February 15, 2015
Family Newsletter/Journal
Dear Peeps,
I was thinking I wouldn’t have very much to write about in our journal this month but then looked
through our pictures and realized we had a few fun things that happened. Of course puppies…but that is not allJ
Sir Stinker Simon is a joy one minute and a horror story the
next. BUT maybe he is making a turn for
the good? He went to nursery today and
almost liked it! He actually stayed for
almost an hour without crying. BIG
improvement. He was the only one I took
with me to pick up the puppies we got this past week, they were pretty whiney
and fussy on the way home. He started
mimicking me when I would say, shush puppies, its okay, don’t be sad. It was pretty cute to hear him try to say all
of that. We both stopped after a little
white realizing our efforts were fruitless, they just didn’t like the car
ride. The next time I looked back at
Simon he was looking over at the puppies but this time he had his hands
covering his ears. That is one way to
solve the problem! Smart kidJ. Currently he likes the puppies a few minutes
at a time or has no interest except to move their bed around. He has to share more of me now, not sure he
likes that. Its really really cute to
hear him say puppies. Now that we have
them, he no longer calls our toad a puppy.
He is learning! He still loves to
pretend to cook and bake all day long. I
couldn’t handle ALL of my pots and pans and dishes out all day long
anymore. I bought him a little tiny
stove that sits on a chair with a few pots and utensils. He really loves it, but of course he wants
the real stuff…but now the cupboards all have locks on them. It is helping me stay sane.
Maximus Prime has decided that nursery isn’t cool unless I’m
there with him. So maybe he will trade
places with Simon. We hope it is a SHORT
phase. Max had a little “procedure” done
this month. He is doing great though and
just suffers a little bit from psychological pain now and anxiety when we tell
him we need to change his diaper. He has
taken up the skateboard and scares us all daily. He loves the puppies more at a distance, but
he is the one that started out really afraid, so he is getting better. He thinks he loves them and wants to be
playing next to them, and then he quickly changes his mind. He likes pots and pans just as much as Simon,
but playing alongside each other is a difficult task for both of them. He is still a cuddle bug and anytime you sit
down he immediately brings you book after book after book. He loves to break into our cars and
play. We are trying to remember to keep
them locked!!
Milewski (A nick name from Kyle, Max calls her this
constantly.) was recently tested just to cover all our basis as a preschooler
in the Alpine school district early testing program. She, of course, passed all their tests with
flying colors, made friends with all of the staff, and made me look like a
crazy over worried mom. She is fine. A
little hyperactive, and VERY distractible, but apparently, does GREAT in a
classroom setting, according to her preschool teacher and the Alpine school
districts team of experts. We hope she
continues to wow us. Because she is
absolutely wonderful and amazing. She is
also a little leech (she is my shadow) that tests my patience constantly, but I
love her dearly. She enjoys everything
she does, for a very short time, so she can be exhausting, but she is also so
fun to play with and cuddle with.
Recently Kyle took her on a bumpy dirt road on the go cart, she kept
saying to him “I’m done now. Are we
going home yet? Why did we go on that
road? I did not have fun.” She is very good at expressing herself. She was pleased as punch today because it was
the first time she got to go up at church and sing with the rest of the
primary. So excited!! She actually sang
some of the song too. She loves music and is always singing songs she learns in
primary. She is always reminding me that
her next birthday she will be 4. Then on
the next one, 5 and then she can go to kindergarten. Millie—stop trying to grow up so fast!! She loves our new puppies, Lucy and
Dash. She likes to pick them up and put
them down over and over again. Lucky
puppies?
Oliver Boliver Boo is still the coolest kid around. Except when he throws his tantrums of
course. He is very expressive and loves
to use the phrase “the worst thing ever in his life” and he uses it often. He is a hoot.
He is also enjoying the skateboard and LOVES the go-cart more than
anything. He got his kindergarten shots
today. I still can’t believe he is
almost in school. It makes me sad of
course that all this time has passed and it seems like yesterday that I was at
the hospital holding the Oliver newborn.
Now he is the Oliver soon to be a big kindergartener. He is very excited. His new favorite thing is a razor
scooter. He plays outside with it for
hours. I think I know what I’m getting
him for his birthday so he doesn’t get upset when the boys ride theirs to school
and he has nothing to ride until they come home. We tried to take his training wheels off this
month...he is not ready for that!! The other day he climbed into a big toy
piano container. He looked just like a
doll in a package. It was pretty cute
and funny and then Simon of course had to try it. Every morning Oliver asks if we are doing to
the beach that day. Or Disneyland, or
Arizona. He is instantly
disappointed. “We NEVER get to go
there.” I’m surprised he keeps asking!!
He has been playing really well with Ruby this month which has been so
sweet. They used to play all the time,
but then we go more buddies in this family and their cute little friendship
disappeared for a little while. I love
to see them re-discovering their friendship.
Recently Oliver told me that two other kids told him they didn’t like
him at preschool. I laughed and said,
“They must have been joking, because WHO wouldn’t like Oliver?” He laughed as well and said, “Ya!!” And it
was quickly brushed aside. We did talk
about all the other things that go with people sometimes saying mean things,
but I loved his ability to just not worry about it and realize he is a cool
kid, and there are lots and lots of people who DO like him. Like me!
Ruby is now toothless.
Her gappy smile is adorable but just another reminder for me that she,
like the others, is growing up too fast.
