Puppy Love

Cement pad, dog kennel, fenced in yard, dog crate, food bowls, chew toys, dog food, dog treats, collar, leash, brush, cable, pooper-scooper, nail clippers, tick collar, dog house, dog bed, PUPPY=more money than I'd like to admit.

3 boys and their dog=priceless

Ginger came home to us 2 days ago, and our lives will never be the same! We are cuddling her, running around with her, teaching her, and loving her to pieces. She's soooo cute! I'm so glad we have this new puppy at the beginning of summer. I'm learning how helpful the boys really are! In fact, when Braylen goes to camp in a couple of weeks, I will really miss his help with Ginger. He takes her to her "potty spot." He plays with her. He walks her. He keeps an eye on her. Kaleb, bless his heart, comes in the house and asks where Ginger is. Nevermind the fact that she's asleep on the garage step and he had to walk OVER her when he came in the door. :) Aaron's an easy target for a playful puppy, so he spends most of his time running away from her while I teach her not to nip at him or jump on him. I tried a new technique to correct that problem today, and feel really good about it. Success is such a great thing for this novice puppy mommy!

Raising an outdoor dog is new to me, so I'm reading all that I can while getting creative with how we do things. At night we put Ginger in her crate in the garage, and I turn my baby monitor on so I can hear her if she yelps. It took me a while to find my baby monitor, but I'm so glad I still have it! So far I've only needed to take her outside to do her business once during the night. Yay! And she loves her crate. Another big plus. I've realized that raising this puppy really is similar to raising a baby. (I think having 3 babies of my own gives me the right to say that.) :) She needs constant supervision, consistentcy, attention, love, vaccinations, potty training, etc. I call her my canine baby.

Ginger had her first jeep ride today!

On a different note, Braylen ran in another track meet this past Saturday. He did so well, and it's fun to see him improve his times. I just love watching him run. Kaleb started t-ball last week. This is Aaron's last summer as a spectator, since he'll be old enough for t-ball next summer. That's hard to believe! But for now, Braylen and Aaron and I will enjoy watching Kaleb play. I'm sure we'll bring Ginger along as well. Summer may not be here on the calendar yet, but it's here in our family!

Work & Play

With a few more days of summer vacation under my belt, I'm still here and I'm still sane. :) A little irony occured on Friday. Being the first official day of summer break, I thought it would be smart to stock up on large bandaids. Standard-sized bandaids never seem to be big enough for my boys' injuries. Sure enough, that evening Braylen had a whopper-sized injury. I was on a girls' night out when Derek called to ask me a question. "Sarah, where do you keep the athletic tape?" Poor guy--I wouldn't give him the answer until I heard why he needed athletic tape. :) Braylen learned that railroad ties to the shin never ends pretty. Being the great Daddy that he is, Derek fixed up Braylen's wound exactly the way I would have done it. (And being the good nurse that I am, I had plenty of gauze, ointment, and coban wrap on hand.) I'm so glad I stocked up on large bandaids that weren't even large enough for our first summer injury, and it all happened on the first day of break. Sheesh!

Memorial Day weekend brought beautiful boating weather for us. Yipee! Braylen caught 6 fish while Derek and Aaron caught 1. Kaleb got his line wet and will have better luck next time. I'm hoping to do some skiing and tubing next time we go boating. The water was just too cold for me to jump in. Kaleb and Aaron had other ideas, so we tied the ski ropes to their life jackets and let them splash around in the water. So I fished for kids while Derek and his dad fished for fish. ;)

Our fence is going up, the doghouse is freshly painted, and our puppy arrives in THREE DAYS!!! We've been talking about names, and have narrowed it down to 4 choices. In no particular order, we're deciding between Baylee, Ginger, Shadow, and Pepper. I really liked Wrigley, but it didn't make the cut to the final 4. (Kaleb has a bit of a problem pronouncing it.) Aaron's suggestion was this: "How about Cute? When it grows up it can be Big Cute." He still insists Cute is his favorite name. Silly boy. :)

Speaking of cute. . .here are Aaron's latest Aaronisms.

"Amelope" antelope

"Bixtix" biscuits

"Tulops" tulips

"You-member" remember

Finally, some pictures of our latest adventures. :) Happy Summer!

Kaleb teaching Aaron how to pump.

Kaleb paints the doghouse floor--he's just the right size!

Derek and Braylen cutting wood for the fence

Aaron's job is to look cute!

Summer Groove

Okay, so the big news right now is SCHOOL'S OUT!!!! Let me just say that I am not one of those mothers who dreads summer vacation. I love summertime! I know my kids will fight more as we adjust to our summer groove, but such is life. At least they're old enough to punish with hard work. :) When the backpacks were dumped out, this is a sample of what my living room floor looked like.

Remember, this is only a small piece of the actual chaos. It took a good chunk of the afternoon to find homes for these treasures. With all that behind us, we are ready for a fun weekend of boating to welcome summer! We'll see if the weather cooperates.

Grandpa's funeral ended up being a really special time for our family this week. Derek and I debated about pulling the boys out of school for this, but I'm so glad we did. Many memories were shared of Grandpa, and I believe we honored his life with much love and laughter. Our boys spent lots of time playing with second cousins who quickly became new friends. I got a little nervous when they kicked a soccer ball in a room with stained glass windows, but nothing broke. Derek has 2 cousins currently in the military, and the boys think they are larger than life. We've prayed them through multiple tours in Iraq, so it was special for our kids to see these men face-to-face. One even wore his uniform, and that impressed my boys a lot. The 21 gun salute for Grandpa at the cemetary sparked more questions from Braylen and Kaleb. Hearing "Taps" played for Grandpa brought tears to my eyes, but I know we will see him again one day. All in all, this day is one I hope we never forget.

My handsome husband with his beautiful grandma

Me enjoying a visit with my sis-in-law Sarena

Yes, the boys were petting a snake at the cemetary--ewwww--I hope they remember more about this day than that! Notice they ditched their khaki pants for play shorts? Lucky them. :)

Grandpa

Derek's beloved grandpa went home to be with the Lord this past week. A man who loved the outdoors, Grandpa instilled that same love in Derek. Fishing, boating, hunting, camping. . .Grandpa's influence is in all of it. He also loved to laugh. Oh, I will never forget his laugh! He adopted me as one of his own, and for the first time in my life, I had a grandpa invest in me. He loved me for who I was, loved interacting with my kids, and literally lifted us up in prayer every morning. He'd give me the biggest bear hugs, kiss my cheek, and say the exact same thing to me every time we were together. He'd hold onto my arms and say, "Sarah, you just keep getting prettier and prettier every time I see you." Isn't that what grandpas are for? I was robbed of my own Grandpa as a 6 year old girl. The thief? Colon cancer. It left me with fragments of childish memories, and I always wished for more. Joining Derek's family gave me the unexpected gift in the person of his grandpa. I will miss you so much Grandpa Stan--but I will look for you in my own sons as they grow and mature into young men.

Great-Grandpa & Kaleb

Grandpa used to look at my little boys and ask, "Don't you wonder what they're thinking?" Now he's in heaven and he knows the answer to that question. :) He has eternity ahead of him to find out.