Our New "Baby"

I'd like to take this opportunity introduce you to "Divot" our new addition to our family. He is a one year old cockapoo that we adopted from a nearby rescue shelter. Austin got to name him, and what else would a golfaholic name a dog, besides a golf-related name, so Divot it is. At first I thought he was nuts, but now I think it's cute and unique.

We lost our Molly a few weeks ago. She had some fear aggression issues that kept getting worse the older she got, and the last time something happened, she bit Ashley several times and drew blood. To know that she was now starting to turn on us was the last straw, and after talking to our vet, we all agreed it was time to let her go and no longer have to deal with the constant stress she had been obviously feeling, so we had her put down.

I cried so much afterwards and I told the vet I had such guilt, but she reminded me that these problems were caused by the puppy mill she had been stuck in for 7years, and that we had done an amazing job at giving her a normal life, so she could learn about love, compassion, and happiness. She was right when she said it was more than she would have ever had the opportunity to learn had she never been adopted, and it makes me happy to know we were able to give that to her for 3+ years.

When we saw Divots picture on the rescue leagues website, I felt so bad for him. His hair was so long that I knew it had to be matted (and I was so right! It was horrible!), and yet, he had a happy look to him.

The shelter gives you a two-week trial period where you can bring the dog back if he doesn't "fit" with your family, and you can get your money back, or adopt a different dog. We've had Divot for about 10 days now and he's starting to settle into our family nicely.

He listens so amazingly well, and he's super smart. He learned how the doggie door works in less than 10 minutes. He has already learned his name, he now knows "Sit" "Stay" "No" and "Down", which was necessary when he kept trying to jump up onto the dining room table. :-/ He is also starting to play fetch and he loves, loves, loves playing with toys of all shapes and sizes. He is just about perfect in every single way, except one...

He plays too rough with the other dogs. When he gets all wound up, he bites and the other dogs were terrified of him. Tucker, who is my baby, would hide under the end tables. Now, Ringo & Gabby have put him in his place so he knows not to mess with them, but poor Tucker is too sweet to ever do that. Therefore we have a behavioral specialist working with us to help us figure out how to get him to stop doing this.

When we brought Divot home, I gave him two days to relax a bit, and then I started cutting away at all the matted fur. Last week I took him to the groomers and oh my goodness, I can't get over how much better he looks!

As you can see, he is all black, except for a small patch of white on his chest and  under his chin, which Austin calls his soul patch. lol

I think Divot will be a much loved member of our family for many years to come.

I Rescued a Human Today.

Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels. I felt her need instantly and knew I had to help her. I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn't be afraid.

As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage. I didn't want her to know that I hadn't been walked today. Sometimes the shelter keepers get too busy and I didn't want her to think poorly of them.

As she read my kennel card, I hoped that she wouldn't feel sad about my past. I only have the future to look forward to and want to make a difference in someone's life. She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me. I shoved my shoulder and side of my head up against the bars to comfort her.


Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for companionship. A tear fell down her cheek and I raised my paw to assure her that all would be well. Soon my kennel door opened and her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms. I would promise to keep her safe. I would promise to always be by her side. I would promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes. I was so fortunate that she came down my corridor.

So many more are out there who haven't walked the corridors. So many more to be saved. At least I could save one.

I rescued a human today.

~~Author Unknown~~

I Want To Be My Dog

Austin has the lead in the school play, which is ironic since he didn't even try out for the play. The kid who did have the lead quit after a month of practices, and the directors scrambled to think of who could handle the challenge of learning 130 lines in just 3 weeks, and they basically begged Austin to do it.

Thankfully Austin is good at memorizing, so I know he will rise to this challenge. However, this means he has practice before school, and  next week will have it after school as well.

That means his alarm goes off at 5:30 to get in the shower. That also means my alarm goes off at 5:45 so I can make some breakfast for him, and to see him before he heads out.

While it's tough enough to have to get up that early, this is what really kills me:

This was taken at 7:30 and Tucker was still sound asleep, even though I had the light on and had been on the computer. I would love to be able to do that.

I want to be my dog.

