1 year

I intended to post this about a month ago, but apparently all my Disneyland posts took priority and I don't think I ever posted it!

It's amazing the difference a year can make! These two have grown so much in a year!

A Boy and his Dog

This puppy has been an amazing dog for our family. She has some quirks, but we love her! 

Preston's class is doing a fundraiser for the humane society, and one of their tasks was to bring a picture of themselves with their pet(s) if they have any. It took a bit for Ender to get that she was supposed to sit still a pose for the camera, but she finally understood that the point was not to wrestle and play.

And a few outtakes:

Today

I am still not done documenting our vacation, and still don't have our camera back (so sad, but I'm holding out hope still...sorta...), but we have been enjoying the outdoors today! It's almost 70 degrees (crazy when I realize that it was snowing a week ago!) and beeeeeeeeautiful! I have to say, my mood is MUCH improved with weather like this.

This morning Archer & I met friends at the park, and we have spent most of the rest of the day outside. Again, I'm wondering WHY do we live in North Idaho where the warmth is for such a short amount of time?! But, I am determined to enjoy it when we have it.

I looked out the window this morning and saw THIS. It's pretty much impossible to have a bad day when you wake up to this.

Ender sacked out after playing like crazy outside. She got spayed last week, so we have been trying to keep her calm for the past few days, but as of yesterday she has been able to return to normal activity. She definitely took advantage of that today!

On the way home from school. Pure chaos, but they love it.

Under the Weather

My poor littlest boy has been under the weather today. I feel fortunate that we haven't had much sickness in our family this winter (or really, any winter), but occasionally a boy (or two or three) gets a little run-down, and that was Arch today. He's been running a fever and his little body aches. He has been voluntarily relaxing on the couch which is completely unheard of for him! He even took a few little naps! 

Ender was pretty concerned about him. She couldn't figure out why he wasn't playing with her, and she ended up resigning herself to napping on the floor next to him. Really, I think she was probably just irritated at the lack of attention! 

School

I can't believe it's already the end of January! Before I know it, the school year will be over. P & B are both loving school this year which helps it feel like it's flying by. I am so thankful that both of their teachers have been amazing, and Preston's teacher especially seems to "get" him. 

I intended to blog about their school stuff occasionally, but I've been pretty lax about it. Well, today they both did some pretty fantastic schoolwork that I thought was blog worthy! 

Here is Preston's...all about the color cerulean!

And B's homework assignment was to research a country & write a few sentences about it. I helped a bit with the spelling (I mean really, what kindergartener can spell Lithuania??), but otherwise he chose what to write and draw.

And sort of related to schoolwork...here is the cute little pup in the spot she has claimed for school drop off & pick up.

I tried to keep her off the seat, but she would have none of it!

Back to Reality

This week was the boys' first week back to school after break, and I have to say, I'm struggling to get back in the groove. I've also decided that I should probably be doing more "kindergarten prep" with Archer since we really haven't worked on anything so far...turns out he (thankfully) knows more than I realized, so it hasn't been too much of a struggle. Dare I say I am actually enjoying it??? And possibly the thought that homeschooling might be achievable crossed my mind...for about 1/2 second anyway!

The big boys jumped right back to school with no issues. They both love their teachers and I never hear any school complaints. I did get a call from the school the other day, informing me that Preston got a "little scratch by his eye" at recess. I was totally baffled that they were calling me over that, until I went to pick him up after school and saw this:

Oh yes, a little scratch, indeed!

Otherwise, we have been doing a lot of this:

Ender has been making the 3 trips to school per day with us. I tried to keep her off the seats, but I'm pretty sure she has claimed her spot! Silly pup. She also enjoys walking to school (but she sits in the bike trailer with Archer). 

And today, I spent forever organizing my pantry. It was driving me crazy. It's not perfect, but it's a huge improvement! I'm in organizing mode, but my attempts at organizing are taking a lot longer than they should due to a potty-training pup. But she's cute & sweet, so I'll forgive her.

Merry Christmas!

We had quite the eventful Christmas this year, mostly due to one of the boys' Christmas presents: a new puppy! Ender is a tiny (so far) lab/blue heeler mix who is only about 7-8 weeks old. She is sweet, cute, and loves the boys.

(Above: Ender's first walk on Christmas Eve...no snow! Woohoo!)

Last night we went to the Christmas Eve service at church last night, and then did our Christmas celebration with John's mom. This morning we woke up bright and early (5:30!!!!!!), the boys opened their stockings, we has breakfast, and then opened presents. Ender loved all of the excitement, and she especially loves the wrapping paper and bows! 

The boys spent most of the day playing with their gifts of course. The favorite gifts being skylanders (for all of them), spy kit (Preston), roller skates (Bryton), and Jake & the Neverland Pirates playsets (Arch).

And one of my favorite presents:

I feel so blessed to be able to celebrate the birth of Jesus with my little family. It's so nice to be able to just focus on spending time together and not feel pressure to split our time in a million different directions. We seriously relaxed the entire day today! The boys cuddled with the pup, and John even cooked dinner! And I may or may not have played my fair share of skylanders... :)

Next up...12th anniversary celebrations in 4 days, and 8th birthday of the oldest on the 1st!