Well, of course life doesn't seem to slow down much but we had a wonderful holiday. We got a new puppy-YAY!!! The kids were up at 2:30am on Christmas saying they couldn't sleep so thats when they met their dog. We named her Lola. She is a Brittany spaniel and is cute as can be. The kids love her and she loves the kids. She seems to tolerate Ryder as he pulls her ears, pokes her eyes, sticks his fingers in her mouth, steps on her, kicks her, and then loves her. Maci and Max are having so much fun with her. Several times they have both said, "I"m so glad Lola is in our family!" That right there has made it all worth while. I myself can't wait until she is completely leash trained so she will be a better running partner. I took her 3 miles the other day and she did it! Realizing that might be a little far to start with I backed it off to 1.5 miles for the next month and then I'll increase. She does amazing!!!! We go on lots of walks now which has actually created a lot more bonding time for all of us.
So after Christmas I decided to go through all of the rooms and give away a lot of things. During this time I was just stacking the things in boxes in my room so I only had to make one trip to Goodwill. Maci had lost her DS and kept saying to me, "Mom, I really need to find my DS before we move." I just laughed and jokingly said, "I hope you find it." (Since we aren't planning to move). So finally after hearing this for a day or two I seriously asked her why she thought we were moving and she said, "Because there are boxes all over the house." It makes sense! Anyway, I wish everyone a Happy New Year! I hope this next year brings lots of surprises-the good and the challenging!!!!!