Home Alone

...But it doesn't really FEEL "alone" when you have three kids and a puppy. Either way, James left at about 8:00 this morning for Alabama. He'll be gone for three weeks and will be able to visit 8 different churches down there. That's the plan anyway. I'm so excited!!!! I've been riddled with guilt over the fact that James is the overseer of Alabama, but we're not there yet. It's been such a difficult situation, the whole way around. Even though this is just a trip to Alabama instead of something more permanent, at least he'll BE THERE for a little while! I know we'll miss him, especially toward the end, but I'm so excited that he's actually going to be where he's supposed to be and he'll be able to do what he's supposed to be doing. It makes me soooooo happy.

So the kids and I need to go do some shopping. Right now we've only got six Totino's in the freezer (enough for two pizza parties) and that will just never do. ;-) I want to go pick up some junk that we don't usually have around (like those fantastical Pillsbury cinnamon rolls with icing--yum!) so we can party for three weeks straight. We'll watch some kid movies (after Thanksgiving we'll dive into the Christmas shows) and play lots and lots of games. We've got plenty of firewood and hot chocolate, so we're well equipped to have a great time. Or we will be once we stock up on pizzas and other junk. ;-)

I'm just realizing I haven't written anything since Sunday. It's been a pretty good week around here, usually directly related on how much sleep I got each night. Ha! Charlie is sleeping better at night (most of the time) and doing really well with the house training thing for such a young little guy. It's easy to see that he is very smart and catches on to things easily... but I'm also seeing that he definitely has a mind of his own! We've all agreed that he has pretty much doubled in size since we first got him, as well as learned to romp and play and bark. He's sooooo much fun! He likes to "stalk" your hand, then hop and bark and pounce on it. He also loves to bite the heads off of dead dandelions, then sneeze out all of the white fluffies. Charlie seems to like all three kids for different reasons. He likes to cuddle with Katie and follows her around frequently. He likes to play with Joe and barks at him lot. And he likes to chase Sam (when Sam's on his hands and knees) and chew on him. :-) Here's a video from a few days ago. It was the first day we started teaching him to sit, the second session. He's doing great for a little guy--and much better now than when we filmed him.



And a clip of him playing with Joe. :-)



In other Charlie news (I feel like such a nerd--all I have to write about anymore is this dog!!!), we took him to town for his 8 week shot on Wednesday. I made James take him into the clinic to do the dirty work. Afterwards we had to go into Hobby Lobby, then a restaurant. I put his box (crate) and bed and a training pad in the back of the van. I was SURE the stow-and-go hole back there was deep enough he couldn't get out. When we came out of Hobby Lobby I fully expected him to be screaming and crying from the back of the van, but as we neared the vehicle we heard nothing. The kids opened the side door and there he was, sitting on the back seat! I was amazed that he made it out of the "hole" in the back, but it totally blew me away that he made it up onto the seat! Then when we came out of the restaurant he was sitting in the middle seat--the one with Sam's booster seat in it! How in the world??? His little legs are only 3" long! I'm thinking we should have named him Houdini. Although he's proving to be an adept escape artist, the good news is that he was a good boy in the van, did nothing bad, tore nothing up, and was HAPPY and not crying when we returned. He wasn't crying when we came home from church last night either. We had left some talk radio on for him so he wouldn't feel so alone and scared. I don't know if that's what helped or not, but I'm sooooo glad he wasn't crying. We NEED for him to learn to be content when left alone!

There. My puppy news of the week. :-) The kids are doing great and still loving having the pup around. Everybody is doing good in school right now. Sam just finished up the second Hooked on Phonics series. That's all we have. We got both sets for $5 at a yard sale a few years ago. The other kids never really used them, but they've been perfect for Sam. He has to work so much harder at reading, but he's doing great. I'm very proud of him. :-) Katie and Joe are both loving their computer school, but they seem to get finished way too quickly! I need to come up with some extra work for them. ;-)

I started his post this morning and have sort of added to it throughout the day. I helped the kids make some turkeys out of paper plates this afternoon. Actually, the paint is still drying so we'll have to actually put them together tomorrow. A great deal of the afternoon was spent in pursuit of Mrs. Cottontail. That's what the kids have named the rabbit that lives under James' office. She is the biggest, fattest rabbit--and Joe is determined to "hunt" her. He comes up with a new weapon just about every day, usually made out of sticks and rubber bands. And he always carries a bag with him in hopes of "bagging a rabbit." Ha! Today they set up Cottontail Headquarters out back, complete with maps of where in the yard they have searched for the poor bunny. I think I heard something about a path of celery leading to the back door, too.

Tonight we had our first pizza party. :-) We just finished watching Meet the Robinsons. It's one we picked up at the library the other day--it's a fun one. Now I'm going to sign off and play games with the kids for a while before devotion time. Day 1 without James: happy and successful. Let's hope the next 20 go as well. :-)

Before I go, however, here are two more pictures of Charlie. Just because I can't help myself. :-) Here he is sleeping with his duck in his box...



And in his favorite place: my lap. Coincidentally, it's my favorite place for him to be, too. ;-)