The Glorious Parking Job

My only daughter has dubbed this "The glorious parking job." Hannah
can get her license in 29 days...I'm thinking she might want a little
more practice parking the big car!

Pool Weather?

It's March 16th and 80 degrees, does that make the pool swimmable? Gid
seems to think so, even if the water temp is probably around 60
degrees! Brrrrr! As long as he's entertained I'm happy to sit here by
the pool and relax. Sometimes being a mom is a pretty good gig. Now
what shall I have the cook prepare for my dinner? ;-)

The Puppy Post

It has come to my attention that certain parties feel I am remiss in posting playful puppy pictures (and other tidbits of canine cuteness). I wouldn't want to seem neglectful of my blog or anything...wait, too late for that. Anyway, here goes...

Henry is a fully integrated part of the family now. Of course, I am still his favorite (through no apparent effort on my part, he finds me endlessly appealing), but he also loves to cuddle with the little boys, do tricks for Ren and beg food off of anybody and everybody. It never fails that as the children emerge from their beds in the morning, they walk out and answer my "Good Morning" with a high pitched, sickly sweet, "Hi Henry!" So the dog follows me everywhere and I'm invisible to the children.

He will pretty much do ANYTHING for a treat and often runs through his whole repertoire of tricks spontaneously if he thinks you have some tasty morsel hidden in your palm. It's pretty entertaining to watch him sit then lay then roll over then lift his paw to shake ending with a soulful look all in less than 5 seconds!

Maybe the reason he likes me so much is because, like me, he has the Bolton family tongue! We Bolton women are known for having very long tongues...I'll leave it to you decide if Henry takes after my side or not. (There will not be a picture of me sticking out my tongue though, sorry.)

(this was a yawn -- Ren is NOT pulling on that tongue.)

He is pretty reliable in his potty training, so we finally gave him access to the whole upstairs. When I can't find him at night, he's usually cuddled in with the boys, who insist on sleeping on the floor. That's perfect for the puppy, he just picks the least wiggly one and settles in.

As you can see from the pictures, our puppy was getting pretty scruffy. His hair just grows and grows and grows. I felt bad when I realized he couldn't see and that his mustache was so long it was in his mouth, so I took him to the groomers. The kids begged me not have his hair cut, but I think the result was pretty cute. It's amazing how in the before pictures he looks like a scruffy, old dog and in the after pictures, he looks puppy-like than ever. When the groomer brought him out, we didn't even recognize him! The boys reaction was, "They made him look like a girl!" Maybe that's why I think he's so darling. ;D

He's a born model, I didn't make him pose like that, he just did it and gave me his best look of innocent sweetness. Then I'm sure he grabbed someone's undies and hightailed it out of there!

We find ourselves wondering what the big fuss was about getting a puppy. We debated and debated, agonizing over how much work and trouble one would be. It turns out, this little guy was the perfect addition to the family. We even forgive him for stealing our socks when he turns that angelic face up at us. Like Gideon and Eli are always saying to me when he crawls in their laps, "Aw, look Mom, I have a puppy!" We all do and he's a keeper.

One Really Fast Banana

This is the story of a boy, a banana car and a dream. Yes, Curtis got to experience the Pinewood Derby for the first time this year. His dad is a veteran, with 10 cars under his belt (including his own as a boy), but this year he was given a new challenge: make a banana car sleek and fast and good looking enough to grab the attention of the judges. If you ask me, the team of Byers and Byers did just that. I give you, the Banana Express!

Curtis is definitely pleased with the design, but will it win?

Here he waits a little anxiously for his first race.

Soberly, he examines the track and contemplates the possibilities.

He takes his position at the end of the track and glues his eyeballs to that banana-shaped masterpiece.

Elated, Curtis jumps for joy as his car takes first place in its debut race!

He takes a moment to talk to the press about his predictions for the coming races.

Ultimately, his car was beaten by the Pack 873 legends, but Curt didn't mind. He was pleased with his record of four firsts, two seconds and three third places. He also got the award for "Most Unique Design." So while he did experience the thrill of victory...

and the agony of defeat...

He persevered for his team...

and the loyal fans...

who will one day follow in his footsteps.

(Eli has already decided he wants a green Ferrarri that is "really fast!!!" Good luck on that one Ren -- you've got three more years to figure out how to beat those Webers!)

Fashionable Eye Wear is a Must This Year

Here's a sneak preview of what the fashionable toddlers are wearing around the house these days.

