Puppy Love

We have some neighbor friends who own and breed their Sheltie.  They recently had a litter of five pups, and once my kids heard about the puppies, they had a new favorite way to pass the summer days!  They have all been spending hours petting and playing with the puppies, but Lauren has been especially enamored with them.  She has her own names for all five of them, and she has her favorites. 

Of course the girls have been begging us to buy one of the puppies, but I didn't even blink when I told them NO, over and over and over!  Lauren said to the owner, "If only you could lower the price (from $500) to $11.25"--which is of course how much spending money Lauren has to her name.  Thankfully my wise neighbor answered her, "Even if I did, you know the answer would still be no."

The puppies are old enough to be sold now, so we knew that it was possible that we wouldn't see them any more after our family reunion in Idaho last week.  (Driving home from the reunion on Saturday, Olivia was very grouchy about going home to our house.  She wanted to stay and play!  But once we pulled into our driveway, after dark that night, she perked right up with this idea that she shared: "Let's go see the puppies!")
Sunday at church, we learned that one of the puppies had indeed found a new home.  Even though Lauren should have been prepared for that news, she was shocked and devastated.  It was her favorite one. 

That afternoon, Emily, Lauren and Hannah went to visit the four puppies.  When they came back home, I was really surprised to see Lauren walk in the door first.  She is usually the last to leave those puppies!  I asked her what was up, and she said, "Well, I really like it when the puppies fall asleep in my lap and I can hold them and pet them, but today they were too hyper, and they wouldn't go to sleep."  I explained to her that that's what happens.  As puppies get older, they sleep less, and play (and chew) more.  Her shoulders sagged as she sighed and said, "I guess it's ok if they sell the puppies now."

Lesson learned.  Now we all agree that having neighbors who will have puppies for us to play with once a year is much more fun than owning our own dog.

But, to compensate, I did let the girls get some fish.  Lauren bought a fish bowl at a yard sale, and a dark blue angel fish at the pet store.  She named her fish Jimmer, and I'm trying to get used to hearing her say things such as "Today Jimmer bit my finger" or "Did you know that Jimmer doesn't sleep at night?"  Also startling is when Hannah talks about her fish, "Darla."

Emily also owns a couple of fish, but they certainly don't thrill her like horses do.  Emily still draws horses, reads about horses, and dreams about horses.  She also volunteers at a nearby therapeutic riding stable.  Yesterday I went to pick her up and got to watch the end of a lesson she was helping with.  I was so proud to see my girl walking in the arena with two disabled riders on horses, helping with their therapy.  It was a very tender scene.  She has decided to quit soccer, which we were hesitant to allow her to do, but I'm over my disappointment about dropping soccer because of all the good things Emily is doing.  At the stables, she is learning to work hard (she has to get all her work at home done before she can go to the stables, and she does that quickly and independently), to shoulder responsibility, and to work with other people and be more confident in her associations with all sorts of people of all ages and abilities.   What a girl!

Can't forget to give a shout out to Katelyn.  She hasn't spent much time with the animal kingdom this summer, but she has been working like an animal at Color Guard practices, and earning money to help pay her Color Guard fees.   So glad she's my oldest girl!