Drew and I love raising our kids in a small town. We never expected it to be so great for Seth right away! Transitioning to a new school was tough at first, but soon Seth found a great friend... his new "BFF" and they love playing together. They have so much in common & it's fun to watch them talk and plan (esp. about their "secret club"). At the first grade zoo field trip, they were inseparable...
We went to a small town Pioneer Day parade in October & Seth made quite the haul of candy and other treats. He loved all the firetrucks, cheerleaders, motorcycle tricks and of course collecting more candy than he did at Halloween. You might say that Karsyn was a little less excited. She didn't seem to understand why people would pelt small sugary treats at her and honk their horns and scream... and the sirens just sent her over the edge. So, her parade experience was not spent frantically chasing candy, yelling WOOT!, but instead sitting curled up in a ball in my lap watching from a distance. Seth and his loot:
Again... K was also not as excited as we would have liked about going to daycare. You would think we were dropping her off at a torture chamber the way she would scream and cling on to me in the morning. The tantrum started at the house when we put her jacket on and loaded her in the car. She would cry, "No, mommy!" all the way there & the teacher literally pried her off of me when I dropped her off. This lasted for two whole months... and finally the screaming turned into a quite whisper as we got out of the car, "Bye 'S.' No, hi-ho mommy." (S is Seth; hi-ho is work/school - you know "Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It's off to work we go!") She still cried when I left her at this point and each day of work was so hard to get through. As a teacher, I know that kids do great as soon as the parents leave, so I just kept reminding myself of that. Currently, K gets out of the car and says bye to S and gives me kiss on the cheek. She walks in with her juice cup on her own and seems to have a great day - YEAH! This is a picture of her first day at daycare:
Prior to going to daycare, K was blessed with her great-Granny! I was so glad for K to have the opportunity to stay with PJ & Granny while I was at work like Seth did when he was little. After work one day, I found the girls primping in the bathroom... too cute! Notice Karsyn's gray dress socks... they're Papa Joe's - LOL! 
Meet the newest member of our family... JACK! He is the precious chocolate lab that Seth got for his 7th birthday. While we were waiting for him, the Denton's (family we bought him from) updated us with pictures and told us funny stories from his tiny puppy days. Seth and I read Marly & Me, hoping it would prepare us for our new bundle of love... all the while hoping that Jack wouldn't be anything like Marley. To date... Jack eats anything he can get his mouth around, including plants, tree limbs, toys accidentally left in the yard (bubbles), rope, and numerous other things. He has grown astronomically... again leading to massive amounts of dog food, which he consumes in 60 seconds flat! He digs all over the yard (thanks to some great teaching from "Grace," my aunt's dog) and I won't even begin to describe the size of poo as Jack gets larger (YUCK!). Jack can be quite naughty, but I can already tell he is completely devoted to us! He loves to go for walks - Drew does the walking most of the time, and although he claims to hate the dog, secretly he loves him too!
The picture of Karsyn (below) are when Jack was still a manageable size for her. They both thought they were in charge and tried to play "boss." Jack is currently larger than K, and at their current growth rates, it could be years before she ever catches up to him.
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