I Always Feel Like Somebodys Watching Me

This past weekend I posted a picture of Tucker that I took as we were on our way to the vet. I made a comment that Tucker always sits in a way that he can watch me during the entire drive. Here is the picture I posted that proves that point:



In case you thought I might be exaggerating, here is a picture taken just yesterday as we were on our way to the doggie spa so he could get groomed.


And, then again on our way home. I am totally serious when I say every single time we are in the car he does this.






Kinda reminds me of someone:

Christmas Is Going To The Dogs

Tucker Is Auditioning...

...for the part of head shepherd in this years Nativity Story.

Back To The Orthodontist

Over the weekend Austin learned that when your mom tells you to be sure you never have your retainers low enough for a dog to reach them.....she usually knows what she's talking about.


The retainer for his top teeth is still MIA. :-/

Ringo

I wanted to share this picture. This is Ringo taking a nap this past weekend, and he always sleeps in the funniest positions. What a goofball!

I'm Still Wiped Out!

The fair must have been harder on me than I realized, because I am still so tired. Oh my goodness. I have taken a nap both yesterday and today. So I'm sorry, but there's no fair updates yet. I can't even think straight, and when I am this tired, you get random-ness. ha!

A couple of updates about our week. Tomorrow I am taking Molly & Ringo to the vet. Ringo just needs his rabies shot updated, but Molly (who has a history of having cancer twice before we adopted her) has a lump that needs to be checked out. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it's nothing.

Also tomorrow, Austin is supposed to leave for the FFA summer trip. You have to participate in a certain number of activities, fundraisers, etc, to get to go on this trip and he's been looking forward to it. However, as of right now, I don't think he'll be going. He hasn't felt great the past couple of days and today I took him to the doctor to get him started on antibiotics so he wouldn't get any worse on the trip. Well this afternoon his temp spiked (101*) and he laid on the couch covered in a blanket straight through until about 9:00 when he decided to go to bed. I tried to be optimistic for him and saying "Well, hopefully you'll feel great by morning and then you can still go" and he just said "Well, we'll see", so I could tell he wasn't feeling well. Poor guy.

And now here is a picture puzzle for you. We had a plant start growing right outside our front steps this spring. It has gotten bigger and bigger, and is now HUGE! What is it? And how in the world did it get here? I definitely didn't plant anything, because I know I'd just kill it. Here's a couple of pictures of it....

To give you an idea of the size of this plant, the white rock behind the plant is over 3' tall. I would guess the plant has spread to over 6' wide.

Under the leaves you see several of these "bulbs" (or whatever they are) growing.

Any guesses???

Is It Still A Lie, If I Didn't Know I Was Lying?

Yesterday I posted that we were at the fair.

I hang my head in shame as I tell you, that is a lie. *sigh*

Every year, for the past 10 years we have been at the fair on Monday of "fair week". So I assumed we'd be there this year too, which is why I posted that (I actually typed it up on Sunday night). I assumed wrong.

I rushed around Sunday trying to get everything done so I'd be ready to go. I finished up this morning, took my shower, and even dried/straightened my hair instead of leaving it curly. All this before 10am.

I ran Molly to the vet because the "poor thing" had a sore leg she hadn't put weight on since early Sunday morning, and I didn't want to leave without having it checked. Of course, a miracle occured somewhere along the way and when the vet walked in Molly walked around the exam room with barely a limp (I swear, sometimes dogs are like children!). Molly got the "do you know we are supposed to be leaving and I don't have time for you to be a Diva and fake an injury" speech on the way home.

Then I sat down and waited for Jay to get home after doing chores and some other farm-related work.

And I waited.

And I waited.

By then it was 1:00 and I was hungry, so I had a turkey sandwich and some baked lays (my guilty pleasure...well, one of them anyhow).

And I waited.

And I waited.

I called Jay and said "Um, shouldn't we be there by now?" To which he answered "Be where?"

Uh hellooooooooo!

That's when I found out, very nonchalantly I might add, that we weren't going to the fair until today because there's no reason for us to be at the fairgrounds on Monday. I explained that I obviously didn't get the memo on that, but it didn't seem to matter, since we're still here.

So my little picture that declared we were having a great time at the fair is all a lie. We haven't had a great time, yet.

But we are going to the fair today!

Well, as far as I know anyhow.....

