Pumpkins and Puppies

We got some pumpkins from my dad last weekend, so for Family Home Evening on Monday the kids begged us to let them carve them. I got the top off of Lindsey's and she asked me if it was time to get the goop out. I told her yes, to which she replied "Awesome!" I love that kid. Taylor, Lindsey and Michael all wanted scary pumpkins. Taylor even named her "Fangs Vamp". I was told that Rachel needed to have a cute pumpkin, though, so I carved a moon and stars into hers.

With all those pumpkins came, you guessed it, a lot of pumpkin seeds. Tuesday found me roasting those seeds. My mom would always separate the seeds from the goop, soak the seeds in salt water overnight and then lay them to dry the next morning and roast them, so that is what I did. They turned out pretty good and the kids had them for an after school snack. I have also roasted seeds from other winter squash and they have all turned out just about the same.

Tuesday night one of our puppies died. He had been lethargic and when I brought him inside we discovered he was vomiting and that night he passed away. We began watching the other puppy who seemed lethargic on Wednesday, but we weren't sure if it was because he was sad or sick. Wednesday night he had some very foul smelling diarrhea. I called the vet and they told us it was parvovirus. It is most likely what the first puppy died from and it causes the puppies to become dehydrated. So, Diego, our puppy, went up to the vet and got to spend a couple of days there on an IV, but he is home now and is bouncing and playing again. He still seems to be getting some of his strength back, but you almost wouldn't know it to watch him and Kami play together. I am very grateful to a wonderful father-in-law who was able to take Diego to the vet for us and help us keep out little puppy, (who is actually bigger than our other dog and growing quickly).

This week we also had parent-child-teacher conferences. Both of the girls are doing wonderfully, as we expected. Lindsey's goal to work on in class is to speak up loud enough for the teacher to hear her and to speak with confidence. When Lindsey does this she gets pluses. She doesn't get minuses if she doesn't, but does get pluses when she does. She is a good student and gets along with her classmates. Listening to her talk, I think she is probably a leader among her friends. I think that is a good goal for her, and one we also have for her at home. Taylor so far has all A's. She has 100% in everything but math, and that is a 98% I think. In her IRI's she scored all the way up the page, so no worries there. It is so fun to hear Taylor read aloud. She enjoys reading little books to Michael and Rachel and she will do voices for different characters and she pays attention to the punctuation, so if it is an exclamation point, she says the words loudly, or whatever the book says. I love listening to her read.

Out town also lost a dear friend this week. He has been battling colon cancer and lost. So, on Saturday the girls and I went to his funeral. Michael and Rachel both had slight fevers, so my dad came and stayed with them. It was a really nice service. All of the kids spoke. He was a wonderful man and will be greatly remembered. Robert was unable to come because he had to work. He worked 6 days this past week and I have really missed him. I am so grateful for Sundays when we are able to go to church and spend some down time as a family.