Everyone was up early, excited for this new adventure. We are all trying to figure each other out...she's learning that we are her family and are not leaving and we're learning how to take care of her. The foster home told me that she may not eat for a few days because of stress and that was okay. Do you know how this dog will eat? Only out of the kids hands. They circled around her and took turns giving her food and that's how she ate. Give her a bowl and she won't touch it, but will gobble it up if they offer it to her.
Going into this, I was 100% aware that this was really my dog and I was taking responsibility for taking care of it. I was 99% wrong...so far. I have done pretty much nothing for this dog. Alison is the one who has gotten her to go outside and taken her potty. They boys have played with her and fed her and my only job has been getting the kids to leave her alone for a few minutes so she can take a nap!
She wants to be wherever the kids are. If they aren't around, she cries until they all come back. The foster mom had her on a nap schedule (crazy awesome, right?) and the only way I could get the kids to leave her alone long enough to sleep was to make them sit down and do school. The puppy slept at Alison's feet all morning and Alison was content to sit there and do whatever work I gave her as long as she could pet the dog with her feet.
When Ben got home, he decided he was going to take the dog with him to check the mail (it's a communal box down the street). Ha! It was so funny. The foster mom suggested we get a harness to leash train her...we just didn't expect the harness would be used to get her to GO and not get her to stay back.
They made it to the driveway and came back inside. Baby steps. I guess I'd rather have it that way then a crazy dog trying to run everywhere.
Then we gave her a bath...a much needed bath. Also funny. Labs are supposed to like water right? Yea, not so much this night. As soon as the water hit her, she bolted across the yard and we were all trying to catch her and I felt like we were in a movie. After two running escapades, I ended up holding her while Ben washed her and pretty much took a bath with her in our backyard. Oh the things we do.
Her name.
We tossed around many names: Butters, Nala, Morgan, Reese, Lily and Daisy were at the top of the list. We decided to give it 24 hours to get to know her before we picked a name and by yesterday afternoon, I texted Ben at work and said we needed a solid name fast because the kids were calling her a million different names. Poor confused doggy.
Why Maya?
I read it on a name website and instantly liked it and it was the first name we all really liked.
One of its meanings is "magic" and I feel like it was a little magical how she came to us.
She was rescued by Mexico and my first thought of Mexico is our honeymoon in the Riviera Maya and we visited the Mayan ruins.
The kids have been talking about getting a dog for a long time. Ben and I continued to tell them that we were open to getting the right pet, not just an animal for the sake of having an animal. Truthfully, it's been hard for me to get to the place where I'm okay with another pet because I will always feel guilty that we had to re-home our cats, even though it was the best for all of us and they are safe and happy with other families. For the last several months, even in the midst of moving, we've kept our eyes out for a dog. In the evenings, we'd look on craigslist or puppy websites to see what was out there and it was just something fun to take our minds off of packing/traveling/unpacking. As we looked, it was really eye opening. We wanted a puppy so that it was small enough that the boys wouldn't be scared of it and they could all grow up together. We were finding it near impossible; puppies from random people were either sketchy or scams or just a puppy mill and if it was legit, the puppies were snatched up immediately. Breeders were asking for more money than we'd ever pay for an animal and they also came with potential health problems because of the breeding. We went to the local animal shelter and the Petsmart adoption center, but they were full of scary Terriers and the kids did not like it one bit. After visiting the shelter, I felt like we were out of options...unless a miracle happened. A couple of hours later, Ben casually said he thought he found the perfect dog and showed me a picture from a website called Caring for Canines. We had been wanted a Golden Retriever and maybe a lab and this puppy was a wonderful mix of the 2. Her description said she is shy at first by a very sweet dog...perfect. The boys have been pretty afraid of any dog that comes close to them, so we had a good feeling that a shy dog is just what we needed.
We contacted the shelter and she told us the puppy and her sister were available, but requests for them were pouring in and they most likely would be adopted before the next weekend when Ben could come up with us (forgot to mention the puppies were in Phoenix). So, the kids and I jumped in the car and drove the 3 hours up to Phoenix to meet these pups and see if they were indeed a good fit for our family.
The long story of it is, we were supposed to go Monday; we drove 2 hours and got a text saying the foster mom couldn't make the appointment until later in the afternoon, but we had a dinner with Ben's new command that night and wouldn't make it back in time. So we turned around and went back home....4 hours in the car for nothing. We tried again Tuesday and made it all the way and actually got to meet the dogs! To our favor, the lady felt so bad about it that she didn't allow anyone else come to meet the dogs until we did. It was a bummer, but the kids really are champion travelers and we were fine.