Why Grooming Your Pet Is So Expensive

Finally an explanation!

Top 10 Reasons Why It Costs More To Get Your Pet Groomed Than You Going To Your Own Hairdresser

10. Your hairdresser doesn't wash and clean your rear end.

9. You don't go eight weeks without washing or brushing your hair.

8. Your hairdresser doesn't give you a sanitary trim.

7. Your hairdresser doesn't clean your ears or anal glands.

6. Your hairdresser doesn't remove the boogies from your eyes.

5. You sit still for your hairdresser.

4. Your haircut doesn't include a manicure and pedicure.

3. Your hairdresser only washes and cuts the hair on your head.

2. You don't bite or scratch your hairdresser.

1. The likelihood of you pooping on your hairdresser is pretty slim.

Tuckers 1st Obedience Class

Monday night was Tuckers first class (the picture was taken as we left for the class), and as much as he loves to play, I figured he'd get dubbed "Class Clown" right away and not pay attention at all.

He did go nuts every time a new dog came in and wanted to play with them so badly, but they didn't allow much interaction time & I was a little disappointed in that. Tucker, at just turning 2, was the oldest dog in the class. To me that's like asking a group of preschoolers to come into a room and sit down and be quiet without letting them get a few minutes to get the wiggles and initial playtime out of the way so they can sit still. Just my opinion.

The lady running the class, Lorna, is knowledgeable, but ...ummm...odd, and not very friendly at all. She didn't greet (or even acknowledge) the people or dogs when they came in other than to ask the dogs name so she could take attendance. She thinks she's pretty important for running a class like this, you can just tell by the way she looked down her glasses at us and strutted around. I kept wondering if this was puppy obedience or boot camp. And she talks so loud and authoritative that Tucker and one other dog were a little afraid of her....and so was I! Plus, she scolded me!

Lorna said that if your dog won't behave, this is what she does...she takes ahold of their jowls, gets almost nose to nose with her dog, and then she gave this semi-loud lion roar (more like saying "raw") and the roar lasted a good 5-10 seconds. Her poor dogs eyes were the size of grapefruits!

I stood there thinking "You have GOT to be kidding me!" This other lady Sandra & I looked at each other like "there is no way I'm doing that". Sandra asked "So what do you do when you're out in public...you know, around other people who will think you've lost your mind?" I snickered. Lorna turned and gave me a "look". Lorna said "I don't care if people think that. I'm teaching my dog to behave."

oookkkkk.....but I'm not roaring in my dogs face. Especially since my mouth is almost bigger than Tuckers head, and knowing him he'd lean forward and stick his head IN my mouth anyway to see if there was any food or treats in there.

Lorna told us to pull out our treats. I felt my pockets....panic set in. "CRAP. Um, excuse me. I seem to have forgotten my treats at home. I'm really sorry." She let out a big sigh and said "People we MUST remember our treats each week. My fridge isn't a vending machine." I was like "omg I feel like I need to be sent to the corner!" Sandra giggled and shook her finger at me.

Linda brought me a piece of string cheese to use, which Tucker has never had, and wasn't too thrilled with, but it worked.

On the upside, Tucker did awesome! Yes, he got distracted by some of the chaos, but anytime I'd say "Tucker, watch me" he'd look up at me and sit down. He did great picking up the different things we worked on, like sit & stay (for a 5 count). He did great on it all except for "heel" and that's becaues there was a Golden Retriever pup following us and Tucker really wanted to stop, let him catch up and then play with him. LOL

We have to miss next week because my son has a school concert (Linda gave me another sigh when I told her that LOL). I have the information on what they will be working on and she showed me them quickly, so I'll start teaching those to Tucker when the class would have covered those.

The downside to it all was I think the excitement, newness, and the cheese got to Tucker, because we barely went a few blocks into our drive home and puked in the car. He looked up at me as if to say he was sorry. I looked at him and said "Go ahead Lorna, let's see you roar in his face now."

Do You See It?

Recently Molly got some gum or something in her ear...which is wierd since we don't ever have any gum in the house. Anyhow, I couldn't get it out, so her ears had to be cut shorter than they'd normally be. Now that it's been done, is it just me, or do you see a resemblence in Molly to Carol Channing?

