Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Puppy LOVE

This is our new puppy, that we gave the kids for Christmas...it took almost three weeks, but we finally settled on the name, YANKEE!

Some of the other name options were pretty interesting, to say the least, and everyone had a favorite, on which, they wouldn't budge. For instance, Elisabeth wanted to name him "PEACHES" from the very beginning...there was NO way the boys were going to call him that, they were completely appalled that she would even suggest naming a male, "PEACHES". We had a harder time naming this dog, than any of our four children (of course, there wasn't a nurse holding us hostage at the hospital, either), so we took our sweet time with the name, and hopefully our kids learned what it means to compromise, which apparantly is not a huge strength for our family.

He is a German Shorthaired Pointer, they are used for tracking/ hunting, but they are also bred to be excellent, family dogs. He came from a breeder with four kids, almost exactly our kids ages, so that part has been pretty easy.

His favorite toy is a monkey that Nathan gave him...he is getting really good at playing fetch.






His favorite spot to take a nap is up on the deck in the sun. He will also come up on the deck when he wants someone to come out and play, he comes right up to the dining room window and whimpers until someone pays attention.

Nathan and Annie are the ones who have consistently shown the most interest, they are both really good with him. Alec is great about taking him on walks and Elisabeth is still pretty timid around him, he can just about knock her over in his excitement to see her. Andy has taken on most of the responsibilities involved (baths, training, etc...) which has been nice, as I am not a huge dog person, don't get me wrong, I like dogs, but I am not one of those people that completely adores them. Andy is not a huge dog person either, but has done such a good job with him (he's read all the books and watched the training DVDs) and he has really enjoyed having a dog. We both went into this, a bit unsure, you hear all these horror stories about puppies and all the trouble they can get into...but (fingers crossed) so far, so good!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Nathan: the Dictionary

Yesterday, on the way back from Nathan's basketball game, I found myself laughing out loud...Annie was singing at the top of her lungs, John Mayer's song "Say", over and over. After about three minutes straight of singing, Nathan said,

"Annie" (very sternly, enough so she was quiet and listening to him)
"You singing that song is BOTHERING me."
"Which means you are irritating me."
"Which means you are annoying me."
"Which means you are aggravating me."
"Which means you are frustrating me."
"Which means I am getting angry."
"Which means I am now mad."
"OK?"

Alec and I just laughed and laughed!
And then, of course, she started singing it again...
because she understood Nathan completely, he explained the concept well...
and now she was just pushing buttons!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Caught in the act...







So why not take a few pictures???
After all, I am gathering evidence, for the inevitable day when she will call me concerning her own daughter!
My own, dear mother can attest...what goes around, most certainly comes around!!!

Golly gee, sometimes I sure wish I hadn't been so darn naughty as a girly...
I know what you must be thinking (gasp and shock), me and naughty do not even belong in the same sentence...
okay well, maybe you weren't thinking that, but ohhhh...
I really was. really. VERY. bad.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Our Holiday Break: A Series of (mostly) Fortunate and (some) Unfortunate events:

Fortunate:
  • Fun trip for kids and I to AZ for a week, plenty of Christmas tunes and movies on the way.
  • Visits with extended family that I love and don't get to see often enough!
  • Having great siblings (aunts and uncles) who make everything awesome for my kids.
  • Racing with Aunt Erika at her gym (5 laps:Nathan won, then 3 laps: Alec won, confirmed: Annie is a sprinter, but dang, that girl can accelerate!)
  • Eating at all my most favorite places (not even feeling guilty with my New Year's resolutions...well, RESOLUTE, that is, after the 1st.)
  • Evening of shopping (Ann Taylor) with my sister, Erika, so enjoyable.
  • FHE at the Mesa temple, beautiful holiday lights and music.
  • Seeing old, dear friends.
  • Andy made it earlier than we thought and suprised us on the 23rd (life is so good when he is around!) and, luckily, he brought our video camera.
  • Christmas Eve & Christmas Day & Day after Christmas day at my parents, beautiful, new cabin in Northern AZ.
  • Abundance of great, holiday food to partake of!
  • Andy and Brian skiied all day on Christmas Eve, plenty of perfect snow.
  • 4 kiddos that somehow made it onto Santa's good list!
  • New, adorable puppy & the most suprised children Andy and I have ever seen, so fun!
  • Everyone's favorite: sledding for hours after Christmas dinner and first thing on the 26th, again for hours...Lori and Delv brought up tons of sleds and we just went again and again and again. (My Mom and Dad even went...great memories!)
  • Safe travels to and fro.

UNFORTUNATE:

  • Our camera, that was already in very bad shape, was dropped by a certain child...and well, it completely died, cannot be fixed. (thus, no pictures with this post).
  • My brother, Jared, that lives in Boston, worked Christmas day (because he's single and so kind) and couldn't be with us...we all missed him soooooo MUCH!!!!
  • We arrived home to SG very late, kids were grumpy and we all had the beginnings of cold/flu-like symptoms.
  • Said, puppy...is greatly loved, but...of course, is taking up loads of our time. The initial attention needed is great and it's a good thing he is sooooo adorable.
  • As do all living things...he pees frequently. Very frequently.
  • He, the puppy...still does not have an official name. (Andy calls him grandpa and the rest of us just keep boycotting that one!)
  • It has taken an entire week, to get all the post-trip laundry done, for all of us to get feeling better, to put away all the Christmas decor, to find places for all the new stuff, and to get into a really solid routine with our puppy. This was definitely a week of adjustments.

All in all...we had a great Christmas break, we feel so blessed, and we are all looking forward to a a FABULOUS New Year!!!

What in the WORLD is a SUNBEAM, anyway?

In case you were wondering, this is a SUNBEAM:

She will shine for HIM each day!
In every way, she'll try to please HIM...
at home, at school, at play.


We feel so LUCKY to have one in our family...although we cannot quite believe it!