- This past week, we dog sat my parents 11-year-old standard poodle with the hope that possibly he would mate with our female standard poodle who just happened to be in heat at the same time, thereby making it relatively easy to have our first litter of puppies. Apparently, this was not to be. Peluche, my parents' dog, is first of all old, which is not in his favor for fathering puppies, and secondly, is completely inexperienced in this area of realm. Needless to say, despite the many valiant attempts on Peluche's part, it would seem that Delilah is not pregnant (unless of course something happened without our knowledge). The more hilarious side note to all of this and getting the hens during the same week is that our children are now being exposed to farm life (on a small scale) and observing first hand elements of the "facts of life". I had already been receiving many questions in regards to the dogs' behavior, so, amid much laughter and mortification on my part, I gave a brief, yet adequate explanation of the "birds and the bees" to my oldest 3 children (ages 8, 6, & 5).
-Watching #5, who recently turned 16 months, finally take off and begin to walk (she is very proud of this new accomplishment) has been a joy for the whole family. All the sisters are thrilled with her and keep exclaiming at "how cute" she is. Of course, we are all completely biased and she is the baby of the family, so this is just the way it is and we love it. 
- Listening to #4's speech improve (just turned 3) and hearing her truly expressing herself through sentences and words is so much fun! She says sweet things to me like, "You the best Mom ever"; and, also makes observations on things I don't even think she'll notice (for example, my hubby was painting the back of the house and #4 comes around the corner and says, "That looks better!"). Even the extremely dramatic is funny such as when she doesn't get her way and exclaims, "Mommy/Papi you broke my heart!".
- Being a parent is challenging and rewarding. Thankfully, there were some very rewarding moments this week. My hubby has been going back to work for the last few days in preparation for the start of another year of teaching (1st day is today for his school). On the first day that he was gone, I came into my livingroom mid-morning to find that my daughters were folding 2 large baskets of laundry for me without being asked. Even the 3-year-old was pitching in! When I exclaimed at how wonderful it was, they just said, "We knew it would make you happy if we helped with the laundry, so that is why we did it". The next morning, I woke up, realized my hubby was already out the door and gone to work, and then heard mysterious sounds coming from downstairs. About a minute later, the girls appeared with a bowl of oatmeal, toast with peanut butter, and cherries for me so that I could have breakfast in bed. Then, my oldest who is 8 and has just learned to make espresso, made espresso for me and fixed it up with sugar cubes and half n'half just the way I like it. Then, we all proceeded to the bathroom, "The Salon", and I was given a pedicure and manicure, as well. Wow, talk about a great start to the morning!
- And lastly, going out to the garden yesterday and coming in with a bag full of yellow crookneck squash, tomatoes, a beet, and an abundance of Swiss Chard made me really happy. We have battled the squirrels, gophers, and rabbits for our produce and lost many a battle, but despite that we are still left with enough to enjoy (not an over-abundance like I had anticipated, but definitely enough to supplement our grocery store purchases). And, a huge side benefit from this is that the girls are much more interested in eating and trying new veggies when they help with the gardening and are able to go out and pick them fresh. #5's favorite veggie at present is sauteed Swiss chard.
hooray dakota! lots of blessings this week :)
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