Sunday, January 31, 2010

Sad...

This is a very hard entry to write... in fact, I'm going to purposely keep it brief because this just hurts so much.  I could write pages and post hundreds of photos, but I can barely see the computer screen through my tear-filled eyes. We lost our baby, Coco, on Wednesday, January 13th.  I have been grieving her loss ever since.  What makes this difficult situation even worse is that I don't know for sure what happened to her.  We've searched our property and neighborhood, we've checked with neighbors and we've posted 'Lost Dog' signs all over the neighborhood, but truly all this was just for the benefit of the kids.  In my heart of hearts, I'm sure that she was gotten by a wild animal.  For two or three weeks prior to her disappearance she had been ferociously barking in the same spot in our yard.  I think something (a coyote?) was out there just waiting for her... I hurt everyday knowing that I didn't protect her.

She was my joy and my friend and there's not an hour that goes by that I don't think about her.  I loved her so, so much and she returned that love to me every minute of every day.  She added so much happiness to our lives and now that she's gone, there's such an emptiness in our house.  Hayley found the poem that is written below.  It's really sweet and sums up a lot of what I feel...   


"A Dog Wags Its Tail with Its Heart"

... She had told me a thousand times over that I was her reason for being;
by the way she rested against my leg; by the way she thumped her tail at my smallest smile;
by the way she showed her hurt when I would leave without taking her.
When I was wrong, she was delighted to forgive.
When I was angry, she would clown to make me smile.
When I was happy, she was joy unabounded.
When I was a fool, she ignored it.
She was loyalty itself.
She has taught me the meaning of devotion.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

A Work in Progress...

A while back I decided that what I really "needed" was my own scrapbook/crafting/sewing space in the house.  I own enough supplies to probably open up my own small store, but I never knew what I really had because it's always been neatly stored (and labelled) in my craft closet.  It was always rather an ordeal to pull it all out and set everything up each time I wanted to use something, SOOOO after much thought, feedback from a few friends, and a little bit of measuring this is what I've come up with... we had this cabinet/counter built in to store a lot of my paper, equipment, a doo dads.  I'm still waiting on the cabinet doors, but so far I love the look and functionality of it!
We purchased this cubicle piece at IKEA during their most recent sale.  It was only $70 and I'm very happy with it.  It fits my older-style scrapbooks perfectly.  Now I have no excuses... I've got to start creating at home and actually using the product that I have on hand!  I think my next scrapbook retreat is going to take place here at home!  :)

Saturday, January 9, 2010

A Surprise Evening with Luke!

Last night wasn't unlike a lot of evenings that we experience here in the Deti Household... Hayley had her basketball Jamboree (team pictures and a short practice game) and we also had to make an appearance at the Reflections District Art Exhibit for Luke (because his artwork had advanced from the school level to the District level).  At first we were going to 'divide and conquer' as usual, so our plan was to have Hayley get a ride to her game and for me, Wes, and Luke to quickly go look at the art exhibit and then run down the hill to see the ending of Hayley's game, but this was going to be quite a time crunch with Hayley's game starting @ 5:45 in downtown Kent and Luke's art exhibit starting @ 6 on the other side of Kent. 

In the past when we've got to the District Art Exhibits (for Hayley's art), it has been an extremely anti-climactic and disappointing event.  Basically all of the kids artwork was just set up in a high school lunch room and you'd walk around and look at it and then leave.  It'd take 20 minutes at the most and at most there would be a couple dozen people with you looking at the artwork.  Well, neither of the kids participated last year, so I was unaware that they've stepped things up a bit (quite a bit)!  So, this year we get to the high school expecting to be in and out within 20 minutes and then on to see the end of Hayley's game.  Well, we pulled up to the school and there are hundreds of cars in the lot!  The exhibit was going on as usual, but they've actually added an awards ceremony (complete with a powerpoint presentation).  I just thought this was awesome!  It was so nice for all of the kids to receive some extra special recognition.  Anway, you get the idea... I didn't think this was going to be a big deal... we were really just going because we did the same for Hayley and we've got to keep things even for the second kid, right?  This will also explain my horrible photos and why Luke looks like a complete stinky slob (in crocks)!  I wasn't prepared... didn't bring the right lens, etc.  I've really got to take a class...

Soooooo, to make a long story a little bit longer, we get seated in the auditorium for the awards ceremony and they call Luke's group (Primary Visual Arts) up to the stage.  I think there were about 35-40 kids up there with him and they're calling names one by one to give them their participation certificates.  Well, it comes down to four kids on stage and the emcee says that she's down to first, second, and third place awards.  It truly wasn't until that point that I realized that Luke was possibly one of the winners.  I was just thinking of putting our time in at this event and racing to Hayley's game to make the tail end.  Well, anyone who really knows me will be surprised that I was this oblivious because I'm a highly competitive person!  So, back to the stage and the top three awards... remember I said that there were four kids left on stage?  Well, it's at this point that I'm realizing one of two things:  1)  Oh my gosh, my little guy is one of the top three! OR 2)  Oh my gosh, poor Lukey Bear, we sent him up to the stage to sit with the wrong category of kids!

Well, maybe you've guess the outcome by now... Luke won First Place!  Wes and I were so, so, so shocked and surprised!  I can't tell you how much fun that was!  We were all just tickled.  We were (and are) so proud of Luke! 

This is Luke just after receiving his award.  Not sure if you can see the tears of pride forming in my eyes... :)
Wes doesn't look thrilled here, but that's only because he didn't want to be photographed crying!  He was so extremely proud of Luke.
The theme of the Reflections Program this year was:  "Beauty Is..."  Luke loves fall leaves, so he chose to paint a picture of a tree changing colors in the fall with Mount Rainier in the background.  He used oils on canvas.  Luke's artwork is headed to state (wherever that may be...).

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Bunco!

It was my turn to host Bunco... Another great time was had by all!  Here's Dorothy, our friendly DrinkMaster with one of her repeat customers, Janeen!  :)
Mike was one of our subs for the evening... He was in heaven with all of these beautiful women!
Trying to get a group shot of most of us...
We did our annual Christmas gift exchange and Steph ended up being the big winner with the Snuggie!

Christmas Day

Well, another Christmas has come and gone... it was bittersweet celebrating without my mom this year, but we still made it a nice one for the kids.  Luke has been asking for a guitar and lessons all year and Santa really came through!  Thanks to Wes, he can already play the first few chords of 'Smoke on the Water'!


Hayley got a laptop.  It's been a week and we haven't seen her since... She's been living in blog land!


Luke knew he saw this in the trunk while Aunt Chris was up here for Thanksgiving!!

Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's House

We had a very nice Christmas Eve at the Deti's.  We changed things up a bit this year by starting our evening earlier and ending it earlier.  We all cut way back on the stuff and we had a lot more time to visit and enjoy each other's company!


Mike and Karin...


Luke got the Chess Set that he'd been asking for from Aunt Nicole and Uncle Ryan.  He was so excited after he opened it that I don't think he needed another gift!  He opened it right away and started a game with Cody.  I am so impressed that he knows how to play chess and he truly understands the strategy involved!  They've been learning all about Chess through a program that his second grade teacher is teaching!


Karin with Lauren (the happiest baby in the Puget Sound area!).  She is the newest addition to Hayley and Luke's list of cousins!


Hayley and Ashlie enjoying the traditional Egg Salad Sandwiches and Split Pea Soup!  This is the menu that Grandpa & Grandma make every Christmas Eve.  Every last drop and bite must be finished before the kids can open any gifts!


Luke, Cody, Hayley, Ashlie, and Tatum...