We call this look "Harry Underwear" acknowledging the inspiration coming from two great literary characters Harry Potter and Captain Underpants. Eli is a fashion veteran; you can see this in his classic model pose.

This one is called "Versatile Man". Gid can lounge around in his brother's bathrobe or put on the safety goggles and engage in some serious tool time.

I'm sure as the year continues, we will see these high fashion looks filter down into the everyday wear of the masses, so keep your eyes peeled for trendy eyewear in 2010!

Puppy Love

I'd say there is some mutual affection happening here. :D This is one of Henry's favorite spots when he's all tired out. Lucky for him, it often coincides with Gid's afternoon tv shows, so they can both chill together. I love to see him climb into my little one's lap, proving the point that puppies and little boys definitely go together!

Heeeeeeeere's Henry!

Well after much research, deliberation, waffling back and forth, pleading from the kids and finally praying about it, we have acquired a diminutive canine companion for the family. (a.k.a a Puppy!) How can it be that we could spend so much time and energy making the decision to get a dog when we had babies without giving it a second thought? It turns out raising a puppy is surprisingly similar to raising kids, with a few added perks like being encouraged to put him in a cage several hours at a time to give everyone a break and no breast feeding to worry about. (sorry about that mental picture!)

Our little Henry, whose official name is Henry Knox Byers, is a 6 pound Toy Poodle/Bichon Frise. That means basically he's a little ball of fluff. He's incredibly smart and keeps us laughing and on our toes. Luckily, there's been no sleepless nights and only a few accidents in the house, the worst one being the flying poo incident on the second day here. I saw him going into the living room, sniffing the floor and I KNEW he was looking for a spot. But he's dang fast and by the time I got to him he was already in the dreaded poo-poo crouch! I grabbed him quickly to take him out and the log that was already mostly out flew across the living room! Thank heavens for tile floors! haha

The panic and regret I felt in the first few days when he was crazy and play-biting everyone is mostly gone, thank goodness. We had a puppy trainer come and the best thing she taught us was how to communicate in Dog. When he's doing something he shouldn't, I growl at him and he stops most of the time. If he ignores me (like when he scores a sock -- why do dogs love socks so much?) we have a "bean bag" filled with metal chain that she told us to throw on the ground right next to him. It simulates the snap a dog would give if its growl was ignored. Who knew? That one works every time and we've pretty much eliminated the play-biting, though not the sock stealing.

He adores the little kids and runs around the yard like a crazy thing with them. This morning Eli and Gid set up a "finish line" tape and were racing across the grass to run through it. Henry was in pure ecstasy running across the grass with those silly boys. Jonah and Cody were a bit timid with him when he first came home, so they're working on getting him to warm up to them. I've encouraged them to give him treats because frankly, I think that's why he loves me so much. He definitely prefers me and follows me all over the house. It's so funny when I turn around and look him in the eye and he plops down on his bum and looks at me with those puppy dog eyes as if to say, "What are we gonna do now?" And he quickly forgives me when I turn around and step on him, not knowing he's there. What a good puppy! :D

Here's a few pictures from his first week. We had friends in town the day he came home. With 15 people in the house, you'd have thought it would be crazy, but he took it all in stride. His first steps outside you could just see how thrilled he was to be somewhere besides the cage in a pet store! We definitely tired him out, but I'm sure it was a good kind of exhausted.

Hannah and Henry on the first day.

Our friend Addison with Henry and his manly bow from the pet store. :D

This is what it looks like when you kneel down to take a picture of a dog who is rocketing across the yard to chew your camera strap!

We love it when Henry picks up random big stuff. He looks so proud to have snatched a garden shovel. (Sorry for the blur, he's fast!) My favorite was when he was running around chasing the kids with a 2 foot nerf sword in his mouth.

Curtis, our friends Addison and Jacob Everett and Henry.

Jonah, who prayed for a puppy, had his prayer answered and he couldn't be more thrilled!

The first night, Gid decided he was a puppy. Hoping maybe it would convince Henry to like his crate, I encouraged the game. These pictures pretty much tell the story.

At the end of a long afternoon, our puppy was tuckered out.

Lots of people questioned why we would get a puppy. We questioned why we would get a puppy! It just seems like the unconditional love a dog is a healing and happy influence in a home. We're not afraid of poop or work or training; otherwise, we'd never have seven kids! So, we're happy to put in the work to train this cute little ball of fluff (nicknamed Swiffer by my loving brother Ben). Hopefully, he'll be a part of our family for many years to come.