She likes my shoes...

I always thought that I'd be sharing my shoes with Twerp #2 first. I never thought that Brandy would like my shoes too!?! It turns out that while Darby wasn't interested in my shoes, Brandy loves them. This will be an incentive to keep my shoes put away or on my feet...because I like expensive shoes and I imagine that my shoes won't like Brandy. Hmmmm....better go pick up the house!

A sweet look just before she goes in for the shoe.

Yeah, her entire nose and mouth can fit inside my leather shoe.

She sure is having fun...

But I should probably stop taking pictures and take away my shoes before she gets the wrong idea.

Our first time meeting a St. Bernard

Like I said in my previous post, we went to visit a 4-yr. old St. Bernard at the local pet store to decide whether the size of the animal would be too much. The kids loved her. She was so sweet and gentle. She'd just been authorized to be a therapy dog at one of the local hospitals...how cool is that! We had a great time visiting and getting to know these "gentle giants."

Twerp #1 and #2 getting that first hug.


Twerp #2 taking a break while Stephen and I talked to the owner...we got some really good information!

When you see this can you possibly not get a Saint? Twerp #2 was completely head over heels in love.

I've already heard it...

I've already heard it! Many, many, many times as a matter of fact! You may wish to tell me that "I'm Crazy," but with the number of people that have already told me how "crazy" I am, it just won't make a difference. I guess my parents taught me well to think on my own and not care about what other people say! (Thanks Mom and Dad!)

I'm not sure what you all know, but we had a Golden Retriever that died last August. It was so sad for everyone in our family, but especially Twerp #1. He had a really rough time! It was hard to go through the mourning process with a child as he mourned the loss of his best friend. Darby was always there for us and considering that we got Darby when Twerp #1 was only 3 months old...she'd always been around for him. We told the kids that after we got home from China, we'd find another dog for our home...but as we started to look, all Twerp #1 wanted was a Golden that we'd name Darby. I thought it might be best to go out of the box a little bit and try for a different breed. I searched on Google for dogs that are really good with kids (a must in our house) and this type of dog kept on popping up! A Saint Bernard. Yep, we went big.

Stephen was a little worried that a Saint Bernard would be too big...so we took the kids to visit a 4-yr. old girl (120 lbs) on Saturday at the local pet store. Her owner was there for Adopt-A-Saint.org...an organization that rescues St. Bernards and finds a forever family for them. Stephen looked at this grown dog and said, "it's not as big as I'd imagined..." We asked a ton of questions, went home and talked about the possibility and at 4:00, she called and said that there was a 6-month old female puppy available now. They usually don't get a lot of puppies and this was a chance for us to get one and train it and watch it grow.

So we went to a home in Orange, CA - about 20 minutes away from our house - to see this puppy. It was in an area where each home can have "horse property" so the lot sizes were huge. This family had a bunch of chickens, two roosters, two goats, 4 dogs + the puppy available for adoption. The kids had a BLAST seeing the puppy for the first time. We decided to bring her home and call her Brandy. She's 60 pounds and as big as Darby was as an adult. She's incredibly gentle and plays really well with the kids. She had a great night sleep last night and didn't bark once. She puts a smile on my face as well as the face of each of my children. Twerp #1 came up to me with tears in his eyes and asked, "Mom, can we bring her home?" He is especially glad to have a new friend to cuddle with in the mornings.

Here are some pictures of our time at Brandy's foster home...

Brandy looking out the gate of her "pen" at the roosters

Zoe petting Brandy for the first time. She has beautiful markings for a Saint.

Twerp #4 and Daddy walking over to see the chickens

Brandy looking out of her pen...waiting for us to finish the paperwork so we could bring her home.

The chickens clucking away in their pen. There were two roosters that would chase Twerp #3 around the yard. He was so scared of them and had tears in his eyes and true fear as he didn't want to get pecked!

The kids petting one of the chickens. This woman was so kind to let the kids play with all her animals like she did. What a lovely home she had.

So...that's our Sunday. It's the year of Adoption for the Margala family. I know you all think we're crazy for adopting a St. Bernard, but we made such a great decision and can't wait for you all to meet Brandy.

The Things My Kid Says!

Twerp #3 is my Turkey! He was also a turkey in the Kindergarten play last week...and a great turkey he was! It was the perfect part for him!

Twerp #3 has an interesting way of looking at life! Thought I'd give you just two examples of things that will show you how his brain works...

1. One of his projects for school is that he has to dress a paper doll in the costume that shows where he is from...last year Twerp #2 dressed her doll in a Norwegian fashion. So on Monday, Twerp #3 says, "Mom, you've gotta help me figure out how to dress my doll for Friday. I'm 1/2 Huntington Beach and 1/2 Irvine, right?" He was indeed correct, however it took an intervention with the teacher for him to understand that she wanted the whole "Norwegian/Slovakian" combo, not the "HB/Irvine" combo. Too cute.

2. Today, as we were coming back from the doctor's office, he was explaining to me that there were actually 3 holidays in December...Christmas, Hanukkah and "you know, Mom, it's the day that the earth turns around and then suddenly the earth is another year older"...oh yeah, New Years Eve.

It's fun to see his mind work and try to figure it out. I love Twerp #3. I love his mind and how God created him. He is perfect and I love you, Twerp!

A Haircut

We went to get Twerp #4's hair cut today. It was her first haircut with me, so we went to the place that has little toy airplanes or cars that the kids get to sit in. I didn't think she would like someone getting that close to her head, but I didn't think it would go anything like it did!

Here's the before picture. Her bangs are in her eyes...the back of her hair is really long...SFLB (short front, long back) went out in the 70's, so we had to get it a little more updated. Her hair is still growing in from where she had it shaved in China for her IV during the surgery, so we wanted to make it a little nicer while it is still growing in...

Here, she's a happy girl.

Here, not so happy! She couldn't figure out why she was sitting in this airplane and why she had a cape on and why I was watching her cry with a camera in my hand!


The haircut only lasted for a total of 5 minutes. All the toys we gave her would calm her down for a few seconds, but not much longer than that. Then, she'd remember where she was and start to cry again.
Here she is just a mere 10 seconds after her haircut. As soon as I took her out of the airplane, she immediately stopped crying and started to wave goodbye to the stylist! So funny. She played with the trains while I paid for our cut and then we went home for a nap.


At least I have some hair for her book and a certificate to put inside also...oh yeah, and a bunch of really sad pictures! One day, we'll look back on this and laugh...maybe even tomorrow!