Meeting the puppy:
I was bummed Ben couldn't come. There is something so magical about meeting puppies. I have a terrible memory, but I vividly remember my dad taking me and my sister to pick out our dog JJ. She brought the two puppies out and I instantly knew which one was ours...one was more golden and I could see more retriever in her and I fell in love with her ears. She put them down and the two rolled all over each other and I could see how affectionate she was and the kids instantly connected with them. This was the first time in our family history that there was no fear in meeting a dog. All 3 immediately were on the ground playing with them and had big smiles on their faces.
Alison wanted the puppy that was more white because she was more active, but I told her she was just going to have to trust my gut and we were going to get the golden one. The foster mom told me not to take that gut feeling lightly and she could see how good of a fit this dog was for our family. She commented how gentle our kids were with the dogs and oh, how I wish she could see how they usually are with animals (i.e. not even close to touching them).
I asked what her story was...she said that somehow these puppies and one other sister ended up at a shelter near Mexico. The shelter called them and said that they were overcrowded; they had 2 kennels and 10 dogs in each. They were going to put down 5 dogs in 2 days...if they wanted to save them, they had 2 days to go get them. This non-profit organization is run by a woman and her mom and they keep the dogs at her house and they made the long trip to rescue 5 dogs. They brought them home and got them "doctored" up and once they put them up online, they were quickly bombarded with inquiries from all over the country. The unique mix of these dogs (golden retriever and lab with a hint of American Shepherd) makes them...I don't know, really smart and beautiful and healthier. Somehow in all the slew of people contacting her, this lady felt that we were the ones who needed to come and I thought that was pretty cool.
I told her we would like to adopt the golden puppy (her name was Melody but they weren't calling her anything other than puppy) and a smile came on Alison's face that I have never ever seen and will never forget. Biggest smile ever. A magical smile.
Side note: another thing that sold me was they had all her shots taken care of, microchipped her, spayed her and crate and potty trained her in 10 days! And asked for a fraction of the price of everything else we saw! I was nervous about jumping into puppi-ness, but they made it super easy and even gave me a file of all the information I need. Sold.
We had a bed for her in the back of the car and the lady assured me that she would fall asleep in a few minutes and be just fine laying back there.
She was wrong. 10 minutes down the road, in the middle of Phoenix traffic, the puppy jumped over the seat, right into Colin's lap, which scared the snot out of him. Alison saved the day and comforted everyone in the car and the puppy spend the rest of the car ride at Alison's feet...and pretty much hasn't left her side since.
Ben was waiting for us when we got home and instantly agreed that we made a great decision in bringing her home.
She is still very shy and scared, but also very loving and sweet.
And this little girl hasn't stopped smiling since.
Here's a couple of videos of her adjusting to a new home:
It took the kids way longer to find baskets this year. I love how you can see Eli looking under the couch...I also love his low expectations for a basket (i.e. one that is small enough to fit under a couch).
Baskets this year no longer contained bubbles and chalk and instead, had waterbottles that also spray mist and a new t-shirt. They also got a Reeses egg, a Snickers egg and a Cadburry egg.
Colin also got goggles...I finally found some small enough for his noggin!
Eli got Dispicable Me 2
You may also be thinking, "Geez Jen. Didn't you notice how small Eli's pj's are?!"
Down side to the boys sharing a room and closet space=they are constantly putting on the eachothers clothes! Funny part is, they are perfectly happy in clothes that don't fit at all. Perhaps it just gives them another reason to get naked.
It took Alison the longest to find her basket. Ben hid it in the school room, which is currently the most unorganized room of the house. He finally went in there and played "hot and cold" with her.
Attempts to take a picture before church:
Such a bummer. Eli was actually the one who was smiling the best and somehow I missed every single shot.
After church, everyone went to the White's for lunch. Alison has clicked with the girls already and it's just a blessing to see her make friends so quickly.
(Aline looks way bigger than the other girls, but it's just how the swing is)
Maddie, Alison, Aline
The boys had fun too, especially because they allow nerf guns to be shot at this house and there were lots of other little boys to play with.
We were there most of the day and had our
own egg hunt when we got home. They had to find the eggs quick because
I put chocolate in them and they were melting fast.
Here's the egg hunt and a glimpse of our awesome backyard.
And my favorite picture of the day; the kids spraying eachother with their new waterbottles.
