I told you there'd be more to this story...

So... the dog is already gone. Sad times. We actually loved the dog very much, and everyone did great with her. I think we only cleaned up 2 or 3 puddles on the rug. But then... we had her vet check-up to make sure she was okay and keep our warranty with the pet store intact.

I had been worried that something was wrong when the dog started coughing on Wednesday. I could feel things rattle in her chest when she breathed. Then on Friday, she spent most of the day sleeping and didn't want to do much. I was glad that we already had a vet appointment scheduled for Saturday morning.

The vet checked out poor little Martha, and said that she was a very sick puppy. We would need to do tests to find out what exactly what was wrong with her ($$$), but the vet was very concerned about her poor health. The vet heard fluid in her lungs and a nasty cough, and she had discharge from her nose and, uh, other areas. Aidan immediately started sobbing, and Gresham alternated between sobbing and hitting things. It was not a pretty picture.

Jordan headed off to the pet store with her, because they had said that if the vet check revealed anything that they would take care of the problem. That turned out to not quite be the case, and the shop wanted to argue that she only had a slight head cold. So Jordan ended up getting a refund on the dog.

The boys are very sad, and want another cavachon, which they plan to name "Martha" as well. We have found some good options of breeders (not pet stores. ). Unfortunately, none of them are local or cheap, but Jordan has some offers to do some yard projects for some neighbors, so the boys said that they would like to help and we can earn the money for a healthy cavachon. I also have some violin lessons I can do. It will be a fun family project. At least I hope...

In other news, the Obeying Olympics was a disaster. Aidan did show some improvement. The other two... not so much. Gresham earned three stickers the first day for eating neatly at each meal. Then, after breakfast went bad the next day, he pretty much gave up and has been putting his silverware in his drink, licking his plate, etc, etc. **Side note to Gresham's future wife: I'm sorry. I tried.

No, really, we are going to keep trying. We just need a new plan.

One thing that has been successful is our "Christian Soldiers' Club." Gresham doesn't like Bible time (basically, he doesn't like to be told what to do by God or anyone else...) so I decided we would call it Christian Soldiers' Club. I bought them club notebooks to write their verses and prayer requests in. We have been studying the armor of God, and we traced Gresham's body and made a life-size soldier with all of the armor on.

Never a dull moment around here...