Back To School!

And just like that, Summer is over. Or did it even truly come?  Seriously, our Summer was about a week long.  We managed to fit in a few fun things like Calaway Park, a trip to both Grandparent's homes, Tucker, and a weekend of camping.  Not bad, but not near enough trips to the beach or splash park.  Oh well.  School is here and I'm not looking back!  A small part of me is always ready for this time of year, but I will miss my kiddos.  I will also miss sleeping in and not making one lunch!

Jackson Grade 7.  Junior High!  I have already cried my tears over this.  So this morning I feel like I did pretty good.  We had school blessings last night and I think Joe cried out all the tears in one day that I have collectively cried all Summer!  Our boy is growing up.  For all the talk that Jackson doles out about not liking school, he seemed pretty excited this morning.  I think with a new school, choosing options, and not having to take care of any little siblings to and from school, grade seven will be a great experience for him.  Volleyball try outs are next week, so fingers crossed!

 Ellie Grade 4:  I asked her to brush her hair.  She said she did.  Twice.  This picture proves her wrong.  She said it's her "look."  Hmm.  Ellie has the same teacher this year that she had in grade two, Ms Szuromi.  She LOVES Ms Szuromi!  When we arrived, it was not Ms. Szuromi.  Hmm.  She could not have had a more disappointed face!  I get it!  I like to know exactly what to expect and apparently Ellie will have Mr. Milford for at least the first month (due to health reasons I guess).  I just hope she can be brave and still enjoy her first day.  Will this be the year that shy-baby talk is gone for good?  She has definitely come a long ways this past year, but this morning with such a big curve ball thrown her way she went right into shy-baby mode.  I reminded her to be big before I gave her a hug and left her with her class.  Poor girl.  She did put on a brave face for me though.  Hopefully she felt brave on the inside too!

Zoe Grade Two:  Wait.  What?  This little girl cannot possibly be old enough for GRADE TWO!!  Grade Two is for big kids, not my little Zoe!  Zoe has Mrs Anderson this year and is in the same class with some of her bestest and dearest friends, Cru Taylor, Talia Adams and Miriam Steed so when the bell rang, she went right on into her class without a problem.  In fact, I even had time to get Ellie situated first and THEN came to check in on Zoe.  Zoe didn't even know she missed me until I came in.  THEN she got all clingy and didn't want me to go.  When I told Zoe it was time for me to go, she really surprised me.  Zoe last year would have cried and made a fuss, but the Zoe of this year put on a brave face and said, "okay Mom."  Wow!  Maybe my little Zoe is a big girl after all.

Noah Grade Six: Noah has now taken on the new title of the leader of the Burnham Elementary School pack!  Will they all make it back home?  Time will tell.  Haha!  Before everyone broke at school, I made sure that they all knew where to meet, so hopefully he remembers to wait for the girls!  And let me just say, no, I did not have any say in the outfit choices, and I also didn't care that Noah has been wearing these same sweat pants all week long.  Whatever.  He looks cute!  At least he did his hair.  I can only pick and choose so many battles.  When we got to school, he was gone, so I have no stories.  No idea where his classroom is and no idea how he settled in!  Sounds about right!  He found his friend, William Moore, right away and off he went!  But not before I gave them both hugs.  I have been Will's Mommy Number Two all Summer and have loved it.  Will even  said, "Bye Mom!" this morning.  Haha!  So glad they are in the same class.

It is very quiet here.  I could get used to this.  Tucker definitely misses his people.

Zoe is SEVEN!

 My birthday girl!

 Since we were having a puppy-themed party, Zoe really wanted some pictures with her own little puppy.

This is how most of them turned out....

Zoe.  My sweet, lovable Zoe.  Is this girl already seven?  Yes.  Last week.  Although it has felt like she's been turning seven all Summer long because that was all she could talk about.  What are we going to do?  Where should we have it?  Beach?  Home?  Calaway Park?  What kind of cake should we have?  Should we do cupcakes?  How many friends will come?  These were the conversations we had all Summer long and each answer would change each night as I laid down beside her in bed.  She always wanted to "talk" in bed once the lights were out, and this was often the topic of conversation.  Once we got Tucker, it was clear to her that she wanted a puppy-themed party.  So I got each kid a little stuffy puppy and they did activities around the puppy they "adopted."

We decorated "homes" for them.

  We made them collars.

 Ellie was the "vet" and set up a whole thing where she checked all the puppies vitals.  It was really cute and she did a great job!

We played musical chairs with our pups, which totally brought me back to my childhood!  I think we did this every birthday.

Before the party began, Zoe really wanted to help me with the cake, so I let her go ahead and decorate it with "puppy paw prints" and sprinkles.  She loves doing this sort of thing and did such a great job!

Not the biggest fan of the sparklers.  Haha!  I even put money in the cake, which also brought me back to my childhood.  Unfortunately it made for a few unhappy kids who did not receive any loot.  Whoops.  Thankfully birthday girl did.

