moving on

We found a new home for Pixie yesterday!  It's such a relief to have this taken care of.  She's a good dog, just not the right fit for our family right now, so it was causing extra stress here at home and the situation really wasn't fair for her either.  I think her new home is a much better fit for her - no small children, no other dogs, and she'll get lots of attention.  :)  I talked to the new owners today and they are just thrilled with her.  I guess this whole experience is one of those things we have to come to terms with as an expensive life lesson and leave it at that - at some point I hope I can stop kicking myself over the money spent...  For some reason this situation reminds me of the plane ticket to Mexico that I didn't end up using my senior year of college (LONG story!) - there's a good chunk of change that I'll never get back!  :)

Roxy is growing like a weed.  She put on about 6 lbs in three weeks.  I could definitely feel it, she's like a brick when you pick her up!  She's doing pretty well with training.

It feels like I've been more "referee" than "Mom" lately.  Fighting, fighting, fighting all. the. time.  I've gotta figure out how to deal with this because I don't think it's going to get better any time soon!  (At least that's what the expert, my hubby, says...  I think maybe he and his brothers kinda started getting along by the time they were in their mid to late twenties???)

Levi's finding out that sometimes it just stinks being the little brother.  His big brothers get to do things he can't do, and he feels bad about that.  Mike was "Deacon on duty" this week, and when he locks up on Wednesday nights he takes Caleb and Logan around with him.  Levi was bummed that he didn't get to do it.  And, the next night, Mike took Caleb and Logan with him to help with soybean harvest, and Levi got sad about missing out on that, too.  But, I took him with me to run a few errands, and then we went to McDonald's for a treat, so that helped him feel better.  :)

Last Saturday I got to pretend to be a Soccer Mom for the morning.  It's just too bad that the weather then wasn't as gorgeous as it is now...  :)  My niece and nephew spent the night Friday, and I took them to their soccer games Saturday.  Brrrrr!  At least it was dry for Boden's game, it was nice and rainy for Heidi's.  Then, when Eric and Lea Anne came to pick up Boden and Heidi, they took Caleb, Logan, and Levi home with them because Mike and I had a wedding to go to in the afternoon.  It worked out nice to do a swap like that!  Took several times explaining it to the boys to get them to understand the logistics of it all.  :)  Mike and I went to our friend Aaron's wedding - we all worked together at Schreur's way back when, and Mike has actually known him since they were kids because their moms are cousins or something and they grew up going to the cottage on Barlow Lake together.

It's a beautiful day and there's lots of outdoor work that I'm not getting done.  Oh well!  We're off to a "harvest party" at my parent's a little later.

treasure

This past Saturday was our annual skeet shoot.  What a beautiful day we had for it!  Mike hid a little "treasure box" in the woods, and the kids sure had fun with that.  It was especially fun that Alyssa, the only girl, was the one who found it.  :)

Tuesday we visited Mike at work for lunch and it was POURING.  The boys were having a ball running around outside, and I just let them go.  But, of course, when we got home there was lots of complaining from them how they were all wet.  :)  That was the last day for Mike's shed this season, the other shed was supposed to finish up on Wednesday, but it ended up being too wet in the field to get the rest of the celery out, so they are finishing today.  Phew!  We survived another harvest season!

Last night Mike and I were able to go on a date.  We went to Peppino's in Allendale for supper, and then to Biggby for coffee.  The boys had fun playing at Harold and Kara's.

Caleb and Logan are almost constantly finding ways to upset Levi.  One surefire way is to call him "Levi Michael Krol".  Apparently he doesn't like his name...  He gets quite mad and is insistent that, "No!  I not Levi Michael Krol!"  Someday he'll think it's cool that his middle name is his dad's name.  :)

Both Caleb and Logan have had questions for quite some time regarding family relationships, but Logan especially is thinking things through and making connections.  Last night after leaving Harold and Kara's, and the boys were talking about playing in the basement, Mike was telling them about how his bedroom used to be down there and he shared it with Uncle Harold and Uncle Dan.  So, we got into how Uncle Dan is a stepbrother to Mike, and it was Logan that piped up and said that it's just like Grandpa is Daddy's stepdad.  And, this morning he was making the connection about in-laws, too.  Interesting to see them try and figure this stuff out.  :)

quiet

Nice, quiet, uneventful weekend at home.  We needed it!  The only bummer was that most of us were dealing with a cold, and due to the weather we postponed our annual skeet shoot party.  On Friday Mike's packing shed didn't run and he actually got the whole day off.  I was able to go out and run a bunch of errands by myself for the morning!  On Sunday, due to all the snotty noses, we did not go to church.  However, in the afternoon Mike and I both had meetings to attend at church, and he had to usher for the evening service.  So, I took the boys with me to my meeting and set them up in the corner with snacks and Curious George on my laptop.  After the meeting was done we just hung out in that room until Mike was done ushering and came to get us to go home.

I absolutely love listening to my kids learn different words and how to express themselves!  The other day Levi said something about the "pile" on his thumb.  :)  He has callouses on both thumbs thanks to being a thumb-sucker.

A couple months ago I hauled out my Phantom of the Opera and Fiddler on the Roof cd's and put them in the van to listen to.  The boys LOVE them!  I can't wait until they're old enough to go see the musicals.  :)  Anyways, if you ever hear one of them going around saying something like, "...and you've got your eye on the Rabbi's son..." (Like Logan was the other day...) now you know where it's coming from.  :)

thoughtful

Logan really is a thoughtful guy.  The other day he picked a whole bunch of mint leaves and spread them all over the rug on the side porch to make it smell nice.  :)  And, a couple days ago after a meal he said, "That was rockin', Mom!  It's rockin' in my tummy!"  He learned that word from Peg + Cat on tv, which is also where he learned to like Beethoven, which we listen to in the form of Trans Siberian Orchestra.  :)

Last week we had family pictures taken.  It had been a couple years, and I figured it would be neat to have some with Roxy as a puppy.  The photographer (actually a former photography student of mine back at the YMCA) came here, and we just did a quick session in our yard.  The boys MOSTLY did really well (they were great until near the end when their attention spans were just over it), and we had beautiful weather.

Remember how Caleb and Logan are in separate classes for Gopher's (Wed night program at church) this year?  The report from both of their teachers is that when their classes are together (story time and sometimes game time), they right away stick together.  For example, I guess the kids sit on carpet squares for story time.  Not only do the boys sit next to each other, they SHARE a carpet square.  :)

And, just because who can get enough of a cute puppy??  Here's a pic of Roxy in one of her fav napping spots.