My Halloween Pups

Just some cute pics...more to come soon.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Well we are in Wisconsin and let me tell you it is cold. There is about 2 feet of snow or more and it is still coming down. I almost forgot...it is -6 (without the windchill) I will post pictures soon. The dogs are doing well but we had to buy socks for their feet because it was to cold for them and we have jackets for them. It is very funny walking them outside.

My little volunteer

The week before Thanksgiving I started taking Buddie to the Enterprise Health and Rehab Center here in town. I had called the week before to find out if they allowed animals to come in and interact with the residents and they said YES! So our first trip there was kind of short but fun. We didn't go again until the week after Thanksgiving and have gone 3 times since then. Each trip ends up being about an hour. Buddie loves all of the attention and does so well with the residents. He will put his paws up on their laps or on the sides of their wheelchairs if they can't reach him and then when he is done he gets down and starts going to the next place. He is really beginning to know his way around the building and always gets excited when I pull into the parking lot. A lot of the people that we see are starting to remember him and even the employees love seeing him when he comes in and just think that he is so cute and fluffy.

There is one lady named Mable that just adores Buddie. She is one of the residents and the first time she saw Buddie we were on our way out to the car and she asked me if I would bring him by her room the next time I came. I told her that I would and let me tell you, when Buddie walked into her room last Friday she just lit up. She looked at me and said, 'I just knew you weren't lying to me, I just knew you would come back to see me.' She held Buddie and took pictures with him.

I knew that Buddie visiting would be a great experience but it has also made me think. How many times has somebody said to one of those residents that they would be back to see them and never came? How long has that person waited and waited just to be disappointed? By me simply following through on a simple request I was able to change that woman's life in a small way. There are 7 halls in the facility, all filled with rooms, sometimes with 2 people to a room. How many of them don't have visitors or don't have any family? To many times we as human beings don't realize how lucky we are to have the families that we have, the friends that we have, or the generally healthy lives that we have. What would it look like if for one day a month you would volunteer an hour of your time to read a book or play chess with somebody at a nursing home? What if we gave one hour of our time to volunteer at an Animal Shelter or Children's Hospital?

I am not saying all of this because it is the holidays and the season of giving. I think that it is important to help out those families in need during the holidays but I don't think it should stop there. People need support, help, cheering up, whatever you want to call it, all year round. Some of you may be saying, 'I don't have the money to donate or money to buy food to feed other people besides my family.' That is okay, help out at a soup kitchen, help with Special Olympics, volunteer your time somewhere that needs help. Take your kids with you! Volunteering helps kids learn compassion, responsibility, integrity, understanding, selflessness, and the list could go on. Don't be afraid for your kids, if they meet somebody who is different from them use it as a teaching tool and help them learn.

Don't make excuses as to why you can't. What if your parents or grandparents were there? What if your child was in a hospital for a long period of time? Doctors, nurses, and other employees are great but volunteers are there for that extra touch of home and heart. Please think about it, your life can't be so busy that you can't take an hour and give it to somebody else and if it is...slow down.

In the last 16 days...

...Buddie graduated from puppy classes with honors on the 15th!
...we have celebrated Randy's 32nd Birthday on the 15th.
...celebrated our friends son Dylan's birthday on the 16th.
...I decorated for Christmas on the 18th.
...On the 19th Buddie took his first trip as a therapy dog to the nursing home in town and loved it! (I tagged along)
...my friend Elizabeth (roommate from Ft Hood), her daughter Sami, and my new friend Michelle visited from the 20th-23rd. I miss her and we had so much fun!
...I got really sick from the 21st-26th...ughhh. I even had to go to the ER because my heart did not like the meds they put me on, I am okay though, just a very high heart rate for a few days. I think Baylee knew I wasn't feeling well the day I went to the ER, she just kept laying on me and sitting on my lap, I guess I should have paid closer attention to what she was doing since she usually only sits on Randy's lap.
...I made a Thanksgiving feast for 2, turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing from a box, corn, rolls, pumpkin pie for Randy, and Chocolate pie for me.
...We saw a couple of movies; Twilight and Bolt (The hamster was hilarious!)
...We got Phoebee a cat climber thingy on Black Friday and some new dog toys, somehow they are destroying their old ones.
...We bought some new video games and played video games all weekend, so much fun!
...I groomed Buddie yesterday and Randy went skeet shooting for the first time.
...Buddie went for his 2nd trip to the nursing home today, the 1st of December. He loves the attention and is so good for everybody when they pet him. He isn't scared of anything and makes the residents smile, even if they don't want to pet him. I think we will be doing this for a long time. He even had one personal request for next time from a sweet lady named Maybel.
...We did the same stuff we normally do also; Randy worked, I cleaned, we talked to our friends and family, and we played with our animals.

We wish you all a wonderful Holiday season! Happy December 1st! I get to open my advent calendar today and eat the chocolate out of it!

What would you do?

Now, I know that we just elected our first african american president, had an unprecedented amount of voters turn out, and are on the cusp of some of the most challenging times in US history but what everybody seems to want to know is...what kind of dog will our President Elect Obama be getting for his adventure in the white house!

