*LUCY*

It's been one whole year since we adopted Lucy. WOW! I know I've talked about her many times over the last year but I thought she should get a post all her own!

I've always thought that dogs who are rescued from a life in a shelter or from a life of hardship are appreciative. They know first hand what it is to be lonely and scared, or hungry and cold. Maybe they know sadness from losing the family they love. Today is the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina - the catastrophic storm that changed many lives, including Lucy's. I don't know all the details but from what I've pieced together Lucy's family was unable to take her with them when the left their home. I'm not sure where she was left. Maybe she was left in the house with enough food and water to last a couple of days until her family thought they'd be back. I know many animals were left this way. Unfortunately her family didn't come back to get her. A different family took her in and kept her for almost a year. When she got pregnant they brought her to a shelter. Abandoned again. The shelter brought her to many adoption events to try and find her (and others) a home. No one wanted her. Then Labs 4 Rescue got involved and we found Lucy on their website. I loved her sweet face right away. We brought her home August 28 - almost exactly one year after Katrina. She thanks us a hundred times a day for being her family. Every thump of her tail on the hardwood floor. Every nuzzle of her wet nose under my elbow. Everytime she follows me all over the house. Everytime she gets up to go find one of the girls just to say hi. We are all so thankful for her! She was the answer to a little girl's prayers and she's added so much to our lives. Let me say that I don't think we should judge folks for leaving their pets behind when they had to evacuate their homes and head for safety. None of them could've known the destruction Katrina would leave behind. We don't know what choices we would've made under the same circumstances. I feel sad that Lucy went through such a sad time but God's plan was bigger than a hurricane and He brought her to our family. It amazes me that we have a God who cares about us so much that even the prayer of a little girl is important to him. And He delights in giving us the desires of our heart.

This was the afternoon we brought Lucy home. I love how Katie and Becky are gazing at her with such awe. I know they were thinking - wow, we actually have a dog!

Allison couldn't leave Lucy alone those first few days. Here Lucy is trying to nap in Allison's castle but as soon as Allison spotted Lucy she needed to join her!

A girl and the answer to her prayers then....

And now.....

No more sad days Lucy!

?

As interesting as crows are I think I am changing the topic of my non fiction article to something else. What? - you ask. I'm not saying, at least not until I make up my mind for sure. I do find myself still watching the crows around our house. I somehow find their squawking slightly more tolerable since I've been studying them a bit. Only slightly though.

It's a million degrees here today and amazingly humid! I LOVE it! It gives me hope that summer hasn't left just yet! I vacuumed the pool and got it all sparkly clean for us to enjoy this afternoon. The water temp was only 74 degrees when I checked it awhile ago but with the sun beating on it, it'll be up to 78 degrees easily in a couple of hours!

Katie is on her way up Mount Greylock - Massachusetts' tallest mountain - as we speak. Actually, she may be on her way down by now. She's hiking with her youth group from church. What a HOT day to be hiking! I can't wait to hear all about it.

Allison, Becky, and Ed are downstairs in the basement. We, (we means Ed and anyone who helps him. Not me and Ed, because I'm not really helping him except to plan things out) are finishing our basement. I think he is preparing to run the electrical wiring right now. Fortunately he has finished a basement before in our house on Aspen Lane in Bath, so he knows what he's doing - I think.

Can you believe Labor Day is next weekend? You know what that means, don't you? SOCCER TOURNAMENT! Three day weekend = soccer tournament - that's just the way it is! For Katie it means new coach, new season, new age division, new chance to prove herself. I know she's going to do great!

Pictures

My girls had such a great time at Frye Island. This is one of my favorite pictures of the three of them. The water was so warm - they were literally in the lake ALL day! Behind them you can see the beautiful view we had. Ahhh - vacation...

This was our home away from home. I took the picture from the dock. The beach was totally secluded from the neighboring beaches beside us. The girls spent countless hours playing in the sand and water!

Lucy LOVED this vacation! The first two days we couldn't keep her out of the water! But, the poor dog exhausted herself and by day three not even the ducks swimming up to the shore could entice her to swim! She'd just wade in, get a drink, and go lay down again. Obviously she did a little sniffing around as you can see by the sand on her nose!

Nothing in Particular

Well. It's obviously been a LONG time since I posted. 'Nuf said about that...



Summer has FLOWN by! And the chill in the air is a reminder that autumn days are right around the corner. I've even noticed the tippy top of some oak trees in our neighborhood that have a hint of red and orange in their leaves. I'm not sure I'm ready to say good-bye to summer just yet.



We've had a fantastic summer. The girls would say the highlight for them was going to camp with Alicia and Rachel and then spending a week on Frye Island. Allison and I stayed busy while Becky and Katie did their camp thing and it was nice to have some time with just her. I think she was missing having her mom all to herself so it was a good thing. My highlight would have to be Frye Island, hands down. Frye Island, Maine is a 2 1/2 mile by 1 1/2 mile island off the coast of Raymond Neck in Sebago Lake. We rented a 'rustic' cottage there. Rustic means old in this case. We had all the amenities we needed - indoor plumbing, a full kitchen, 3 bedrooms. The very best part of the cottage was the incredible private beach we had. It was so cool to get up in the morning and see the stillness of the undisturbed lake with the sun sparkling on it. Then as the day progressed we see speed boats, fishing boats, kayaks and canoes and even a 'tow' boat as they zoomed passed. Sometimes there were tubers or water skiers trailing behind boats. As the day wound down so did the traffic and the stillness returned. I could write for a long time about the wonderful vacation we had. Suffice it to say that it was an amazing week spent with great friends.

We've been doing some school shopping - a little at a time. My parents were down last weekend and my mom, me and the girls went to the Holyoke Mall. For a woman who had a heart attack two months ago she sure can shop! We were there for six hours!! We had a good day and all of us found some good deals. I haven't been shopping like that in forever - it's a little tricky with a preschooler - but Allison was great. I may be the proud mother of shop aholics yet!

I've finally gotten back into my scrapbooking. I hadn't done a thing since well before we moved here. I'm working on school albums for each of the girls. I think that's a project I can keep up with and it's a pretty easy one too. I've found that Michael's has a great supply of stickers and maybe paper but for my albums and accessories I need to order from Creative Memories.

I get e-mail updates and prayer requests from our old church and over the last couple of weeks I've been reading about a young soldier injured in Iraq. His mother has been so faithful in keeping everyone updated and it's quite something to read the account of this young man's ordeal from his mother's point of view. I can not imagine seeing one of my children wounded so badly. He's been through so much already and faces more surgeries to repair his broken body. Thankfully he will recover although he'll wear the scars for the rest of his life. It reminds me about how much these young men and women need our prayers. This man's name is Ben - pray for Ben.

I officially have my own soccer team to coach. I'll have 10 - count them 10!- little preschoolers/kindergarteners on my team! I'm excited but a little nervous. I worry about the expectations of the parents. I want to do a good job and I especially want the kids to have fun! If they learn something about soccer GREAT! I'm sure I'll be learning a thing or two!

Speaking of learning - I'm learning all about crows. I've decided to write a non fiction article about crows. In case you are wondering there are TONS of books and articles on crows. My challenge is to present something about these gangster birds that will be interesting to children. I'm especially facinated by the theory that crows have a funeral of sorts for a fallen bird friend or family member. And did you know that a 'flock' of crows is actually called a 'murder'? Hmmm...

Gotta go.