My Pal Al.

Sweet little Alice the dog left our world on September 6.

My heart has not been quite the same since. I loved her madly. The little miss came to us as a stray from the pound  nearly five years ago suffering from breast cancer. Four breast surgeries and a heart murmur later her time for peace had simply come.

I miss her each and every day.

Her giant brown eyes (compared to her squat little body) were always on me. She greeted me outside the shower each morning, laid in my closet as I dressed, sat either on my lap or at my feet on my purse as I worked and all the while she would look up to me starry eyed.

I called her my best friend as I could do no wrong in her eyes despite my many flaws.  She was always by my side --or on my lap.

A girlfriend of mine told me after she passed that while it seems so unfair for our pets to be taken from us that it just means that it was their time to go to make room for the many others out there that must need our hearts and homes, too.

Thank you, Al Bell Boo, for all the happiness you gave me and for making it feel as if I hung the moon.

You will live on in my heart. always.

Bliss & Blessings.

I contacted Olivia's science teacher recently to ask about how Liv was faring in her class. The teacher suggested a chat and she brought in her fellow middle school teachers to join us. It turned out to be a blessed meeting with all five of her teachers taking time out for me.

kind. efficient. focused. social. bright. attentive. compassionate. mature.

My heart swelled as they spoke about my daughter as a strong student with a fun spirit and a heart for others.

They elaborated on how she possesses a tender soul, a beautiful disposition, and how she lights up a room.

And once again I was reminded of how grateful I am that God chose me to be her mama.

at the pumpkin patch (one of our favorite spots in our favorite season)  fall 2012.

Goodness.

Audrey E woke yesterday with a sleepy smile as she was heading to a matinee of Disney Princesses on Ice and she was elated. She had her fancy dress and mittens and hair bow all picked out the night before and was bursting at the seams to get the day started.

She was invited by the new girl in class that I mentioned in a prior post. Because they had a tenuous start to their friendship, I was so pleased Audrey said yes to the invitation--she jumped at the chance, in fact.

So yesterday as I kissed her sweet cheeks (I could still eat my kids up as they wake and stretch in the morning) and she threw her arms around my neck (which will always be one of the greatest feelings of all time) she told me she had a special request.

"May I give Mia my Kit American Girl doll? She is such a sweet girl and I want her to know I appreciate her."

"Kit is her favorite and it is a dream of hers to have an American Girl doll." she went on.

We talked about how Audrey's Meme gives her grandchildren their choice of American Girl dolls when they turn 7 and how we hope Audrey's daughter and granddaughters will one day play with them so that perhaps it was not the right thing to give away. Audrey was the one that pointed all of that out as I knew she was torn by wanting to keep and treasure her doll but wanting to show her new friend how grateful she was to her for being so kind.

So we compromised- we headed to Barnes & Noble and got a mini American Girl doll and an American Girl craft book as Mia and her aunt love to do crafts together. 

Both little sweets were thrilled. 

Surely goodness & mercy will follow them all of their days...

Audrey & Mia on Halloween