Rock and Roll Sixth Birthday!!!

Just one afternoon....

Emmy had a few Walmart gift cards that promised her she could spend today. We headed to West Memphis to the closest Walmart when I picked her up today. John went with us and after trolling around Walmart she decided on several awesome books. We are so proud of how well she is doing as she tries to learn to read. She works so hard and these "I can read!" books are great. She got two for her birthday and couldn't wait to get more.

As usual, she had all of her little quips and quirks. We stopped to eat at a Chinese buffet after we left Walmart. I can't remember why but she mentioned that it was not appropriate to show your bare bottom in public. "Even in West Memphis." John didn't particularly like something he had on his plate and Emmy gestured in circles and asked "why didn't you do anything with all this?"

She keeps calling me "woman" or "lady" and I have pretty much threatened her within an inch of her life if she keeps it up. As we were getting in the car, she started to call me lady again and quickly turned into "Lady Gaga". I also have been on her to stop saying "Oh My God". It's been a challenge as I tell her she can say "goodness" or "gosh". As we were driving back home, a car flew past us in the rain and splashed a lot of rain on the windsheild. Emmy screamed "OH MY GOD" and then quickly apologized and followed up with "I am sorry but it really seemed as good as time as any to say it!!!"

And then the rain. She asked why it was raining and I told her that God created the weather and she said "so God's just up there working His magic?" complete with full hand gestures.

I am shocked and amazed at how funny she is. How witty and how sarcastic she can be. I only pray we can temper all of these amazing traits so that she can be the best girl she can be. She is so, so funny and she is so precious. And we are so thankful that she is ours.

Anna

In 2003, one night John came home with a laundry basket of three puppies. Someone had found them in the middle of Madison Avenue and he couldn’t leave them at the bar. We found a home for one, but the other two became our Anna and Luke. We had only been in our house a year so we didn’t have a fence yet and they stayed in the basement while we built a fence and took them to lots of vet appointments to get rid of mange and nasty neck infections from being dragged by a leash. While Bill was our very demanding dog who was quite the princess of the house, Anna and Luke took reign of the backyard—making it their own. Everything has to be just so with Bill but Anna and Luke were so grateful to be alive and to be part of our family that they were as easygoing as could be. When Emmy Ruth came along, she would practically ride Anna around the back yard like a horse and I never so much as thought of either of them hurting Emmy. They were just perfect dogs for a kid.

 

Last week, Anna’s started limping and John was afraid she broke her leg. I was sure it was her hip since she and Luke weigh about 100 pounds each and had him give her more vitamins. I took her to the vet Tuesday and we found out the devastating news that she had an osteosarcoma. The vet recommended we try to keep her comfortable over the weekend since this is Emmy’s birthday week. I picked her up that afternoon and broke the news to John and then we broke it to Emmy.  We kept her inside that night but she was so miserable and we were so miserable watching her be miserable that we decided to take her back to the vet Wednesday morning.

 

Emmy and I loaded Anna in the car that morning and headed to McDonald’s for sausage biscuits—for both the girls. Emmy told Anna to sit down while the car was moving so that she didn’t hurt her leg any worse and told me she was going to miss her sister. So, on Emmy’s 6^th birthday, her puppy Anna went to puppy heaven—she was almost ten years old. And we loved her.

 

Emmy asked me what was going to happen to Anna—‘you know, her bones’—so I told her the truth, we were having her cremated. She of course asked what that meant and I tried to tell her. I met Emmy for lunch on her birthday and her friend Francis sat across from us and with very serious big brown eyes said, “so, Emmy told me you are going to burn your dog”.  On the way home from school, I told Emmy that was something we didn’t need to talk about and she agreed. Then she said, “I already told Francis”. Yes, I know. “And Mrs. Pat.” Okay. “And my class. And everyone at aftercare.”

uh oh

We were having brunch yesterday and the waitress brought Emmy’s drink in a  juice glass. Emmy remarked that she was little so she gets a little glass and when she is seven she can have a big glass. But, when she really older, like Daddy’s age, she can have the little glasses. (The shot glasses.)