Buster's graduation day

Buster completed obedience class last weekend. We took him to PETCO where he had his own personal trainer. It was supposed to be a class but the only other dog owner who registered along with us did not show up again after the first class. He did very well in the class and loved all the one-on-one attention that he received from the PETCO employees. He was quite the showoff of his newly learned skills to get lots of treats, "good boy" praise and belly rubs. He learned to follow commands to sit, stay, come, down, leave it, off, and walk with me. Our walks are so much better now because he doesn't pull us, we lead him. We asked the trainer if she accepts toddlers into her class. She laughed in response since she has children in their teens!

Awana

Lily and James have started Awana at a local church. It is program for young children to memorize bible verses and talk about Bible stories. James is in a less structured class than Lily in which he plays more than Lily. Lily has an Awana book and vest that she can earn patches for memorizing bible verses. She has already earned her "Jumper" patch which mom sewed on this weekend. She is doing pretty well for just starting. The first time she went, she didn't want to stay but now she stays without crying and seems to have fun. We think that it will be a great experience for both of them.

Our new canine member

I think that I had inadvertently forgot to mention in previous blogs that Buster has a new playmate. Her name is Eva (named after the character in the movie "Wall-E" which is one of James' favorite movies). She is a small dog around 15 pounds and loves to play with Buster. They seem to be good companions for one another as they like to be in the same kennel together and sleep on one another. No worries for any more puppies - they are both now fixed. Eva was fixed the day before Thanksgiving. Eva is definitely Lily's favorite because she is smaller and Lily likes to occasionally take her in her room and try to "baby" her to which Eva is very uncertain but plays along as best as she can. It is quite cute to watch. Both dogs are great with the kids. I think that that they will all be best friends for years to come!!

I Huff and I Puff

One of James latest sayings that he says is "a huff...a puff...blow the house in" from the big bad wolf on Three Little Pigs. Then he starts blowing and giggling. He imitates everything that Lily is saying - I mean everything. Last night, he was teasing Lily in the car. We bought her a new book set and she was reading it out loud. He told her "shhh" repeatedly and smiled. Of course, she didn't like this and told him to stop to which he continued more and louder. We told her that if she ignores him, he would stop. This worked for a while until James grew bored and started again. It was quite interesting to see him learn the "art" of teasing his sister at the young age of two. Car trips will never be quite the same again I suppose.

The kids are fascinated by the fact that our house is right along the helicopter path for the hospital. We can hear the whirl of the helicopters as they either come in or leave the hospital. It is pretty cool to watch even for us adults!

A Quiet Thanksgiving

Our thanksgiving was uneventful here. Ryan had a busy call schedule as he had to work Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Krista stayed home and caught up on laundry and cleaning as well as working with James for 6 days straight on potty training. Unfortunately, little success at potty training despite placing him on the potty every hour but we will continue to try. Strangely, Jehovah's witnesses knocked on our door on Thanksgiving day. I politely accepted their materials and closed the door. It was quite cold here on Thanksgiving. We have had some unusually cold weather here for the last several weeks. This past Thursday, it was so cold and windy that it brought back memories of us living off of Lake Erie with the bitter cold lake wind! This year, as always, we have so many things to be thankful for. We are thankful for a new home and community that has been welcoming to us. We are thankful for both of our jobs that provide us steady income and financial stability in an economically uncertain time. We are thankful for our health and emotional well-being. We are thankful for our children who continue to grow in stature and intellect (they amaze us with new skills everyday!). We thank God for food in our refrigerator that is continually replenished as we need and shelter that is more than adequate for our needs. Most of all, we are thankful for Jesus Christ who is our Savior and Redeemer. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!