Beginning is pine cove.

Hi, Max here. I'm so excited to start a new blog and share with you what I have to say. Well, to begin with, during the fall we went to Pine Cove! It was fun! For example, when we ate we stood up in our chairs before we ate. The date was 10/27/10 - 10/29/10. Soon my sis might also make a blogspot. I Hope you enjoyed my first blogspot.

BY: Max Tobkin. :]

Starting Over

Clearly it has been a long time since we have posted on our blog. Life got a little tough a couple of years ago and I lost the motivation to keep up with it. Now life is great again. Aaron is now a Dallas Police Officer, I am teaching preschool and working on my teaching degree, and the kids are all doing fantastic here in Frisco. So with Max and Celia helping me we decided to give it another go. This time I will post like I used to, but Max and Celia will also be getting to add what they want. I think it is going to be fun to record what is important to them at this time in their lives. So here we go......

Halloween Science Event

I meant to post these quite awhile ago but we have been so busy that I just haven't been keeping up with things very well. Anyway, the U of A physics dept. put on a Halloween science event that the boys went to. Aaron took Conner and Max and all three of them enjoyed it. They got to blow up a raquetball with hydrogen and make other science experiments.

Harp Hawk Hoe-Down

Just a few pictures from the schools Harp Hawk Hoe-Down. The kids had a great time, and the basket that I made for his class to auction did pretty good. It was not as pretty as the other baskets, but considering it was geared toward men (a safety basket with fire extinguishers, all-weather radio, etc.) it did not really need to be.

Max getting a hole in one!

Celia right after she got the top of her head painted pink.

My baby is getting big.

Just an example of how much taller Conner is getting.

Celia's Halloween Costume

So I asked Grandma Merry if she would help out with Celia's Halloween costume. She is so talented I knew she would be able to come up with something......but I didn't expect this! This dress is beautiful and the cape is soooo pretty! A girl like Celia doesn't need to pretend to be a Disney princess when she clearly is OUR Princess Cecelia. By the way, one video is sideways for a few minutes. Sorry about that!

It's almost time....

Well, the puppies are almost ready to find their new homes. We have had so much fun having the puppies around. When I found out that Beauty was having puppies, I was definitely not thrilled. It has turned out to be a great experience though. All five puppies have been healthy and each one now has their own distinct personality. I must admit that it is going to be hard to see them go. The kids have definitely gotten attached. The upside of them moving on is that we now will get to have Beauty back in the house with us. I listed them on Criaglist, and within a few hours, we have had gotten four people who want one!!

Here are a few pictures...

Good Morning

I got up this morning, got my coffee, turned on the Christian radio station, checked e-mail, and then the news. It is my usual routine before I get the kids up and ready. Somehow this morning was different. It amazes me how God will speak to you when you least expect it and yet need it, (even if you didn't know that you did!)

My mood was less than positive, as I desperately wanted to be back in bed. All of sudden I just felt so blessed. I always know that I am blessed, but I am ashamed to say that I do not always feel it. This has been a difficult year for us. Not difficult in that anything really bad has happened, but difficult in that we have had to reassess our future plans and things have felt a little less secure. Aaron is good at reminding me that security is an illusion and that our faith is our only real security.

This morning I spent a little time thinking of things that bring me the most joy. Here are a few of them...

-laying down in bed at night and knowing that all of my kids are warm, safe, and in their beds

-hearing the kids laughing with each other down the hall (is there any better background music?)

-waking up in the morning and realizing that it is Aaron's day off!!!!

-watching the kids eating a home cooked meal

-Aaron and I planning our next vacation

So, today I am going to do my best to earn all of the blessings that I have been given. I am going to go to work, put others first, and then come home and hang out with the people that bring me an unbelieveable amount of joy. I could never do enough to feel like I deserve them, but I am definitely, absolutely going to spend every minute I can enjoying them.

Puppies!!!!!

She finally had them. Wednesday night she started going into labor. She had the first puppy around 4:30 a.m. I had gone to sleep thinking it might still be awhile, and suddenly heard the sound of a little puppy crying. I walked in the laundry room where we have her set up, and there was a little puppy in the middle of the floor. An hour later we had number two, and in another hour we had number three. I started getting worried when the fourth had not arrived an hour and a half later. We called the vet who told us to bring her in. We decided to have her walk around a little bit and luckily Aaron was there to catch number four in the driveway. Number five arrived about five minutes later. Mom and puppies are doing well and we will hopefully find homes for all of them in the next two months. If you know anyone who is interested please let us know. The animal shelter is providing all of their shots and we are not charging anything for them. We just want them to find good homes.

Our Big Surprise

So when we decided to get a dog for Max, we thought we would skip the puppy phase and adopt an adult. I guess the joke is on us because she is having puppies! It should be any day now. I took her to the vet a week after we adopted her for a general checkup and was told that her belly was very big because she needed to be dewormed. Guess he was VERY, VERY wrong. We dewormed her and she just kept getting bigger.

Aaron and I had to laugh about it. Here Aaron was calling her Cleo the Cow because of her belly and the whole time she was just pregnant. We impressed ourselves with how quick we were to pick up on it. But then again, the vet missed it so we won't feel too bad.

When I told Max, he was thrilled. He has told everyone that it is very exciting news. He asked me if we thought it was exciting and I told him that dad and I used different words to describe the event, but that it was definitely a big deal.

So, I will post pictures soon, and if anyone knows anyone who wants a basset hound/? puppy, they will be ready in about eight weeks!!