Welcoming A Puppy Into the Family

We'll always remember "Leap Day" as the day we brought our puppy home!

We first met him on February 11th at the foster family's home when he was a wee 5 weeks old, and waited 3 weeks until we could bring home to join our family. Although it felt like a long wait, it was productive time as we gathered supplies and read about how to care for and train a puppy. Nate was also traveling during the last two weeks, so the timing was perfect.

The puppy is a Lab-mix whose mom was a rescue from Virginia (the organization was called Mostly Muttz Rescue, although we first saw him on petfinder.com). We're not sure what the father was, but we're beginning to suspect he was a hound breed. The mom was a tan lab, but only one of her puppies looked like her; the rest were a mix of black and brown like ours, and all-white with brown over the eyes. We chose our puppy from among his brothers and sisters because of the coloring on his face and for his laid-back personality.

Without further ado, we would like to introduce Rusty!

This was Rusty the day we meet him at 5 weeks old.

Rusty was ready to come home with us on Leap Day when he turned 8 weeks old.
We almost named him "Leap" because of the special date.

We decided on "Rusty" because of the coloring on his face and legs,
and because we wanted a name with a strong beginning sound and a vowel sound
on the end (recommended by the Monks of New Skete, the dog experts).He has some big paws, so we'll see how big he gets! 

For weeks Rowan had been asking, "When my puppy coming?" in his cute little toddler voice.
He was so excited when we finally brought Rusty home!

Rusty bonded with the kids right away. 

Silas was at school during the day, so he didn't get to see Rusty until he came home
in the afternoon. Although Silas seemed initially excited about the puppy,
he seems more interested in causing the dog mischief than
actually playing with him.

Nate's been dutifully attending to the task of taking Rusty out throughout the day.
Nate is our pack leader, and he'll be doing all of Rusty's training. 

Good dog!

A Snowy Weekend

The first big snow of the new year was a little late this year, but it came with a vengeance! I think we got about 2 feet of snow from Friday night until Saturday night. The kids were beside themselves with excitement, but it was short-lived because after bundling up and going out in it yesterday, they quickly realized that the cold and wind made it unenjoyable to play in the snow. Our neighbors generously invited us over for brunch yesterday with another young family on our street, and that ended up being the highlight of our day. Sharing a meal and entertaining conversation while the kids played happily with their friends as the snow was falling around us was really neat! (Walking up the hill in the heavy snow afterward was not much fun, especially when we discovered that it had piled up another 4 inches in the few hours we were there!)

Last night Nate and I watched a movie while the snow finally tapered off. It was called "The Age of Adeline", and we both liked it! (This is a rare occurrence, that's why I'm mentioning it!). The movie was clean, no language or funny business, but the plot was suspenseful and the characters captivating.  I would highly recommend it!

Today Silas woke up with a fever, and Rowan has a cold, so they just staying inside. We'll have to save the sledding and snow play for another time. The kids didn't seem to mind––we did a lot of baking instead. Nate, on the other hand, spent many hours outside yesterday and today snowplowing, shoveling and cleaning off the cars multiple times. We're very thankful for his hard work!

Here's some pictures of the snow, and an overview of our first few weeks of 2016:



This was the view when I woke up this morning––the sun was a welcome sight!



Rowan and Allie had some playtime on the porch with Nate yesterday.

We came back from a 5-day trip to Connecticut on New Year's Eve. While we were away, Rowan slept in a twin bed for the first time (with bed rails), and all the kids slept in the same room. Nate thought it would be a good time to move the kids into the same room back at our house too. So in this picture, Rowan is saying goodbye to his crib on New Year's Day. They disassembled the crib and set up the toddler bed in Silas' and Allie's room. I was not prepared for this change, and it took some time to adjust to it. But the kids did great together right from the start!

Rowan taking a nap in his new bed and new room.

My brother Matt and sister-in-law Elise, who live in Boston with their 2-month-old baby Jack, got to watch the kids open their Christmas presents via the iPad. Technology sure changes things!

We had some snow flurries one day, and Rowan was so excited he rushed outside to see them. But once out there, he didn't seem to know what to do, and realized it was actually pretty cold. He came back in shortly after, having learned that watching snow is more enjoyable to watch inside a warm house.

Allie posing with her rods work during school one day. "Playing" (aka learning math concepts) with the rods is one of her favorite school activities.

The kids play games every night after dinner. Silas is the biggest fan of board games, although all 3 of them start out playing together. Rowan is often the first to get bored, and announces to everyone: "I'm done. I'm tired." Sometimes he'll get a blanket and lie with Nate. In this picture Allie was following Rowan's lead. The funny thing is that Silas will keep playing the game, and even taking the other kids' turns for them, until everybody wins.

The kids this morning watching Nate snowplow the driveway––again.

Rowan and Silas, hanging out with the iPad.

Allie got a Christmas gift called "Roominate" where you put together different pieces to make a house and furniture, and she and Rowan are testing out the motor that came with it. 

