We're Still Here!

It's just that it's hard to keep up with two blogs! And with 3 boys and a dog. Here's some highlights from our life lately...

On Monday, we were singing "Amazing Grace" during Bible time. I sometimes forget how much Aidan understands that Gresham doesn't. I was realizing that Gresham probably doesn't have much of a clue about what the hymns we sing are about, so I asked him, "When it says 'I once was lost, but now I'm found,' do you know what that means?" "Yes. I do," said Gresham. "It means he was lost in the desert, and then he came out of the woods, and THERE was his house! Right there! And so he was found!"

On Tuesday, we went to the doctor for Gresham's foot. He has a plantar wart on the bottom of it. The doctor said we caught it early, and we can treat it with over the counter stuff. Unfortunately, Gresham won't leave a band-aid on it. Or throw the band-aids away. (Remember that little tidbit.)

On Wednesday, we took Owen to the doctor for a well visit. He got two shots. We also had his blood drawn to test iron levels and lead levels because of his obsession with chewing on anything that isn't food (Toys, paper, the dog leash, sticks, cork that he scrapes off my coaster stones with his teeth...). Apparently, eating non-food items can be a sign of anemia.

Today, Owen ran a fever from the shots. This is our first shot reaction for any child. I had to teach today, and hated to leave him, but I couldn't really justify staying home. We went to pick up the babysitter. We came back home and I was giving her some instructions for the day, and had to stop to fish something out of Owen's mouth... it was Gresham's discarded band-aid from earlier that morning. So now my son is having a shot reaction, and is ingesting salicylic acid. Lovely.

Tomorrow is Friday, and I'm pretty sure we are going to take the day off from school...

Moths...

Gresham: Watch out, Mom! There's a moth that lives in here!!
Mom: It's okay, it won't hurt us.
Gresham: Oh...
Mom: Did you think that moths sting?
Gresham: Yes
Mom: Aidan, did you know that moths don't sting?
Aidan: No, I thought they sting you 'till your dead!
Mom: (laughing) No, who told you that?
Aidan: Next-door neighbor boy...

More Puppy Pics!

Happiness is a new puppy!

We did change his name... He is now Tucker! He has an ID tag and collar, so it's official.

Aidan has been doing a lot of the feeding and taking Tucker outside, and Gresham wanted a turn to feed the puppy. He was very "hands on..."

Are you drinking your water, Puppy?

So far things are going well! Busy, but well. Housetraining is a slow process. Our carpets needed cleaning before Tucker came, but now they REALLY need cleaning! We were planning for that, though, so it's okay. We had a few rough nights at first, but now Tucker is settling into a routine and not whining/howling so much. The weather has been beautiful and much cooler than it had been, so I am very thankful for that!

Puppy!

Our puppy is here! We have had him since Friday night, and he is doing well so far! We took him to the vet on Monday, and they declared him to be healthy. That was a huge relief...

He definitely has more energy than our sick pet store dog, and so he is a lot more work - but also a very fun puppy, and once we train him, I think he'll be great. He is already very attached to the family and wants to be wherever we are. The boys are having a lot of fun playing with him. He is a very frisky dog, but doesn't bark much and settles down easily.

We decided to name him Scout, but I'm not sure that name is going to stick...

Monday was our hardest day. Well, and yesterday was pretty rough too. It really wasn't my plan to have this dog arrive just as school (homeschooling as well as my teaching job) were starting up! But this is what we have, so we'll make the most of it! Owen has been very sick this week, so we had an appointment for him Monday morning and then an appointment for the puppy in the afternoon. In between appointments, I was cleaning up a potty mess on the floor and heard the phone ringing. I decided to let the machine get it. I could hear the automated voice of the public library announcing that we have 22 overdue book...

This is a temporary stage. One day, we'll look back on this and laugh... it's just a stage...