Max has left the building...

We got a pug named Max about a month ago and on Thursday morning, we got up to go out and feed him and he was gone. He had somehow gotten out of the backyard and went who knows where. Needless to say, the family is a bit down. We didn't have any luck finding him last night and the boys were pretty sad about that.

We are hoping that he comes home this weekend and that someone in our neighborhood had found him and is waiting to see if they can figure out who he belongs to.

Kenneth put up signs on all the mailboxes and streetlights today. We will call/go by the shelters this weekend and next week. We hope that this new member of our family is reunited with us soon. If not, we pray that he finds a loving home with people who will give him what he needs.

We Love You Max!!

We made it through the first day of school...

What a day - from start to finish it was a roller coaster ride of ups and downs and turns and loop-d-loops. We started the day of great with the boys getting up and getting themselves dressed (they even picked out their own clothes). With a few very minor outfit issues, we were doing great. I asked them to go play in their room while I finished getting ready for work and then we would go down and have breakfast and make lunches and get ready to head out the door.

I finished getting ready and went looking for them, but they weren't in their room. So I started searching the house. When I couldn't find them, my first thought was "they had better not be in the backyard with the dog getting dirty, I haven't taken pictures yet" (I know, I am such a mom).

When they weren't there, I really started to freak out and began frantically checking all the places they use to hide. They weren't anywhere to be found. That was when I noticed that the front door was slightly ajar and so I ran outside looking for them. At first, I didn't see them there either, but then I heard them. They were hanging out with plumbers fixing the next door neighbor's main pipes in the front of their house. They had a snake with a camera on the end and they were watching the small television to see what they could see.

I was grateful that the plumbers were nice guys, but we definitely had a "stranger danger" talk over dinner.

Once we were back in the house, we made lunches and were loading up the backpacks and taking pics when Kenny remembered his glasses. He went in to look for them and took about 5 minutes to locate where he had set them. Then he realized he didn't have his lunch and couldn't remember where he set that. Needless to say, it took us about 10 more minutes to get out the door then I had planned and this made us "almost late" dropping Kenny off.

There was no parking at Kenny's school, but we were lucky enough to find a spot at Kale's. We parked and ran across the street as Kenny's teacher was leading them to their spot of blacktop. Just in time - not tardy on the first day!!

Then I got Kale dropped off and he was sad because his best friend wasn't in his class, but he did see him at both recesses, so that made it better. He told us he likes his teacher (even though he can't pronounce her name) and he thinks he will enjoy the year.

Kenny's favorite part of the day... Recess is before lunch, not after. That would be my little guy for ya. We will keep our fingers crossed that he finds more then recess interesting this year and makes GOOD friends that will encourage him to make good choices and stay out of trouble.

I will post pictures this week for all to see. They really are growing up and turning into great little boys, so smart, so energetic, so happy. I hope they stay that way!!

The Mile Long Ski Lift

We decided to ride the ski lift up the mountain to see the lake from a “viewpoint” and what a view.  It was gorgeous.  I was reminded that day how much God loves us and how important it is that he provide us with beauty.  It was absolutely breathtaking and amazing to witness.  As we were riding up the lift, we saw signs that provided information, jokes and some great advice.  There were also trash receptacles on the way up that tested your aim and ability to drop the trash at the right time.

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Once we made it to the top (about 15 minutes), we hiked around and climbed on the rocks, collected pine cones and just enjoyed the fresh air and the scenery.

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More Vacation Pictures and Stories

OK – So I am going to try to get there posts completed today.  We had such a blast at Big Bear…I hope you enjoy reading about these memories as much as we had making them.  So here is the rest of it…

We rented a pontoon boat for a couple of hours.  I really enjoyed the slow, leisurely pace, but Kenneth and the boys wanted to go faster.  We did see some interesting sights while on the lake and we enjoyed seeing the beautiful homes that surrounded the lake.  The rock formations were pretty amazing too.

