Puppy love

Dan was on a plane ride home and read an article about a military man, home from war, with PTSD. His cure? A beautiful black lab. Dan fell in love with it just through the pictures and decided that we should go take a look at the pet store with the kids that next weekend. We went to Puppies for less (I didn't like the name) and Alli LOVED looking at the puppies from the window. Then we found a beautiful black English Lab and asked to see him. He was a feisty little thing. He didn't quite bite but he sure liked to playfully try. Alli had enough of it after a minute and watched from outside the fenced off area. Then we decided to see his roommate....a rare white English Lab. She was SOO mellow and cute and playful. She'd pounce around a second and then just sit content. I'll have to admit, as much as I don't want another small one to take care of, and all my friends with dogs seem to wish they didn't, I was falling for this sweet little girl. I hugged her and pet her and then we put her back and went on our way. I did get in the car with white dog hair all over, which helped me get over it faster. It was a fun little excursion with the kids anyway.

Summer Swim Lessons

The first two weeks of summer, we had the kids take private swim lessons from a girl in our neighborhood named Maddy, who works at the YMCA. It was the best investment by far. Alli is so comfortable in the water now and loves swimming!! She's really good at it too. I can see that she has really matured over the last year and really listens well to those who teach her. After the lessons were over, Cole needed another couple of times with me in the water at our community pool to reinforce what he had been taught and he's really getting it now. He can jump in and swim a really long distance in one breath, but when he has to come up for a breath, he loses his form and starts struggling. I think a few more times in the water together will help him get it. A heated pool, with one on one lessons in a private backyard is the only way to go! Thanks Maddy!

Allison's Preschool Promotion

This time it's for real. Allison is moving on from Preschool. The other day we were driving in the car and Allison was having a girl moment. She was crying over....well, everything... among the list of missing her GG and why did she have to move to Utah, she cried that she wouldn't be seeing Miss Diane at preschool anymore. We dropped off some stuffed animals Allison had brought home from Preschool a while back and Miss Diane couldn't come to the door....but a few days later, she came to visit Alli and brought every kids' favorite treat....fruit snacks! It was so sweet and meant a lot to Alli to see her. I hope she likes her Kindergarten teacher as much as she loves Miss Diane!




Thank goodness we were still able to contain this little one in her carseat...not much longer!

It's a balancing act

This little gal can't wait to keep up with her older brother and sister...so she's wasting no time getting that balance down! She'll be 1 in two weeks...she's my earliest walker --by 2 1/2 months! She's got places to go and things to do! Watching babies learn to walk has to be one of the coolest, and cutest sights.