The church we've been attending has church in the evening, but we would consider it more a small group. They all meet (there's only about 40 people) at a home and sing a couple hymns, teach the kids a catachism question, then while the kids play, the adults learn a larger catachism question and then everyone eats a potluck dinner together. Ben and I were a little hesitant to commit to a full Sunday of activity, and while it makes for a long day (we even skip Sunday school), I immediately saw fruit from one Sunday evening. Alison and Colin sang with the group that evening! Our kids have never sung, which always baffles me...these are Ben Shear's offspring! But it was the sweetest sound I've ever heard. Alison even requested a hymn in front of the group. Eli may not have sung in the group, but the next morning, he was leading Colin in a pretend game of church. This is a sneak peak at our music room/library.
I found this lovely selfie on my phone...
One sad thing about Arizona is we can no longer get away with an antennae getting us a few good TV channels...everything is in Spanish!!! We tried Sling TV for a week, but found it didn't offer us anything more than Netflix does, so we are more old school right now than we ever have been.
Oh, hey look, we can actually eat dinner in the dining room now! This view is from the music room into the dining room, very similar to our old house.
Everyone watching the KU game on Ben's computer
The boys got bunkbeds!
Eli helped Ben put them together and I'm pretty sure it made his life.
The lighting in the room is terrible, so I couldn't get a good shot...
They were SOOOO happy. They've been dreaming about this day since we told them we were moving and it took us awhile to find what we wanted, but I think it was worth the wait.
Pros of bunkbeds:
They actually have been sleeping longer!
Gives them more room in their shared bedroom.
They use it to pretend it's their pirate ship.
Cons:
Reading in bed with Eli is no longer possible.
If Eli gets up in the middle of the night, I have no way of tossing him back in bed. He had a bad dream one night and the only way I got him back up to bed was by bribing him with M&M's.
We finally had Ben's birthday dessert!
Strawberry rhubarb crisp...it was super delicious!
Eating dessert on the patio and playing in the backyard until the sprinklers come on has become a nightly thing. I find it really odd that Arizona has turned us into dessert people and by the way, we are the rare people that go outside. We think it's awesome and have been outside as much as possible, but people here think it's already too hot and stay inside.
Ben started work this week (which has gone really well) and I'm trying to figure out this whole "run with all my kiddos in tow" thing. We've joined the Y, but the childwatch for Alison and Eli doesn't open until 5pm. I would love to get to the place where all the kids ride bikes with me, but right now, the boys are slow as molasses. This week, I tried Alison on her bike and the boys in the bike trailer turned into a stroller.
Pre attempt of a run
Eli insisted on going as Darth Vador.
So, we haven't used the trailer as a stroller in years and I'm sure these boys are over the weight limit, but I wanted to give it a try. Almost 1/2 mile down the road, the front wheel broke and we had to walk back home. I have a couple more ideas up my sleeve, but mostly they begin with Eli learning how to ride his bike at a normal speed.
I took the boys to get haircuts. We just went to Walmart, but I think they did a great job for only $10. They were not excited about getting it done,
but afterwards they felt like a million bucks. Okay, Colin felt better after a bath. He despised the spiky hair the stylist gave him and whimpered until I washed it out. I think he would have liked it if Eli's hair had spikes too.
I will affectionately call this move "The great purge". We got rid of half our garage worth of stuff before we moved and another truck load of stuff after our move. As we opened boxes here, if there was anything that we thought "Why did we move this?" or "Where am I going to put this??", then it immediately went to our donations pile. I called a local charity group this week and they brought a moving truck and picked up all our stuff...sadly I called them too early and already have another load of stuff. But there isn't a box in our possession and we have a handful of rubbermaids for storage for things like Christmas decorations, keepsakes or hunting gear. Anyway, the very last box that was opened this week was my old baby china (p.s. I found the gravy boat we've been living without for Thanksgiving for the last several years!). Alison helped me unpack it and then got all fancied up and set up a tea party. The boys were in the middle of a pretend boy game that involved them just in underwear, but when they saw the party, they asked if they could attend. Alison told them they had to go get dressed up to attend, but somehow they sweet talked their way in without clothes on.
Fresh squeezed lemonade and granola bars were on the menu and they all had a blast. The tea set is now stored where we can use it often and perhaps we can train these boys to get dressed properly for the next party.
We went to our first homeschool group meeting. They meet at a park, right up the street from our house and the age groups take turns learning a sport. Right now they're learning tennis. While Alison was in lessons, the boys played at the park with new friends.
Arizona fact: if there is shade, find it and stay in it. If there's not shade, make some!
We really enjoyed the group and I think we will make going part of our routine. The coaches were legit and really great with the kids. And considering the fact that Eli didn't even know what tennis was, I think it may be important for him to go just to be exposed to different sports and different teachers he has to obey talk to.