Project 365 ~ Week 15

I'm a little late today putting my pictures up. It's been such a crazy busy weekend that I just didn't have time to upload my pics until now. Anywhoooooo....here we go with Week 15:

Sunday 4-5

We had a nasty snowstorm rip through the state. Our county was among the hardest hit (lucky us). We received 10" of snow and we were all like "Are you kidding me? It's April!!" Thankfully, within a few days it was all melted.

Monday 4-6

Austin's car was still on our farm, buried in all the snow from the storm, so we gave him a ride to school. Gabby went with me after school to pick him up.

Tuesday 4-7

"Spa Day". Haircuts, baths, blow drys & brushing. As you can tell, Gabby is less than thrilled with it all. LOL

Wednesday 4-8

It was a beautiful day out, so Jay had me drop him & Austin off at a golf course in a nearby town while I got groceries and ran a few other errands. Sorry this picture is dark, but it was almost sunset by the time they were done, and it was at that moment I realized I didn't have my picture for the day. Austin tried to walk quickly out of view, but ha-ha...all this photo practice means I've gotten quick!

Thursday 4-9

Vet trip for Tucker who needed his shots updated and for Gabby who had a "gunky" ear, which I found during "Spa Day". Turned out she had an infection, so after a weeks worth of ear drops, she should be good to go.

Friday 4-10

Ringo scared the daylights out of me around suppertime. He was laid out flat on his bed and honestly appeared to be near death and his gums were solid white. I ran him to the Vet ER clinic and after a short time, he perked up. Not sure what happened, but they think that his heart rate dipped causing him to pass out (as can happen in elderly people) and since he is almost 11, it possibly could be what happened. Thankfully he is fine though now. This picture was on our way home.

Saturday 4-11

I ended up making fruit and veggie baskets to take for a family gathering for Easter. Today I went to the store and bought the baskets and other decorative items, and then I headed to the grocery store to get all the food. Then I spent the next 3 hours prepping everything (cutting all the veggies, pulling apart all the grapes, etc), so that on Sunday I could put it all together right before we left. Whewwwww....what an exhausting job! A lot more work than I thought they'd be. I'll have a picture of the baskets for next weeks 365. :)

There you have it. Another week done. Head on over to Sara's through the link in the sidebar and check out all the other great 365 pictures!

Only A Mom

Top 5 things that only a mom will do:


5. Lovingly hold back her childs hair when the child is getting sick in the middle of the night, no matter how little sleep she's had.


4. Give up precious sleeping room to allow her child to climb into bed after the child has a bad dream, and never once complaning about the ice cold toes now in the middle of your back.


3. Say "he/she doesn't deserve someone as great as you" when the childs heart is broken by a first crush, and pretending you don't have the urge to bop said boy/girl on the head for hurting your child.


2. Smile and calmly say "You're doing great" as her child learns to drive the family car, while hiding the fact that you have a death grip on the door handle.





And the #1 thing that only a mom will do:


Willingly drive 50 minutes one way to take pictures of her "Grand-dog" graduating from dog obedience classes, because her daughters boyfriend was supposed to do it, but had to work at the last minute (yea, likely story), and her daughter was so sad and disappointed because now she'd be the ONLY one there with no one to take pictures of her and "Anna".







Yep, only a mom.

Project 365 - Week 10

Another week has gone by - wow do they seem to be going fast!

3-1

Sunday is always my day off from cooking. It's either "fend for yourself night" or ... Pizza!

3-2

The team Jay coaches played in the state tournaments. Sadly they lost by 2 points, but what an exciting game!

3-3

A beautiful sunshine filled day. I headed into the big city and did some shopping and other errands.

3-4

Bath day. As you can tell, Ringo just LOVES bath day. ha!

3-5

Finally! A warmer Spring-like day. Even the farm cats enjoyed the sunshine!

3-6

All the teams that play in the state tournaments are introduced as they walk onto the court, parade style during the final game of the night. We went down to arena and cheered on the team Jay helps coach as they marched across.

3-7

My nephew Jacob played in a basketball tournament at our local elementary school today and we went to watch and cheer him on.


