I Feel Like I Have a Newborn!!

Never having been responsible for a puppy before, I was surprised how very similar it is to having a new baby! :) He sleeps a LOT during the day......

And is awake a lot during the night!! The first week was crazy! It didn't help that Michael was out of town that whole week, we were hosting a Fiesta to celebrate the end of our 'travels' through Mexico, and I had a bone marrow biopsy (nothing serious, but good grief...I was SORE!). We did take an extra week to get through Mexico and to recover....that made a world of difference. I feel like we're ready to start Canada on the right foot tomorrow. And as an added bonus....he slept through the night last night. Woohoo!!

Mexico has been very fun. We started the two weeks by setting up a "bus" in our kitchen. Caleb was to be our bus driver for our trip to Mexico, but once we all boarded, he got shy and Abby took over for him! He keeps asking when we're driving to Canada, so maybe he'll be willing to drive tomorrow!

Our fiesta was SO fun. We had 6 families, for a total of 15 kids. We never did get to our pinatas, but my friend, Wendy's kids did, and they were kind enough to bring one to display and one to break (AND due to my "soreness" she came early to help me set up and decorate! Many thanks to her!!!) The kids had a great time!

We have thoroughly enjoyed our study of deserts. There has been some talk on the Yahoo groups about the Science being dry or light in ECC. To be honest, there are some pages that we skip, but my girls have really enjoyed notebooking after the daily readings. I feel like between that, a couple of extra things that we've done from Janice VanCleave's Science Around the World, and a couple of DVD's...they've learned a lot. We are fortunate enough to have access to BBC's Planet Earth DVD's. I have been SO pleased with how well they have coordinated with what we're learning. I would not recommend allowing especially young children to watch these without parent supervision....especially if your kids are squeamish. We have fast-forwarded through a few things, but overall....well worth it!

We are settling into a new routine...puppy and all, and we're looking forward to travelling to Canada!

Meet the Newest Member of Our Family

We are now the proud owners of a dog! Kelsey has been wanting a puppy forever, so we decided that she could have one for her 10th birthday. He is a little bit early as her birthday is not for a week and a half, but she is so excited to have him. He is a short-haired Havanese, and she named him J.J. We picked him up right after lunch today. So far all has gone well. He did start to cry as we got in the car. My girls were both soon in tears thinking that he was crying over leaving his litter-mates. As soon as I convinced them he just wasn't too sure about the riding in the car thing....everyone was happy again! He soon fell asleep and did great the rest of the way home. He is now passed out cold in his kennel....so apparently it has been an exciting day for him as well! This is a video that Kelsey took of her new puppy.

Soccer Star

Caleb started his first season of soccer today. He is playing on an Upward team. The girls have played on Upward basketball teams and we have been very happy with our experience with them. He was SO excited to get his uniform and play his first game. His team is the Junior Bears and they won their first game 2-1!

Mini-golf Determination

While we were camping, we played a round of mini-golf. Here is just part of a video of my son's determination to conquer this particular hole.

Camping

We just returned from our second annual Labor Day weekend camping trip with the Timms Family. We had BEAUTIFUL weather....sunny and warm enough during the day to spend some time at the lake,

but just chilly enough in the mornings to allow us to pull out our long lost sweatshirts and enjoy some hot chocolate!

The girls all brought their Nature Notebooks and sat down together to work on those.

Michael had a close up encounter with nature while we were there.

These signs were posted everywhere, so I was careful not to let my kids wander around off the paths.....no one told me the snakes would come into my campsite!!! We were all over at the Timms' campsite (it was late and DARK!), and Michael ran over to get our extension cord. After unplugging our lights from the cord he felt something hit his foot (did I mention he was wearing flip-flops?!?). He put the light from his very little flashlight down by his foot and sure enough.....copperhead snake! It wasn't super big.....12-18" but hello, it was by our table!! I had just sent 2 of the girls over there alone to get water bottles from the cooler that was on the table! He threw his hammer at it and injured it enough to keep it still. Then he and Michael Timms went back with a bigger, brighter light to look for any snake friends and to finish it off. Needless to say, we didn't sleep super well that night! :)

Caleb had a much happier nature encounter....he caught his first fish!! Of course, I wasn't there and so neither was the camera, but here is a pretty cute picture of him fishing with his daddy.

On Saturday, we hiked ALL the way to the top of Fort Mountain. There was a beautiful view from up there. We would have been able to see forever if it had been a little clearer.

Near the top of the mountain is a stone tower and rock wall.

The where, why, who, and how of the structures is a mystery (did I mention that I hate mysteries?? I'm very much a "need to know the facts" kind of girl!). There are several different legends.....one of which has a Prince Madoc from Wales building the structures in the late 1100's.....some 300 years before Columbus! The big question is if Prince Madoc was even a real person.....or just a made up legend. It's very interesting to me that even with all of the research, there is still so much that we will probably never know for sure.

And now, back to school and every day life...... :)