It's a girl!

It's also a puppy. A week ago Thursday night, we took in two dogs for puppy foster care. Here's the story:

A staff member here was planning to go back to the States; she is the owner of Fay (the mommy dog) and planned to bring her along. When it came time to give her shots, etc. for the trip, they discovered she was pregnant (she's young, still less than a year). The baby was born a week before she needed to leave. Neither dogs could get there sots due to the newborn nursing, etc. and would need to remain in quarantine for 30 days in whichever city she flew to fist in the states. As a result, she needed someone to care for the dogs until Fay could receive her shots and be sent to the U.S. We had already expressed interest in the puppy, so we agreed to care for the, see how things go with Chiste and the puppy, and either keep her or send the puppy with Fay.
The first few days were a little rocky. Fay growled anytime Chiste or Jer were near. However, they've warmed up to each other in the past few days and Fay has been extremely happy and social. The two of them are becoming fast friends, and we have them in the same area. Daniel made a chicken wire fence around Jer's dog house and part of the yard so they no longer need to wear a leash. There's a temporary separator to divide the dog yard into two smaller sections. That way, when we're gone the dogs can have their separate areas (and they each have a place to go when it rains; Chiste a dog house, Fay a kennel). Right now, though, since I'm home, the gate between the two areas is open, as well as the gate to the porch and the front door. So they can happily go between the house, porch, and both dog yards. I'm glad they can have more freedom and are getting along so well!
The puppy is about 12 days old and her eyes are just beginning to open. She's extremely roly poly, being the only puppy in the litter and having her mama all to herself! Assuming we keep her, we decided to name her "Calcetinas"(socks) and call her "Tina" for short because she's mostly dark, but has white on each leg (see picture at end) making it look like she's wearing socks.

Her's Fay (not sure why the picture didn't stay rotated)Looking out the new fence

Saying "hi"

The dog yard goes to the far tree in that row of palm trees, down the hill a little, and then a little further behind where I took the picture

Tina

Retreat Week!

I'm excited for my first retreat at E.C. It means a break from the normal routine. Since I'm not an official staff member, but am part of the E.C. family, I can participate as little, or as much, as I would like. In the mornings they have games (for students and staff!), a speaker, and then lunch. In the afternoons they have rest time, workshops, and then dinner. Daniel and I are doing a "cooking/kids" workshop at our house with a few other staff and some students. We'll be baking and letting people play with our kids. :) In the evening, after dinner, there are skits, games, and worship/speaker time. That means I won't need to make dinner from Tuesday-Sunday, or lunch most of the week as well. How much I participate besides the workshop depends on how the kids (and I) are doing! I won't be able to go to all the evening sessions, because I don't want the boys to go to bed late every night, but we'll see what we can do! Hopefully we'll have some fun and not over exhaust ourselves!

Timmy on the move!

These are a few weeks old, but Timmy's started to move quite a bit! At this point, he can move from one side of a room to the other, and even made it to the doorway of Jeremiah's room (I'd put him on the rug). He's not crawling yet, but he's scooting. He sticks up his rear, puts his head down, and pulls forward with his arms. And he rolls all over the place. We don't have much space, so he usually tries to eat things he shouldn't (strap on Jer's booster seat, curtains, leaves, dog, etc.).

Here he is, ready to go!

On the porch

In the house

Scooting off the blanket

Hmmm... definitely did not put him under there!

...or there!

Jeremiah: My big helper

Here's some recent pictures of Jer, my helper. :)

Helping with the dishes

Tea time! (For tea time, I put a little vanilla in his milk and call it tea)

Sweeping the porch

Helping me plant my garden

And some fun, random pics:
Crazy dress day at school

Pajama day at school

Up next: pics of Timmy!

Valentines Day: belated pics

We started out the day with a special breakfast of heart shaped pancakes

and a fritatta

Dinner was fondue; cheese and bread to start

Then beef and veggies in beef broth

Family photo

Ice cream social down at school that evening

Tired Mommy

Sigh. It's been a while since I've blogged.
There's a few things contributing to that, but mostly they're just excuses:
1) I'm not sure what to write about. And I want to write about positive things. (And I haven't been feeling very positive lately)
2) Lack of motivation. I'm not sure many people will even read this, due to the lack of frequent blogging and all. Which is okay. But it's hard to be motivated.
3) I'm a tired mommy. Timmy's been very fussy lately. Jer's been very "2y" lately (as in, acting very much like a 2 year old). And he's been spending way too much time in time-out.

But here goes; this is what we've been up to:

In the past few weeks I've gotten sick, started a garden, had a toddler with a fever (and a busted lip from a fall), took a 4 day trip to the beach, gotten sick while at the beach, and came home to attempt to recover, though I still feel just plain tired. And cold (due to the lots of rain).

BUT, I want to be positive, and there's plenty to be positive about, so...
-I enjoyed our trip to the beach (when I didn't have a fever). Friday we had a friend come with us, so Daniel and I took a long walk on the beach and had a belated anniversary date (we'd saved up date money for sushi on the beach!). Saturday morning we ran on the beach and played tennis. Monday we drove to Samana where Daniel's parents, sister, and Aunt joined us for the day (they were on a cruise and the ship stopped in Samana).
-Last night Daniel watched the kids while I had a girl's night out. Yay for a great husband!
-My garden is starting to grow! And I'm sure the rain helps!!

Okay, I'm really behind on photos so I will go work on that now. :)