Oreo the hamster died

Emily's pet hamster, Oreo, died. Tonight when I was tucking Emily into her bed I mentioned that I hadn't seen Oreo lately. Emily said that we had better check on her in her cage. Oreo had a full bowl of food and a full water bottle--neither of which looked as if they had been touched. So I took the top part of the cage off and lifted up Oreo's little wood house on the bottom of the cage and I immediately knew she was dead (the smell!). I told Emily that she was gone--I put her in a disposable storage container and Emily petted her a little--then I put her outside for now (along with the cage).

Emily is sad about Oreo dying but she knows that she had a good hamster life. Actually, Matthew was really sad about Oreo too (he is very sensitive about death ever since Tim's grandpa died in October). I told the kids that we will remember the happy times with Oreo--she was a sweet and gentle little pet.

Crazy Busy!!

Sorry I haven't blogged for awhile...things have been crazy busy around here. I have been shopping for Christmas here and there this past month...when time would allow along with keeping things hidden from the kids. We decorated the house a little...I didn't get everything out this year as I planned to because things got way too busy. I am still going to put some more stuff out though at this late date. The kids and I are going to make our annual cookies...peanut butter kiss, family recipe sugar cookies and butterscotch haystacks!

A couple of weeks ago Nick and Matthew started taking karate lessons...they love it! We attend class about 2-3 times a week and they can't wait to go (they would like to go to class every night but that's a little too much for our normally busy schedule). They are still white belts and they are working hard to get to the next belt...Gold Belt:)

I finished my school yesterday...I had two finals which went well. I got A's in both of my classes and am happy to be on break until January 5th. Next quarter I have Intro to Patient Care and Clinical Specialties. I have to wear scrubs for these lab classes...I purchased white work crocs to wear--they rock!!

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!