Can you believe it?

I thought having little kids was hard!

Now I have 3 kids in school.

Can we say, drop one off pick another one up,

help with this class party and go to that program!

It has thrown me for a loop, but I'm adjusting

and I'm enjoying watching my little

smarty pants learn and grow.

~~~

Carter is in 4th grade!!  Seriously???

4th grade is the first grade that I remember

ALOT about, and now I have a 4th grader???

Carter has started reading the Harry Potter books.

He is now on book 4, which is exciting for him,

because I haven't let him watch that movie,

so now he can find out what happens.

Dallin is attending an amazing charter school.

I have been so excited to see how well he is

picking everything up.  He has amazing penmanship

and he is reading like a madman!

And there is a little someone named

Olivia

who keeps leaving him notes in his backpack:)

Lyla is loving pre-school!

She will be playing and she'll

start singing songs that she learned in school.

My boys never did this, it has been

so fun to watch her soak everything up like a sponge.

Lately her favorite song is the "months of the year."

Time for an update...

A few times I've thought about putting up a new post, but it depressed me to think how far behind I am.  Just a little update on what has been going on.

I'm so sad to report that our sweet Abby passed away.  The vet called and said she needed more shots, and I was sure we had it all taken care of, but Jason volunteered to take her down and get them done.  The vet is no more than a mile up the road.  On the way home Jason rolled down the windows of the truck and just as he turned around to look at her, she hopped out the window.  He pulled over and picked her up and called me and I could hear her crying in the background.  He had Lyla with him and he wanted to bring her home first, but I told him to take her straight back to the vet.  I met him there and I was mad thinking she was going to have a broken leg and we were going to have to deal with a cast and pain meds.  When the vet walked in the room, I new it was a lot worse than I thought.  She broke both of her back legs so bad that she was going to need pins placed in and they didn't even have a vet there to do the surgery.  The surgery was estimated to be at least $3,000.00.  Jason and I talked about this before we ever got a dog.  A dog is a dog and we aren't going to ever pay a lot of money for a surgery.  They kept her and that night told us that the surgeon said it was too big of a surgery for a little puppy and that he didn't even want to do it, it was best to put her down.  I never thought I would cry over a dog like I did.  We only had her for 2 months and I was sad for days about it.  I spent practically every minute with her for 2 months, and I felt so bad that she was hurt.  I couldn't even go in and say goodbye to her.  Jason and Dallin and Lyla did, but Carter was at school.  He was really upset.  His little friend's mom told me that she heard Carter telling her son that sometimes at school he just starts to cry because he misses Abby so much.  Man, it just breaks my heart.  He loved her so much, she really was his dog.  I can't bring myself to get another dog.  It has been 7 months now and Jason is ready to get another one, I'm really having a hard time wanting to get another one. 
     Jason said that he is going to ask for a dog for Christmas, I just keep saying, "What about a shotgun, wouldn't you rather have a shotgun?"  Then everytime I see them in the paper on sale somewhere, I show them to him and try to get him excited about a shotgun.  He's not letting up.  So we'll see what happens.  My excuse lately is, "Thanksgiving is coming up, it would be hard to have a dog when we're suppose to be traveling."  Maybe when Thanksgiving is over I can use Christmas as an excuse. 
     Isn't every guy like this?  They get something in their head that they want and they don't give up until they get it!    I guess I have to be okay with that because if he wasn't like that then we probably wouldn't be married :) 
    

Meet Abby...

We've been thinking

about getting a dog.

I know, I know,

they're a lot of work,

but I've thought about it

and decided that I was ready.

(knowing that I'll be the one mostly taking care of it)

***

Here is our sweet Abby

Okay...

I know she looks sweet,

but she's got some chompers on her.

I told Jason that she bites

 too much

and too hard,

he thought it is normal puppy behavior

BUT

the vet confirmed that she has

a problem and we need to fix it.

