Meet Hadley

After being married for 13 years, John and I finally decided it was time to get a puppy. I had been searching for a couple of months to find the right dog for our family. I scoured spca sites, ebay, breeder sites, and craigslist. I had my heart set on a golden doodle until I realized we would have to sell one of our kids to afford one of those! So I kept looking.

I figured I would know the right one when I saw it. We wanted a golden colored dog, not too big but not tiny. Soft hair that doesn't shed. Cuddly and smart and not hyper. Nothing too expensive. I wanted a dog that looked like a teddy bear. I saw one a couple of years ago and was never able to figure out what kind it was.

 And then one day, as I was again searching Craigslist, I saw a poorly written post that seemed promising. John and I made the drive to the other side of Houston and we were smitten! We arranged to pick up our little guy once we returned from Jamaica. We told the kids we had a prize for them and they assumed they were getting more little Jamaica souvenirs. I secretly picked up the puppy and then put a ribbon on him and placed him in our suitcase. John led the kids in....

They were very surprised! And happy!

Introducing Hadley!

John David has declared that Hadley loves him second best after me. 

Julia and John David both do really great with him 

and I don't have to worry about them hurting him. 

See the blob of black fur on the right? That's Phantom, John's parents' cocker spaniel. He and Hadley get along fine. Nothing cute and cuddly like sleeping side by side, but no barking and fighting either. Phantom likes to think he's too cool, but I think he'll come around. 

Every night everybody gets "Hadley time" when I tuck them in. They love to tell him good night. 

He looks like another stuffed animal. 

Is it just me, or do they resemble one another in this picture?

Boo and Hadley. My heart is about to explode! 

**I promise I comb my kids' hair. They were at a bounce house place all afternoon right before these pictures! =)

Happy Birthday, Dodie!

Today is a special day!

One of our most favorite people in the 

whole world was born on August 1st.

He is funny, sweet, hairy, silly, smart, and at some point in his life even earned the nickname "Mr. Wonderful".

And it's true! He is wonderful! 

If he was here I would make him a coconut pie. 

And of course he would get lots of good back scratching. 

We love you, Dodie! SOOOOO much!

Bar Week

He's taking the bar this week. Right now. I'm so proud of him! It's taken years to get to this place and he's finishing strong. I wonder if he knows how amazing I think he is. Happy Bar Week, John Clay!!!

What a Good Sister Does When You're Really Itchy

Family Night at Minute Maid Park

Last night John's firm had a family night at Minute Maid Park where the Houston Astros play. It was really neat! There was a big spread of food, an incredible balloon artist (I have no picture of the ballerina he made Aulora - so sad!), face painting, batting practice down on the field, and the kids got to run the bases. We were allowed down in the dugouts and we ate in an exclusive area right off the field. So cool!

This ball park also has a place called Squeeze Play that is a big play area for kids during the games. The playground part was closed due to all the rain this week, but there were other baseball type activities and games that were open. No pictures of that though. The photographer was worn out! =)

Aulora and Joshua found some bats:

John and Joshua raced around the bases:

John was on the jumbotron when he was batting!

Aulora loved her face painting and her ice cream in a pink Astros hat:

Aulora ran the bases over and over and over. That girl needs to do track!

Batting practice:

John David's big octopus balloon:

Julia down on the field:

Houston Zoo

We went to the Houston Zoo a few weeks ago when Uncle Matt and Aunt Kara were in town. It was a hot day, but we still had fun!

Obligatory pose on steaming hot animal statue:

Aunt Kara and Julia in front of the elephants (This was one of our favorite things! There were two babies and they were playing and wrestling with each other.):

Uncle Matt and Joshua:

My littlest monkey:

Feeding the giraffes!

One romaine leaf for each kid:

Look at those eyelashes!

This is the picture we took while a whole bottle of purple gatorade was spilling on the stroller seat.

I told you it was a hot, hot day. The fans and misters were more exciting than the animals!

And a blue snowcone doesn't hurt either:

Everyone minus Matt and Kara and plus John David's friend from next door:

Even the big kids like puffing up their shirts with the fans:

Home

I said I would put up some pictures of where we are living so here we go. We're a bit more settled in since these were taken and these are only some of the rooms, but it's what I took pictures of.

We have a large living room:

Joshua's room has lots of space for playing and a walk in closet too:

A picture of the girls' room when it was cleaned up would have been nice, but I couldn't get my camera out fast enough:

There's John David right outside his bedroom looking down over the balcony:

And our bedroom is pretty much the same as before:

We have a school room too, but I haven't set it up yet. We are so very blessed to be here!

New Beginnings

I think an update is in order. We arrived in Texas two weeks ago and all our things came a few days after that. It's strange to be in such a huge city after living in smaller cities for so long. South Bend seems like the hill country compared to where we are now. We still miss that "hill country", but things are wonderful here too. New friends are being made (John David is blessed enough to have a boy his same age right next door even), a new church has been found (had lunch with the pastor and his wife on Sunday), boxes are unpacked, and new routines are being established. We joined a fitness club that is amazing and that has become a mostly daily activity for the whole family. I also love having my brother and sister-in-law close by and of course John's parents too since we live with them!

 Soon my attention will turn towards getting ready for the upcoming school year, but for now the break is nice. I hate that the end of this past year ended like it did - no definite "last day" with celebrations. The move and house selling (which is still ongoing) took over everything. This summer we are still working on piano, reading, Bible memory (John David is doing Matthew and Julia will start something else soon), and our Rosetta Stone Spanish program is on its way. The kids won't like it, but I will also be adding in a math sheet here and there. =)

I will post a few pictures of our new place soon. We are so blessed!

 

This arrived in our driveway a few minutes ago....