Shelby Pants

Amy and her pal Shelby Pants.

I have no idea why Amy called the dog Shelby Pants one day not long after we got her, but it stuck. Amy seemingly just added a random word to Shelby's name, and we call her that pretty much every day. How funny is that? Tod will ask Reed "Did you walk the Pants?" (walking the dog after we get home from school each day is one of his chores now). Sounds so silly. Reed will say "I'm going to talk the Pants!" It makes me chuckle.

Amy is still hurting over not having Bobby in the family any more. She mentions him at least once a week, sometimes more. She's got a picture of him as the screen saver on her iPod Touch. In my head, I know we made the right decision for our family, but that doesn't make it any easier to know she's hurting over missing him. I sincerely hope he's in a good, happy home, and that time will make his absence easier for Amy.

Shelby has turned into a pretty good solo pet. Without another dog to fight with, she's pretty calm. It still seems she may never graduate from having to be in a crate when we're gone, but who knows. Maybe she'll grow up one day and stop chewing things up.

So it begins

Last week the school sent home a flyer telling us about parent information night for middle school.

MIDDLE SCHOOL!

Now that we're into 2014, it's starting to hit me that we're close to the end of Reed's elementary school time. Since that flyer came home, we've also gotten an invite for Reed to come learn about the options for the music program - band, strings, chorus - they have to make choices! This is a whole new world. I can't wait to see the choices Reed makes for himself.

Good cooks in the kitchen

A few weeks ago, Reed found the recipe in the newspaper's "Mini Page" section and thought it sounded good. Since lemon cake is one of my favorites, they decided they'd make me one for my birthday.

A couple of trips to the grocery store later, they were hard at work. Both kids helped out and the result was delicious.

What I learned as they worked in the kitchen, though, was that Amy in particular actually has been paying attention during the time she's cooked with me. She had lots of tips on the "right" way (*cough* *cough* the way that I do things) to do particular tasks, like how I raise the beaters up out of the batter and let them spin a bit to clean them off. I have to admit that a lot of times when the kids want to help in the kitchen, it's a special occasion and I am not always as patient as I should be. It is true that having the kids involved usually means things take a little longer and some things might not get done in exactly the way I'd like. But I have to do a better job of remembering the value in their participation, no matter how late I might be in preparing for company. They're both learning life skills by helping with food preparation, and it is a privilege to have them helping me.

Plus, when they get a bit older, I hope they'll be making meals and treats for me, without any help at all – how great will that be!