Cute Stuff

Isn't he adorable! This is from his PPCD class. I'm not sure what the story is, but all the kids get to dress up like scarecrows. We have the same picture of Ian when he was Benjamin's age.















This was a sheet Ian did at school. The boy can write his name....pretty darn good too! I have to admit, this is something I would never have believed he'd be doing at this point. But, I also have not had very high expectations either. I suppose this is pretty normal for most of us during this journey. But as of late, I have learned to start raising the bar. So, when we do his homework, I really push him as far as he'll let me. I've been so proud of him. We got a note from his teacher last week that was soooo encouraging. She said that he reads all his sight words and that he's getting close to counting 5 objects one-to-one correspondence (touching each object when he counts it). My peacock feathers were quite proud!

Avery is doing great in school as well. I'm bummed that this private school only goes to kindergarten. I would love for them to add grades. She is really challenged and doing good meeting the challenge. Her writing is improving, she's trying to spell words on her own, and she does an awesome job at reading. I have also really enjoyed becoming good friends with a few of the moms from last year and this year. We've started meeting once a month for a "mom's night out". It's been great.

Thanks to great friends and family, I have been able to go to all three kids' first field trips this year. Makes for some really cute pics!

Ellie, the dog, is doing pretty well. Still in puppy stage. We went and had her spayed a week and a half ago. She developed this ping pong size lump on her belly. I knew a small lump was normal, but this seemed a bit large. So I took her in and they gave her some antibiotics for it and said it was more than likely due to over-activity. Bad parents! Well, come to find out, while I was gone for 4 days, Jim was making sure everyone, including the dog, was happy and well-exercised. Oops.

Okay, that's my update on things for the most part. Til next time....

Introducing Ellie

This is Ellie. She is an 8 week old Labradoodle (mostly lab looking), and she's ours. What possesssed us to get a dog, you might ask...and many have asked. Well, a husband that caved and a friend who was packing her up to go before we had even decided....she's great that way.







We went to our friends' for dinner. That's Jennifer in the picture above. They're dog had 9 pups. Jim was, "no way are we coming home with a dog." I wanted one...mostly the thought of one. There are things about having a dog I just don't miss...mainly dog hair, vet bills, spending money, and figuring what to do with it when we go out of town. So, off we go, planning on coming home with the same number we left with.

Jim goes into the room to look at the pups and walks out with one in his hand. I knew we were in trouble at that point. He said he wasn't expecting any of the pups to look have the smooth hair of a lab. He doesn't like the way Labradoodles look with the wiry, curly hair. (Sorry, doodle owners). So, very quickly, my friend Jennifer starts packing up the dog food and her husband gives the dog her shot and de-worming thing. Whoa! Then came the real kicker. First, they said we could do a trial run. If after a week things just didn't work out, we bring her back. Second, when we go out of town, we take her there for them to take care of. Gee, what more could you ask....besides paying for vet bills. :)

Now, most of you don't the history of us and dogs. Before we had children, we got a dog. You know...the, 'having trouble having kids, so get a dog syndrome'. So, we spoil the dog for nearly 2 years. Then we begin having kids...one every other year. Long story short, Dante (the dog) did not like it. Then add the FX on top of it and it was a mix for disaster. Dante began loosing his hair, gaining a lot of weight, and peeing on the floor. In a nutshell, the vet said he was stressed. So, we gave him to a good family. No more dog. Never planned to get another dog. Hmmmm.

Well, all the way home, Ian and Avery were blurting out name ideas. Avery wants to name her every princess there is, and Ian...well, he just blurts out names. Avery's favorite was Cinderella. Ian's favorite was Jesus. It was quite cute. So, as we were going through all the video characters they know, we finally settled on Ellie (the name of the female mammoth on Ice Age 2).

She's doing great so far. The kids don't seem as interested in her as I thought they would. Avery likes her and will read to her. Ian's indifferent. Benjamin most of the time doesn't like her and will cry because she, of course, jumps and nips. Potty training, you ask? Well, I don't want to jinx it all (if you believe in that), but it's almost like she's already potty-trained. She's only had 1 small accident in the house. Otherwise, pees and poops outside....but despises the heat! Who can blame her? She has black fur!

So, we'll see in a week if we still have a dog.