I am one of "those" people

I have a dog. Her name is Heidi and though I say that she is the bane of my existence, I love her and I am glad to have her around most of the time. Our home does not have any fencing of any kind in the yard. May I be so bold as to say that is a good thing. In fact, I prefer not having a fence and I love the openness of our yard. However, with a large dog, there can be problems.

The people over at animal control know two of my neighbors by name and they know my address by heart. In other words, "Bev" down the street and "Carla" next door, call Knox County Animal control a lot and which results in a visit from the nice folks at animal control. The officers really are always nice, by the way. At any rate, today I get a visit from Knox County AC. To be honest, I was a bit surprised because the dog has been in the house a lot because of the cold and rain. Well, as it turns out a woman who lives in our neighborhood was walking to work and couldn't get by our "huge vicious" black dog and her daughter had to come and take her the rest of the way to work. I have seen this lady walk down our street on her way to work and she is the most honest to goodness fearful lady I have ever come across EVER. She is just down right wierd, too. She sometimes pushes an umbrella stroller with stuff in it. No kids - just stuff. Well, one day a few weeks ago she was walking to work pushing her stroller. I was out front and Heidi was out with me ON OUR PROPERTY just hanging around. When all of a sudden she sensed fear and out of the corner of my eye I saw "Dog Lady" (that is our name for her). By the time I realized what was happening, Heidi started barking and running toward her which I am sure gave this poor woman a heart attack and she quickly turned her stroller and darted up the driveway of the home she was in front of. I called to Heidi and she immediately obeyed my command and came back to me and we went inside. By the way, the dog never set a paw off our property. After a few minutes, Dog Lady ever so cautiously walked down the sidewalk in front of our home giving us the evil eye. What is funny is that Eric, Amy and I were all standing at the window watching her right back.

So today the animal control guy mentions a complaint that they have received from someone who had to be "picked up to get to work" because of a large vicious dog. I have a feeling that Dog Lady ratted on us.

Then later on about 2 this afternoon I didn't hear a knock or anything, but I did hear Heidi bark like crazy and I knew someone was at the door. It was "Carla". Heart palpitations set in and I decided to keep holding Baby Paul because she would throw a punch to a motherly woman holding a baby. So I open the door and see her wearing one shoe and holding the other one.

It had poop on it.

She was walking from her door to her car through her front yard and stepped in Heidi poop. I do not know why, but Heidi poops in her yard. Probably because she knows that "Carla" is not a very nice person. Anypoop, it was quite a sight to see this woman who is really odd in the first place standing on my front stoop holding her shoe with poop on it. It wasn't a lot of poop, but still it was enough. Well, thankfully no f-bombs came out of her mouth and she kept her cool. But it was a VERY uncomfortable exchange for me to go through and I felt and still feel awful. Meanwhile, Amy came out to see who was at our door and she was wearing just a shirt. That reminds me, earlier in the day when the AC guy came by she also came out to see him and she was wearing just pants.

O boy is this blog entry ever long. I am just so consumed by this. Yes, I am one of those people who lets their dog hang around the unfenced yard unleashed. She is NOT vicious and for the most part she just sits right outside my front door giving me a look of longing to be on the inside. So she wanders over to the neighbors yard and poops... so what! Just kidding. I know that is more than frustrating and totally inappropriate. This whole experience makes me want to live in the country.

The bottom line is that I will NEVER allow Heidi to go in that lady's yard again and when I am out in the front yard, I will make sure that Dog Lady is no where in sight before allowing Heidi to roam unleashed. And if I move in next door to you and neither of us have fences, I will be a responsible dog owner and keep her on my property and if she does poop, I will make sure to clean up after her.

Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

"There are five people in my family, and not one of them I'd swap" ~from the Sesame Street song

Twas the night before Thanksgiving 2009 and boy were there a lot of things stirring in my house...not the least of which was my temper. Have you ever had one of those days when it seemed like everything took painfully longer than expected? I wanted to get something printed out for a friend, but my printer was in the shop. So I went through a whole host of options to get this thing done for her and it took so long that it didn't get done. BREATHE. It is not the end of the world and she understands, I hope. Then I finally got to making my pies for tomorrow. Yes, I made my first from total scratch pumpkin pie!!!!! I got the pumpkin from the farmers market about a month ago and today Eric and I cut it up, cooked it, pureed it and then made not one, but two pies from our pumpkin! Then I also had to make the quintessential pecan pie that most people (except for me) just love. I like pecans. I honestly do, but why do we have to go and ruin a perfectly good nut by smothering it with butter and corn syrup? At any rate, the pies turned out well and I look forward to eating them with my family and cousins tomorrow.

