AHHHHHH.....Silence

Finally, finally, the house is quiet. Hubby is at work, kids are at school, and it's just me and my computer. And the puppy we've been housebreaking, I guess. It has been so hard trying to do anything with them in the house. I now have a whole list of things to get done, and don't know where to start. I guess under the bed. My husband requested I sweep under there, because the puppy we got recently likes to hide under the bed to get away from the kids. My husband has allergies pretty bad, but he swears up and down it's not the dog, just the dust. My husband picked out this puppy on a recent trip to the Smoky Mountains, in spite of my warnings about shedding issues in the future. Puppy- Cricket- is a Pomeranian. I think it would break his heart to have to get rid of her. She is awful cute. Here she's sitting on a jewelry box I have.

We really have to be careful with her. I think that's why she goes under the bed, because she's afraid she's going to get hurt. My 4 yo lets her chew on anything, and my eight yo thinks she's as tough as he is. It's been difficult training the kids as well as the pup. I'm sure when they get home from school, they'll harass the poor thing to pieces.

We went to Columbus this weekend to see family. Hubby wanted to go to a gun show with my dad, and my step-mom and I took the kids to the Columbus Zoo. Saturday was the perfect day for it, and everybody had a lot of fun. This is the first time my 4 yo really was able to look at the animals and enjoy them, asking questions right and left. My son surprised me, though. The zoo has strategically placed drop boxes for spare change and dollar bills to support the animals. We had given each of the kids 3 dollars for spending money, and my son came up to me at the manatee exhibit, and said he wanted to put some quarters in. I didn't think he understood that the money would be the zoo's then, and he would not get anything back. It wasn't a toy machine or anything. His eyes actually teared up, and he told me "But I don't want the zoo to close." I gave him permission to put the money in. How could I not?

That really made me feel like I was having an impact as a parent, and that not everything I said went in one ear and out the other. So I guess I'll keep plugging values and morals and all that other good stuff into their spongy little heads.

Till tomorrow...