Millie Clementine!

This fall, we welcomed a new addition!  Millie Clementine Winterhoff joined our family in mid-September, and we are now again a Party of Five.  Millie is an Australian Labradoodle, and we knew her as Miss Orange for the first 8 weeks of her life (she wore an orange collar).  We watched her from the day she was born, thanks to a webcam set up in the nursery at her breeder's home.  We received weekly updates and pictures, and couldn't tear ourselves away from the live stream video of Millie's litter:

Millie's litter on Day 2 of their lives

Puppy Pile.

We watched the puppies scoot, get up on wobbly legs, and learn to walk/run.

Mama took such good care of her babies, nursing and grooming them.

We loved watching them play and then crash, often holding each other as they slept.
P.S. This slide was a riot: they'd actually climb up and slide down!

Getting bigger!

All seven puppies sitting in a row.  Almost time to meet their new families!

We wanted to give our puppy a name that was significant to our life here and chose Millie, as the Old Mill in our town is our favorite Oak Ridge landmark.  Clementine seemed like the perfect middle name for our orange bow-clad, Southern girl!  

One week old!

Week 2 photo.

Week 3: eyes open!

Week 4

Week 5-6: My favorite pic!

Week 7

Preparing for this puppy was so different for Mark and me vs. 15 years ago when we brought Winnie home.  Last time around, we didn't have a single dog supply and knew nothing about raising a puppy.  This time, we read stacks of recommended books on dog training, had dozens of Amazon deliveries (toys, crate, bowls, etc.), interviewed breeders and vets, and researched food/nutrition.  We deliberated the perfect timing for this dog to join our family, and were as prepared as anyone who has ever had a puppy.  

Millie's car ride home.

I love how tiny she looks in this picture!

First walk at home.

First nap.   Meeting your new family is exhausting!

Then the universe laughed at our planning.  This tiny little nugget showed us who was boss as soon as we brought her home.  She scampered from room to room, hiding under chairs and beds.  She chewed blankets and shoes, grabbed the toilet paper from the roll and dragged it throughout the house, and was ALL things puppy.  We took her out to go potty as frequently as every 15-20 minutes, and somehow we still couldn't master house training.  She whimpered in her crate at night and Mark and I took turns sleeping on the floor beside her, our not-so-young joints protesting.  I'm delayed in writing this post (it's December and I'm backdating this entry to September) as it took us several months to find our new routine.  Things are easier now for many reasons, and Millie really is precious and sweet.   The kids were absolutely smitten with Millie from Day One and loved this fluffy ball of energy.  Despite the nipping, slipper-stealing, and rotten puppy antics, Millie makes us laugh every day, and she adds so much to our family.  

Hiding under her favorite chair.  

Belly rubs!

These two girls are so sweet together.

Caught in the act of being mischievous:

Chewing on Mommy's slipper.

Dragging a blanket around.

Millie loves her yard:

Just like her big sister, Winnie, no stick is too big!  

She's such a silly puppy!

Millie is very good with the kids.  She lets them carry her around, and they even take her for scooter rides:

She's a great homework helper, too!

Millie comes in the car every afternoon with Leah and me to pick up Luke at his bus stop.  So far, she likes these trips and is a lively addition to our car rides:

The best part of the afternoon: Reunited again!

Here are some more adorable photos of Millie's first few weeks at home.  She's growing quickly, and was 6 pounds when she joined our family (and was almost 20 pounds at her last vet appointment!), so we are taking tons of pictures to capture her tiny puppy days:

Meeting "Max", our neighbor's Great Dane.  This size difference is comical!

Tug of War.

The girls catching up on some reading.

This is supposed to be her toy basket, but she likes to empty it out and sit in it!

Under the bed.  We look ridiculous trying to crawl under to reach her!  

Relaxing under a chair on the porch.

Precious puppy paws.

She loves her toys.

We love you, Millie.  Thank you for bringing joie de vivre that dogs add to our life.  You remind us so much of Winnie when she was a puppy, with your "frappy" moments (frantic, random, activity periods) and your sweet kisses.  You're the fluffiest bundle of energy and love, and we can't wait to watch you grow and create years of precious doggie memories with our family!

