Our Life Lessons: Test Drive

Hurricane has been asking for a dog for almost 18 months. We have resisted because of many, many reasons. A family in our ward went on vacation and asked if we would watch their dog, Jackson. Jackson is a labradoodle.

The breed is considered a hypoallergenic. Jackson's personality is very mild, and he was extremely well trained. His feet never left the floor to touch furniture, people, or beds. The boys absolutely loved having Jackson around.

Sweetheart even enjoyed having the dog. They were sad to have Jackson go home but were grateful for the payment the family gave them for watching Jackson.

We have been redoing the beds in the boys' room. The beds have been sanded and are ready to be painted. We have also looked for new mattresses for them. After a search at IKEA, Mattress Firm, and Costco, we decided on the mattress from Costco.

In my effort to go and get the mattress, I hooked up our trailer. I thought that the hitch had locked onto the ball. We hit a bump and the trailer bounced off hitting the back of the car.

The bumper isn't awful, but I sure felt awful to have broken the bumper. We got the beds and placed them in the boys' room.

School registration was this week. The boys were asked to stay home. It was to turn in all the paperwork, pay fees, and get the teacher assignments for this next year. The school also hold a clothing sale since the students are required to wear a uniform. I walked away with 15 pairs of pants, 5 pairs of shorts, a school hoodie, and a bunch of shirts. We priced it out and saved a couple hundred dollars in clothing. I'm grateful the boys will wear second-hand. The boys started soccer this week. During soccer practice, Underfoot met his new teacher for next year. Her son will be playing on Underfoot's soccer team and be in his grade at school.

Underfoot finished up a requirement for Cub Scouts. He carved an arrow. His leaders thought it was a fish.

The boys have asked to go camping. For our family birthday, we decided to go to Buffalo Campground. The boys built a bridge out of logs from the forest, went on a hike with Sweetheart, played with other children at the campground, and tended the fire.

Hurricane was obsessed with the fire. He didn't want it to go out and asked repeatedly to add wood. We had an awesome fire while we were there.

Underfoot read "The Wizard of Oz," and I read part of a book as well called "How Can I Forgive You?" by Janis Abrahms Spring.

We came home and cleaned up and made a birthday cake. It was another request from our boys.

We invited people to come eat it with us. The surprising part was that Sweetheart liked the chocolate caramel frosting. He's not a big frosting fan, and he really liked this frosting.