On a sad note, we had to put Yuri down when we got home from Connecticut. He had gotten injured while we were away. That was hard and sad, at least for me. We got Yuri in September 2006, before Nate and I got married. He was born in Nate's neighbor's yard from a stray, and one day when he was about 4-months old he came running over to me and rubbed against my leg. He let me pick him up and bring him inside, and from then on we decided to keep him. Our neighbor was relieved to have one less stray to feed. Yuri was a sweet cat, but he wasn't crazy about kids. He was mostly an outside cat for the last 6 years, but even then he would join us when we were outside, and even follow us on walks. He was like a dog that way. He loved being outside, catching mice and other critters, climbing, lying on Nate's desk, and chin rubs on his white beard. He was a half brother to our other cat, Leo, and so gentle and patient with him when Leo was a kitten. They were a funny pair. We will definitely miss our Yuri.

What We're Thankful For

This week the kids and I reflected on the things we have to be thankful for...

Silas and Allie both made a Thanksgiving turkey, and each day during the week we added a few feathers that represented things the kids were thankful for. When the turkeys were finished we hung them on the board as a remembrance.  Allie chose "projects" as in craft projects, her grandparents, food, Christmas, presents, toys, her brothers, our house, and Jesus. Silas chose food, his grandparents, his mom and dad, school, his brother and sister, Ms. Jacobus (his teacher), Jesus, and friends at school. I'm hopeful that this exercise helped them think through the many blessings that God has given us this year.

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever." 

~1 Chronicles 16:34

We have so many people to thank God for...

Our family near and far, including those in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and California! 

Our neighbors and friends, especially those down the street and at church.

Silas' wonderful teachers, therapists and aides.

Our precious new nephew, Jack Francis Nespoli -----> Happy first Thanksgiving, little Jack! :)

Catch Up With Us

It's been far too long since I've put an update on here, I know. It was a busy summer with Silas home again, and in the fall Allie began homeschooling. And there's lots going on all the time. Here's a brief summary of the last few months.

We got baby chicks in June and watched them grow into hens over the summer. 

The kids were fascinated with the chicks, especially Rowan, who was  a little overzealous 

in holding them! Thankfully all the chicks survived despite being handled quite a lot. 

They just started laying eggs for us two weeks ago––hooray!

We celebrated Silas' 7th birthday in June with a party in Green Lane Park. Silas' loves to take 

boat rides, so here he's having a birthday ride with his Pop-Pop, Peba and Nate. On his actual birthday we were visiting family up in Rhode Island...his first birthday away from home. 

I'll put up more pictures of Silas' birthday on a separate blog post.

Fast forward to fall! Allie and Rowan discovered again how fun it is to jump in leaves.

Our little guy loves to help out, even if he has his own way of doing it. 

Here he's giving the plants a drink with is water gun.

No, it's not Halloween... Just a normal day where Rowan's dressing up like a fireman. 

This is far better than when he puts on Allie's princess dress.

Allie is "reading" a book to Rowan. We'd read this one so many times that she apparently had it memorized, because she recounted the story with amazing accuracy.

We visited the Lego exhibit at the Mercer Museum a couple weeks ago. The kids had a blast, 

even though none of them are avid Lego builders yet. The theme of the exhibit was 

Medieval Castles, and since then the kids have been extra interested in 

kings, queens and castles.

Our Little Guy Turns 2!

We celebrated Rowan's 2nd birthday on October 18th. Our little bubba is getting bigger every day! He's talking a lot, and we can even understand a good bit of it! His best friend is still his big sister, but he loves to hang out with his stuffed animals, little animal figures, or any other inanimate object that he imagines to life! He's so much fun at this stage, and there are days when we just want to freeze time for a moment to enjoy this time when he's still little and cute but doing more and more big boy things.

Silas' 7th Birthday!

Silas turned 7 years old in a brand new place this year––Providence, Rhode Island! We were visiting Nate's aunt and uncle at the time, and had just come from Long Island where we spent a few days with Silas' Great Grandpa and Grandma. He didn't seem to mind being away from home for his birthday. We had a party for him before the trip so he could still celebrate with his grandparents, aunt and uncle, and cousins.

Silas' Birthday Party

Since Silas loves spending time at Green Lane Park, we had his party there, 

and began the festivities with a boat ride on the water.

Silas and his Peba (Nate's dad) enjoyed reclining at the water's edge 

while we barbecued on the field nearby.

Rowan and Silas love to throw sticks in the water and watch them make ripples.

His cake was really cupcakes decorated to look like a "7" shape.

Next Silas opened his presents––he got a fireman's coat and a baseball set.

Silas' Big Day

On the morning of June 25th, Silas woke up in Long Island. Shortly after 

breakfast, we packed up and left for our trek to Rhode Island.

We drove onto a ferry that crosses the Long Island Sound from Orient Point, NY to New London, RI. After parking in our narrow spot on the ferry, we walked upstairs and enjoyed the view of the water.

We has lunch and spent a few hours at Mystic Seaport in New London.

Silas posed with the lighthouse at Mystic Seaport.

Seven candles really light up a cake!

At the end of the day, Silas opened presents and basked 

in the last few moments of his seventh birthday.