Meet NutMeg!

This is NutMeg. In a moment of weakness? insanity? I agreed to get a puppy. NutMeg actually belongs to oldest DD. She's an early birthday gift. Oldest DD is now getting a huge lesson in responsibility and putting others needs before your own. The puppy has been waking up around 6:30 in the morning, just in time for oldest DD to take her outside, clean up after her, feed her breakfast, try to eat something herself and run for the bus.

NutMeg thinks of DS as another puppy. He rolls on the floor to play with her and she jumps all over him. We're trying to get DS to stop acting like a puppy because it is encouraging NutMeg to nip at him, and we don't want that.

We were worried about youngest DD's reaction to a dog. She's been scared of dogs her entire life. She sat on the floor, NutMeg climbed into her lap and began to lick her face. She loves it. I don't think we have to worry too much anymore.

Oldest DD is extremely happy. Although she's not as thrilled that she has to share the dog with everyone else in the house.

This is the first picture of the puppy. All ready for the car ride home.

NutMeg even got to meet the neighbors. This is Brody. The dog of oldest DD's best friend. Brody finds NutMeg a bit annoying, she thinks of his tail as a moving target.

I'm adjusting to a dog in the house. It's probably better that we got her now just as school started, before I got used to being alone in the house again :o) At this point it's going better than expected. NutMeg is behaving so well that I mentioned to DH perhaps we should get rid of the kids and just keep the dog :o)

Schools Back in Session!!!

Here they are, my oldest two. Ready to start their Middle School Adventure in a new building. Oldest DD is in 8th grade. DS is starting 7th. DD said she was the only one among her friends wearing something not skin-tight and black. I, for one, am glad. She's not thrilled with her electives. She signed up for chorus, but now she doesn't want to sing. She also got Dance/Aerobics/Gymnastics - but none of her friends are in the class. DS got an elective called "Simple and Motorized Machines". They'll be making working models out of things like Legos. "And," DS groans, "We'll be graded!" He also got Intro to Keyboard and has already shown me everything he learned today.


Middle DD is in a school that's new to her. She's starting 3rd grade this year. She may have the opportunity to take a string instrument this year. She'll also be able to sign up for chorus. And this is the first year that she'll be getting letter grades.

Youngest DD is excited about Kindergarten. She loved school last year and I'm sure this year will be the same. Of course, it's only a half day program. Rather ridiculous considering what they'll be teaching them in just 2 hours.

And me? I get a few hours all by myself! I've been waiting all summer for this :o)

Vacation

Another vacation at the beach. This is youngest DD with her two cousins. They asked to be buried in the sand.

It wasn't a very nice week weather wise. All reports were great until we got there. The Weather Channel had changed their report to rain for the entire week! It was cloudy, overcast and fairly cool, but we got to the beach anyway.

The kids found the weather to be perfect for boogie boarding. As parents we found the waves to be a tad bit rough - perhaps we're just getting old :o)

They also found the waves to be perfect for jumping.


Inside we enjoyed games and videos, and more videos, and rambunctious children, and more videos. Yeah, okay, it was a long week.

Disney

How could I forget to blog about Disney World?

Right after school got out, oldest DD and DS traveled with Grandmom and Grandpop to visit their Aunt and Uncle. Since that left us with only two DC we decided to take a short vacation and wound up going to Disney for a day.


The girls were too little to remember ever really being there before, so they didn't know what to expect. We decided that since we only had the two girls we would do the very girly thing and get autographs of princesses. Along the way we also secured the autographs of whatever other characters we ran into.

We stood in line practically forever to get the autographs of three princesses. The one thing I wasn't ready for? Princess small talk. Cinderella looks at my girls in their matching shirts - "Oh! Are you sisters?" They nod. "I have some sisters too, but they really aren't very nice. I'm sure you two get along really well!" Their favorite princess was Belle.

All in all it was a really hot day. We spent the majority of the day waiting in line. Of course we did "It's a Small World." They've changed the song and eliminated the second verse. There are some things that just shouldn't be messed with.

The girls were really tired and whiney. We spent all this money for this!?! Then for dinner we decided to try to get reservations for a character dinner. More waiting in line . . . more whining . . . Then we got inside. Within 10 minutes the music started playing and the girls were swept into an impromptu parade with Pooh and Tigger. I didn't know their smiles could be so big!

Even DH was enchanted. In all the times he had been to Disney he had never been to a character dinner. So after a hot and tiring day, it all ended well.

Butterfly Summer

My girls are crazy about butterflies. They love to get together with the neighbors and hunt. Since many of the neighbors have butterfly bushes and lots of flowers, the hunting is always plentiful. There are a few rules: No touching the butterflies with their hands. The butterflies may be kept in a large butterfly "house". And, most importantly, the butterflies must be let go after an hour.

We attended a local butterfly festival listed in the newspaper. The DC had a good time using the "professional" butterfly and sweeping nets. We ended up buying a net for middle DD.

Here she is putting it to good use the next day.