Our All Pro Dad

I have mentioned several times that Ray is helping coordinate the All Pro Dad program at Carroll Elementary. This month instead of bringing in a speaker, Ray was the speaker. I went and watched him in action this morning, and he did a great job! He put together a slide presentation and addressed both the kids and the dads telling them how important hard work and a great attitude are and also how important it is to spend time together and just be there for each other. He then showed a great clip from the movie Facing the Giants, and then he got the dads and kids involved in an interactive quiz to see how well they know Carroll Elementary and each other. He ended the program with raffle prizes. Considering it was raining and freezing cold outside, there was a wonderful turnout for 7 am on a Friday morning, and Ray did an amazing job getting everyone involved and participating in the talk. We are so proud of him, and our kids are very lucky to have a dad that puts so much time and effort into them and their school.

Western Day

The girls enjoyed Western Day at school this week. They don't get a chance to wear their boots very often, so it was fun for them to get "dressed up" for the day. I think they make really cute cowgirls!

Dragons In Black

Last Friday the girls had their Dragon Pride Assemblies for the 2nd six weeks. The theme was Dragons in Black, and they were to wear all black and sunglasses. Both girls were recognized for reading a certain number of minutes during the six weeks and for completing the Dragon pride worker, which was the Christmas is For Children angels we adopted. Will even got to participate by dancing to the Cha Cha Slide. I'm always so proud of my girls and all of their accomplishments.

The Power of a Hand Written Note

Caroline's 4 year teacher at Chapel Hill is a really neat person, and I have always enjoyed being around her. I pass by her room twice a day 4 days a week to drop Will off at school and pick him up. Several times a week I stop and say hi to Anne. Our favorite topic is books, and both of us really like to read. So, we share tips on good books we've been reading and tell each other what books to stay away from. Recently, our book club read a really good book called Mudbound. I loaned Anne a copy, and when she gave me back the book, there was a sticky note attached to it. I came home and went to throw the sticky note away, but I stopped and didn't do it. I came back to it later, and again, I couldn't throw the note away. The note didn't say anything special at all...it was just a brief thank you for loaning her the book. I realized that in today's world, we don't send each other too many written notes. I think this is a little sad, and I know that I love to give and receive hand written notes. I like to be able to recognize people's handwriting, and I hope my my kids don't grow up in a world where receiving special notes is a lost art. I ended up putting the sticky note from Anne inside the book that I loaned her. I may not reference that note again for a long time, but I know where it is.

Boston's First Bath

Boston was pretty ambivalent about his first bath, but overall I don't think he is looking forward to the next one. I know it's not going to get any easier as he gets bigger. He looks so skinny without all his fur!

Boston

Our BIG BIG news is the new addition to our family - Boston. He is a goldendoodle, and he came to live with us on January 15th. We already love him so much. Ray and I had been talking during the fall about whether we were ready to get a new puppy. I think I was ready before Ray, but he quickly jumped on board. We have always loved bigger dogs like golden retrievers, but I knew that I really didn't want another dog that sheds. So, we researched and decided to pursue a goldendoodle. We found a breeder that we liked, and they had just had a little of standard sized goldendoodles, but they weren't going to be ready to come home until the middle of January. We decided to go ahead and give the kids the puppy for Christmas by making a list of clues to help them figure out their big present. There was definitely a lot of squealing and yelling going on once they figured out that we were getting a puppy. A couple of days after Christmas, Ray and I went to Oklahoma to chose our puppy from the litter. The decision was much harder than I thought it would be. All the puppies were so cute, and they all had such unique personalities. We ultimately picked ours because he was a boy and we wanted to name him Boston, because we liked his dark brown color, and because he was sweet, calm, and easy going. Apparently, we caught him at a particularly sleepy time, because calm is not the word I would use to describe him most of the time! The name Boston was Ray's idea. We used it because we lived in Boston the first year we were married. Ray was transferred there just a few months after we started dating, so most of our dating, all of our engagement, and the first several months of our marriage were spent in Boston. It is the place where we really fell in love, and we have wonderful memories of our time there. So, Boston was a meaningful name to us, and it just seemed to fit. On January 15th, we met Boston and his breeder in Gainsville to bring him home. This was the kids first time to meet him, and they were thrilled. Boston was pretty scared on the way home and actually hid under the car when we got here. These pictures were taken about an hour after we came home, so you can see that it didn't take him long to warm up! We are thrilled with the new member of our family!

Boston was born on November 17, 2009, and his mother is Star (standard poodle), and his father is Du (golden retriever). Some of these pictures are from the first time we saw Boston, and they show some of his litter mates.

Caroline's First Sleepover

Caroline had her first sleepover a couple of months ago at Lauren's house. Over Christmas we had Lauren over to our house, and the girls had so much fun. They set up sleeping bags on Allison's floor, and the three of them slept there all night. You can't tell at all here how much fun they were having!

The Final Celebration

Last but not least, we celebrated Christmas with Grandma, Forty, Robin, and Jack. It snowed again that day, but it did not end of sticking much at all! We made the drive out to Frisco and enjoyed pizza, salad, and delicious cupcakes. We had fun exchanging gifts and watching the kids interact. Jack is getting to be such a big boy and is talking up a storm!