Sunday, March 15, 2009

HERE WE GO!

We are brand new to "blogging," so we are trying to quickly learn the ropes. We should explain the inspiration behind starting this blog. I realized, as a mom, that I’m terrible at journaling – whether it be for scrapbooking, making memory books for my children, documenting special moments… I also realize that my memory is slipping, and I don’t want to forget a moment of this craziness! I really need to start a journal.

Leah, my oldest daughter, just turned 10. That statement alone amazes me. And how is it that I remember more about her birth than I do about my 5 year-old son’s birth? I’m forgetting the special and the everyday… the silly remarks and the monumental events. My hope is that keeping a journal of sorts will help me to document life’s extraordinary, everyday moments that I know will otherwise blur.

Back to Leah – and another reason for starting this “journal.” Leah has taken a very intense interest in raising a guide dog puppy for her next 4-H project. After months of discussion and researching Guide Dogs for the Blind, we all finally agreed to take on this project. As much as I love dogs and am inspired by this worthy cause, I had trouble imagining how this could fit into my life-style as a mommy of 3 very busy children. How could I possibly have a guide dog with me at all times when Leah is at school? Still not sure, but seeing Leah so excited eventually rubbed off on me and we’re going to tackle this. And I have to admit… I’m as excited as she is (almost).

Which leads me back to the inspiration of this blog… My advice to Leah was to keep a detailed record of this experience, because it will be one she’ll always want to remember. She’ll only have this sweet puppy for a short time (anywhere from 5 to 18 months), and we know it will leave an impact on our lives, and memories we’ll cherish. Not only will this be a tremendous amount of work, it will also be an emotional journey that we will all learn from. I want her to get everything she can out of this experience, and “journaling” would be a great way to do this. It may also serve as a place for other puppy-raisers to follow our journey and offer/receive advice and share stories. Or maybe inspire others to consider joining this cause.

Hearing myself give this advice to my daughter made me realize that documenting our family’s life should be more of a part of my life as well, leading us to consider beginning this blog together. So here we go! Updates coming soon on our adventures in puppy raising and anything else that strikes our fancy.

1 comment:

  1. I'm looking forward to reading about your adventures with your puppy!

    ReplyDelete