Puppy Days!

This is what the walks look like around her now....a puppy playtime extravaganza! I can't give much more information without getting myself into trouble but her are some pictures to show the fun. We are VERY lucky the weather has been so nice this January!

It's hard to tell but there is a CAT in this puppy pile! Yes, Sonora followed us on the walk yesterday and had a great time wrestling around with the pups. 

New Ukulele

Leah and Kate have a ukulele that grandma Mary found at a garage sale years ago. They play it all the time but it is COMPLETELY unable to hold a tune! Well, I was going to get Leah a good one for her birthday.....didn't happen. Then we were going to get her one for Christmas...didn't happen. Then last week her good friend Cooper brought his ukulele over and played a few songs for us that he is learning in his ukulele class. After he left Leah could not stop talking about it!!!! All week!!!! She wants to take lessons NOW! I called the teacher today (group classes) and convinced him to let her give it a try( he usually takes students age 7 or older). She starts tomorrow. Dave spent the afternoon playing every ukulele at the music store to choose the best sounding one. Leah is so very pleased. It's been a very long while since I have seen her so excited about something. She played it all evening learning how to hold the pick and a few strumming patterns. Then she went to bed with it next to her so she can play it again first thing in the morning. This could be the beginning of many ukulele posts!

Frozen

Just what everyone needs.....a little more FROZEN!!!!! Dave once again gets the "Dad of the Year Award" for learning the cords and words to a Frozen song in Portuguese and teaching them to the girls. They LOVE it!

Non- Believers

There has been much discussion this holiday season about God, Jesus, and Santa. I was really hoping I had a few years before we really had to talk it over but Leah just can't let it go. Her dear friend has made many comments the past month or so about God and Jesus and it really started all the questions! Add to this the baby Jesus story in her preschool program and MANY Christmas songs and well......Keep in mind also, we are studying Ancient Times this year and with that comes much religious study including the bible. We have presented all this information simply as "myths" from this or that culture or "stories from the past". I tell Leah that it is not so important what she decides to believe, only that she respect that there will ALWAYS be others that believe differently. When she asks if Santa is real my go to answer is always, "I don't know, what do you think?" . This week, while driving home from piano she said, " Mom, are God and Santa the same thing?" "UMMMM AAAAA, GULP, what do you mean?" was my response trying not to say the wrong thing. That's all I need is my atheist kid going around the neighborhood telling all the kids that God is just Santa for adults. We live in a VERY MORMON neighborhood. She said, " They both give you stuff you want, and you get in trouble if you do bad stuff, and people talk to them(her friend has been telling her she will teach her how to ask God for things and he will give them to her. Even showed her a toy puppy she asked for and got!) I won't go into the rest of our discussion here but I will say that between the two of us we found SO MANY similarities between God and Santa. I was so surprised I had never made the connection before. And the end she decided that she did not want to believe in God or Santa. Mostly because of the punishment aspect it seems. She does not want "burn" or "get a rock" if she does something "wrong". I can just hear all the family members gasping now!!!! No SANTA!!!!!! When I tell people this story they always seem more concerned that my kids don't want to believe in Santa than that they don't want to believe in God. Funny. Stop fretting! Happiness, joy, giving, peace, family, togetherness do not need a label of God or Santa to be real. We will have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! The same stuff is under the tree if they believe or not. Although now I kinda want to just get them a bunch of rocks for fun!

Pip look-a-like

We fostered this cute little girl for less than 24 hours until she was snatched up by a family member! The girls sure had fun with her and we got the privilege of taking her on her first walk. It's so crazy to me when you come across a dog that has never been on a good long walk! What!? She was in heaven.

Pip!

A few photos of our new addition. I love him SOOO much! He really is the best dog I have ever met! And you all know how many dogs I meet. He is technically Leah's dog as she got him for a birthday present. But if I sit down, he is on my lap!

Christmas Recital

For the first time Leah walked right up to the microphone and announced her name and song! We did not manage to get it on video. Here is the rest.