Every good and perfect gift is from above...James 1:17

Monday, March 31, 2014

Spring Break Without Going Broke

Two full weeks of spring break stacation!  My last two posts showed you some of our excitement.  We kicked off our spring break with a weekend at Jellystone Park.  
As a family we also went to Legoland in Dallas.  
Later in the week we went to see the Lego movie.
The weather was mostly springish, so we enjoyed playing outside  a lot.  
Picture scavenger hunts were exciting.
We also went to the park and had some play dates a few days with lots of different friends.
And the most exciting thing was of course the birth of the puppies!  The gift that keeps giving every day. (Until we give them all away, that is.  That will be very sad.)  It's been so fun playing with them!
We topped off the break with a trip to Houston for my nephew Adam's birthday and some cousin time.
Spring break 2014 was a success.  Two full weeks of spending lazy mornings and crazy afternoons with my favorite little loves!

Friday, March 14, 2014

Puppies!

This week we experienced God's miracle of life!  It was completely and utterly amazing.  Daisy summed it up as "the grossest and coolest day ever."

Almost 3 weeks to the day after we found her, our little stray Punkin had been nesting most of the afternoon.  Around 5:00 after Daisy had picked her up and put her down she freaked out because she had some dark slimy substance on her hand.  It was SO funny.  I told her it was puppy juice and that meant the babies were comin' any time.

It was a beautiful day and we had dinner outside.  The family was out playing and little ChuChu wanted to play with us.  She started to follow me outside but would turn around every few steps to look at her back side.  That's when I decided to check.  Holy smokes, there was some sort of dark purple sack coming out!  Little girl was going into labor and didn't even know it--she was all about the party.  
We rushed inside with all kinds of squeals of delight.  Daisy was thinking out loud with her little hands palm out in the air, "Calm down.  Just calm down."  Zekers was putting on the hospital gloves we had and boasted, "The doctor's comin' to town tonight!"  Good laughter to get us through the waiting.
We could tell things were finally progressing.  All 3 boys would come in and out to check on her, but the Daiser and I were by her side the whole time.  I could see the doggy's contractions happening.  All at once there was a contraction, something slid out and poor little Punkin yelped twice.  Daisy absolutely freaked.  In an instant she jumped up and was crying as she ran out the door to Daddy.  It still makes me laugh to think about it.

Everyone rushed in to see the miracle of life.  This perfect, tiny little puppy was formed inside its mother.  I said can you believe that some people witness birth and still don't believe God created it.  Daisy very matter of factly stated, "God does create it."  Love that girl's strong faith.
As we were watching and waiting, the kids noticed a faint odor.  I took in a deep breath and with a smile told them that's the smell of life!  They kept breathing heavy and soaking it in.  They kept saying how good the smell of life was and by the end of the evening they were ready to bottle that fragrance and sell it.  

It was a long evening, especially for the poor little momma.  From start to finish it was 5 hours and she had 5 puppies.  They started out light colored and kept getting darker with each one.  Four girls and a boy.  So cute!
I am giving the faint of heart a chance to stop reading.  By the time the last little girl was coming out the momma was so tired she was just lying there.  I totally got to see the puppy come out still in the sack.  Wow.  Ah-maze-ing.  One of the most fascinating things I have seen!
Incredible how babies are formed inside the sack and momma knows to chew the baby out of the sack.  And that sack is tough!  She had to work pretty hard to get through it.  Bless her heart, the first one she got down and gagged it up a few seconds later.  Incredulous that the mother knows she must bite the sack off and eat it, chew the vocal chord (the technical term is umbilical cord, but Zeke kept forgetting that technical term and replaced it with vocal chord), let them try to nurse as she's pushing out more babies, licks their faces to make sure they can breathe, licks their bottoms to make sure the muscles develop to go potty, as gross as it sounds she eats their potty to keep the bedding clean, and so much more.  
Check back in a few weeks after these little things start walking, chewing and poo'ing everywhere.  I may not be as chuffed as I presently am.  Until then we're all about the miracle of life and lovin' every minute of it!

Tuesday, March 04, 2014

An Apology To My Future Son and Daughters-in-Law

I'm going to be transparent here:  I'm a snuggle junkie.  Not only do I not like to sleep alone, but I want to be touching somebody.  All.  Night.  Long.  Abe and I have a joke about snuggling real close.  When we were first married he once told me, "Don't get any closer… 'cause you can't."

Each of our kids actually has a room with a bed.  However, you wouldn't guess that by our sleeping arrangements.  All three of them like to sleep in the same bed.  Since I'm being honest here, I'll admit that not a night goes by that at least one kid isn't in our bed by morning.  Usually it's all three.  And since I'm on this honest kick, you may as well know that I like it that way.

I love how Zeke is like one of those bendy rubber things with wire inside that the little arms and legs stay the way you bend them.  I adore the way Daisy plays with my hair, even in her sleep.  And I treasure the way little Lijee likes to rub my bare arm like a good luck charm.

I know my little bed invaders will eventually drop off, one by one as the years go by, until it's just me and Daddy in bed when the morning dawns.  That's why I am soaking up every snuggle-filled night until then.

So, dear future children-in-law, I hope you don't have much personal space.  It seems I may have passed this snuggle-thing along to my kids.

Sunday, March 02, 2014

Smarter Than The Average Bear

Spring break 2014!  

We kicked off our 2 week spring break with a weekend at Jellystone Park.
Lucky for us it was Mardi Gras weekend.  
Life's a party with the DanFam5, so
Laissez les bons Spring Break temps rouler!
And we're off!
Cheese!
Yogi and Cindy Bear were on site for plenty of hugs
photo bomb
beads earned from dancing
hay ride
playground
These two were hesitant to try karaoke, but once they started we couldn't stop them!  Here they're singing 'What Does the Fox Say?'
movie time
barrel ride
laser tag
riding on the fire truck
swimming--the air was warm but the water was COLD to say the least
Mardi Gras parade beads
candy bar bingo
DanFam5 saying good bye and thanks to Yogi for the great weekend!