To close this post with some thankfulness: you will see why I have so so so much to be thankful for. To God be the Glory! Amen.

Baby Paul at 4 months. I love this picture of him because his mouthy smile takes up his whole face! He is a happy boy and a joy in our lives!!!

Tim and Amy. Two buckets of sunshine...most of the time :-)

And my Eric. With eyes and a smile like that, my nasty attitude dwindles in one second.

A joyful Thanksgiving day to you, my friend and as you reflect on all that you have to be thankful for, I pray that the smile on your face now remains.

Tara

me and my three

Life is nutty to say the least.  The transition from two kids to three is still going on, but I am seeing a bright light at the end of what seemed to be a very dim tunnel.  It is precious to just sit back and watch my Eric (almost 4) and my little Amy (2) smother their brother with all the love they can give.  Amy just can't kiss him enough and Eric now wants to hold him over his shoulder just like how I hold the baby.  I do think it is especially cute when Amy announces to me "Mommy, Baby crying" as I am holding him in my arms.  It is usually at this point that Eric reminds me that "Mommy, Baby needs milk". 

Thanks guys.

Amy usually is the first one up and now that she is in her big girl bed, she walks straight into my room and we snuggle for a few minutes before Eric comes in.  Once he is up, there is a party in my bed with the two olders, Baby Paul and me.  From this moment until bedtime, I am closely followed by Eric and Amy.  Seriously, they do not even know they are doing it, but they follow me from room to room ALL DAY LONG.  We might be playing in the playroom and I have to go to the bathroom, so I stand ever so inconspicuously and quietly make my way to the solace of my bathroom.  Well, there is one brief moment of solace, then these two cute little offspring of mine unconsciously make their way to my room and talk to me while I just want a moment to myself for crying out loud!  

Meanwhile, Baby Paul starts squirming in his sleep letting me know he is getting hungrier by the second.  So, I pick him up and get settled into a comfortable nursing position when I here, "Mommy, I haffa  go pee pee potty"  

Great.

So do I delatch the hungry baby or do I try to take my daughter's big girl panties off with one hand while trying to keep my starving newborn attached to my boob with the other.  It is usually the latter.  I sit on the side of the tub, pull Amy's pants off and with a one-handed grunt heave her up on the toilet trying my hardest to keep the peace with Baby Paul.   

All too soon, I will look back and these days and long for them so I am trying to have an attitude of gratitude for these challenging moments.  Yes, life is nutty, but at least the nuttyness is sweet.

Welcome to the family little one

Paul Kelly McIlrath came into the world at 8:10am on Wednesday, July 1, 2009.  Weighing in at a teeny 8 pounds 5 ounces, he is the smallest of the McIlrath infants, yet he has proved true in keeping with tradition in that he, like his brother and sister before him, was 11 days overdue.  The journey from the due date (June 20) to his birthday was quite a mentally tumultuous one for me, nevertheless, I learned so much from that time and I am glad to have gone through it, but I am more glad to have that baby out and in my arms.  

I was looking back to a photo taken on the day of Amy's birth.  I was truly thrilled and never been happier.  I was ready to be a mother of two small children and I felt confident that I could do it!   Well, there is a similar picture of me with my two older kids and baby Paul and that confidence is no more.  I look at Eric and Amy and the baby and I think "how can I be a great mother to these precious ones and give them all that I want to give and more".  

I am honored to be the mother of this precious life Paul and I am so excited to watch him grow and learn.  I no longer have that "I can do this on my own" mentality, but I am definitely learning what it means to be at the end of myself and rely on a power greater than my own.  

They that wait upon the Lord will gain new strength!  I will have new strength from the One who gave us this precious one to raise and love.  

To my precious Paul Kelly,  

I love you and I could not imagine life without you.  You are a treasure far beyond words.

Love, 

Momma

He is RISEN Indeed!