L-R: Miriam Steed, Maci Hill, Ady Wilson, Cru Taylor, Zoe, Ellie and Jane.

 Another party come and gone and another little girl one year older and wiser.

Zoe, you are SO loveable!  There is not an inch of you that is unloveable.  You are such a precious and sensitive little soul.  You are very aware of your feelings and others, but you are also able to roll with the punches and laugh at yourself.  You love to be silly and make others laugh, and you are really good at it too.  You also really love to laugh and find joy in the humour of things.  Good thing, because your Dad is a big tease!  You have the cutest voice, too, both speaking and singing.  The best lisp and soft R's.  And you are ALWAYS singing!  I love it.  One of your favourite things to do is listen to music (or sing along to it) while you draw.  Sounds a bit like your Mama!  This Summer has been filled with probably way too many video games and not enough swimming!  We had a bit of a bunk Summer, but boy, on those hot days, we could not get you out of the water if we tried!  You love helping me cook or bake.  Anytime I am in the kitchen you are always asking to help.  Your favourite thing to make with me are chocolate chip cookies.  You have a very artistic eye too.  I know I already talked about how much you love to draw, but you decorated your entire cake too.  I may have shown you my plan, but you executed it beautifully AND you added all the sprinkles you wanted just perfectly.  I love seeing you create and progress in your abilities.

Zoe, you are a wonderful friend, sister and daughter.  We love you so much!  Happy seventh birthday!

Tucker Oden

Joe and I were at Original Joe's on a date about a month and a half ago when I heard myself saying, "Yes.  Let's get a dog!"

Let me back up.  Remember those adorable puppies I held with the kids when we were visiting the lodge in Glenwood a few months back?  I could feel the armour that covered my heart of steel being chipped away as I held those little guys and as I watched my children with them.  Oh my heavens.  Just adorable.  But it would take more than "adorable" for me to actually consider bringing one home.  When I came home from that trip, I told Joe all about those cute puppies and he jumped on that and began showing me adorable pictures of dogs of all types.  It was so hard and my heart ached to hold one.  But my heart didn't want to take care of one.  No thanks.  So, I closed that book.

Until....

Bethany came to visit us at the end of June with her kids.  Joe and I thought it would be a good idea to get a small sense of what it might feel like to have a dog in our home for a few days so we asked her to bring her dog, Lucy.  Up until this point, Joe had been researching various types of dogs, trying to get me to open that book again.  I was still on the fence, but closer than I have ever been to considering a dog.  Would it feel foreign having a new new little personality in our home pattering around wherever it wanted?  But, Lucy was wonderful.  What I thought would feel foreign didn't at all.  It was almost as if Lucy knew she needed to sell herself on me.  And that she did.  But she is four years old.  She is trained and obedient.  Work went into making that happen.  Also, Bethany was taking care of her dog, not me.

Then Christie asked us to babysit her dog, Bitsy, for a couple nights.  This time, it would be US taking care of a dog.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it might be.  In fact, I kind of loved it.  I loved watching my kids around her.  I especially loved Noah around her (and Lucy).  You see, Noah is the one who has been asking for a puppy for every birthday and every Christmas since he was yea high.  No way.  Hard no.  I keep telling him we have a puppy already, and her name is Jane!  But lately, Jane has become easier.  Ish.  I don't have to chase her around like a little puppy any more.  She is becoming more and more independent.  And because she is becoming less of a stress, why not consider this new addition while I am still in the "drowning" phase of life?  I don't have freedom because Jane keeps me home.  We don't have nice things for a dog to destroy.  We don't go on nice vacations that we couldn't take a dog to, and if we could ever afford a nice vacation, then we could probably afford doggy day care.  The list of dog responsibilities goes on, but suddenly there seemed to be no amount of cons that outweighed the pros.  One of those pros being the look on Noah's face when he got to sleep with Bitsy in his bed.  He said, "this is the best night of my life."  I knew in my heart, then and there, that we would get a dog.  

The reason why we were babysitting Bitsy at all was because Christie was attending a funeral.   Tracie Holland (Joe's cousin) lost her son Briggs in a tragic car accident.  He was only 16.  I cried a lot for her.  I cried a lot for me.  Sometimes I wonder why terrible things happen to good people; To other people, when they could just as easily happen to me.  What if Briggs was Noah?  Would I not want to give Noah his fullest and best life while I have him?  I'm not talking about giving him everything he asks for.  But if I could give him a dog and it would bring him joy, why would I hesitate?  This was my mindset when Joe and I went to meet Tucker for the first time.  He was seven weeks old and he was SO nervous.  This made me and Joe nervous, too.  We thought he was the most beautiful dog.  We loved his coat, his feet, his face.  All of it.  But we had read up on "how to choose the BEST pick of the litter" and a nervous puppy was not a good sign.  The breeder assured us that he had just had his first round of shots and was weaning from his Mother, so he was not himself and was normally quite social.  We kind of just had to take her word for it.  Joe kept saying, "well, it's your choice Maren.  You need to pick a dog that you love."  Tucker was not Joe's first choice once he met the other puppies in the littler.  And to be honest, there were about two others that really tugged at my heart strings too, but Tucker was still my number one.  I didn't love the pressure of picking the "right" or "wrong" dog, but Joe assured me that there would be no resentment.  So, that settled that.  Tucker it was.