Back to School!

Monday was the first day of 3rd and 6th grades for these awesome kiddos!  Usually by the end of August, I'm ready for everyone to head back to school and structured routines.  However, this year, I could have easily enjoyed another month at home with the kids.  We had the BEST summer together!  The kids are easy at the pool, are great travel companions, and still enjoy the simple pleasures of summer: water balloons, sprinklers, and bike rides.

Beanie came to visit us the week before school started, and we took her miniature golfing and to the pool.  She and the kids also prepared a special anniversary dinner to celebrate 16 years of marriage for Mark & me on August 23:

Sweet 16!

This picture completely captures life right now.  We raced home from attending/volunteering at Open House at school (Mark is still in his work clothes and I am rocking my Oak Ridge PTO shirt), and the kids handed us wine and a homemade sign 😂:

The weekend before school started also included a baseball game with our dear friends.  Our Life Group bid adieu to summer with a great evening at the ballpark.  We pray that these special children have a wonderful start to their school year and we had a Back to School Blessing at church on Sunday for the kiddos in our congregation:

How deeply we love these precious gifts from God!

Starting this year, L&L will not be at the same school again until Luke's senior year of high school (when Leah is a freshman), and this has been a hard back-to-school realization for me.  No longer are they both safely ensconced in our sweet Oak Ridge Elementary School bubble, hopping on the bus together and having the same daily schedule.  Now that Luke is a middle schooler, he begins one hour later in the morning and gets home almost two hours later than he did last year.  This means two sets of wake up times and morning routines for our family, and we are all learning this new schedule together.  There have also been several snafus in our school district's transportation (due to a shortage of bus drivers and a bridge under construction) which meant lots of kinks the first week of school for people.  Luckily, we were mostly unscathed and have come up with a system that seems to work for our family re: getting to/from school.  

We were absolutely delighted when we found out the week before school started that Leah has the same 3rd grade teacher that Luke had.  We LOVE Mrs. Price, and this is the first time that my kids have had the same teacher.  I couldn't be happier for this Peanut, who has her best friend in her class for the third year in a row.  Everything about Leah starting 3rd grade is comfortable and familiar, and it's just easy peasy and happy:

Mom Confession:  I have been dreading the transition to middle school.  There are four elementary schools that feed into our middle school, and all of the 6th graders are in independent mobile units for their core classes (I had to tell Luke to stop calling it a "trailer park").  Due to the challenges associated with navigating that maze, the school's large size, and the fact that we visited all 7 of Luke's teachers, I found Open House last week completely overwhelming and chaotic.  I was a ball of anxiety on Luke's first day of school, and felt like it was the first day of kindergarten again, sending my baby into the great unknown.  Thankfully, this boy thrives in new environments, and has his best friend and several other Oak Ridge buddies in his homeroom and many classes.  He has absolutely loved everything about middle school so far, and is playing the tuba in the band, which thrills him, because "it's the biggest and loudest instrument, Mommy".    

I'm starting to volunteer at the middle school next week, and I know that soon enough, it will have a wonderful place in my heart, too.  I have reminded myself to keep looking forward, and that each season is just as much of a blessing as those past.  In many ways, the ride keeps getting sweeter and sweeter, and there is so much joy in watching him become a young adult... So I'm learning to embrace this change, and am beyond grateful that he's happy and safe.

We're blessed to have kids who LOVE learning, are excited about school starting, and are filled with joy and positivity about the year ahead:

We survived the early wake-ups of the first week of school and celebrated the end of the first week with a local weekend adventure.  We drove to Pilot Mountain for a morning hike and the kids climbed on EVERY rock surface they could find:

They kept asking me to take their picture.  Apparently, all we need is a climbing wall or mountain to have the most enthusiastic subjects for our photos:

It was a gorgeous place, and a great finale to the first week of school.  Best wishes to L&L for a fabulous year ahead!