I don’t know if she will ever trust me again. I promised her I wouldn’t pull out her tooth
but something indescribable just came over me and I seemed to have no control
as I grabbed her tooth and pulled It was
like the urge to pop a zit, I couldn’t help myself—it was a snagle tooth, just
dangling there, calling to me. She cried
for a moment, and then was super happy and insisted that I take a picture and
send it to Penny’s piano teacher so Penny could know right then and there, at
her piano lesson, that she had lost a tooth.
Penny was really proud. Somehow
Ruby was unlucky enough to get two stomach bugs this month20. However, she was the lucky one that helped me
pick out our puppies, so hopefully she will remember that over the sick
bugs. Her favorite things this month
were probably celebrating 100 day at school because she got to dress up like a
100 year old lady and learning to ride roller blades in just one day (she
claims). Roller blades are really
popular in our little culdesac with all the little girls Penny and Ruby’s
age. I don’t think I learned until 4th
grade! Scares me to watch them but they
seem to do just fine!
Pennywise is getting baptized this Saturday! We are so happy for her. She is excited and so happy that I postponed
her birthday party because the day she was supposed to have it, she got the
stomach flu. Actually 8 people in our
family have gotten the nasty bug. Hoping
it is done spreading. But Oliver or I
could be the next victims. Penny is
having a unicorn and rainbow birthday party and super excited to have a
piñata. She is doing really well in
school still, and her class recently did a spelling bee and she got 4th
place. I’m sure if we would have studied
she would have gotten firstJ. She loves loves loves the new puppies. She is
often found laughing uncontrollably while they lick her face ALL OVER.
(ewww) But she loves the puppy
love. She is learning that taking care of
puppies is hard work but doing a good job doing her part. She is doing an awesome job with the piano
and practices 6 days a week every single time!
She is dedicated and also highly motivated to earn a prize out of the
prize bucket each week for 6 days of practice (prizes for the dollar storeJ). I’m
hoping to get some good pictures of her in her baptism dress this week if sun
decides to come out.
Luke won his class spelling be this month and will therefore
be competing in his school spelling bee, which happens to be tomorrow. He says he LOVES spelling and his favorite
word is PUSILLANIMOUS. I think he enjoys
the challenge. He earned his Religious
knot this month and gets to advance to Bears in a couple of weeks. He has apparently inherited his “I love
puppies from a distance” gene from his father.
He is actually starting to warm up, but mostly he likes to make toys for
them and watch them play. He doesn’t
feel comfortable holding them, but he is a great pooper scooper. Recently he has decided to sell a lot of his
pokemon card collection so he can earn money fore more lego sets. Mom and dad said that is ok, as long as he
doesn’t involve them in the transaction. He sold his first batch for 20 dollars…pending
paymentJ. We got Luke a fitbit this month and he loves
it. He is really into running (when it
is warm outside) so we think it will be a fun and friendly competition for him
and Isaac (and mom and dad too!)
Isaac is now 11 years old.
We can’t believe how fast this birthday has come. He is a pretty neat 11 year old. He got a ripstick that he didn’t ask for and
we hoped he would love and he does! He
also got a couple of video games, which he did ask for and he LOVES! It was an off year for a party so we went to
a movie as a family and saw big hero6 which we all enjoyed. Isaac earned his arrow of light this month and
is now in the 11 year old scouts with Kyle as his leader. Isaac
is still in the 95% for his weight and height and just recently realized he can
play ball! His last basketball game was
so fun to watch. He started grabbinf rot
ehb all at every chance he got and was really into the game and played really
well. I think it was the hardest ever he
played too because afterwards he told me he almost faintedJ. He has a fitbit too and has more dedication
than the rest of us. He sets his alarm
so he can wake up and run on the treadmill every morning before school..I
suspect it is more about watching studio C before school than anything, but we
don’t care, we are proud of him. Isaac
LOVES the new puppies and take really good care of them. He wanted to name them Dash and Roxy but
settled with Lucy because I said so! He
told me today that he liked them both and liked that they had fun but different
personalities. I agreed. Same thing goes for all the kiddos.
Kyle officially left his job at the church February 6th
and has been enjoying his work at Cascade.
The business has been growing and has benefited greatly by the unusual
warm winter weather. Somehow he lost his
senses and agreed to get puppies. He
blames it on his lack of sleep. He is
currently getting over a bad cold and stomach flu and hopes he is done with all
the sickness!
Me. I’m still here
trying to stay sane. The kids keep me
busy and the dogs keep me busier. It was
a crazy decision to get puppies but I haven’t really regretted it yet…even
though I am the one getting up in the middle of the night. I think it will be a lot easier in 6
months. Hoping to get hard floors in
family room, a doggy door, and a fence this summer…fingers crossed. All things we were eventually planning on,
but now need to be more of a priority because of these darn pups. I just finished reading few books, The Road,
Code Name Verity, and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Didn’t LOVE LOVE any of them but definitely
enjoyed the reading time I forced myself to put in. Code Name Verity was so sad…but I think I
might pick up the sequel. I’m going to
read some rubbish next because that one was a heavy read.
A little bit more about the puppies---I always say I’m NEVER
going to do something and then I ALWAYS end up eating my words. The purchase of TWO puppies wasn’t any
different. I told my friend the day
before that I would get a full grown dog but not until the summertime. Whoops.
One visit to the Puppy Barn (its exactly what it sounds like) and Ruby
and I were smitten. I left the puppies
there and got supplies then brought them home around 7 pm. I told the kids to hurry up and come out and
help me carry in groceries from the car.
Penny and Isaac saw them first and just about died. I heard, “wow, how many are there?” from
Luke. Ha! Like I would buy more than two! It was our Happy Valentines for our family.
Hope all is well with everyone.
Love,
All of us.
