Those Moments

We often take our cameras to the kids' games or school events but miss the moments that will matter when they are adults. Nonni was reading the kids a book the other night and I actually caught in on camera.



I know that this a picture that they'll look at fondly in their adulthood!

My Birthday

I generally enjoy birthdays but I have to admit I was not all that jazzed about this one. It might be that I now have to pluck out the gray hairs, the ** pounds are harder to lose or that I am just tired.

When I got home from work last night (my birthday eve), Jeff and the kids presented me with this card.

Age has never been a huge issue for me but seeing "35" in print made me shudder. Then I opened it to see all of the wonderful plans that my family had for me.

If you can read it, it talks about 35 things that they are going to do for me today. Many of them are my favorites. The best one might be "Flush the Toilet" - that is not always an easy one around our house. :)

So in the tradition of my friend Glen Barney who sends out a yearly birthday email, I celebrate this great day with gladness!

My father-in-law has a tradition of telling us how grateful he is for us on our birthdays and why he is thankful that we are born. So in that spirit I voice my thanks to all of you. I am grateful for my wonderful husband that works hard and makes it his mission to show how much he loves me daily. I have a great job and work with people that I enjoy. I am blessed with an amazing extended family, including parents that live close and are so much fun to be around. I was awakened by five wonderful smiling faces (the fifth was Duke) that love me! I vow this year to enjoy more of life and to focus more on the smiling and less on the tantrums.

I hope that I will see more of you in my 36th year! Some days it seems that we might just be getting things in order! I love you all!

Saturday Night with Branden and Bonzo

My sister and her husband went out of town so Branden and Bonzo stayed at our house.





Bonzo is their 6-month-old Puggle. Duke had fun but we were reminded how blessed we were to receive Duke after his puppy years had passed.

The kids had a great time with Branden. They built a mini golf course in a shoe box for my sister's birthday.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Baseball is not my favorite sport. I spent most of my childhood playing soccer so it is a little slow for me. When this season started, Jared was practicing for his play and at the end of his basketball season. To be honest, I was ready for something to go!

This is Jared's fourth year playing. The past few years have been a bit like watching paint dry while trying to chase the three other kids around. Something changed this year. Jared is so much fun to watch - making diving catches and getting hits during most of his at bats. He is not used to failing so when he does strike out, he takes it really hard.

It looks like baseball is here to stay.

Our 20-Pound Cat

Jeff and I got Gehrig a month after we were married. Because we adopted him around Halloween, I had wanted to call him Pumpkin. That didn't fly with Jeff. I then came up with the name Gehrig, after Jeff's favorite baseball player. I got wife points for that one.

90% of people who meet Gehrig say, "That is a big cat!" He has been on diet food his entire life and it just doesn't seem to help.

Duke definitely acknowledges that Gehrig is in charge. He won't even look the cat in the eye. (BTW - this picture was staged. They don't ever sit next to each other.)

With the addition of the 4 kids and the dog, Gehrig spends most of his days looking annoyed.

Lucas's Spring Tea

Our little Lucas is by far the most mild-mannered of our
children. (Claire often beats up on him.) This was his first year in preschool and at first he was very shy. Thankfully we carpool with his friend Annie, and having her in class has helped a lot.

At the end of the year his school has a Spring Tea in each of the classrooms where the children make the goodies, placemats and have songs that they sing for the parents. He sang his little heart out until he was accidentally hit in the face by the boy next to him during "I'm a Little Tea Pot" - it can be a violent song!

He has grown up so much this year. On occasion he actually even stands up to his little sister!

The Best Sunday Ever!

Every once awhile a day comes along and I think that I am actually going to still be sane by the time the kids leave for college. Sundays aren't always easy because the kids tend to be extra difficult at church, especially if Jeff is out of town. It is especially great to have them act out when 200 of our closest friends are watching.

This Sunday was amazing. We had the drink bins out from Duke's birthday party. The kids decided to fill them up with water and play in the backyard together. It almost seemed like they might actually enjoy each other's company! Jared said, "This is the best Sunday ever!" Who knew that water and bins could be so great.

It lasted for one blissful hour and they ended up their usual sassy selves!

The Dog Party

A dog party! A big dog party! Big dogs, little dogs, red dogs, blue dogs, yellow dogs, green dogs, black dogs, and white dogs are all at a dog party! What a dog party! (In case you don't have children or haven't read this book it is Go, Dog. Go!)

When I was a child, we had a dog named BooBoo. He died when I was five years old but I have many memories. One of my favorites is the day we threw him a dog party. We made party hats and invited all of his dog friends. I mentioned it to my mom the other day and she was shocked when I named all of the dogs in attendance.

