Owie

I don't often post about the non-human members of our family, but I think Asia's latest adventure warrants a post. Valued member of the family and our very favorite dog in the world tore her ACL a few months ago, and we were finally able to schedule her surgery for yesterday. 

When we dropped her off Monday afternoon for her Tuesday morning surgery, both kids were in tears because they didn't want to leave without her. Maggie seemed somewhat appeased when I said Asia was going to have a slumber party with other pups, and Bode reported to Steve when we got home that Asia had an owie on her leg. We went back to pick her up Tuesday afternoon, through blustery blowing snow, and she hasn't moved much since.   

So now we're at the very beginning of a 12-week recovery process. The first four weeks will be the hardest in terms of how much pain she is in and how limited she is in her mobility. I have been carrying her up and down our back steps so she can go potty. Poor girl. We hope she is back to her normal active self by the time spring comes around!

A Date

It was a busy week of traveling at Christmas, and as wonderful as it was to see our families, by the time we returned home, the kiddos were an absolute wreck. 

Steve and I tried to go to a movie and dinner when we first got back to Stewie, since our last date was who-knows-how-long-ago, but we ended up having to leave the movie early with no dinner due to an emotional meltdown Maggie was having with the babysitter. Not something we expect a seventh grader to deal with. 

In trying to get to the root of the issue,  it seemed she just needed some uninterrupted one-on-one mommy time. "Why can't we have a Mommy-Maggie date?" So I promised we would.  

With bitter cold temps and school starting back up, we were finally able to make good on that promise. The snow this evening threw us a curveball, so instead of traveling to Caribou Coffee in Rochester, we settled for ice cream at our local cafe. 

It really was a pleasure to sit across from her, hold her hand, and give her my full attention as we talked. She is an amazing little girl, and these dates need to happen more often. 

Things I learned tonight (or already knew):

-She wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. Or maybe a teacher since she likes teaching Bode new things. 

-She loves to go to basketball games with her daddy. 

-Her favorite part of preschool is usually painting, but today it was the obstacle course. 

-Her favorite Bible story is Joseph. 

-She loves me. 

-And we also had an in-depth character study on Simba, Scar, Mufasa, and Nala from The Lion King.

When we were done, we joined Steve and Bode at the Stewartville girls basketball game and caught some beautiful fat snowflakes on our tongues on the way home.