Be sure to click on the link in the side bar to check out all the 365 participants at Sara's.

Gabby's Adventures

Gabby has been a stinker lately. I don't know what her problem is, but if there is something she can get into...she will. On these nice days, we've left the back door open so the dogs can go in and out through the doggie door. We have free-standing baby gates to block the dogs from the rest of the sunroom which is the room they go through to go outside. All of the dogs could jump over the gate, but they all respect the boundaries - all except Gabby. She constantly jumps over and runs around trying to find something she can get into. When she hears us coming, she jumps right back, which proves she knows she shouldn't be doing that.

One day last week it was cold and we had rain/freezing rain on and off most of the day. It was one of those days when you just feel chilled all day long, and nothing I did warmed me up. So, after lunch I decided to hop in our hot tub. Its on the other side of the baby gates and it's so sweet the way the dogs sit there watching us when we are in there. When I was done I put on my robe and headed to the bedroom to get changed. After that I'd go back and put the lid on the tub, close the windows, etc...which is what we always do.

After I got dressed I headed back out, and there was Gabby on this side of the fence and she was soaked. She was literally dripping wet. I quickly shut the door to the outside since I figured it must be raining really hard....but it was then that I noticed it wasn't raining at all. I looked around and saw that the steps beside the hot tub were very wet and had wet little puddles on them. That's when I realized that Gabby had fallen in the tub!

OMG I laughed soooooo hard! LOL

She must have jumped the fence, ran around, got up on the steps and decided to jump up on the edge of the tub to see what was up there. Problem is, the edge is narrow. The edge is rounded, and most importantly the edge is slippery when wet. Whoops! In she went.

Can you imagine what she had to be thinking? LOL

Thankfully she was totally fine, other than being soaked to the bone. She was wagging her tail and prancing around so it didn't even seem to faze her. I was hoping that maybe this will teach her that boundaries are there for a reason.

Nah...not Gabby. LOL

What I Don't Like About Melting Snow...

Tucker Wants To Call 911

Yesterday I tried a new work-out tape. Actually, it's one I had gotten over a year ago and had never tried it before.

I planned to do a different tape, but it has sections so that you can design your own workout. That would have been fine except the DVD player in the living room has been missing its remote for about a year now so all you can do is put the tape in and push play. That doesn't work for that dvd. Our other player that does have a remote is out in the sunroom, but Jay was meeting with a farm insurance man out there and I was pretty sure they didn't need the distraction of me huffing, puffing, grunting and groaning while they were discussing business. Plus, I'm sure the sight of me in my oh so sex-ay baggy t-shirt and sweatpants would have been equally as distracting.

Sooooo....that's how I ended up opening this old/new tape.

I used to love to do step aerobics, which is why I originally ordered the tape, along with another one. However, that was before I turned 40, had sagging body parts, and the need for a very supportive bra, and I have learned that time and age plays dirty tricks with your body and my knees can no longer handle doing the stepping up onto the, well, step. I pay for it dearly the next day by not being able to walk. I adapted the routines so that I do all the same moves, but I just do them on the floor with no step. It's still a good workout.

This one said it was for intermediate steppers. I've done step routines before. I can do this.

No I can't.

From the get-go, Tucker laid on his bed cocking his head from side to side as he watched me fumble my way through these supposed "intermediate", yet intricate steps. I was breathing heaving reminding myself what a good workout I was getting when the instructor said the most horrible words:

"Ok, we're almost done with our warm-up"

warm-up?????

I'm dyin' here lady!

This is when I became convinced I received the wrong tape. Because there was no way these could be thought of as "intermediate" moves. I was in my living room, but I was so lost that I wasn't even sure where I really was. Does that make sense? No? Neither did what she was saying!

"Ok Corner Up"

"Alrighty Lets Go 'Round The World"

"Kick & Reach" (I understood that one, just couldn't get coordinated to do it)

"Mambo step with a lyndy"

and it went on and on and on for-eeeeeeeeever.

It got so ridiculous that I must have looked like I was having an out of body experience, because Tucker came running over jumping up on me.

Great....he thinks I'm trying to play. How do I explain it to him? "No Tucker. Mommy can't play. Mommy is trying to kill herself slowly. Now be a good doggie and go chew on your bone".

