Been a long time...

It has been some time since my last post. Not sure why - perhaps the craziness that comes with the holidays, or the seemingly constant sickness that travels around the house. But whatever the case - I'm long overdue for a blog update.

The biggest news in the Groff household is our newest member - Archimedes! He is a black standard poodle that is about 14 weeks old.

It's not the best picture, but it's what I have right now. I have noticed I take a lot less pictures with 2 kids than I did when it was just Josh. Throw a puppy into the mix, and forget it!
You may be wondering where we came up with Archimedes. Well, I thought we needed a dog name that a)fulfilled the requirements of an appropriate "poodle" name, b)could be shortened for a nickname, and c)had something to do with Ben and I. Since Archimedes was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer, it seemed fitting. And it can be shortened to Archie!
His is fitting in nicely with the family. He thinks he is a lap dog, which is fine now, but when he gets to be about 50 lbs, I may have to make him rethink that. Josh LOVES to play with him. Archie tends to think Josh is a litter mate, and nips at him, but I am hoping with training he will stop that. Maddie likes him, but she has a personal space bubble of about 6 feet, so when she feels he is invading that, and she doesn't want him, you tend to hear "NO Archie!". If he is near a toy of hers, then you hear "NO Archie, Mine!". I guess she is the alpha dog!

The kids are doing well. Josh is still enjoying school, and will be playing soccer this spring. Maddie's vocabulary is increasing slowly (though she picked up Archie quick!). I signed her up for 'Lil Steppers dance class today. It meets on Saturdays. She seems to love to dance, so I thought she might get a kick out of this. We will see how it goes.