A Puppy and the Loves of My Life

Lily at nine weeks

Well, as of three weeks ago we have a new addition to our family - a little black puppy. O.K., she's not so little. Actually, she's over thirty pounds! This is Lily and she's a Newfoundland. She's almost thirteen weeks old now and big enough to snatch food off the table - if I'm not watching close enough. We have so many people ask us what kind of dog she is, and only two of them knew what a Newf was. Jake was walking her one day, and a woman actually pulled over just to tell him she was cute. Can you believe that?!

This is a picture of Mercedes with one of her science experiments. She had a lot of fun playing with the food coloring and figuring out what colors make what colors. Mercedes is also loving ballet. Today she was helping me do some rolly polly warm-up things they do, and she told me she gets her strength from ballet. This girl will forever be a social butterfly who loves all things friends and the colors pink, purple, and blue. (O.k., her favorite colors will probably change, but I don't think the butterfly thing will). :)

I just get a kick out of this picture. Christina would start out with one finger on each side, then two, three, and finally four. They were all pretty silly! She also had an awesome show and tell the other day. Monday, I showed her a potato that had started sprouting leaves. She thought it was so cool, she waited three days and took it to preschool to show everyone. Can you believe that? She is so funny! She wasn't feeling good the other day, and all she would say was, "The Lady Bugs eat my bones!" I don't think I want to know what that feels like.

You've got to LOVE frosting! Especially chocolate frosting that your mom let's you lick out of the container when she's done with it. This is my snuggly buddy and he's quite the big helper! He loves setting the table at meal time; oh, and the other day at dance, he was dancing around where the moms all sit, and decided this wasn't good enough. He put on a tutu, walked onto the dance floor, and danced the last couple minutes with Mercedes and the other girls. Boy am I glad Miss Barbara didn't mind because it was really cute! (Even in a tutu).

I think of all the things we do, the thing I love the most is being together. I also love that my children play so well together. Yes, they still have their squabbles, but they love each other and look out for each other too. I couldn't have asked for better children and I have truly been blessed because of them.