He wasn't convinced. He sat watching me with his head cocked again and then started barking. I'm pretty sure he was saying "Somebody better call 911 before she dies! Who will buy us our raw bones if she's gone?"

I lasted 30 of the 60 minutes with that brutal tribal dance that was posed as step aerobics.

Then it was time for the stretching.

I was face down on the floor and Tucker was delighted. He licked my face and jumped on my back.

"No Tucker. Down."

Then we rolled onto our backs. 'Grab your knees as you curl into a ball'.

"No Tucker. Stop sniffin' mama's hiney."

'Straighten Your legs out one at a time'.

"No Tucker. I don't want you biting my toes."

It was so much fun (insert eye rolling here).

I have decided to make sure that Tucker is crated from now on anytime I do any exercising. Unless I come to my senses and give up all this healthy nonsense by then.

Gabriella

This past Saturday was Gabriella's 8th birthday. Gabby is our tender-hearted little bichon. She believes everyone in the world loves her and she is very sensitive to people and their emotions.

I always make some kind of special treat for the dogs to enjoy. After that the birthday dog gets a couple of presents, which consists of a new collar and then they get a couple of new toys. Gabby carries small toys around in her mouth all the time...like security blankets. When she is crated, she will whimper and whine unless she has at least one of her toys in with her. When she had to have surgery and stay at the vet hospital I took one of her toys along and the vet laughed when I said said it would make things much easier if they let her have it, but later she admitted I was right. She had never seen a dog so attached to a toy.

So here is Gabby's new collar for this year (isn't it cute? I love black and pink together), and her new toys:

They replace the old ones where she has killed the squeakers in them and dismembered them.

She really does love her toys and carries them everywhere, as this picture from a year ago shows! Right now, her new black and white cow is her favorite to carry everywhere.

For the treats, I made "Blueberry Birthday Pupcakes" which are cupcakes for dogs.

which is a recipe I got from this cookbook:


I really like this book because the recipes are all super easy. For example, for these pupcakes all you do is mix together a few simple ingredients, bake, cool & frost with cream cheese. So simple! And the dogs LOVED them. I froze the extra unfrosted pupcakes for future treats, which I know they'll enjoy.

Is it silly I do this for our dogs? Most definitely!

Am I sorry I do it? No way.

It's fun and they love the extra attention. Besides, it's much cheaper to spoil them than it is for me to consider having another child! ha!

Am I the only crazy one that does something for her pets...or are there more out there like me?

Project 365 - Week 7

Week 7!

Click on the Logo in the sidebar to visit Sara and to see all the project 365 participants. Join in the fun while you're there.

2/8

Both my girls came home from college for the day. It was fun and it made my heart smile.

2/9

I picked up my new glasses today. Think they look the same as my old ones? That's because they are. I actually only got new lenses. I don't like wearing glasses, but my eyes are too dry for contacts, so I wear frameless glasses, which is the closest I can get to going with out.

2/10

Champ, our beloved 23 yr old horse died today. He is Ashley's horse and she came home from college to say a final good-bye to her friend before he was buried out behind our barn. He was a very sweet horse and we will miss him very much.

2/11

A friend of our let us use his tickets so that we could go to an Iowa State mens basketball game. I haven't been to one in ages, so it was fun to see all the renovations and updates. ISU clobbered the other team, but it was still fun to be there....and yes, we were in the nosebleed section. LOL

2/12

Another nice day outside. The snow drifts have finally gone down enough around all the fences so the dogs can run off leash again. Tucker couldn't have been happier...this little guy LOVES to run and run and run!

2/13

My Valentine gift to Jay and Austin was that I took them to the movies and let them decide what we saw. We had to go tonight, because we'll be at a high school game tomorrow night. I prayed the entire way that they wouldn't choose Friday The 13th. Thankfully they didn't.

2/14

Today is our little Gabriella's 8th birthday. I made a recipe called "Blueberry Pupcakes", which are made with regular ingredients combined with kibble. The dogs each got one and then Gabby got some new toys to replace the ones that are missing heads, legs, tails or at the very least their squeakers.

So that was our week! I can't wait to head on over and check out the links for all the other weeks full of fun.