The "Toots" Update

Hi there!

Just wanted to let you know, I am ALMOST potty trained! 

Have patience and keep love in your hearts. 

T

Season of Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus Christ - His suffering and sacrifice, His life, death, burial and resurrection. Last night at dinner, we all confirmed what we each wanted to "sacrifice" until Easter Sunday. The kids had some great ideas but we had to remind them that we have to remain faithful to our commitment so it has to be somewhat difficult yet realistic. Here is what we committed to:

Dylan - Cutting back to 1x wkly on the PlayStation Race Car Game

Also giving up candy (including Valentines)

Lindsey - Increasing her weekly tithing for Haiti to $2 (from $1)

Also giving up candy (including Valentines)

Taylor - Giving up all baked goods (including Girl Scout cookies :)

Also giving up candy (including Valentines)

Dave - Giving up carbs

Also cutting back to 1x weekly on beer consumption

Making time to give his wife a kiss and hug every day (my idea :)

Tina - Giving up carbs and sweets (including Tootsie Rolls :)

Also cutting back to 1x weekly on wine consumption

Making time for God EVERY day (15 min studying His word)

So there you have it. You are welcome to help hold us accountable :) Bottom line. we are so very grateful for Jesus Christ and His ultimate gift to us. There is so much more He deserves so this is the very least we can do for Him and our temples. 

Puppy Love

It has been a month and a half since we have been blessed with a little white furball named Tootsie. She has been such a joy and has taken over Camp Clark in a BIG way! Not only is she completely fascinated with Millie the Cat (Millie is slowly starting to put up with her), she is a little stinker and loves to play inside and outside. It may be cold outside but this little pup adores the snow and buries her head and frolics around in it, no problem. 

LTD love how she wakes them up every morning with her sweet kisses and how she snuggles with them at bedtime every night (5 min each). We have always had lots of laughter in our home but it has magnified since Tootsie's arrival. Dave even likes her and I have found her many of times sleeping by his side in the bed some mornings when I get back from the gym or in his office right next to his desk. He is smitten even though he won't admit it. 

The best part.........she is "pretty much" potty trained. There have been only a few accidents in the last few weeks and for the most part, it was because somebody was not paying attention to her cues. Next up, Puppy Kindergarten and Obedience Training. The kids will be joining me in that venture since quite honestly, they need to know this stuff. Nothing like training a puppy AND 3 children on the importance of obedience :)

Best "Furry" Friends Forever

Best "Fake" Furry Friends Forever

Best Friends Forever

Tootsie!

On December 30, Camp Clark welcomed a new fur ball to our family. Introducing..Tootsie! She is a pure breed Bichon Frise who was born on November 4 and was named after my love of Tootsie Rolls (not my idea). The kids thought that was a perfect name for "being full of love and sweet" (in their words). So now we have this little 4 lb white cotton ball running around the house harassing Millie the Cat who simply ignores her as if she is a dust ball blowing across the floor. She is NOT potty trained, YET, and we are seriously working on that. Good news is she is hypoallergenic, has amazing temperament for kids and is only supposed to get to be 9-10 lbs. 

The deal we made with the kids is that they are responsible for taking her outside every day, at least 3x daily (1x each) and helping feed and care for her. So far, so good. In fact, most days by the end of the day, she is exhausted from all the attention. She sleeps in her kennel right next to our bed and sleeps soundly through the night (unlike the first few nights in the laundry room). The fact is, she wants to be near us so having her at our bedside in her kennel works MUCH better for her and allows us to get some shuteye.

She is not much of a fan of the cold weather but thankfully she uses her kennel to "find her spot" (crate & grate method proposed by our breeder) when she can't get outside, and sometimes the hardwood floors! Thankfully, she spends the majority of her time on our main level which is mainly hardwood so accidents are not that big of a deal.......but it sure is testing our patience. We are hoping she catches on very soon :)

The kids adore her and even Dave (the Cat Whisperer) has taken a serious liking to her. We look forward to many years with our sweet puppy and all the memories we will make together. 

Our First Christmas in our New Home

This Christmas, Dave and I decided it would be nice to spend Christmas in our home in Savage versus travel to North Dakota like we ususally do. We were so thankful to have Grandma Good, my brother Bruce (San Antonio, TX) and my niece Larissa and her two angels, Kyla and Kaden (Rogers, AR) join us to celebrate. In fact, it was perfect! We truly enjoyed having our family share time with us. We got to go sledding, tell stories, LAUGH (Bruce has the loudest laugh on the planet!), watch movies, bake, go to a Christmas play on a riverboat in St. Paul (the drive there was a bit challenging), celebrate Christmas with a candlelit feast, attend Christmas Eve service at our church which was amazing, watch football and let the children play and enjoy camping out (aka sleepover).It was hard to say goodbye but we are very grateful for the loving memories. I am updating our photos on Shutterfly and hope to have them all posted by the end of this week. Here are just a few:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clark Christmas Gathering at the Balke's

Papa and Grandma Clark stopped in Mpls on their way to sunny Texas for the winter and we had a gathering at Aunt Lisa and Uncle Jeff's house in Edina to celebrate Christmas with Dave's sisters and their families. Unfortuantely, Uncle Ken and his 4 angels couldn't make it and they were greatly missed. We had a great time! Uncle Jeff was the life of the party! Poor guy works much too hard as an MD at Allina so we will give him a break :) Aunt Lisa is always such a gracious host and we love sharing time with the Clark family. Miss you already, Papa and Grandma!

 

8 Year Celebration at MOA (Looking Back)

We're back!!! After a month of hiatus amd chaos, Mama Bear is finally back in her Director chair at Camp Clark and hunkering in to get caught up on memories from December.

I believe I mentioned that 3 little varmints recently turned 8 years old. NOOOOOOO!!!!! We celebrated with parties and with a certain furball of a gift which we will talk about later (aka Tootsie). I took the kids to the MOA (Mall of America) on their birthday, let them visit Santa, took them out for lunch at RainForest Cafe and let them buy themselves birthday presents with the money they received from their grandparents. It was the girls very first trip into an American Girl store. Holy Cow - so little for so much ($$$)! The girls were in awe; Dylan not so much. However, he was SO patient and his is eyes brightened when he saw the hermit crab kiosk and the games store. Of course, we had to go on a few rides but the favorite was the sky high tightropes and slides (5 stories high!). There was no way Mama was getting up there since I have a fear of heights but LTD had absolutely no fear. The girls had the perfect climbing attire on with their skirts and furry boots :)  Regardless, they had an absolute BLAST! Check it out.