Cute dogs and kids

This is Jack's favorite resting place, our sofa. Caroline took this pic.

Jack and his shadow, Bernie.

Caroline and Will playing with Bernie. One of the problems with a little dog and my son is he is very rough. He knows he needs to sit and have the puppy in his lap but if something doesn't go his way then he likes to kick her. He has kicked other small dogs before and I know he gets this trait from the Crissman boy side. Not all the brothers but I know my dad isn't the fondest of little dogs sometimes.

Juliet with her new puppy.
Lots of people in our neighborhood have dogs. But unlike at Fort Polk where it seemed everyone left their dogs outside to bark all day and night, there are nice dog owners here. Our best friends just got a little 9 week old puppy and it is the cutest thing. Jack, my mom's dog, is very sweet with Bernie. Tomorrow is the last day that Jack will be staying with us. Our month long dog sitting duty is over. He has been a great house guest and others in the neighborhood have really enjoyed him too. But all the black dog hair will NOT be missed. I will probably spend an entire day de-hairing my house next week!

Playground time!

We love going to the tot lot in our neighborhood and playing with friends. Today was the most perfect day for being outside too. It has been hot and humid and the gnats are horrible around here, but not today. Breezy, much cooler, and just perfect. I could stay out all day but I have too much to do to get the kids ready for a week away and then our triathlon stuff ready for this weekend.

Caroline is carrying the very loved "pink baby" up the wall with her. And yes Ashley and Caroline are wear the same dress. When I found the dresses and H&M for $3 I had to get 3, one for Caroline, Ashley and Juliet.

I think this might have been taken by Caroline. It was either her or Ashley. They were playing with the mom's cameras today and took some really great and some not so great shots. Some are very impressionist looking too.

One of the things that Caroline got when she was with Grandma and Grandpa was a Dora digital camera.  Caroline loves using my camera and so now she has her own "real" camera.  Above is a picture that she took when I meet the grandparents to pick her up last Friday.  Not too bad a job for an almost 4 year old.

In other news , I got a call yesterday morning to see if I was interested in having my own water fitness class.  Of course I was and now I am going to start teaching on Monday and Wednesday mornings.  This works out great because this fall Caroline will have preschool on Tuesday and Thursday so I will still have time to get things done around the house and spend some quality time with Will.

Training

Besides training to do the swimming part of the Mission Man triathlon this coming Saturday I have full on started the training necessary to walk 60 miles. I convinced a friend from church to walk with me and she has been great at having me really train for this. We meet at 630 both yesterday and today for a training walk. Yesterday we walked about 4 miles or so and this morning we walked 6.4. I know that is no where near the 20 miles I will have to walk for 3 days but with 11 weeks left, it is a start. The only thing that bothers me after walking for longer distances is my shins, everything else so far seems fine.
Justin has been very supportive about watching the kids and is not too sure when he will get some golfing in as early Saturday morning was his usual golf time!
I am still raising money to reach my goal of $2200 and could use all the help I can get! Thanks to those of you who have already donated. I really appreciate your helping me.

i big, daddy!!

This is Will's newest phrase. And he only says it to Justin and at random times like at breakfast after we have said the blessing. It all happened when Justin was saying how big Will was getting and Will caught on and started saying, "I big, daddy!" The cute part about it is the word big is a little deeper than the rest.
Friday was a super busy day with teaching VBS in the morning then dropping Will off with my neighbor Ann at 1230 and then I was off to meet with Grandma and Grandpa to pick up my Caroline. On the drive home Caroline would randomly tell me "I love you mom." It was so great to hear that again!! Justin picked Will up from Ann's when he got home from work. It was such a nice blessing for Ann to watch Will instead of me having to drive 7 hours with him during nap and dinner time. I owe Ann BIG time.

The fastest 3 hours ever

It has been forever since I made a post and I have been trying to get around to it and you think I would have more time since I only have 1 kid this week. Caroline is off with Dennis and Ingrid for a week at Sugar Mountain in NC. Justin dropped her off Saturday and I will meet them on Friday to get her back. SHe is having a blast going to Tweetsie, fishing, and swimming. And of course having all of the attention on her. Justin and I miss her terribly and are looking forward to her return. It is nice to have a break and remember how easy it is to have just 1 child but the extra hugs and smiles are surly missed!
Update on VBS - Will is doing fantastic! There are enough nursery workers plus youth volunteers so it is about 1 on 1. So if Will needs some extra cuddles there are plaenty of people there who love to hold him. They have told me everyday how well he is doing and how sweet and gentle he is. I am not sure they are talking about my son but I guess anything is possible! Considering he has already tackled Juliet this afternoon I am not inclined to believe them.
VBS lasts for 3 hours and it goes by so fast. I had no idea that being with 11 4 year olds time could move so fast. We are moving and going to a different place even 20 minutes so it just flies by.

Helping mommy

Here are some pictures, I know it has been a while since I posted a picture.  Such a happy boy sitting on the counter helping mommy.

Will is helping me make play dough for VBS this week.  I am teaching a class of 12 four year olds this week for VBS and I needed some play dough so Will had lots of fun helping me stir and even ate some too.  

Along with the challenge of the 4 year olds Will will be going to the nursery for 3 hours every morning this week and I am praying that his separation anxiety doesn't get too bad.