Painting with cousins and reading with Ralph

It's always fun to get some cousin time in.  The kids suddenly decided they all wanted to paint and came up with some great creations.

I've been taking the girls to a special program the school has been hosting with our schools' mascot Ralph the Reader.  He goes to school everyday and a couple of his "moms" have been doing sessions on his life at school, how to train and handle a dog and books about dogs.  They've also had dog themed snacks each week.

It's pretty cool having a dog at school and brings some joy in everyone's lives during and after school.  He lives with our friends the Cochranes and the other day when I took the girls over there and saw Ralph it was so strange- like I was seeing someone famous!  I'm always seeing him at school and forget that he goes home eventually too.  He's pretty beat by the time these evening sessions run and often lays down about half way through.

Our dog Saba has been getting old quickly.  She's 10 now and has some mass growing on her leg that we hope is just a fat lump (the other option was that it could be cancer).  She gets anxious at night now when she can't get to us, so we now sleep with our door open for her.  She has been a good dog in lots of ways, but not very friendly with the kids.  I don't know how long we'll still have her, which is weird since she's been a part of our lives since before we had kids.  Dogs can be some work and we don't invest in ours nearly as much as we should, but she's given us a lot in love and loyalty in security and in learning life lessons.

I haven't asked a question here in so long!  Did you have a pet growing up? Do you have one now?