Cricket's Big News!

Well, Cricket had her puppies!  SEVEN of them!  Wow!  We had no idea!  Although that really explains the waddle...😂 Only 4 showed up on the ultrasound.  😁 Four of them are already taken!

Of course, I am keeping one!  Meet Jessie...

She looks the most like Bandit.

And 2 people who were close to William are also each taking one of Bandit's pups.  That makes me really happy!  A little back story...Bandit is the brother to Annie, William's first therapy dog.

We loved her so much!  We were all heart-broken when she died.  Bandit has been every bit as wonderful.  He was so good to William and William loved him so.  We all love him dearly and I'm sure we hold onto him a bit tighter since William passed.  Anyway, another one of the puppies looks a lot like Annie.  I had a hard time deciding whether to keep one that looks like Annie or one that looks like Bandit.  I finally decided to keep the one that looks like Bandit but I'm so excited that the one that looks like Annie is going to our very close friends who had a deep love for William and he for them!  Meet Tinkerbell (Tink)...

The puppies are absolutely adorable!  It is so fun to have them here.  I am impatiently awaiting the time when their eyes are open and they are walking around.  There are 3 boys left, if anyone is interested in a chihuahua puppy.  You can contact Sydnee at our email: ockerclan215@gmail.com.

Communication

I feel like communication has been a hot topic in our household of late. Again. Will it always be such? I just don’t know. 

It is so easy to expect others to think like we do, respond like we do, communicate like we do. But that’s typically not the case. Caring about others means learning about how they communicate, how they receive our communication, and figuring out how to settle the conflicts. May we love others enough to do just that. 

Momma Bear

Does the drive to protect our children ever go away?  I seriously doubt it.  

Snow

It's been a busy and fun week.  We were able to go watch 4 of the children at the State 4-H Shooting competition, their first.  They did really well and had so much fun! Out of 12 counties represented, the Seniors took 3rd (Elly's team), unfortunately the Intermediates did not place (Selah's team), and the Juniors took 4th (Wallace's and Calvin's team).  They really enjoy their teams and the practices and State was just an added bonus.

And, of course, it snowed.  I'm over here thinking, "Hey, wait a minute!  Shouldn't we be in spring temps?" 😓 But the children are all, "Hey, let's go play in it!!!!" So out we went... We could not get a good enough hill for any sledding, but we had fun anyway.

Sydnee made the mistake of saying, "The first person to hit me with snow is in big trouble!"  Now, I ask you, who can really resist that kind of invitation?  Even I had to hit her after that statement!  But Selah was definitely the most daring.  I think Sydnee shoved her face in the snow at some point.  All in good fun, though! 😂

Oh, my!  He's just the cutest!  He was giving me the thumbs up.  😂

And what is the second snow in Oklahoma without snow ice cream?  (There you go, Michelle, just for you!😂)

Music

Music has a powerful affect on people.  Even if we think it doesn't affect us, it does.  I happened to hear a song not long ago in a store and the words have kind of haunted me.  I find myself dwelling on them and I have to fight to pull myself from them because they seem to fit me so very well.  The song is actually a break up song but these words...

"And I know it's long gone and
That magic's not here no more
And I might be okay
But I'm not fine at all...
Time won't fly,
It's like I'm paralyzed by it
I'd like to be my old self again,
But I'm still trying to find it."

Boy, do those words hit home.  I know how that feels.  Probably better than the artist who wrote it.  And there are days that I can get lost in words like these and fall into that pit again if I'm not really careful.

But He is faithful and He is strong, even when I'm not.  Especially when I’m not. And I'm still working on how to #BeMighty...

***And for those of you who check the blog early in the morning, I apologize.  I'm still as crazy busy as usual, but with one difference...I'm actually sleeping now!  But that means no blogging in the wee hours of the morning!  😜