Number 81

Eli has been really into these little "Football Guys" that we have from Kaskey Kids.  He reenacts what he sees and hears from the games over the weekend.  Steve and I have been amazed at how much of the game he actually follows.  Frequently during the game he will yell out, "Oh!  He fumbled!!"  or when they kick a field goal he says, "Is it 'yes good'?.... It is!"  All of this football knowledge then turns around into pretend play with his little football guys.

This morning he came into my room with one of these guys and asked if it was "Number 81".  I looked at the number and said, "No, he is number 18.  See the 1 comes first that makes it 18."  He looked at it for a minute and then said, "No.  This is 81.  See the difference?"

Hands and knees

Look who started lifting up onto his hands and knees this weekend!  

(Is it possible that time is going even faster now??)

Tek Video

Here is a little video from the boys first seeing Tek. (This is my first video upload and I have no idea what I'm doing, which may be evident...let's see how it comes out.)

Christmas comes early

Last night we surprised the boys with their big Christmas gift, Tek.  Steve brought him home after he finished work for the day.  The boys reaction was subdued but slowly grew more and more excited as they realized he was here to stay.

Marcus slept through the unveiling but greeted Tek with a big smile once he awakened.

Eli was just excited to see a puppy and, as you can see from my blurry pictures, I couldn't keep up with his movements!  He does NOT like being jumped up on or having Tek in his face or being chased, so I anticipate a love/hate relationship between the two of them for a while. (Kind of like his father's actually.)

Zach thought that the puppy was cute but he thought that it was my mom's new puppy, Dodger. (whom we haven't met yet but will be coming home after Thanksgiving.)  After Zach understood that this dog was his Christmas gift, he said, "You mean we can keep him?!?" and then, "Uh, oh daddy!  You're going to have to pick up poops in the yard!"  Since then Zach just wants to be near Tek.  I'm sure the novelty will wear off but for now he is one excited boy.

For homeschool this morning I asked Zach to dictate a little bit about Tek.  He said, (with help for transitions), "Last night I was very happy because I had a dog!  I thought the Christmas present was going to be a dinosaur, but Mommy and Daddy got me a dog!!  We thought of names and we decided that it would be 'Tek'.  He is a black lab that is friendly and little.  I like it when he is with me."  Then he spontaneously wrote himself at the top of his picture, "Zach is plesd wf dady".

Seeing Tek for the first time.

"Oh! He's pretty cute"

Then, the motion started...

Wish I had captured Zach's face without the blurriness!

Big hugs for Daddy.

Never, EVER

Meet Steve.

Who has said, for all the years I have known him, that we will never, EVER own a dog.  He has a list of reasons why.
1. They're expensive.
2. You can't go out of town without dealing with them.
3. They poop in your yard.
4. They're expensive
5. They eat everything.
6. They require exercise.
7. They leave hair everywhere.
8. They're expensive.
Oh! and, 9. They're expensive.

I cannot state how strongly he was against us having a dog.  So this past September when he told me that he thought we should get the boys a dog for Christmas, I was very. Very.  Shocked.



So, Christmas came early this year (because that's when the pups were ready).

Meet Tek, short for Varitek, a former Redsox catcher.  He is seven weeks old and weighs 11.5 lbs.

I am pretty sure that Steve and Tek will never be best friends, but Steve has won major points in the eyes of his sons and wife.