Puppies!!!

Scarlett had her first litter of goldendoodles yesterday!  She had been restless all day.  At about 4:00 in the afternoon I heard her yelp and heard little squeaks.  Sure enough, she had two little puppies in her whelping box!  It was a whole family affair.  Our kids watched in amazement, excitement, and pure disgust. 

Here she is after the first two were born.  I could totally relate to how she was feeling!

Here is Jason with Scarlett near the end.  He was awesome with her!  He went back and forth from saying it was the most excited he had ever been and he felt like he needed to throw up.  She had her puppies in a whelping box made by Jason and Keith.  We are keeping her in our garage with the door open to the laundry room and a baby gate safely anchored in the doorway to keep out curious little kids.  Dewey, the dad, was also very attentive.  He kept whimpering and trying to get to her whenever she would yelp.  He was very anxious about the whole thing.  We let him watch, but didn't let him in with her...just in case.

 At dinner last night, David said, "Now I know why we are supposed to be so nice to girls.  Because they have to go through THAT when they get older!"

 Holy Cow!  I thought having 1 at a time was rough.  She had nine puppies when we went to bed last night.

Here they are this morning.  Now there are ten!

Organization and Grace

I have set a goal to become more organized.  This is not a new goal for me, but one that I feel is becoming more and more essential.  Without organization, each day is like blazing a new trail through the wilderness.  I still get a lot done, but important things get left out. 

Here is my latest idea.  I started out with a file box full of cards of everything I needed to do each day.  The problem was, there was like 70 cards.  I would often get hung up on one, or demoralized by the magnitude of everything I had to do.  I got this pocket chart to help me sort them into time blocks.  This way, I do everything in order, but I move on to the next set of cards at the right time...no matter what.  For example, if I don't exercise at 6, I don't start exercising at 8.  I have found the most essential, and most difficult key is getting up on time.  This way I get through my scripture study, blog, computer stuff, calling stuff, and exercise before the kids are up.  The pink cards are cleaning cards.  I do them in the afternoon when I am starting to get tired.  (If I try to sit down and read with the kids after lunch I will fall dead asleep:-)  The green cards are event cards.  I have these for visiting teaching, school events, meetings...anything requiring an activity at a set time involving other people or places.  Here is the trouble...it is exhausting!  Also, our family is not made up of little robots.  We are not perfect, and there are some things we just don't want to do!  There are also gliches...people get sick, last minute trips to the store, schedule changes, interruptions, and bad attitudes (mine, of course).  This morning I dragged myself out of bed feeling awfully tired.  I read this article about grace.

http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/09/his-grace-is-sufficient?lang=eng

It was just what I needed to jumpstart my day!  It compares the Savior's Atonement to a mom who pays for piano lessons.  She doesn't expect her child to pay for the lessons or to suddenly become a perfect pianist.  She pays the full price and expects practice in return.  Similarly, the Lord has paid the full and complete price for us.  We don't need to be perfect.  The Lord wants us to practice, to improve ourselves, to draw near to Him so that ultimately we will be comfortable in His presence.

So...here we go again!  Today I am going to visit a veteran mother of 7.  I am hoping to glean all sorts of wonderful advice. 

First Day of School

It's hard to believe the summer is over! Today was the first day back to school. Jason and Keith are in 8th and 7th grade in middle school. Rebecca is doing online public school at home for 6th grade. David and Ben are in 4th and 2nd. Sarah is in Kindergarten at home.

Here are Ben and David at the elementary school.  My babies are getting so big!

Our first day of homeschool was a lot of fun.  After coloring independently for a little while, Sarah dragged Jacob over to me.  "Mom!" She called. "I have two things to tell you. The good thing is Jacob learned how to write an 'S'.  The bad thing is...he wrote it on himself."

Great Wolf Lodge

We surprised the kids, yesterday, with a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge...our last big hurrah before school starts on Monday. 



Breakfast in our room.

