A fun, relaxing weekend

I don't have any big news to share...just that we had a really enjoyable family weekend together, got the house cleaned up a bit, and did some relaxing. On Saturday we took Parker to a place called Leapin' Lizzards- a huge warehouse sized building full of inflatable castles, slides, jumparoos, and animals. We met Parker's friend Henry, who is a few months younger than he is, and his parents and had a really good time playing. After that we tried a brand new restaurant in our neighborhood- Saba- which was delicious and kid-friendly. Yay! Needless to say, our little guy slept like a log that night. On Sunday, Parker and I walked to our community pool which has a whole section for little people and spent three hours playing in the water with other toddlers and their parents. It was a perfect pool day and we had so much fun! We took a little break from swimming and had a little picnic lunch by the pool. Sitting there with Parker, eating slices of cheese, grapes, and cereal and sipping on a juice box watching other kids splashing around in the pool was just one of those perfect moments in life that I want to hold on to forever. We walked back home and both took a long nap. I'd call that a perfect Sunday afternoon!

Hope you all have a great week. Everyone send my friend Christi happy labor thoughts- tomorrow is her due date! We can't wait to meet little Matt!

Let's do something nice in memory of Marvin...

Most of you know that Starvin Marvin was a stray kitten who I adopted after he was left on his own at 5 weeks old. He was a special needs kitty with many disabilities, but even more wonderful attributes. Today I went to the Atlanta Pet Rescue website and donated a small amount towards the surgery for another injured kitten, Twinkie, whose leg was broken by a dog and requires surgery. I'd like to ask that, if you can, you pick an animal organization in your area who helps animals in need and make a small donation in Marvin's memory. There are so many animals out there in need of care, and although there are also many great organizations who work to help, they count on donations to provide medical care to sick and injured animals. Thanks for helping me keep Marvin's memory alive by helping another animal in need.

Best,
Laura

At long last, another post...

To anyone who is still stopping by to see if I finally got around to updating my blog, thanks for sticking with me! The spring flew by in it's usual whirlwind, and now that our students are out of school for the summer and our end-of-year meetings have come to an end I can take a deep breath and a moment to reflect on the past few months.

Over the past few months we celebrated Chris' 31st birthday, mother's day, my dad's birthday, our 3-year wedding anniversary, and the graduation of the BA class of 2009. We traveled as a family to San Francisco, congratulated our friends the Burts on a new addition to their family and await an addition to the Thompson family (any day now), and have had fun visits with friends and family who have come to visit us. 2009 has been a busy year already, and we're only half way done!

Parker is still the apple of my eye, the most joyful part of my day, and the person who can make me laugh the loudest. He tickles his mommy and daddy with funny jokes, dances, songs, and activities on a daily basis. He knows more words than I can count, and is using sentences more and more often. He can even identify and write the letter "P" and says "P for Parker" whenever he sees one. I just can't say enough about what a wonderful experience being Parker's mom has been and continues to be every day. I know Chris feels the same way.

This past weekend Leah came to visit from Oregon, and I was so grateful to her for traveling great distances to be with us for a few days. It was so special to spend the weekend with one of my oldest and dearest friends. We spent a lot of time relaxing, talking, taking walks, and eating good food. I'm also particularly glad that Leah was in town this weekend because it was time for us to say goodbye to our darling Starvin Marvin. I won't say much... just that he was the best cat ever to walk the earth and that he will be missed always. His strange little body wasn't built to last, but I know he lives on in a special place in the hearts of everyone who knew him. I'm so glad that Leah was here to be my support and to help me make a really tough decision, but undeniably the right decision.

Well, its Monday, and I'm exhausted after a long weekend. Now that summer is here and the dust has settled after the end-of-the-school-year-mania, I should be back to posting a few thises and thats more regularly. In the mean time, say a little prayer for Marvin's safe journey to the fields of catnip that await him in kitty heaven. He was, and always will be my little angel.