Puppy Love

Maizy

Since Licorice, our big old lab has been gone, the house just hasn't been the same. I miss hearing his nails clicking on the tiled kitchen floor, I miss knowing he'll keep us safe when Mark is gone. I miss his company, his love of fetch and his adoring eyes no matter what. I knew we wanted another dog someday and I really thought it would be another black lab. However, when we are around black labs we still get too teary eyed. I've search dozen of shelters through petfinder.com and visited PetSmart adoptions weekly hoping to find the right dog for us. Strange as it turned out, Mark was the one who found our newest family member.....Maizy. She is not and never will be Licorice which is not entirely a bad thing at all. She is Maizy. She is a rescue puppy. She was abused in her first few months of life and then a wonderful lady took her in to foster her until she could find her the right home. I truly hope we're it. Maizy is a 6 month old boxer/lab mix. I was SO worried that Maizy might bite the boys or be afraid of us but she is doing wonderful! She lets us pet all over her, she LOVES to play and she is all over us when we get on the floor to play. She is a bit cautious of people she doesn't know but we'll work on that. We've been taking her everywhere with us and it seems that as long as she is with us she does fine. People don't seem to scare her much then. She is just SO very loving. I cannot believe someone could have ever abused her! The boys have been just great with her too. Extra gentle and slow with her. She adores them! I am so happy. I really hope we can give her the life she deserves. I hope in the future all her fears will go away and she forgets that there are mean people in this world. We hope to take her camping with us - she has all ready started coming to the boys soccer games and doing really well.
Here are a few pictures of her first day with us. I have more on facebook which most of you have probably seen.

Me and my Maizy.

She loves being outside too.
LOVES her ball.
Bonding with Ethie.
First day here and she thinks she owns the place! :-)
Sleeping through the soccer game.
She really enjoys riding in the van.
Ethan and Maizy.
Zac and Maizy. Yes, Zac has a black eye...that's another story....
Zac and Alex getting kisses.

This Week

Alex and Ethan had their first soccer game last Sat. and did FANTASTIC! It was Alex's first game ever and he did wonderful. I was a bit worried about how he would do but he really surprised me. :-) Ethan was a true soccer player as usual and I think it may be time to move him up to a more... aggressive soccer organization. He is kind and sweet after the whistle blows but during the game, it's all about the game. Ethan eats, sleeps and breathes soccer. Alex had a good time and his teammates are really great kids. Monday night at practice Alex got hit right in the mouth AND braces with the ball. His coach was a bit worried but Alex just wiped the blood on his shirt and went on....hey, he may be able to handle sports after all! Oh, Mark is coaching Ethan's team this year. He is so funny. I don't think I have ever seen him so nervous! I can already tell how much it is helping him though. I can really see that it is giving him more patience with his own children now and he is interacting so much better with them.
Mark has been gone this week so as much as we miss him, it's also kind of fun. No time schedules to follow. I let the boys stay up as late as 9 o'clock (Alex and Ethan) and we watch Star Wars the Clone Wars. How fun is that! Last night after supper, we all split a Blizzard from DQ. YUM!!!
Today is band for us and after lunch when Jacob (our neighbor) gets out of preschool he will be here while his mommy is having her 6th little blessing. She has 3 girls and 2 boys this little one is a girl too. They are so excited. So am I! I would LOVE another little one but I guess I'll just have to hold hers a lot!
Well, I better get the boys back on track with their school work. They are starting to bicker a bit too much.


Here they come! Mark with his team. Ehan is in front of him and Zac is in his arms. Zac on the way home. (I just had to add this!)

Alex out in front. This is so funny! It looks like they're dancing in this picture!!
Brothers at half time.
Ethan with a corner kick.
Zac - REALLY into the game...NOT!
Ethan (the tall one with long pants) and Coach Daddy... I mean Coach Mark. :-)