Scout

Well, we've added to our family!  A very, very sweet little Labradoodle named Scout.  I'd been thinking about a dog for over a year, but was afraid of the work.  So we tried a cat, which failed miserably due to allergies.   So it was back to a dog.

This fall at Carson's soccer, a (new) friend brought her dog each week.  Her dog was such a sweet, gentle puppy.  It was a labradoodle, which was one of the breeds I'd been considering since they don't shed.  I started following her breeders website and decided to go for it.

I requested a light/reddish girl puppy (to even out our balance a bit), but the breeder we went with, picks the puppies for the families based on temperament.  We the time came to assign a puppy to us, she strongly suggested a chocolate boy.  Since ultimately, temperament is more important than anything, I was happy to follow her suggestion.

We couldn't be happier.  This little puppy is so wonderful!  He is sweet and gentle.  Certainly, he is a puppy and spends part of the day tearing around the house, chasing things but he is just SO sweet.  We love him immensely already and I'm thankful to say, at this point, it's much easier than I anticipated (Certainly easier than a newborn!).

Here are a few photos of our new addition....

So Loved

I think I have the worlds best friends! With this my first Valentines Day as a single mom, I think my friends must have been worried that I would be sad.   I don't think I would have been, but now I'll never know, because I was so loved and celebrated by my friends that it was truly my favorite Valentines Day ever.

Friday night I came home from work and Margaret, one of my sitters, had dropped off a HUGE bouquet of beautiful flowers.  

Saturday, three of my friends from Virginia came to visit.  They brought me lots of gifts - chocolate, cookies, wine, babysitter money, a ring (to replace my wedding ring), a journal with a beautiful note, flowers.   Oh, and my friend J brought the kids four singing animals.  Haha!  

We went out for dinner and were able to secure a table at my favorite restaurant that doesn't take reservations.   I met these friends when Erik was 10 months old.  We've been through many, many pregnancies, many moves, kids with issues, Daron's cancer, Jenn's cancer, a failed marriage, and now my dear friend J is also fighting cancer.  Please pray for her!  I felt SO special Saturday, even though J's battles are much bigger than mine, they spent time and money making sure I am okay.  True friends!

Sunday morning, my kids woke me up at 5:51 AM.  I admit, I failed as a mother for a few minutes.  I knew they were planning something the day before, but I went to bed really late and woke up to Scout kissing my face and a plate of carrots and grapes in my face.   After I yelled at them about getting Scout out of his crate and waking me up so early, I quickly realized that they had been very excitedly presenting me with breakfast in bed (thank you Margaret for giving them the idea).  I took a deep breath and put in my contacts and went to apologize.   They had spread streamers throughout my room.  The carrots and grapes were a reflection of my fridge status (now restocked).   I am SO lucky to have four kind, loving kids.

Victor took the kids yesterday.  He took Kyle to target and let him pick out flowers for me.  That boy was SO excited!  (Don't over-read this - Victor has no intention of ending his new relationship, but I do appreciate this gesture, for sure.) 

Topping of my weekend of being so well loved, my friend Nicki let me know she sent me a package in the mail too.   And my Mom started the Valentines celebration by sending up two HUGE batches of cookies in the mail.   

I simply can't recall a time when I have felt so loved.  I am so blessed.

Sick Day/Snow Day

We've had some highs and lows this month!

Fun events include...

1- A quick night away..

I was able to take Lainey and Erik to a VA mountain resort for one night.  I'd planned to take Carson too, but he was sick, so he stayed behind.  We spent one day at an indoor water park.  Our friends were there too, so that added to the excitement.    The second day we went skiing.  Erik's been skiing three times and is really pretty good at it.  He confidently navigates the green hills and ski lifts on his own.   Lainey had never skied before and tends to be a bit more cautious.  I was able to get both of them into ski school for the day.  Lainey was able to move past the bunny hill, onto the green hills.  Pretty impressive.  I took her down the green hill once after "school" got out and she made it, but started and stopped on her way down.   Erik passed to level four of ski school - the blue hills.  Sad for him, we had to leave after only one day of skiing.   That boy LOVES all outdoor activities.

I managed to navigate a blue hill (and survive), plus I left feeling very confident on all the green hills and was more than able to help Lainey down/up as needed.  I've only been downhill skiing three times too, so I'm pretty proud of myself for mastering the greens.  :)

It was a very fun day, even if it was unseasonably cold at 16 degrees!  Brrr!!

2) A "blizzard"...

We were fortunate to be on the track of Blizzard Jonas.  We got around 18 inches of snow.  Areas just north of here got 30! It snowed from 2PM on Friday  until Midnight on Saturday.  Since then it's been warm and sunny (45 degrees today).  We've spent a lot of time sledding, digging forts, and well, shoveling.  I always love getting a big pile of snow out here, because it doesn't last long and causes a lot of excitement.

Less fun events include...

1) Sickness...

For the past three weeks, one of us has been sick.  I am going just slightly nutty.  I was sick first with a crummy head cold.  Right as that ended my kids started coughing and spiking fevers.   One of them has literally had a fever and/or "cough so hard you puke" for over two weeks.  It is getting OLD!  Lainey started this bug and is still coughing!  Carson was next.  He had a fever 9-10 days ago, coughed all week, then spiked a fever AGAIN!  So he is on antibiotics.  Kyle started coughing a week ago, had a fever 3-4 days ago, and now is back to just coughing.  Erik started coughing about 24 hours ago.  We'll see if he can avoid the febrile portion of this illness.  I'm hoping Carson is the only one with a secondary bacterial infection that develops!  And I'm praying I can avoid this bronchitis type illness.  Man, my body doesn't handle these chest colds well and it is hard to parent well with this type of crappy virus.   Time will tell I guess.

 (Meanwhile, Carson hasn't been to school since January 13th due to illness, snow days, and planned days off of school.  There is no school tomorrow - see next paragraph - so the soonest he will be back is the 27th!)

2) Freaking snow days!

I don't mind A snow day, but man having sick, febrile children PLUS all my other children hanging out for days on end is slightly annoying. 

I literally haven't seen Erik since Thursday.  Ha!  He leaves the house to go sledding with his buddies by 9 AM  and I have had to drag him back inside at 6 PM each night.  (I did feed him lunch one of those days - otherwise he's eaten at a friends house).   So, I love the snow days for his sake.

Lainey and Kyle really seem to dislike the snow for the most part though plus neither Kyle nor Carson have felt well.  So I've been stuck indoor with the three of them most of the past 4 days.  I am starting to get a teensy bit stir crazy! 

Today was sunny and beautiful.  45 degrees out and no school.  And guess what?!  No school tomorrow either!  And even better a tiny bit of snow and ice is forecast for both Wednesday and Thursday this week.  If that sticks in the forecast, I think there is a REAL possibility school will not resume until Friday, or heaven forbid next week. 

I skipped to work on Friday and believe me, I will be smiling on my way to work Wednesday.

3) Sleeplessness

With sickness, there is a lack of sleep (for me!).  I LOVE my kids and I love being a mom more than anything (even if the above paragraph leads you to believe otherwise!).  But I am tired because I've had one or two coughing boys in my bed the past three nights.  Oh well.  Good thing I learned to like coffee after Kyle was born!

I'll try to post some photos, but my iphoto is broken and I don't have a good back up system to upload from storage to the blog.   

We are doing well over here!  I love the snow and 45 degree days!  I'm hoping school resumes and sickness ends promptly!