We are Dog Owners!

Goofy has been an official part of our family for a month now. Against everyone's advice, (including my own mother who told me "don't ever make life-changing decisions when you're pregnant"), against Ron's complete approve and against my better judgement I adopted Goofy. For a while now I've CONSIDERED getting a dog. I wanted to make sure my kids were old enough to help with the responsibility of owning a dog. I feel like owning a pet helps teach your children so much. It helps teach them to be less selfish, gives them responsibility and teaches LOVE. I have always loved animals but hesitated to take this leap because there is so much to pet owning I'm not a fan of. I don't like smelly things (let's face it all dogs smell), I feel like I pick up poop enough with my own kids I don't want more poop issues, and it's a little hard to be tied down with a pet at home. All good reasons to say NO!
I made the mistake of mentioning all these thoughts to my good friend Jenessa. Glad I did because on Thanksgiving weekend she sent me a picture and a text that said "I am bringing a dog home for you" She has family in globe and found Goofy being neglected at a Ranch there. Between then and Christmas we had Goofy over for lots of "playdates" and even dog sat him for a weekend. Jenessa had him at her house while I carefully weighed the options of becoming a dog owner. We obviously fell in love and took that leap!

Goofy really has been a good thing for a our family. He is extremely sweet and mellow. We have him all up to date on his vaccines and got him fixed a couple weeks ago. Next weekend we start doggie school (the boys are really excited about this. I told them they get to come with me and Goofy to puppy school .) So far he has adapted really well (occasional pee accidents-mostly marking his territory) really nothing major and very rare. NO POOP accidents!!! He doesn't chew on the kids toys and is just so loving. He really LOVES attention, and responds quickly to the word NO. The first week or so I had to be really careful with my tone of voice. If I sounded mad at all he would roll over into submission pose on his back and pee himself a little. Poor little guy, I think he may have been abused a little with the previous owner. For now we have Goofy's bed/crate in the back room. It used to be my craft room and our plans are eventually to make it Baby April's room. Goofy LOVES to sleep, he usually takes a couple naps a day and goes to bed very well at night. There are times during the day when I can't find him and then I think to look in his bed and sure enough there he is in his crate napping. Too cute!

 

 His first bath!

  

 The cone of shame

My favorite part of having a dog is watching my kids with him. When Callie is sad or upset (or really any of my kids) he will go to them and love on them. First thing in the morning before they (my kids) even ask for breakfast they go into Goofy's room let him out of the crate and take him outside to pee and feed him. Every night before bed the boys happily take him out to do his duty (sometimes the boys go pee themselves outside to get Goofy to go. That always cracks me up.) Noah happily volunteered to be the "Poop patrol" he is very good at finding poop and picking it up with a bag. All in all I'm really enjoying this dog owning thing no regrets!

Almost perfect Sunday

Well, there have been lots of changes in our ward lately. Our stake reorganized the ward boundaries and decided to cut out a good chunk of our ward. Because our ward was one of the bigger wards we didn't gain any new members just lost a bunch. I have mixed feelings about it but I'm sure it's all part of a bigger plan. For a couple weeks I was very uneasy and upset thinking our street might get moved out of the ward. Well, we are still in Kingsborough Park Ward but a good chunk of our ward is gone and that saddens me. Last Sunday Ron was called into the Stake President's office. He was released from 1st counselor in the bishopric and called as 2nd counselor. This really doesn't change much he just has new assignments. He's responsible for scouting and primary now. When he was set apart after sacrament meeting I was very touched at the prayer our Stake President offered. He blessed our family multiple times and our marriage specifically with continued success and strength. I feel like sometimes the wife of a bishopric member is kind of on the back burner and forgotten. I don't really want to be the center of attention but it was nice to have some confirmation from the Lord that I'm not forgotten and he is mindful of me and my young family.
Sacrament meeting-
I'm not sure how this all started but a few weeks ago Noah decided he wanted to read the Bible during Sacrament meeting. I thought for sure this wouldn't last long but he has been going strong for about a month now and is on page 11 of the Old Testament. Every once in a while I ask him what he's reading and I'm always so surprised at his response. He really is getting it! Yesterday's tender moment happened during sacrament meeting he excitedly pointed out the scripture Genesis 7:6 "Look mom! I'm 6 too!" The Scripture reads "And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water was upon the..." I love it! He is so sweet and good at reminding me about the important things in life.

I'm am lucky enough to be his primary teacher this year! I'm super excited. Noah answered the following questions yesterday in CTR 6 class:

His favorite scripture prophet is Noah (not the wicked King Noah)

His favorite color is Golden (??? lol)

His favorite food is Mac N Cheese

He has 7 people in his family (including Baby April and our dog Goofy)

Well, I mentioned that today was ALMOST the perfect Sunday. We switched to 1pm church. So far I'm not really a fan. I feel like I'm waiting all day for church and I get home and my Sunday is over, Plus Ron's meetings just go later because church is out later. But my only REAL complaint from yesterday is not being able to find Callie's church shoes (magically they appeared about an hour after church, funny how that happens). It was her first day of Sun Beams and she did great sandals and all!

Family Scripture Study

Last January I decided we needed to start reading the scriptures as a family more often. Ron and I discussed the best time of day to try and make it happen regularly. We thought adding it to bedtime routine would make it happen more regularly. I was a little skeptical. When I was young my family woke up early and all read the scriptures in the morning before starting our day. So naturally I thought this should work for my little family too. I was willing to give night time a shot. I was amazed at how easy it was to add it to the bedtime routine. It really didn't feel like an extra step. The kids obviously would have some more productive reading nights than others. But I could feel the spirit stronger in my home and I KNOW it was because we were studying the scriptures as a family. Towards the end of 2014 I noticed we were almost halfway through with the Book of Mormon. We talked about how cool that was (reading 332 pages together!) and we decided that deserved some kind of a reward. After many suggestions from going to Amazing Jakes, or taking a trip to Utah to see our cousins we compromised with an ice cream party at a store you get to pick the ice cream flavor and toppings. This motivated the kids and we read a little extra everyday to reach our goal. December 23rd we went out as a family and enjoyed our hard earned reward. What a great night! 

We haven't decided what our reward will be when we finish the whole Book of Mormon... I'm thinking a Disneyland trip or something is in order! I can't wait to see what 2015 will bring to the Huber household.