Jason and Kevin

I had so much fun watching Sarah and Jacob playing in the water.

Ben was a trooper.  On Thursday night we went together on the "Howlin' Tornado."  I was scared stiff.  He asked to go backwards!!!  

Rebecca and Sarah enjoying the wave pool.

Picnic lunch outside.  Goldfish, grapes, crackers, and bananas.

Kevin loved the waves!

Rebecca and Sarah on the lazy river.

Catching Up

A lot has happened over the past week...including a computer crash which explains the time lapse since my last posting.  Kyle was moved to a new home over the weekend.  Our licensing is not complete, so he legally was not able to stay with us.  What an emotional rollercoaster it has been!  We are so grateful for the time we had with him.  We are praying that God will let us help him again or guide us to another child in need.  In the meantime, we are preparing this week for the kids to go back to school.  Here are some pictures from last week.

 Dewey and Scarlett are expecting their first litter of Goldendoodles anytime!  The boys are raising these dogs to earn money for college and missions.

 Fun with friends at the pool.  Can you name the kids hiding under water?

 Rebecca and our neighbor, Grace.

 Sarah and Jacob

 Here are the ships from our family home evening lesson.  What type of ship would you want to take on a journey?  How about a journey through life?  Friendship, Worship, Workmanship, Stewardship, Hardship...were a few we came up with.

Jacob trying to catch a pigeon at the Perot Museum in Dallas.

 Making creations at "Recycle Reef" at the Perot Museum.

 Picnic at the Perot Museum

 Kevin

 Kyle

Jacob

Highland Village Hot Air Balloon Festival

 Playing in the broken sprinklers after the hot air balloon festival.

 Visiting with the police officer after the festival. Ben: "Have you ever shot someone?"  Police Officer: "No."  Ben: "Have you ever beat someone up?"  Police Officer: "They teach us other ways to handle situations."  Ben: "Oh, I get it.  Like 'Ok sir.  Come over here.   I think we need to have a little talk.  Right?'"

 Swinging at the park - Sarah and Jacob

Swinging at the park - Rebecca and Kyle



CPS

CPS (Child Protective Services) showed up yesterday, unannounced, to check on Kyle.  They know that we have been helping with him, but technically we cannot have guardianship yet, since we have not completely finished the licensing process.  She was prepared to take him and put him into foster care.  How could I tell Annette?  The caseworker looked all through our home and asked lots of questions...kind of intimidating...especially since we were in a big birthday mess!  Jason, Keith, and David were cooking dinner and frosting cakes in the kitchen.  I apologized for the mess as she was taking pictures for the file.  "I LOVE your kitchen!"  she exclaimed.  "It shows you actually cook!"  She called her supervisor and got official permission for us to keep him.  (Before we were functioning more as "help" for Annette.)  We were suprised and SO relieved!  It will still be a long road before anyone knows what will happen with him in the end.  CPS is looking for his mom and older sister.  We are just grateful to have little Kyle for now. He is a happy, sweet baby!  We all love him!  After she left, the caseworker sent me a text saying, "You all are such a blessing for that little boy.  Thank you for all you are doing for him."

Happy Birthday, Kevin!

Yesterday was Kevin's first birthday!  How has the time gone by so quickly!  We surprised him with a room full of bright bouncy balls (from WalMart).  He was so excited!

 "Let me down!!!"

 "This is awesome!"

 We all love a party!  Everyone was excited to make it a special day for Kevin.

 David made Kevin's first birthday cake.

 "Wow...what is this?  What do I do with it?"

 Everyone was anxious to show him.  Many hands started reaching for his cake to help him.

"Oh I get it now.  You grab a piece and feed it to someone!" 

 (Jacob was thrilled with this plan.)

 After some coaxing from his siblings who were chanting and demonstrating, he fnally took the plunge.  Yum!

 "I can't decide if I would rather eat it or play with it."

Happy Birthday baby!  We love you little Kevin!  You bring untold amounts of joy into our family and into our lives.