Meet our newest family member.....

Hi, my name is Brody.  And believe it or not, I am the newest Skipper in town.

I say believe it or not because if you know my mom and dad, they have always said that they would never own an animal.  And guess what, here I am.  You know, God's plans are always much better than my mom's and dad's so it's a good thing He is in the business of changing people's hearts!

So, here's the deal.  

Mom and Dad made a deal when they got married:  no animals.

And then came these four rascals.  

And well, God has used them to humble mom and dad in many ways. 

But as for my situation....it was this guy that God used this time.

You see, ever since he started talking he has been asking for me.

 

Just look how much he loves me.

 Yeah, so anyway, Mom and Dad try to do their best to do whats best for the rascals pictured above...and they finally realized that because of their homeschool lifestyle and the ages of the four rascals, this could be just the perfect moment to bring me into the family.

And wouldn't you know, God brought me into this world on Valentine's Day, just 8 weeks ago.

So, as He was working on my mom and dad's hearts, we was growing me to be a big strong puppy.  Have I mentioned to you how big I am?  Mom thinks I am huge for a puppy.   

 You might think these pictures are pretty sweet of me and my new best friend, Luke.....but guess what, I am actually that sweet to everyone I meet.  Mom does tell me that Luke loves me a lot.  She says that I am here for him, but I am not suppose to tell anyone that.  And besides, the longer I am here the more she is starting to see how good I am for each of the rascals.

 

And then there is this guy.  I can't quite figure out if he is a puppy like me or not???  

He looks kinda like me, and he plays like me, and he is hyper and well....pretty much JUST like me in every way except he gets to go through that gate to the rest of the house and right now I can't. 

  

Yeah, I think he is a puppy like me.

  

I knew it.  He's a puppy.  I really like to play with him!  

Luke will be my best friend, but Caleb will be my best playmate.

  

The boys are cool but I am sure glad there are some cute little ladies in this house.

These two, in particular, are so good with me.  They are a little more cautious but they are so gentle with me. I know I will have a very sweet relationship with them.

 

How fun that my cousins live right behind my new house!

 I wonder if they will ever get a puppy friend for me to play with?

  

 My cousins are cool.  My uncle Josh is definitely cool.

 So, what's up with my auntie?  She used to want a little guy like me.  She must be confused.  I will try to change her mind.  Hopefully she will get me a friend someday.

  

 And let's not forget to talk about this guy, my dad.

 Mom thinks he is a pretty awesome dad for sacrificing his wishes of "no animals" for the sake of his kids.  I look forward to totally winning over his heart like I have the rest.  It won't be long.

 So anyway, life as a Skipper is not so bad so far.  I think I am going to like it here.  This definitely isn't the most perfect family I have ever seen.  Mom gets a little grouchy sometimes....and well, I better not tell you all of their problems right now....but they sure do love me and I really do think I love them.

 I have been such a good puppy.

I like to go potty outside and I have slept straight through both nights in my crate.

 

The only hard moment so far for mom has been tonight when she tried to put me to bed.  I didn't like that the house was so quiet (because you know, it's a pretty loud house) and so I cried REALLY loud.  Mom didn't know that a puppy's cry could be that loud and that sad.

 And to make it worse, big sis started crying really loud too because my cry made her sad.  Mom didn't know how to handle that so together they rushed out and loved on me till I fell asleep in their arms. I think mom and Jorie are a lot alike.  I think they really love me.

 So, that's a piece of  my story. Mom thought you'd like to know that I was here.

I wonder what else my mom has said she will never do.....

our day at the capital.

 March 31st was "Homeschool Day" at the capital. 

 A day for the homeschool community to experience the capital and meet with our legislatures to ask them to continue to protect our rights to homeschool.  

So, I thought it would be the perfect day to FINALLY take my kids to see the capital and also be a presence and support for a cause and a freedom that is VERY close to my heart, homeschool.

 Well, it turned out to be .....well, a.....um....interesting little field trip.

 The morning started with trying to get all of my kids out of the house by 8:30.  Yeah, that is early for this family.  The first picture above looks like a BUNCH of ragamuffins.  And that's exactly what we were that day.  Oh man, these pictures make me laugh because I know what was happening.  These smiles above are VERY forced.

Okay, so we start our morning by hiking up to the Gold Man.

The kids thought that was great. 

But guess who's kids decided to throw their gum wrappers over the edge right when the tour guide is trying to talk and thus gets scolded by the tour guide in front of everybody?

Yeah, we've never been that meek little well-behaved homeschool family.

Embarrassing.

Walking around the capital was good.

I talk with the kids a lot about our "elected officials" so it was nice to kind of give them the next piece to understanding our legislative system.

 The highlight for me was watching the Senate in session.

It could be said that I have some political blood running through me.

I really enjoy the legislative process and seeing what different issues spark passion in different people.

Unfortunately I had to try to listen to everything going on while also hearing two small children beg for a snack in both of my ears. 

 At noon there was a big rally on the front steps of the capital.

Towards the end of the rally, Planned Parenthood supporters marched around the capital protesting their own issues.  With both of those groups doing their own thing, there was a lot of action and my kids eyes were WIDE OPEN.  Another highlight of the day for me was discussing with my kids the difference between a protest and a rally, and the importance of speaking up in love for the things that God tells us to stand up for.  

My oldest two kids had lots of questions about the PP protesters that were marching loudly in their hot pink shirts.  It was a surprise but GREAT opportunity to discuss with them a piece of what PP is about and why we do not agree with their organization OR what they were chanting.  yikes.  And yet, we praise God for our freedoms that both groups have in their free speech.

 Talking about our freedoms, democracy, and the voice of the people would have been a sweet way to end our first capital experience.  But, unfortunately I just had to push my kids a bit farther and TRY to get their picture in front of those beautiful trees in front of the capital.

Yeah, bad idea.

This picture below says it all:  Jorie is complaining of being frozen, Caleb is undressing, Luke is ignoring me, Marc is saying, "enough.", and only my sweet Mei is ready for a picture!

 So, I decided to forget the rest of them and just get a pic of Meili.

Yeah, then even she turned on me.  She was outta there.

 So, I decided to forget all of them and just take pictures of the trees.

I had a nice quiet few minutes alone in the park.  :)

 So, our first family experience at the capital was.....

I just can't quite find the word to describe it.

I, myself, loved it and I just hope the kids retain even a piece of what they heard and saw.

http://parentalrights.org/
is a group of people that are working to protect our rights as parents.  There are many people in our government and at the UN that do not support our rights as parents to make our own decision on how we want to raise our children.  I encourage you to check out the above website and get educated on what is happening.