Another Arizona fact I've learned: always, always, always have water with you. Every single mom I've met has giant water bottles for all of her kids with her all.the.time. There are water stations everywhere and if you go to buy water, you can't just buy a little bottle, you have to buy a gallon. BUT don't drink the tap water!
Another fact: don't leave anything in your car that you don't want to be part of your car. Keeping our cars clean has become essential. When we first pulled into Arizona, we had been driving across the country and eating in the car and living in the car, but even after everything was cleared out, I had missed something chocolate...I couldn't even tell you what it was now, but it equaled an afternoon spent scrubbing chocolate out of the van. We've also started covering things with towels in the car so they don't burn us when we get in, especially Colin's seat. AND it's only March!
2 weeks down and I'm just starting to feel settled. I still have a page long list of things I need to get/do, but I've accepted that life as a mom always entails a long list and we will continue to work hard and start school on Monday!
Some friends from our new church invited us over for a St. Patrick's day party. They played some themed games, had green food and went swimming. The water was pretty cold, but that didn't stop them. Notice the other mom in jeans and a sweater? That's what people here wear when it's in the 70's...I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and was HOT.
That evening, we went to Gateway Park, off the Colorado River.
Ben ran a local 5K race, while the kids and I played at the park. This is what a small town race looks like:
The race started about 10 minutes late (most things here are super casual), so Alison took that time to coach Ben on the race.
She lives through him...if he wins, she wins.
It wasn't hard to pick Ben out of the crowd, because there wasn't a crowd! He was so far ahead of everyone that he was running all by himself!
You can see Colin's head at the bottom of the picture...I had to hold him back from jumping onto the sidewalk. First he wanted a high-five and then he wanted to run with Ben and then we started shouting, "I'm going to get you!".
Ben became a local hero that night. He finished first in 19 minutes and the director, in awe, said, "We don't see people run like that here."
Getting his 1st place prize, a t-shirt
The race may have been low key, but they did get family friendly right. They handed out hats to all the kids and invited us to stay for dinner.
We have learned that in the desert, pretty much everything happens in the evening. We are trying to adjust to staying up later and Colin has been taking naps again. This night was a great example. After the race, they had music playing and people eating and playing in the sand and some even swimming in the river.
We drove across that bridge afterwards, just to say that we've been to California and then drove through downtown. It was a fun day and nice to get out of the house and not look at projects that need to get done for awhile.
We went to the only Presbyterian church on Sunday, hopeful that it will work for us. Alison asked if we were finally going to a "real" church and not one in a Y gym...no cigar for her, this church is also a plant that is meeting at the local food bank. But, we walked into this small church and were immediately warmly greeted and Alison was introduced to 3 other little girls her age. They have family worship all the time (all the kids stay in service) and I was thankful we had already been working on the kids sitting with us! After church, Alison was gone playing with the other kids and Ben and I talked with the adults, finding that most families are also military, homeschool families. They were so welcoming that several women took my number and have already invited us over this week.
Sunday dessert on the patio=freshly picked oranges
The bad:
Monday morning, BEN'S BIRTHDAY, shortly after our breakfast together, Colin got sick.
The good of this is, he waited until we were here and had found a few towels. The bad is we couldn't do our original birthday celebration plan. Poor Ben. First we're moving on his birthday and then he's helping clean up vomit. Getting old stinks.
Alison made Ben fresh orange juice for his birthday:
Ben bought himself a new grill (yes, I ruined our old one while he was deployed...oops) and grilled burgers for dinner. I bought ice cream cones for dessert which we have eaten the last several nights on the patio.
The ugly:
The moving company is coming today to pick up all our boxes...but that meant we had to have all of them empty and broken down. We made the fatal mistake of just throwing the empty ones in the garage. Note to self: break down boxes as you unpack! Ben and I were outside for a couple of hours breaking down these boxes and it was HOT! So glad we moved in March and not July, but we will need to be investing in sunscreen ASAP. The kids played in the backyard, in the shade (which makes a huge difference in temperature) while we worked.
Alison: "Look! I found a secret hideout!"
We finally made it out for Ben's birthday dinner last night. We drove to the Foothills to a taco truck. It was so fun and the food was SO good.
The only had rice water or soda to drink, so Alison tried manzana (apple) pop.
Ben requested strawberry rhubarb crisp for his birthday dinner, but after 4 grocery stores, I learned that you have to special order rhubarb here...so I did and it will be here on Monday.
Alison asked last night if we can have dessert on the patio every night. We're don't normally have dessert, but we are all enjoying this little routine we've started.
One week down in our new home. Every day feels like there's a million things to get done on top of taking care of our kids. It can be overwhelming, but guess what? I get Ben home with me for another week!!! I'm pretty positive I would be dead if he had to report right away.
