A Doggy Summer

Here we are in the middle of July already! Some days I really enjoy summer. Some days I want to tear my hair out and send my kids to boarding school! We're in our second week of morning swimming lessons, Braylen has a full week of evening soccer camp, and our times at home from lunch to supper are relaxing--if everyone gets along. :) Today I told my kids that they had better treat each other as nicely as they treat their friends, or else! In honor of summer vacation, I'm choosing to let the laundry sit in baskets rather than fold it, let the kids "clean" the bathrooms and vacuum on their own, and make snowcones instead of supper. (Supper can be late in the summer, right??)

Fun at the lake, 7/12/08

Aaron's zinnias he planted from seeds

Since last Monday we've had a good friend of ours (Shawn) stay here while he builds my in-laws patio cover. He's not here very much. We see him at night, and he leaves for work before we wake up. But yesterday he took the day off and he and Derek came home with a.......puppy! Shawn lives in Colorado and has been wanting a German Shepherd puppy for about a year. His older dog is getting, well, older. So on a whim he bought the cutest little shepherd pup! We named her Dakota. I am hoping this puppy experience will allow us to get a dog of our own sooner rather than later. Derek's taken to the whole idea REALLy well, considering he's never had a dog before. (Poor deprived Derek!) The boys love to run and play with Dakota. It's a bright spot in our summer. Maybe she will help us all get along with each other a bit better. :)