Duke's birthday is April 30th and I brought up the idea of having a dog party to the kids. Of course, it was endorsed immediately. Any reason to have a party with cupcakes is always a hit.

This past Saturday we had Duke's party at the dog park. All of his friends were invited - and when I say friends, he actually has had playdates with each of them.

(Left to Right) Dakota, Sunny, Bonzo, Bella, Cash and Duke (the birthday dog!)

It wouldn't be an Anderson party without special treats. The Duke cupcakes were for the humans. The dogs had a special dog snack.

The party hats were made for each of the dogs by the kids.

Duke was so exhausted on the way home he was sleeping on the armrest. Fun was had by all!

See below for how Duke came to live with us. I promise to have more pictures of the kids in the future. I am catching up a bit since I plan to scrapbook this on blurb.

How Duke Came to Our Home

Let me start by saying, I LOVE dogs. Jeff and I both grew up having dogs but because we started having kids before we owned a home, we were forced to be satisfied with our 20-pound orange tabby cat. We had planned on getting a dog when Lucas was out of diapers but once Claire came along, I was sure that a puppy was not in our near future.

So now we have a 3-year-old yellow lab named Duke and here is how he came to be part of our family...

A friend at my work lives near Sacramento and breeds dogs. She was in our office in October and we were talking about dogs. She told me that one of her labs might be getting returned. I didn't hear from her for a month and then I got this email:

We got that dog returned to us yesterday. He is a wonderful guy - named Duke. I don't know if you are interested, but here is what I know.

He was born April 30, 2005. He's about 100 lbs, but we think he needs to lose 15. He is definitely a big guy. The family he's been with has four children so he's been around tiny children since puppyhood. He doesn't bark; he's a lover and quite calm. He gets along great with other dogs and cats.

She went on to tell us about his epilepsy which had been under control with medication. She also indicated that she would like to keep him but that they already had 4 dogs which was the limit for their county.

When I told Jeff about the dog in October, he was not interested. He had always wanted a puppy and remembered the bond that was created with his own dog growing up. The day I got this email from my friend, Jeff happened to be in a video shoot all day so I wasn't able to talk to him. Meanwhile, I talked to everyone in my family to try to get them to take this dog. I had a lab/rottweiler mix growing up and had always wanted a lab. He seemed like the perfect fit since with four kids I didn't think I could handle a puppy. So at the end of the day I told her that we couldn't take Duke and to give him to the other family that was interested in him. Meanwhile, Jeff read the email above and fell in love with him (and realized he should have listened to his wife as usual). Since we had said no, my friend had begun talking to the other family that was interested in him. So here was Jeff's email back to them begging for them to reconsider.

This is Carli's husband Jeff. I can understand your husband's position here; I know you're in a tough spot and while I don't intend to make it worse, I do want to tell you how excited we would be to have Duke join our family. That is, if his name doesn't change - Carli tells me you don't care for it much. ;)

To be honest, last month when Carli initially approached me with the idea, I wasn't enthusiastic. When I was a teenager, we got my family's dog - a 120-pound Akita - as a puppy, and I've always thought that when Carli and I got a dog for our family that we would go the same route. That's why Carli told you no yesterday without even checking with me.

However, she did forward me your email describing Duke, and I was surprised at my reaction. All of the sudden I felt like we should say yes, that he should be our dog. Unfortunately, yesterday was a crazy day for me and I didn't get a chance to talk to Carli until I got home from work at 8:00 p.m., at which point she had already talked to you.

Just know that if you and your husband decide that our home is the best place for him, we'll be absolutely thrilled. Carli tells me that you generally require prospective owners to have someone home during the day with the dog - particularly in this case because of his condition - and that will definitely be the case with us. We all love dogs in our house - especially big ones. :) I know this sounds cliche, but as a dog person you know it's true - Duke would instantly become a part of our family. We're at peace with whatever you decide but I did want to let you know how I'm feeling. Thanks for your consideration.

After getting that email, she told us that he was ours. Jeff went to get him the next day. The kids didn't even know we were getting him until he walked in the door.

He is the greatest! We love him and he is the perfect addition to our home! His pedigree is better documented than my own with great lines (dad Orvis and mom Rachel).

I think he is happy in our home too!

This is a picture of Duke with the kids the night we got him!

Jared as Jafar in "Aladdin"

Before we had children I asked Jeff to promise to tell me if our kids weren't cute. I knew it would be hard to be objective about their talents. He assures me (with no bias of his own whatsoever) that it isn't just my motherly pride talking and that Jared (our 3rd grader) really is that good. Judge for yourself!



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