poor zach...

all in the same day...

zach walked out of school the other day with mary. he was looking at the ground, barely even said good bye to her. it was kind of weird but he's six years old and inherently weird. as we got in the car he nearly burst into tears "did you know that mary is going to a new school?" devastating!

then we get home and he ritualistically checked on his frog, amp... only to find he was not moving. and very dry. and very stiff. that's right, his frog had passed away during the day.

his girl moving. his pet dead. life is hard, but the little man is taking it pretty good.

puppy watch 2008

So today is officially day 63 since the "procedure" and possible puppy-making event. We've brought Lily with us to Mom's Thanksgiving Day Feast "just in case". If she doesn't have the pup(pies) today, then who knows when it(they) will be born or who the puppy-daddy will turn out to be.

Will keep you informed :)

(((and happy thanksgiving all!)))

How to fix a turkey, by Zach Boyles

Go to the market and buy a 45-pound turkey. Put it in the oven for 4 minutes. It will be black when it's done [clearly he's used to mom's cooking]. Eat it with butter bread, tomatoes, watermelon, and apples. Have chocolate ice cream for dessert. Have chocolate milk to drink.

papa don't preach

our baby, our sweet little lily, has found herself in a bad situation. it's really not her fault. she didn't mean to. she didn't understand. papa don't preach... cause she's made up her mind... and she's keeping her baby.

*sigh*

reactions are mixed. some of us are worried (me). some are mad (jim). some are "a little" happy (tali). and some are just plain ambivalent (zach).

we didn't exactly want this to happen. in fact, we had our sammy (miniature pinscher) neutered to prevent it. what remains to be seen is whether he had one last horrah before his surgery. he was neutered 61 days ago. gestation for dogs, turns out, is 63 days.

at this point, there's not much we can do. ideally it will turn out to be sam's, and she will have just one. sam is also a small dog and we know what we're dealing with. if we manage to make it to thanksgiving with no puppy(ies) we may have bigger issues on our hands, as we have no idea what dog managed to get to her (inside our fenced in yard!) and will have to watch closely to make sure she's not having babies too big for her to deliver.

never a dull moment. will keep you fully updated... and hopefully i will be able to report on a safe, healthy delivery of one cute, keepable little puppy VERY soon.

i do too, mary... i do too

I've been really lucky to get to help out in Zach's classroom some lately, and it's been such a blessing to get to see him in his element, to get to know his friends, and to see how excited he is to have me involved. Last Thursday his excitement bubbled over as he saw me walk into the classroom... as I got about halfway to his desk, he couldn't wait another second, flashing a pink piece of paper at me, he proudly proclaimed "Look what Mary gave me!"... no sooner were the words out of his mouth and the little note was already stashed back in his desk. Mary has been a friend of Zach's since preschool, in fact he started calling her his girlfriend not long after they met. I was curious as to whether or not Mary knew of this (after all, that happens alot in the single-digit crowd), but her mom quickly confirmed for me that she heard just as much about my little man as I did about her little girl. Relationships among five-year-old are of the fickle sort, however, so I didn't give much thought to it.

Until a couple of weeks ago in the classroom. We were making turkeys on that day, and Joseph said "hey Becky, you better help your daughter"... smiling I informed him that Zach was my son and I didn't have a daughter in that class. As I walked away to get some supplies I heard Mary say "that's not my mom" and he informed her that he thought Zach was her brother. She promptly put him in his place "we are boyfriend and girlfriend, not brother and sister!" I could barely contain myself it was so cute!


Anyway, last week we got busy with papers, math bingo, centers and preparing to go home. The little note all but forgotten by yours truly.


But not so by Zach.

As soon as we got home, he pulled it out and asked me to read it to him. I have to be honest, the first two lines were a little tricky to translate (Mary is, after all, in kindergarten). The third however, was clear as can be...

I like the green color

I like the green color

I like the ZACH

-Mary

(note also the picture of the little Zach and Mary,

complete with two little hearts)

Honestly, you are melting right now aren't you? "I like the ZACH". Mary's obviously not your "do you like me, circle yes or no" kind of girl. She knows what she likes and she's willing to go for it. I like her already.

We hear a lot about Mary. We have a Mary Mii on our Wii. We have her school picture pinned to Zach's bulletin board. And now we have this proclamation of affection pinned right next to it. It makes me smile to see Zach coming into his own. Establishing friendships, being confident in his own skin, being Zach. I'm not quite ready for the world of girlfriends... but if he has to have one, I'm glad it's Mary. We have obviously have similar taste... because I'm pretty fond of the Zach too.

Mary and Zach at Preschool Graduation. May 2008.

Free Dr. Pepper!

It's like a special little smile from God, just for me :) (and Courtney)...

This Sunday you can go onto Dr. P's website and download a coupon for a free bottle of thirst quenching deliciousness. Read why here.

friday flashback

This is one of my very favorite pictures every of Tali and Zach. I took it in 2006, the day that the Boyles family went digital. I was so excited about my new camera (at the time a Sony Cybershot) and was determined to get "the money shot". I got tons of great pictures that day, but just could not get both of the kids to look at me and smile so that I would have one of them together. Finally, just as I was about to give up, Zach hopped on his bike. I asked Tali to try "one more time" for the picture (which she actually knows means as many pics as it takes to get the shot)... she walked over, put her arm around him, and BAM... there it was. We were having so much fun that day, and you can see that in their unusually genuine smiles... Tali with her sweet little smirk and Zach showing off every pearly white in his head. This is how T & Z look at their happiest, most contented, peaceful moments. This was the last picture I took that day. Mission complete. Seriously, aren't they they the cutest kids ever?