase's poem really stood out. Many parents came up to me and even said what a different poem that was, especially for an 8 year old. I called Stew immediately and told him. Of course he said, "are you sure he didn't get it from someone else?" I assured him that it came straight from Chase. Here it is...

Snow

We're under the sky,
right below,
the falling flakes,
the twinkling snow.

It's beautiful,
in every way,
why today is my lucky day.

It is so beautiful and bright,
We're here tonight,
seeing such a lovely sight.

Now I wish you were here to see
what stands before me.

by, Chase Parker May 2009