Interesting week....

Gene's been gone all week in California for his job, so it was just me, Esther and Ollie.  On Monday, I had to put our 15 year old cat down...by myself.  He suddenly got sick (kidney disease) and within 3 days we knew it was time to say goodbye.  He had been in our lives for 14 years and we miss him.  He was a character who used up many of his 9 lives:  once I had to give him the Heimlich when he was choking on some kibble, once he got caught upside down behind the water heater (thanks to his tail and my dad's strong arm we got him out), once he was attacked in his own home by a feral cat who got in through a screened window (picture cat fur and kitty poo everywhere), and just recently he got a huge abscess on his bum.  Although he woke me up nightly by pawing at my hair, had awful breath, and would scratch incessantly at closed doors, he was still a great pet.  He was cuddly and loving to everyone.  RIP Sydney.
Esther doesn't quite understand the permanence of death yet and seems to be dealing with it ok.  She'll probably miss most trying to stick him in the toilet and helping Ollie torment him.

Proudly showing off her robot creation.

Some of her best friends:  Theo and Zachary, during a field trip to Seattle Tilth  Garden.

Checking out some ladybugs.

Being her silly self.

Running around at the playground

Dying eggs for Easter

Tada, complete with cheesy grin.

I have a couple videos to post, but I'm having issues...stay tuned.

Here are the photos!

Poor Sydney, he had a big abscess on his bum, and it had to be lanced.  This is the first time in 15 years that he's had to wear a cone.  As you can see, Gene was very sympathetic to poor Sydney's plight.

Our little destroyer.  Watch out world, if anything has a screw holding it together, it is fair game for Esther.  We've had to put her tool box away when we are not supervising.  I really do love that she needs to figure out how things work.  She has a very scientific brain.  We just have to try to reign her in sometimes.

The Prince lounging on his throne.

Ever since I made a little shark costume for the preschool's stuffed guinea pig, Esther has been begging for one of her own.  She has this belief that I am magic with my sewing machine.  I had to try to make her one.  So with her Daddy's shark costume sketch in hand, I got to work.  And "Sharky" was born.  I used leftover fabric, thus the floral print, but overall I am pleased with my efforts, and best of all, so is Esther.  She wears it daily and I even allowed her to wear it to school twice.  (I was playing around with the fotoflexer because the background was bothering me, so I added the swirls.  Hey, it looks a little like waves.)

"Retro"- Girl and her dog.

Esther's preschool has an auction every year.  And this year our class had to come up with a project for the auction.  I  suggested a quilt that each kid could draw a block for.  Ha, ha...guess who volunteered herself to make it.  Yep, me.  I figured I had to be an expert after tackling one quilt in my life, right?  Actually it turned out really well and sold for $475!!  Crazy!

Esther's square is on the lower right.  It is the solar system.  (I wrote the planet names for her.)