Today is Resurrection Sunday.  IT is a joyous day indeed and the season leading up to it has been interesting.  This whole Lenten season has been a different one for me.  I started out thinking that I would fast from a certain type of food and alas, I did not.  When I did end up eating what it was I wanted to fast from, I felt like a big loser and definitely not honoring God.  The whole reason for lent, in my simple opinion, is to remember Christ in His 40 days through the wilderness.  During those 40 days he prayed, fasted and was totally alone.  I doubt I will ever spend 40 days by myself fasting and praying so why in the world is it so hard for me to go without a simple 'creature comfort' of this day in age for a few weeks?!  It is so very important to set aside time to remember the works of the Lord.  He commanded the Jews to celebrate Passover every year to specifically remember and teach the young ones about God delivering His people out of Egyptian slavery.  God commands us to remember and teach.  So having that in my mind, and having a three year old boy who is beginning to comprehend Biblical stories, I REALLY wanted to make this Easter season more purposeful.  So, I tried to be consistent about reading Bible stories each morning as we ate our breakfast and I wanted to be diligent about explaining 'new life' as we see all of the blooms around us.  On Friday, showed Eric the pictures of Jesus coming into Jerusalem on a donkey with people waving palms and then being crucified and finally being alive in the presence of his friends the disciples.  Honestly, I do not think he got much out of it.  However, I got a lot out of it.  Maybe that is why God commanded us to remember and teach the younger ones.  Not so much for their benefit, but for ours.  Friday was a gloomy rainy day and were inside for most of it.  I read a few devotionals and reflected on my own sin and the reality that I am trapped inside of it.  Then today, Easter Sunday, the sun was shining and the weather clear.  The reality that the One who knew NO sin, became sin for me and now I am not trapped.  I am free.  

So when the tears began to well up in my eyes as we sang out in church this morning, I just let them fall down my cheeks.  I rejoiced at the words spoken from the pastor.  I am so thankful for this specific time to reflect, remember and teach about this the MOST AWESOME event in all of history.  We got home and before everyone stripped off their Easter duds we managed to take a couple of decent pictures.  

The LORD is RISEN.  The LORD is RISEN indeed!!! Hallelujah!  

Just Like Daddy

This picture was taken in March on a little family outing we went on to the Greenbrier community of the Smoky Mountains.  Both Eric and Tim had their hats on and coats and had fun crossing the stream on the log bridge.  As Eric gets older he is definitely less interested in hanging out with Mommy if Daddy is anywhere around.  Why just the other day when Tim was studying downstairs, Eric just meandered on down there to hang out with him.  He didn't play with toys or bother Tim, he was just sitting on the couch next to him.  Eventually, he started playing with the blanket and covering himself with it, all the while not talking to Daddy or bothering him.  It was obvious he just wanted to be with him.  

I hope Eric grows up to be just like Daddy.  Tim is such a fine man and I have an enormous amount of respect for him. He works so hard, is so loyal and faithful in even the smallest of details and in the core of his heart there is the pure intent to follow Christ with everything he is.  Tim takes time to teach Eric soccer and to go play with him.  This is the field behind our house and I took

this picture from our back deck so it may be a little fuzzy, but you get the idea.  I want Eric to learn what Daddy knows about teamwork, finishing a job until it is done well and how to cope well under any circumstance.  I can get caught up in worrying about his future and hoping that he doesn't get caught up in worldly stuff, but then I am reminded to live each day in its fullest and not to worry about tomorrow.  

Just like Daddy.  What a joy and a privilege it is for me to have a man like this as the father of our children.  Yes indeed, I do hope Eric grows up to be just like Daddy. 

My very precious girl...

Today it was just the two of us

a rare and precious gift

I watched her jump and run and laugh

then to my arms for a lift

She lead my hand through the grass

and though only a few feet away

Her frame was fuzzy and out of focus 

as wet tears did blur my gaze

How I love this precious girl

she brings me joy inexpressible

her curls, her smile, her life

blessings only far too incredible

a toddler she is, a feisty one

yet all too soon I know

The moon will rise and then the sun 

and she will be full grown

but today I'll wrap her in my arms

and press my cheek to hers

never ceasing

to thank my God for this 

very precious girl