Our New Addition

We (the kids and me) have been wanting a dog for the longest time. In the last two years, wayne has kind of warmed up to the idea of having a pet but he's a practical person who can think of all the reasons not to have a dog: cost, responsibility, mess, boarding, etc...  Nathan, Charlotte, and I love going to the pet store to look at puppies but I knew I didn't really want a puppy and that I would rather get a rescue dog...one that's a little older and very sweet. Last Friday, Nathan was out of school so we decided to go to Operation Kindness to just look at the animals. I had no intention of actually getting one. Until we saw this little guy. His shelter name was Bandito. He is 9 months old and seemed so sweet. We got him out and took him to the play area to play with him. We all fell in love with him!!!! He was so sweet and just wanted us to pet and love on him. He walked well on his leash and I just knew he was the one! I tried calling Wayne several times but couldn't get ahold of him. We were at the shelter for 3 hours and I finally decided to just get him and suffer the consequences later. This is something I would NEVER have thought I'd do but I just knew he was meant for us. After adopting him, I was so scared of what Wayne would say. I felt very light headed on the way home. When daddy got home and saw that we had a dog, he was not happy. Plus he wasn't feeling good either so I immediately regretted my impulse buy. But I also knew that if we were ever going to get a dog, he was the one. I did keep telling the kids that this wasn't a done deal. We were going to keep him for the weekend just to see how we do with a dog and then take him back on Monday. I was hoping that Wayne would bond with him like we had but quickly realized that probably wouldn't happen. But Wayne did see how sweet he was, that he would walk on his leash and off of it but still stay with us. We all slept in the living room and he slept right with the kids. He also pottied outside and if Nathan or Charlotte fell down or got hurt, he ran right to them and licked them. He was kind of selling himself. On Sunday night, Wayne agreed to let him stay one more day. Nathan had a soccer game on Sunday so we took him with us. He was such a good boy. Finally, on Monday, Wayne and I talked about him for a long time and Wayne agreed he was a great dog. We took him on a walk and up to the park to play. He was wonderful. That night, Wayne made us so happy and said we needed to pick a name!!! Yay!!! The naming took a while. We had a list of about 50 names and narrowed it down to our 4 favorites. Wayne liked Cash, Nathan liked Winston, Charlotte liked Maverick, and I liked Rusty. We finally decided on Rusty, and it all seems so meant to be. We all love him, even Wayne. 

Soccer

Nathan's soccer team, The Pirates, had a great season! He loves football but was happy to play soccer. I wasn't too sure about his coach at first because he was so loud, a little intense, and very animated. But Nathan really liked him. They ended up getting into the playoffs and advancing to the championship game! They lost the championship game but got 2nd place in their division and trophies...which is all they really cared about. 😊

Mother son night

Nathans school had a mother/son night at Main Event. Nathan was so excited for us to go and see all of his friends. We bowled, did the gravity ropes course, laser tag, and then the mommies got to sit and visit while the boys played games. Me had so much fun together! I did embarrass Nathan a little on the ropes course because I didn't realize I would get scared. I was fine on the first two obstacles, that led me to the middle of the course but after that I was pretty much freaking out. And the only way down is to finish the course. I was just trying so hard not to say anything bad in front of all of the kids because I was definitely thinking a few four letter words! And then my sweet little boy thought it would be really funny to wait until I was on one of the obstacles and then shake the ropes! I just about killed him! He and his friends thought that was hilarious! When I finally made it off, I was so happy! 

Charlotte's Music Program

This was an interesting night. It was Monday night and Charlotte was so excited. I found this dress at Target and surprised her and she LOVED it because it was long plus she loves these black sandals so she felt beautiful 😊. Right when we were getting ready to go, it started to rain and looked really stormy out, then the sirens started blaring and hail started to fall! Nathan HATES bad weather and immediately went to the laundry room with his iPad and downloaded the weather channel app so he could see if a tornado was coming. The hail was huge and it was a little scary but I never get all that worried about the weather...I probably should worry more but I don't. And Charlotte was just worried if we were going to make it to her program and if her necklace and hair looked good. So I'm brushing her hair and putting a little lip gloss on her while Nathan is huddled up in the laundry room with his iPad watching the weather channel radar with his headphones on so he doesn't hear the sirens or hail. Quite a sight. After about 10 minutes, it finally stopped thank goodness. Once I coaxed Nathan out to see that there were patches of blue sky, he was so happy! We made it to the program on time and got front row seats! Charlotte was so cute!

Easter 2016

St Andrew Spring Fling

Charlotte's school had a spring fling with games, train rides, face painting, and food. Charlotte loves her school and her friends and couldn't wait to go! Her teacher was one of the face painters so Charlotte wanted to get there early to have Miss Amy do her face before there was a long line. And whenever she saw one of her friends, she ran over and gave them a hug. She and the girls did everything together. It is so sweet to see how much they all love being together. 

And Nathan had a friend too...Olivia is Elizabeth's older sister and Charlotte and elizabeth were in school together for two years. Elizabeth went on to kindergarten but they are still so happy to see each other. Olivia is in 2nd grade like Nathan and her mom always tells me that Olivia thinks Nathan is so nice and funny. They were cute to watch too because the two of them stuck together the whole time! I watched them walking from game to game just laughing and talking and they even ate together! And as I was following Charlotte and her friends around, I saw Nathan get a bottle water and take it to Olivia...he can really turn on the charm when he wants to! 

Nathan's First Sleepover

Drew is one of Nathan's good friends from school. He is such a sweet and fun boy! His dad went out of town and his mom wanted to fly out to meet him so she asked if drew could spend the night with us for one night until his grandparents were able to come stay with them. She said drew wouldn't want to stay with anyone else except us 😊 Nathan was so excited! His first friend to sleepover plus on a school night!!! We went to McDonalds for dinner and the boys played basketball at the school and had fun at home. They even included Charlotte in everything. The best part was that they went to sleep just fine!