Our littlest man

Time goes by so fast. Elijah will be 4 months next week. He loves to chat, especially at 5:00 am. Here is a video of his fun conversations. He is also starting to move around. He has rolled over once, but hasn't done it again.

Izzy's new kennel/End of Summer Vacation

We found a medium size kennel for Izzy on KSL.com for $30. She hates it. She has no problems at night, so we are not making her sleep in it. She just goes in when we are gone (church, store, etc.). We try to bring her with the family when we can, like to the park and friends/families houses, or if we are just going run a short errand. We are training her to bark at the doorbell and at a knock at the door. She barks at strangers and dogs on her walks, but when we are at home, she only barks at the TV. We want people who come to the house to know that we have a watchdog. That is one of the reasons that we wanted another dog so soon. It is strange to be in a house and not have Skip warn me when there is someone in the yard. Skip was very good at that. It is the end of summer vacation. Only one more week before school starts. The boys have had fun this summer. We have a park that is around the corner and we have been taking Izzy for walks in the morning and evening and letting the boys ride their bikes and play in the park. Adam had a swimming party for his birthday, but then came down with strep throat the next day, along with Justin and Scott. They love waking up and being able to go out to our fully fenced backyard and I don't have to worry about them and they don't have to wait until I am done with my work to go outside.

Smarty pants Adam

The boys start school on August 24th. We got a call from the principal today. Because of his high testing and ability to learn quickly, Adam has been chosen as a role model for all-day-kindergarten. Basically, the school has one all day class, which a few exceptional children are chosen to be "role models" or "leaders" for the rest of the class, which is made up of children who would benefit from additional time. This is exciting (Adam is one of the youngest in his grade), but we are also worried. Not worried about Adam, we know he will be great. But we are worried about Ben, who is being surpassed by his younger brother. David and I agree that if they want Adam to skip a grade, we will not do it. Ben is already a timid guy and the fact that all last year, Adam was doing Ben's homework right along with him, has been rough on Ben's self-esteem. I can not work with Ben without Adam yelling out the answer. So to work with Ben, I have to be in the room alone with him. So, instead of 2 in school all day, I will have 3 in school all day and 2 at home. It makes getting the boys to and from school easier with all of them going at the same time. Right now, I am ready for school to start. The boys have been driving me a LITTLE CRAZY. Just a little, lol.

Izzy needs a Kennel

We came home from church yesterday to find that Izzy had chewed or clawed the front blinds trying to see out. She used our new couch to climb on, which we put in front of the window. Izzy has shown signs of separation anxiety before, with howling and whining and jumping at the door. But she usually calms down and lays by the door waiting for us to come back. But this time she had a couch to jump on and look out the window. Then later that day, we found her asleep on the couch, when we had been downstairs. She has never had a problem with getting on the furniture before. I think it is because the couches are new to our home and we put them in the once empty front room, which is where her bed is. David has told me to get a kennel for when we leave, or she will have to go outside on a chain. David is missing Skip more now. He has realized what a good dog Skip was and can't really see the dog Izzy could become with proper training. I don't think she will ever come close to Skip in David's eyes.