We Say Goodbye To A Good Family Friend...

                                              (Libby- April 5,2002 - October 9, 2013)

This week, we say goodbye to a very smart dog, family pet & friend, Libby. She had taken ill very suddenly this week and a very difficult decision had to be made. These type of decisions are never easy no matter how many times you have to make them. Over the last 13 years, we've had to put down two other dogs besides Libby. Each one were very hard to deal with. But what made Libby especially hard wasn't that she was a better dog than the other two. It was the fact that this time around, our daughters were very much aware of Libby. 6 years ago when we put our last dog down due to old age, the girls had no idea that she even existed. They only know of her from what we've told them about her and from her pictures. But with Libby, they have played with her, sat with her in their laps and even had Snowball Fights with her over the years! And even though there were times when Libby really didn't want to be bothered by them, she still loved them, and the girls loved her too.

Libby had taken ill a few days ago. We were very much hoping that she would get better, but her condition worsened as the days went on, ultimately leading to our decision yesterday. Even though my thoughts were with Libby as we made the trip to the Vet's office, they were also with our 3 daughters too. They were already upset before we had left for the Vet. The girls did not make the trip with us. We had left them with Amy's parents.

After we had said our final goodbyes to Libby, our thoughts immediately turned to our daughters and how we were going to break the news to them that Libby would not be returning home. Obviously we would spare them all of the details with the exception to why Libby did not make the trip home. We simply told them that Libby was way to sick and had passed once we arrived at the Vet's office. Now, we all know that people deal with death in many different ways. So nothing can really prepare you for how your children deal with it for the first time for the simple fact that you just don't really know. The only thing you can do is guess about who will take the news the hardest and who will need the most consoling once the news is broke.

Of coarse, Amy and I both thought that Hope would take the news the hardest simply because she is a very big animal lover. We just kinda knew that she would be the one we would have to console the most. We thought Faith would be next because she really gets emotional a lot of times, even over some of the most simple of things. Charity we thought would be the toughest of the three and react like it didn't really bother her at all. Well, we were correct about Hope. In fact, she was still very much affected by it today. Charity, however, surprised us. She was the next most emotional of the three, and yes, she too was having a hard time with it today as well. The toughest of the three ended up being Faith,  believe it or not! She did get a little emotional at first, although very briefly, but turned and asked when we could get another dog! Yep, she was suggesting dog breeds, sizes, the whole shot! You would think that after 7 years of dealing with these three that we would be a little better at judging what their emotional state would be after something like this! But, over and over, they never make it easy on us and always keep us guessing! With them, even when you think it will be one way, they change it up on you and do a total 360!

Bottom line though, we are a household full of animal lovers. It amazes me that there are people out there who can put an animal down that has been a part of their life for years and just not be affected by it. To them, that dog or cat or whatever animal they put down, was just that. An animal. And no matter what that's always the way it will be to them. But for people like us, we bring our animals into our homes and they immediately become a part of our lives and a part of our family. From the Dogs, to the Ferrets, to the Chickens out in the backyard. Our animals are a huge part of who and what this family is. So every time we have to put one down, or one passes away, there will always be tears and hard goodbyes. And this week, we say goodbye to Libby.

                                                           R.I.P Libby. You will be missed.
                                                       

Zack, The Triplets And Homeschooling

Yep, there he is! The little man himself! Except... he's not so little anymore! He stands a few inches taller than me at 5' 10" and easily 165 pounds! Yes, our little man has, for the most part, grown up a little. The big kid turned 18 at the start of this year making him another year older of coarse. And, well, making those of us who parent him feel really old! There have been some bumps along the way with his treatments, but we are still hopeful and still plugging along to get the big guy were he should be. Setbacks or not, we are still keeping the faith that one day we'll get him there. Go Zack, Go!!!

I believe you all know who these three little lovelies are! From left to right, Hope, Charity and Faith! These three have been having quite the year so far! As of now, they are most of the way through with their first year of Homeschooling! I just have to say, and really, I don't mean to brag but... I'm so very proud of them and not just them, but Amy too! Homeschooling has gone better than we had imagined and they are months ahead of their classmates from Kindergarten at this stage in the game! That is a good feeling to know that they are doing well, especially when you are one of the parents teaching them. I'm so excited for them and for Amy. You have to understand... the girls and Amy were all a little nervous about this at first. I think that I believed in all of them more than they believed in themselves at the start of this school year. Now, there's just no stopping any of them! They are all far more confident than they were back in September and that's saying a whole lot! It's such a great feeling to come home from work and see how excited they all are about what they've learned that day! I didn't think I'd ever see that from them. They didn't exactly have a good first experience of school at the Public school. In fact, it just seemed like their willingness to learn had diminished greatly from it. Especially Hope. Being that she has Special Needs, it was crushing for Amy and I to see her basically retreat into herself when it came to school. Hope was a lot of the reason that we decided that Homeschooling would be the thing to do. Hope just wasn't getting what she needed from the Public School system, and they sure did make it clear to us that they were not willing and would not cater to her if they didn't have to! So here we are...Homeschooling! And guess what! Because of our decision, the girls are excited about learning now and can't wait to get started every morning. Now, that's not to say that Homeschooling hasn't had a few bumps along the way, but far less than what we and the girls expected!

As far as getting them socialized...the girls are in a Church group at our church that is kind of like Brownies or Girls Scouts, but with a Christian twist! Very cool to say the least! And they love it!!! And as long as they want to keep going, we will keep them in it! The girls also just finished their first season as Cheerleaders for a Church based sporting group called Upwards, which is where the pic up top comes from in case you didn't guess. Girls and boys participate in Basketball for the group and obviously, girls for the Cheering squads. Upwards also has Football and Soccer. But since we already have the girls involved with Soccer through a Community based group here in town, we did not sign them up for Upwards Soccer. So, last weekend was the last game for Basketball and Cheering is now finished for this season! The girls only have a few weeks off and then it's Soccer season!!!  They are definitely excited about that, and so are Amy and me! This will be my 6th season coaching the girls and Amy's 5th! And believe me, we are chomping at the bit to get started! Opening day is the first week of April and runs until the end of May! Then they get the Summer off and we start Soccer all over again at the end of August! But the fun doesn't stop there! Soccer and Cheering are not the only things these lovelies are in besides the Church group! They are also in Tumbling too, which runs all year long! Never a dull moment in the Felton household, that is for sure!

So there you have it! The first official update for 2013! Sorry it took so long, but with everything going on around here, sometimes it's hard to get here to get the updates... um... updated! Never fear though! At some point, I will make it back here to update again! Cheers! And Happy Belated New Year!!!