Well, we survived week 2 as new puppy owners(and the puppy survived too!). She gained a whole pound, we don't know how. She does not eat much, but she is growing into puppyhood, complete with bouncing and barking and some running before she passes out. She is sleeping in her crate at night with limited crying now. Scott is still crying though cause he wants to sleep with the puppy in his bed! Mostly it is too difficult to peel the puppy and Tom off the couch at night!
What a surprise to find a box on our doorstep from my wonderful friend Laura in Detroit and her family. They sent each of us a little Valentine gift, including a welcome gift to the puppy. Cookie especially loves chewing on the little fire hydrant. Thank you so much-that was so sweet of all of you! The kids loved their special treats too. And by the way Laura, we want to thank you for the quesadilla maker! Even Tom has found himself using it on a regular basis even though he poo pooed it as an excessive kitchen appliance. My favorite part is that the kids can make their own quesadillas, and Allison even made a whole bunch of pizza quesadillas for our girl scout meeting one night. Thanks again!
Even though this was a short week with President's day off, it sure seemed long. The kids have been bombarded with tests and homework assignments this week since we are coming down to the end of the semester. Just one more week.
And as if we didn't have enough work to do, Allison decided to sign up for training as a peer minister for confirmation candidates at our church. We had to fill out an application this weekend, complete with essay questions. If she is chosen(they only take 48 students and apparently it is a very popular program with the high school students at our church)then she has lots of training programs to attend before the Fall. Also she is responsible for writing a presentation for the retreat that she would be assisting with. But it looks good on the resume right?
We had so many activities planned this weekend, we could not get them all in(amazing right?). I originally planned on attending the Girl Scout's International Thinking Day on Saturday. Allison and I would have been performing with the choir on stage, but then Allison was asked to work at our neighbor's house during a jewelry party/sale. She was supposed to spend the entire afternoon setting up snacks and serving the guests as well as assisting with the orders. Instead of all those activities, Allison was asked to compete for her Advanced green belt in karate. She ended up completing 3 1/2hrs of testing that day and we are happy to announce that she is now an advanced green belt. There are just brown and black belts left. Hope she can stick it out since it will probably take a few years to finish. We decided to forgo all those other activities since the next test date wasn't until Oct. To celebrate, we went out to dinner with our friends from MSU Matt and Diana Wagner and their two boys. We haven't had time to visit since Labor Day weekend. We all went out to a Japanese steak house-this was the kids first time. They loved the chef's amazing cooking show at our table. I was not too happy when he pretended to squirt sauce in my face! The kids especially loved when the chef tossed them shrimp to catch in their mouths!
And we would have been assisting the Girl Scouts on Friday nite with the local International Thinking Day program, but Allison had an extended piano lesson. Her instructor cut her short last week since she was running late. So she spent over an hour with Allison. Allison is trying to learn to play the theme from Twilight(she is hooked bad and is on the last book).
Instead, I sent a few of my girls from my troop over to help out on Friday nite.
And I am still trying to schedule the kids for summer camp. I just signed Allison up for a GS camping trip in July to Assateague island in VA. Anyone remember the book Misty of Chincateague? In VA, the Spaniards came over with horses on their sailing ships and left horses on the beaches, or if ships crashed off shore, the horses swam to the beach. So the wild horses still live there on the coast and on the island of Assateague. Each summer, the local fire dept swims the horses across the channel to the town of Chincateague to thin out the herd and sell the ponies. Allison will be camping on the island and I believe will be there the week they swim the horses over to the mainland-I want to go! There is a Nat Park on the island and I have heard many people really enjoyed their tenting experience. Allison has been busy saving her babysitting money to help cover the cost of the trip. She would also like to spend some time visiting with Gma and Gpa Bozyk at the lake house this summer, probably in August. I am hoping we can get up there for a visit at the end of July during the Venetian festival in Charlevoix. It is hard to believe we have to schedule summer so far in advance. We haven't even made it to Spring break!
Tom may be headed to Salt Lake City this coming week. Mark Seitz is off to Switzerland. Have a good trip Mark and say hello to Alex in Germany for us. And then off to Florida when you return! Good luck with the marathon and say Hi to Mom and Dad Seitz. We are talking about heading down there for our spring break in April as well.
The kids have a shortened week again since it is report card marking week. Hope you all have a great week! Happy 13th Birthday Caroline and Clayton Bozyk! Hope you had a fun birthday celebration! Sounded like quite the house party you all had planned.
Kathleen