Tucker is the bigger one on the right.  This was the first picture the breeder sent of him (approx 6-7 weeks).

Tucker is the one on top of his brothers and sisters in the middle.

My first time meeting Tucker.

The Breeder lived near Red Deer so a week later, Joe picked up Tucker on his way back from working in Lacombe while I was at Calaway Park with all the kids.  We wanted to surprise them and it felt like Christmas morning!  There were so many times that week that I just wanted to blurt out that we were getting a dog and isn't that exciting?!  But.  I was a good girl and held it in.  Joe kept sending me pictures and videos of him and our brand new puppy while I was with the kids.  I could not wait to get home and see the kids' reaction!  When we got home, Joe was laying on the floor with the dog and the kids all came in to greet him.  Zoe was the first to spot him and asked if he was ours.  Noah didn't believe me when I said, yes.  I had to tell him several times that, yes indeed, this was our new dog to keep.  The look on his face was priceless!  The look on Jackson's face was even more priceless.  Jackson just sat down and stared blankly.  I could tell he was thinking, "okay, he's cute and all, but more work for me."  Haha!  It took Jackson a little more convincing that Tucker was a good idea, but one thing was for sure, Tucker was a dang cute puppy.  All of my worries about Tucker fitting into our family washed away within the first few moments of seeing him with all of the kids.  He wasn't shy and nervous at all!  In fact, he was bounding on them and licking their faces and so excited to be apart of our family.  

Now it was time to pick out a name.  Joe and I had other ideas.  Joe really liked the name Gerald.  I liked Remy and Brucie and Boris.  The kids were not on the same page.  In fact, it was Ellie who came up with Tucker's name.  At first I thought it was too main-stream, but upon hearing Jane call him "Tuck" with her little Jane voice, I changed my mind on the spot.  Tucker it was.  Jackson really liked the name Oden, so we gave him a middle name.

The first couple days in our home.

Zoe is drawing a picture of Tuck while he is sleeping!  Aw!

He is a true Burnham and likes slurpees as much as me!

  

We have had Tucker for a month now and already he has changed so much.  He is a Beaglier, which means he is a cross between a Beagle and a King Charles Cavalier (Spaniel).  Beagles are hounds, which means they are hunting dogs and supposedly really hard to train because of their hunting instinct (ack!).  But Cavaliers are really smart and obedient.  The hope with this cross is that you get the instincts and trainability of the Spaniel with the adorable look of the Beagle.  Unfortunately, the hunting instinct in Tucker is very real!  BUT, he is also very trainable.  He can sit, shake a paw, lay down, stay, come, speak, roll over, and wait for a treat.  He is very intelligent, but if you don't have a dog treat in your hand you can think again!  Haha!  Right now I am working on leash training which has been a nightmare... unless I have treats.

Potty training and night training has been going a lot better than I thought.  When accidents happen in the house it is usually because a child is "watching" him.  Which means, they got distracted.  But last week we put some bells on the door and he has been able to tell us when he wants to go out by ringing them!  It works!  He is definitely like a crawling baby, where if something is on the floor, he will put it in his mouth!  Our biggest thing right now is that he nips and bites.  We have had a few tears over this because he is still learning his limits and figuring out what he is allowed to do.  We have been watching many a training video on this very thing and I think we are getting closer.  Kind of.

Tucker is SO SOFT!  I asked the breeder about shedding as an adult and she said that he will shed just as much as an adult as he does now.  Which is not at all!  It is wonderful and I hope she is right!  I also hope he keeps his soft spaniel fur!  I LOVE petting him because he is so pleasant to touch.  I also wish he would stop growing.  We took him in to his three month appointment a couple weeks ago and he weighed almost ten pounds.  He is supposedly supposed to weigh no more than twenty pounds as an adult.  But I wish he would stop where he is right now.  He is the perfect size for my lap!

And those EARS!  I cannot even handle it!  They are so floppy and cute.  Zoe thinks we should have named him Dumbo.  Ha!  And speaking of names, his nicknames are: Reese's Peanut Butter Pups (Ellie), Puppers (Noah), and Boy (Me).

These were taken August 17th, 2019.  He's getting too big!!

Life with a new puppy is definitely different than I thought it would be.  There is a learning curve, but it hasn't been near as scary or out of hand as I thought it would be.  In fact, I think I love Tucker the most, more than the kids do and more than Joe does.  He is my little companion.  My little buddy.  And yes, he is work and he takes time but he also makes me slow down which has been very good for me.  I am usually a GO GO GO kind of person, so making time to slow down and snuggle him or take him for a walk or train him has been really good for me.  I think it's been good for all of us as we all take time out for him.  My house is a little messier and probably a little stinkier, but I stand by what I said before.  It's worth it.