Our Puppy

For years we have been tossing around the idea of getting a dog. We had Golden Retrievers before we had children but haven't felt ready to have a dog again. George has been dreaming of a dog of his own for years and when he first started asking we told him, "Maybe when you're 10". Guess what? He is 10! But now we do feel that we are ready and that George can handle the responsibility. We already have plans to get the puppy enrolled in obedience training as George would like to show him for 4-H and Re-Pete (not a lover of dogs) has made it very clear that he wants our puppy to be trained asap!

We decided on a Labrador Retriever and last summer I began researching everything related to that breed and as we have a child or two afraid of dogs knew we need to start with a puppy. I found three breeders that I liked and we started narrowing it down by visiting their dogs. Although, the one we selected is three hours from here we did meet her and one of her dogs at a dog show this summer.

So, our puppy was born yesterday! I love knowing what is going on in the life of our puppy this early and the kids are having fun thinking about it too. The Mama had 12 puppies but they lost 5 right away.  It is a mixed litter of black and yellow labs. We want a male and as there are only two and one is spoken for we won't have the selection we had desired but at this point we think we are getting a yellow male. That could change after we meet them and possibly like a girl but we'll see.

Here is the picture of the puppies with their Mama who is so pretty...

 

 

 

 

R2D2 and Thomas the Train Cake

Here are the birthday cakes that the boys picked out for me to make this year. Quite a bit of work involved but that is more because I didn't bake as much in advance as I had planned. Yes, it would be easier with a cake mix but that wouldn't be the same. Thankfully Pete and Re-Pete liked the same cake and also agreed on the flavor which was carrot. Tank selected chocolate mint (my personal favorite and George's too).

Pete and Re-Pete wanted R2D2 this year. They didn't have any preconceived ideas and I could have made it a sheet cake but saw the idea of a standing up cake and thought it was so cute. This one was made with four 6 inch round layers topped with a small half bowl cake. To do it again I would make it shorter to save time and I think the design would still be good.  This whole cake was three cake batters!
To hold it together I put a cardboard round near the center and stuck wooden skewers throughout (dowels would work better but I didn't have them). I used cream cheese frosting between layers and also covered the cake in a thin layer of it before decorating with frosting that is easier to use in decorating. The legs are made from krispy treats and cakes I baked in custard cups then cut.

We found a lego piece that worked great on this and the red "light" is a gumdrop flattened and cut. I wrote Happy Birthday and the boy's names on the back which was difficult to do up and down. My hand was a bit sore at the end but it was worth it and the boys loved the cake! So did I for that matter.

Tank's cake was similar to last year in that he wanted Thomas the Train again. We found his design on Coolest Birthday Cakes and I stuck pretty much to that. This one was two cake batters in the 10 inch round (I think it was that size). One cake was cut in half and stacked. We used milk chocolate rocks for decoration. Our favorite part was the tree. Next time I would make the tunnel black instead and smooth it out a little better before putting the rocks on. This was fun though and easy too and Tank really liked it.

Happy 6th Birthday Tank!

Tank turned 6 years old today. He woke up this morning to the smell of his breakfast of choice -- cinnamon rolls, sausages and sparkling grape juice. He has been waiting and waiting for his special day and on Thursday when it was Pete and Re-Pete's birthday he struggled with the fact that he had to wait another two days. "Sigh!" But his day has arrived and he will be made to feel special, with no chores to do, favorite foods to eat and then we have a big party tomorrow.

Last night John and I took Tank to Texas Roadhouse to eat with no other siblings and his face was beaming with joy at not having to share. He had a steak to himself and when the waitress brought him his plate his mouth hung open with a surprised but pleased look. We went browsing the toy department after where he could take his time. Took a drive through the car wash and he even was excited to do that alone and he told us, "I'm having so much fun!". While we will take each birthday boy out individually Pete and Re-Pete decided that Tank should go first which made his day.

Happy Birthday my crazy lovable boy!

Pete and Re-Pete turn 8!

Pete and Re-Pete turned 8 years old today! I had thought they were 45 minutes apart but I looked at their birth info this morning and Pete is 1 hour and 8 minutes older than Re-Pete so we had fun with that as they were a different age for a short period of time.

Pete and Re-Pete are so much the same yet different in many ways too. Peas in a pod for sure and such a bond. While most large families have ready-made friends it is especially true when you have twins, or at least identical twins. They share so much and understand each other like no one else. They do things the same, weigh the same or within a pound of each other, are the same height or within a cm. of each other, have the same sleeping habits waking typically within minutes of the other, even to the point of when one is in the bathroom the other often needs to use the other one.

It has been much fun to watch them grow and mature and while they are twins, still see the individuality expressed as God created them unique, despite their similarities. They have been counting down to their birthday for the past few months and so it was with joy they woke up to 0 days left!

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY PETE & RE-PETE!

At 4 years old

Taking a break in the stroller at the races this summer. Do you know who is who?

My-Se-Oh-F (Myself)

Seppy has a new favorite word this week -- my-se-oh-f (phonetically spelled so say it fast) otherwise known as -- myself. A few days ago we were getting the children ready for bed and couldn't find Sep. We called for him and found that he had climbed into his crib and stood their grinning at us. When we asked how he got into his bed he proudly said, "I did my-se-oh-f!" He then climbed out himself and went back and forth showing us what he could now do. John decided to avoid any potential falls by lowering the railing to make it a little easier.

Usually when Seppy would wake in the morning one of his brothers would get him out of bed and he would always come to me telling me who "did it" (got him out of bed). Now when he wakes in the morning, and no, he doesn't really get out any earlier, he runs out saying, "I did my-se-oh-f!" Yesterday afternoon I lay him down for a nap and then was in my room. Shortly after I heard his little voice joining his brothers and telling them "my-se-oh-f". They thought it was so funny that he escaped to tell them but I made sure to explain the rules of naptime and that he could not get out until I Mama says so and that suited him fine. Now this new-found freedom has brought with it attempts to try EVERYTHING by himself. He wants to take his clothes off himself, put his shoes on, brush his teeth, empty the dishwasher, etc. Always saying "MY-SE-OHF!" Sorry little guy, you can't do everything yourself!!!

Four boys turned 2

I am a little late in posting this but as I was going through photos from this past year I came across this and wanted to share. You may remember when I was pregnant with Seppy I mentioned that three friends from church were also expecting and we were all due within weeks of each other. Four boys were born within weeks of each other -- three of them were all in the same week!

Click HERE to see them as babies with their Mamas and HERE to see them when they turned 1.

We have tried to take pictures of them together at various stages and this was taken the week three of them turned 2.  I took many but did not get one where they all were looking or smiling. We thought we'd prop them on this bench to see how they grow each year.

Sure to be best of friends!