TALICEE'S JOURNEY

MANY CHANGES IN 2011

Our new year has started off with a bang. We have had snow and warm temps. The kids are back in the swing of school. I was so glad to see that big yellow school bus appear last Monday. They were too. My babies were on medical leave last week. Talicee, Carley and Kendall all had impetico over the holidays. Carley's lead to more and caused her to be in the hospital over the holidays. She is on the mend now.

Randy has begun a new career. He is working on his CDL license. Owning your own business in this economy is not good right now. So at night he will be driving a truck and work on his business during the day.

Tyler has made the move to become an adult. We moved him into his first apartment on Friday. He had his wisdom teeth cut out on Wednesday and we moved and rearranged furniture all day on Thursday. Taylor finally has his own room. He has not had his own room since he was a baby. He is enjoying it. Tyler is enjoying living on his own. We pay his rent, but he is responsible for all of the other things. His roommates are very nice. I thought all polite kids had left the universe. They sure were polite or just putting on for us. (just kidding). I will say that while I was driving on Friday, I cried all of the way there and back. Hard to believe that he is big enough to be on his own now.

Taylor surprised us on Thursday. He texted me and let me know that he was going to be a little late. Since he just got his license back, this is the rules. Having a driver's license is a priviledge not a right. Anyway, he stated that he was picking up Tyler's going away present. I thought what has gotten into this kid. He got me a Christmas present and then getting Tyler something. He does not like to spend money on other people. While waiting on him, I was on the computer looking for bed rails for Taylor's new bed. We had a full and needed a queen set. Not planning on having to do this. I was stressed. My window of rearranging was limited.

So Taylor arrives home. He comes in and gets me. In the mean time we had backed the trooper out of the garage and had all of Tyler's things in it's place to be put on the moving trailer. I come out to the garage and I see these solid black puppy dog eyes looking up at me. What, where did he come from? Taylor preceeded to tell me that it was free and SHE was his dog. What? I thought you were getting Tyler a going away present. His words, "I just told you that so that I could keep the dog." Now who would say no to this cute little girl.

Lets just say life has been changed around here. My readers that know me, know that I am not an indoor animal person. I like me house clean and a puppy will not keep my house clean. She has been doing good. We are training her to use the bell to go outside. Only a few accidents. Yesterday was the first day we left her for anytime. We put her in the bathroom with the gate up. Well, when we got home, she was upstairs. She had jumped over the gate and roamed all over the house. No accidents. Thank the Lord. Sleeping the first couple of days has been rough. It is like having a baby. So last night, Taylor put her in his room with the gate and newspaper and she slept all night long. I did not realize how much sleep I needed just from missing a couple of days of full rest.

By the time Roxie is big enough it will be warm enough for her to stay outside. She is a black lab. Her feet right now are as big as her body. She is 8 weeks old. I think we will keep her. Dang you Taylor.

The girls are back this week and on the mend. I sure have missed them. How could one person become so attached to these little girls. I love them like they were my own.

2011 is turning out to be a much better year that 2010. Last January we did not know which way we were going to turn. Now we have a plan and are sticking to it. God has answered many prayers for us. There is a brighter light at the end of the tunnel.