Happy Birthday Jake!! Jacob turned 5 today. He could not be happier. Birthdays just don't come fast enough at that age.

We kicked off the day by opening presents at 0630. I made his favorite, oatmeal, but he hardly ate of course, too many presents to play with. He had Kindergarten screening at 0900. He recieved the most praising from the screener on his skipping (which I didn't even know he could do). His large motor skills are WAY ahead of his fine motor skills. Holding a pencil and writing his name---not so much his thing, but he can ride Tinker and do flips on the trampoline all day long....

Walking, sitting, little barks, and starting to poop....

Well, the novelty hasn't worn off yet, we are all still having the time of our lives with the puppies. Adam and I celebrated our 13th anniversary this past weekend with a little getaway to Burlington, VT to run the Keybank Vermont City Marathon. It was a beautiful run, through Burlington and along Lake Champlain--misty rainy for most of the run--just enough to stay cool, and we got our fill of Ben and Jerry's. (although mine was melted by the time I worked up the appetite for it) I came in at 3:50, dropping 13 minutes off my PR, and not taking any pit stops, so I was happy. Adam finished in at 3:15, qualifying him for Boston this next April. No one could be happier for him than Emma---she tells EVERYONE we see. So nice to make your kids proud once in a while. Actually, we first thought he didn't qualify by 1 second, and her reaction was, "DAD, weren't you wearing a watch??" Guarantee she'll hear that one back one day....

Happy 1 week birthday to the puppies! The puppy in the middle made me laugh. That's the only time I've seen one lay on it's back to sleep.

The red pup is still huge, and the boys favorite.

Yes, only 4 pups in the picture. We lost another puppy, the little runt, on Saturday. The kids only counted 4 in the whelping box, and called for me. I found Duchess up on the bed w/the little runt. She was licking it, doing all she could to revive it. I picked him up, he was limp. He was still warm, it hadn't been long. I tried to revive him as well, but with no success. I had been worried about him all week, he was so small, and didn't seem to be getting as much milk as the others. He was nursing some though. Now I'm wishing I had supplemented with formula, but I really thought he was getting enough. The kids (and I) were all pretty sad about it. The pet cemetary in the backyard is getting a little too big.... Duch had a hard time with it, she wandered around a looking for it, and seemed a little lost for a while. We kept having to remind her she still had 4 other little babies to take care of. The other 4 all seem very hearty and are really good eaters.

Making use of the rock climbing gear we used on the roof......... A few weeks ago Adam mentioned making a zip line for the kids. I thought "ok, sounds fun" but didn't think anything would really come if it. Next thing I knew, he'd built this.......
BTW, he is upside down by choice.

Even Luke worked up enough courage to try it.....

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The cable is supposed to hold up to 840 lbs, so I thought, what the heck, I'll give it a try.....

It was the most fun I've had in a while!

Adam hasn't tried it in a harness yet, but likes to hold on and ride.....

So far, no injuries......knock on wood.

Why aren't puppies born during the day?? Last night was a very long night. Duchess' water broke (on the bottom bunk of course) about 830pm. She hadn't eaten much all day, so I thought we might be getting close, even though she isn't due till Wed. She's definitely not related to me--there was NOTHING I could ever do to induce my labor any earlier than my due date--other than pitocin. Anyway, at 9pm Adam and I hauled the whelping box we had made and Emma had so finely painted up two floors to the guest room. (Yes guests, now every time you stay at our house you can think about the guest room being used as a labor and delivery room). We started shredding paper quick and got finished just in time. Soon after she had a little back leg and tail hanging out---breech. So I tugged a little, massaged, told Adam to start looking for a sharp object to give an episiotomy with, and after a few long minutes of a stuck puppy, we got her through. She was much bigger than I'd imagined them coming out. Long story short, I spent the rest of the night midwifing. Finally got a little sleep from 5-7. Emma & Sarah spent most of the night awake assisting as well. After the breech, she could have done most of it on her own, but by #4 she did need some help. She'd labored on and off for over 3 hours trying to get him out. Then I got hungry and went downstairs for a quick snack--seriously 2 minutes--of course she gave birth while I was gone, chewed the cord, ate the placenta, etc. When I got back, I found that the puppy couldn't breath due to fluid, I had to hold him in my hands and swing him down a few times to get it out---I was thrilled it worked, it was our little red one, the biggest pup of all--he's huge, 1 lb 3 oz.

After that she had one more around 0430. I wasn't sure how many she had in there, but I thought maybe one more--I was beat though, so put Em in charge and got a couple of hours of sleep. When I woke up, it seemed like she was still trying to labor a little, but unsuccessfully, so I called the vet and made her a 1015 appt. No one went to school today, the girls went w /me to the vet--puppies and all! They did an x-ray and found one more was still in there, up higher in her ribs still. They gave her a shot of oxytocin, and sent us home w/ a syringe for later. An hour later she had puppy #6, a black female, but she was limp and not breathing when she came out. I did everything I could, but was unsuccessful. The kids were pretty upset about it, not matter how many times we told them that it's normal to have a still born. Pets are sure good for life lessons!! Adam came home for lunch and we have a little funeral in our backyard pet cemetary, and I tried to refocus the kids on the other five healthy little puppies. Duchess is doing great, she licks them to death, sometimes a little too much, but she's doing great. She has a big grin from ear to ear.

YMCA Triathalon...
Emma---running in sandals because they're quicker to put on after a swim. A few weeks ago the girls were in a triathalon at the Y. Adam and I were up on the the roof that day trying to finish up before a rain storm hit, so we didn't get to watch. Our friend Gigi took them though (and the boys too--it was so much help!!) and took lots of pics for us. Emma got 1st for the 11-12 yr. olds (boys too!) and Sarah 3rd for 9-10 yr olds.

The boys cheered hard with Gigi.
Sarah's bike...

Sarah's run...

Sarah's swim...

Emma's bike...

and Emma's swim...

After the event was over, Gigi took all 5 of my kids to lunch to a "real restaurant" . She is very brave. She claims they all did really well. Then brought they back to work/play at the barn for a little while--and then home. Upon coming in the house it was a little too obvious that we'd been up on the roof for 3 days straight and the girls had been in charge, and she decided to stay and clean the house, bath boys, and make dinner. Who has friends this nice?? Hello! Don't know how we lucked out, but I am EVER SO GRATEFUL!!! Thank you Gigi!!

BTW, I will post a pic of the new roof soon. I didn't take any "progress pics" of it along the way---it was so much work!!! I don't really want to remember it.... Adam is still getting the ridge vent on, we're waiting on the ridge shingles he ordered, then I will take a few pics and post. Our last few trips to HD have consisted of pricing out power washers and buying large quantities of white paint....the outside paint job is next....the fun never stops around here!

Our first 4-H horse show....
Emma and Sarah rode and showed Tinker at a 4-H horse show last Saturday. Tinker is a pony who lives at the barn behind our house. The girls help feed and care for him, and in return get to ride him. They ended up with a few ribbons and had a great day. Being new to the sport, I didn't realize that girls actually got thrown off their horses---and was a little bit freaked out about how relaxed and normal everyone seemed after a girl got thrown. Maybe I can come up w/some sort of saddle seat belt or something....

Emma & Tinker:

Sarah & Tinker: