It's not always easy....

Well, a good friend of mine said something about it's not always easy to do the "right thing" and she is SO VERY right.
I had rescued a GSD that was six months old back in March of this year. We named him Liam, and soon after Bear (Lab/Newfoundland) and Honey (all mutt) were also adopted into our family because they needed rescuing too. This past Tuesday (on the 3rd) my MIL came and picked Liam and my DH up and took Liam to the local animal shelter where he will remain in quarantine for a few more days (10 total) because he suddenly got very agressive towards our Bear and when I pulled him away from Bear he turned and sank two teeth into my leg. It came as a GREAT shock to me. It broke my heart. But, I can not have a dog that has so many issues that we can't help him over come and that I can't trust.
Bear and Honey are making up for my loss admirably. Bear is SO goofy. He truly is our goofy newfie. :) He will lie down at my feet or on the floor beside my bed or follow me around and Honey will come up for loving and pets and sometimes try to get into my lap. Bear is happier because he gets to run all over the back yard free, off the leash, and we have found he does not run, he gallops. He's SO big. I'd say he weighs at least around 90 pounds now.
What broke my heart really was our son. He asked if when the dog got adopted we could know who adopted him and visit him. That made the ache in my chest so much more unbearable! I explained that we would not know who adopted him (I did not tell him the part about IF he was deemed adoptable) but that we needed to pray that whoever did adopt him really knew a lot of ways to get dogs over different things and could deal with a GSD that had massive issues and that he would be their only dog.
The whole atmosphere of the house has changed. It feels less tense, less like a prison, less dark. I actually feel as if a huge burden has been lifted off of my shoulders. We all took it hard in different ways. But Honey ... well, the cats LIKE her, and I am sure that we can get Bear to understand that the cats are off limits. That will just take some training and time. So, soon, the cats and dogs (we've two of each now) can roam the house in freedom except for when I have students here. And then, well, that depends on the parents and kids. I know that there are at least a couple families that are fine with the dogs being out.
We are slowly starting to work towards getting the house back to some semblance of normalcy. Lessons in math or reading or phonics, history, grammar and spelling... Need to give the three kiddoes their music lessons tomorrow. Cleaning house, reclaiming the house from the mess that we've let it become while we were under the gloomy days.
One day, the Lord will bless us with a large house big enough for some big dogs, and we'll have Bear and Honey and a couple Great Pyrenese. Maybe even a full Newfoundland! :) Besides the Dexter cows and the chickens and sheep that I dream of.

Opening books time!

I don't like to call what we do as "school" because I only liked the music and art and SOME of the English classes when I was in school. Hated math, history was never exciting except for the one year I had a teacher who loved history and wanted her students to love it too, and science...well, I always got stuck with the dissecting part because I wasn't squamish and didn't want to "hurt my nail job."
So, it's high time we got back into the "groove" of opening math books and the Mystery of History book (vol 1) and grammar and spelling books. Haha. I'm thinking of going ahead and using Mindsprinting for math for one child. I need to get her to take the assessment test and see what she is. I am concerned that she has discalcula just like I do (that is dyslexia with numbers by the way) because she has such a HARD time with math and a hard time memorizing her multiplication facts and the like. I guess this year I need to try and see if I can't teach her some of the short cuts that I learned on my own and try to make math a bit easier for her. The next item on the agenda is to see if our son is matured enough now to start learning more words and learning to read more. I KNOW he knows more than he lets on, but he gets frustrated and I need to learn how to make it "fun".... besides me and his sisters and his daddy reading to him all the time! LOL He LOVES that.
Amid all of that, I need to get some work done in the house, do some sewing, some crocheting, coat the finished ornaments and let them dry so I can SEND them, and also work outside in the garden (if it does not rain). I SO hope it rains actually! We need rain badly. Otherwise I will need to really, REALLY water the tomatos and the watermelon vine and the grapes and the blackberry.... the lavender.... rosemary... roses... LOL Adding more and more to water each year!
Have a BLESSED day and .... let's DANCE for the Lord today! It will improve our moods!