The boys have recently become fascinated by x-rays. They always want to look at ours when we go to the chiropracter, and they ask Joe and I to "draw their insides." This weekend they asked Tasha to do it, so she did. We were sitting at dinner, and Dom had brought his picture to the table. I told him that I really liked it, and he said, "Yeah, that's my brain." (pointing to the head) and then he pointed to a thicker line and said, "And that's my penis!" Tasha, who was only half listening looked up in horror and said, "What?! No, that's part of his leg!" Joe and I couldn't stop laughing. If I get the picture scanned in, I'll post it.

Now for the bad news. About a year ago, we noticed a funky little growth on Lexi's (our black lab) chest. We had the vet look at it, and they told us it was just a fatty deposit that would probably get bigger, and when it got to a certain size, they'd remove it. Well, it did get bigger, so while we had her in for a broken claw on Sunday, Joe asked them to take a look at it. They aspirated a fluid sample and sent it to a lab. They didn't seem to think it was going to turn anything up, it was more of a "just to be sure" kind of thing. We got a call from them today saying that it is a cancerous tumor, a very invasive kind, apparently. They're recommendation is obviously surgery, with all sorts of tests to confirm that it hasn't spread, etc. While we haven't even talked to the vet about what that would cost, we are incredibly doubtful that we will be able to afford it, so at first glance it looks like we're going to have to put her down or give her up to an organization that can give her the care she needs. I'm so incredibly heartbroken about this. I suppose if I think about, I've never had a pet that died of old age, or sickness. They all got hit by cars, or just disappeared (outside cats). I'm really struggling with how to explain this to the kids, because they love her so much. We've had her for six years, and I really can't imagine our family without her. So I guess I would appreciate it if you could keep us in your thoughts while we try to deal with this impending loss.