While out boating we saw a dock with a small building on it, just floating in the middle of the lake.  We decided to explore and investigate as it didn’t seem to belong to anyone in particular…  This is what we found:

The S.S. Relief… A floating outhouse.  It had a couple places to dock and tie up the boat and it had  men’s and women’s bathrooms.  I don’t think I have ever seen anything like it before in all my years of boating. 

Here are some of the rock formations that jutted out of the water.  They were great for cliff diving, but the water was too cold for the boys and the anchor wasn’t long enough so the adults couldn’t jump either…maybe next time.

Here are a few more on the boat…

It was a great lake, and the water was pretty clean, just cold.  After about a hour and a half, it started to rain and the kids were miserable and cold and with very little cover, it was too hard to stay dry, so we called it a morning and headed back to dry land. 

Kale & Marcus

In an earlier post, I told you about Marcus, Kale’s best friend from Seton Academy.  Well, Kale hadn’t seen Marcus all summer and he was so excited that he would be coming to his party.  Marcus was the first guest there for about 25 minutes and they had a ball running around, playing and trying to hose everyone down.

Who gave the kid a hose???

As you can see, they are two very happy little boys and go together like dirt and water

They also love to be with each other and giving hugs is a very important thing at this age.  This is what I think of when I think of true friendship.

Again, who gave them the hose and what are they going to do with it next???

Ok, so maybe its tight quarters… but you know they like each other when they hang out in the same bucket!!  I think they thought it was supposed to be a hot tub.

 

We love Marcus as much as Kale does.  He is a sweet natured little boy who is always happy and just loves to live in the now.  Unfortunately, they will not be in the same class this next year and that makes them both sad, but at least they will still have the playground.

The Giant Slide…

For Kale’s 4th birthday – he wanted to have a party at the park.  Rather then just having a “normal” party with games and letting the kids play at the playground, we decided to have a BIG Slip ‘N Slide.  Kenneth made it out of 6mil plastic and it was about 20 feet wide by 40 feet long.  They kids (and the adults) loved it and had so much fun, they didn’t care about the cake and presents. 

This is Kale going down on Dad’s back.  As you can see, this isn’t your ordinary slip ‘n slide.

This is Elizabeth Mead – one of Kale’s friends from Primary.  She was a bit timid at first, but within minutes she was running a sliding and just having a great time.

  Of Course, Kenny had to have a turn too!!  Just look at the smile.  The day was filled with these and this made it all worth it for Mom, who was a bit worried in the beginning.

Kale kept running, sliding and then running some more.  

As I said, the adults enjoyed it as much as the kids did. Hungry Kenneth???

 

Speaking of hungry, we did finally round the kids up for some cake and ice cream.   The party was water themed and the closest cake with a water theme we could find was a bit “beachish” but it was still cute, and what was better…It tasted great!!

All in all, it was a great party and everyone that came had a great time.  We are already planning for next year.  

I will conclude with one of my favorite pictures from the event…  Kenny, Kale and Marcus (Kale’s BFF) enjoying a “bath” in the buckets.

Love Ya Kale!!  I am so glad you are in our family and I love watching you grow!!  Let’s have another great year and make some more great memories – k -

Love~

Mamasita

1 Week of Summer Left...

The boys are so excited to go back to school. Every day they ask me how many days they have left. Kale can't wait to be back with all his friends and Kenny is excited to make new friends and meet his new teacher.

I am realizing more each day how big (and independent) my boys are becoming. They look older, they act older, and they are starting to show signs that they do understand right and wrong and can make a the right decisions when they want to.

We have been so busy these last few weeks, in fact since we got back from vacation, that I haven't been too diligent about keeping up with the posts. I will be finishing the vacation posts shortly and I will also put up pictures from Kale's 4th birthday party, which was by the way, a big enough hit that the cub scouts heard about it and so we will be doing it again tomorrow.

For those of you who don't know, we had a HUGE (20ft by 40ft) slip'n'slide at a local park near our home. The kids loved it and had so much fun. (It was pretty cheap too!!) We also had sponges in buckets of water so they could have sponge wars. They really had a great time. Even the shy ones got into it after a while.

So, check back next week for an update! I will also try to get the "First day of school" pictures posted Monday night.