her morning ritual

It's her morning ritual.  She points and whines to his food dish sitting up on the counter.  It is out-of-reach to soak his hard food and make it soft enough for his aging mouth.  She hates to wait and often resorts to screaming and crying while we wait for the food to soften.  As soon as the food is ready she reaches up for his stainless dish.  It is full and heavy with inflated dog food pellets.  She carefully holds the dish and walks across the tile to the back door.  She successfully navigates the back step and walks out to feed him.

When he hears the back door open, he saunters over to meet her.  They meet by his water pail.  He gently stands face-to-face with her with straws of drool falling from his eager jaws.

As she bends to give him his food, he softly nudges closer to sniff his morning meal.  He doesn't begin to indulge until she stands up.  She watches him devour his meal in seconds and seems so pleased that she could give it to him.

The entire ritual reminds me of her younger sister's similar ritual with our other boy.  

It is neat to see similarities emerge in their personalities.   

so long daisy

Today she walked across the little bridge at the park wearing her Daisy vest for the last time.  Along with her troop, they became Brownies today.  The little blue vest with all it's hand-sewn patches will be packed away for her to share with her kids someday.  Next year we will embark upon lots of new adventures with all the girls and their mothers as Brownies.  As a former Girl Scout myself, I love everything it teaches young girls.  I love the good friendships and character it builds at such a formative time in their lives.

I will do my best to behonest and fair,
friendly and helpful,
considerate and caring,
courageous and strong, and
responsible for what I say and do,
and torespect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place, and
be a sister to every Girl Scout.