Easier said than done, but we're working on it.

The vet explained

that because she was the runt of the liter

she had to make herself known.

On a good note:

runts are usually very smart

because they have to be able to

figure things out fast to keep up with the others.

It is true,

she is very smart.

I taught her to sit on our first day home.

She picked it up fast and 

also knows come, off, and down.



It is like having a newborn...

1.  I get up with her every 2.5 hours

for potty breaks.

2.  We had the hardest time naming her,

feeling the pressure that she'll have to live

with it forever.

3.  I can't go anywhere for too long,

because I can't leave her in the crate for very long.

4.  I've had a bit of anxiety about what

she is going to need from me,

and how can I entertain her.

5.  I have to deal with poop, 

and I've heard

sometimes throw-up. 

***

I don't come from a family

of animal lovers,

but I've never minded dogs or cats.

We wanted a lab,

I wanted a white lab

Jason wanted a black lab.

Jason wanted a dog he could:

run with

and

hike with

and

hunt with.

I wanted a dog because:

I want my kids to grow up with an animal friend.

I really need the security if Jason has to get deployed again.

If we go camping, she can keep us safe from bears.

***

Just another quick story:

We were going to name the puppy

Iggy,

but after calling her that for a day

it just didn't stick.

Abby was a name that Jason mentioned

and Carter really liked it.

I personally wasn't too fond of it

but after I gave in,

I called her to me and gave her a big love

and called her Abby Cadabby.

I forgot about this darling

Sesame Street character.

So now that I have this cute mental

picture of Abby, I love the name.

{Here's to hoping we make it through the week

with all of our limbs in tact!}

Valentine's Day

I'm going to pat myself on the back for

two posts in one month.

Way to go me!

***

Our

Valentine's Day

started out with heart shaped pancakes! 

The kids made

valentine bags, so that we could do

a valentine exchange.

Lyla was sweet

And let me try heart piggy tails

While Carter was at school,

Dallin had a birthday party to go to.

So Jason took Lyla and I to

The Pizza Factory

for lunch.

After school we had our valentine exchange

Jason and I gave the kids small gifts.

I wasn't sure how Carter would react to his gift,

but he was very excited about his "Kidz Bop"

I got a "woohoo" as he thrust his arms in the air.

And Dallin LOVES anything to do with legos,

especially the lego people, they're his favorite.

So he got a lego people sticker book.

We gave Lyla another Leap Frog movie.

Thanks to these movies

and

 the "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" book

She knows all of her letters by sight and their sound.

She loves anything to do with letters!

I made heart shape sugar cookies

and the kids decorated them after dinner

and took them around to all of their friends,

including our sweet neighbor, Carol.

***

It was such a fun day filled with

FAMILY

and

LOVE

February

I have been so busy playing with Lyla

that I haven't been able to blog.

She has discovered starfall.com.

Every time I sit down at the computer

she runs to my lap to play starfall.

It has made me limit my  

computer time.

***

(Looking back to what I didn't post about)

We had a wonderful Christmas!

It was fun taking the kids around

to all of the family parties.

The boys have loved their gifts

and they're still playing with them

and its February! 

Seriously a record.

***

January:

Jason and I received new callings.

I'm the Young Woman Secretary

and

Jason is the Gospel Essentials Teacher.

It has been a big change for me,

but I'm loving every minute of it.

Just a few pics of January

We went sledding at the Muller Park Jr. High

I'm terrified in this picture.

The hill is HUGE

I screamed the whole way down

and dug my toes in the snow

because I'm pretty sure I was going 55mph

After hiking the hill so many times

we were beat,

but had a great time.

Lyla got a "baby curlz" curling iron

for Christmas. 

This is the first time we used it.

It turned out so stinking cute!

***

Today we went hiking up at Muller Park.

The trail was snowy,

it was fun for a change.

We took 3 of the boy's friends.

They had a great time

throwing snowballs and

sliding around in the snow.

Lyla did great in the hiking backpack.

She was just happy to be outside.

The weather is getting warmer

and the sun has been shining.

Spring is just around the corner.

I can't wait!