Personally, I think we should not be so worried about what dog they are going to get. I think that those 2 girls whose lives are about to be turned upside down for the next 4 years at least should get to chose a dog that they want without animal rights activists making the whole situation into something more than it is. It is not about Obama's stance on animal shelters and thier inhabitants it is about almost every childs dream to get to pick out there first puppy/cat/bird/guinea pig/etc. There is even a polls (yes plural...not just one) out there about what dog they should pick.
Elect Obamas Dog Poll 1
Elect Obams Dog Poll 2

I had told my dad what I was feeling about all this dog business and I said that what they needed was a shichon. They are still a 'mutt' technically, they don't shed, they are hypo-allergenic, very friendly, playful, smart, and very cute. Then my dad asked me, 'Well, what would you do if Michell O. called and told you that she had heard you had a great dog that they think would be perfect for them and wanted to buy Buddie from you.' I did not know what to say, I think he would be a perfect white house dog but I don't think I could give him up. I told my dad that I would have to have unlimited visitation rights on their dime or maybe just live in the white house as Buddie's care taker. ;-) I asked Randy the same question and he said 'H!$* no, Buddie is my dog! I would be the person who turned down the president!'

So, what do you think? Would you give your animal (of any species) to the president if he asked? And who is saying that the Obama's only have to get one dog...personally I think there is enough room and help in the white house for more than one animal but what do I know, these are the important issues that our President Elect needs to worry about!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everybody! We are all doing well and enjoying the Fall here in Alabama. We have gone through a corn maze and Randy picked out his very own pumpkin. This blog entry has a lot of pictures...so hang in there.

It was his first time ever carving a pumpkin! He did a great job!

I then tried to take some Halloween pictures. Which as you will see, were a little more difficult than I anticipated.

We also went to a Howl-o-ween party at Petsmart last week. The dogs got treats, had a parade, and had a costume contest. They did not win but I think they were great

Last Saturday, Buddie, Baylee, and I went to a fundraiser for one of the animal shelters here in Enterprise. They had some contests and both dogs got lots of ribbons. Buddie got first place for best trick in the small mutt category! What a performer! Baylee got first place in the tiny mutt catergory for jumping! She jumped over one of those white pvc pipes they use in agility competitions (it was about 4 inches off the ground) but we are so very proud of her. Buddie also got 1st place for: Shortest small Mutt and Hairiest small Mutt. Baylee also got 1st place for: Shortest tiny Mutt

Last but not least, the pictures from Halloween night. They were so good even with the doorbell ringing. They didn't even try to dart out the door. I do have to say that their costumes were better than some of the ones that I saw come to my door. Also, I think that My animals must have been possessed last night, their eyes were glowing in almost every picture!

We hope you all enjoyed the pictures and catching up on what has been going on in our lives over the past few weeks. Have a wonderful holiday season!

Happy Birthday Buddie!

Happy 1st Birthday Buddie! Well, I can't believe it, our little Buddie is now 1 year old. He is such a sweet sweet boy and so very smart. He is over half way through his puppy training classes and he is definitely the valedictorian. What can I say, he takes after his mom...and his papa. (Which when I tell him and Baylee that Papa is home, they both come running, even Phoebee is starting to follow along!) Well, here is Buddie in his birthday crown.

Happy 1st Birthday to Me!!!

Sticking my tongue out
Another picture mom?

It is not Halloween yet

I tried to tell my dogs that it was not Halloween yet but they did not listen to me or apparently don't really care what holiday it is or isn't...and did their very best to dye themselves orange Phoebee on the other hand is already orange and is ready for any holiday that includes the color orange.






Phoebee is doing great and getting along with the dogs most of the time. Baylee is still overly excited every time she sees Phoebee but it may go away or it may not but at least they are not biting her and she is not hissing at them ...well maybe a few times. We even had thunder and lightning today and she didn't even get spooked! I am still very optimistic for a long term friendship!

Big dog in a little shirt

As many of you know Buddie has grown a lot since we got him last January. The most famous picture of him is the one of him in his aloha shirt. Now it never covered his whole body but it did fit. The other night I bought Baylee a cute litte dress and decided to put Buddie's shirt on him to see how it fit. Well, here is the result:
Before:

After:


Randy and I got a good laugh out of how his shirt fit but he is still oh so cute! Now for Baylee in her sweet litte summer dress. She heard that the nautical theme was in this season. She wasn't sure about the whole situation at first but then she started prancing around like the princess that she is. (Well, she pranced around until Buddie started trying to bite at the ruffles.)
I am going to dress up as Paris Hilton's dog for Halloween.

From Luau's to Peanut Festivals

Well we have been in Alabama for about a month and a half now and I have to say...there is not much to do here. The surrounding areas have grown a lot but it is mostly stores they have put in and I haven't been doing to much shopping lately. I even mowed the lawn tonight, who knows, maybe I will take up gardening/yard work...uh who am I kidding. We are loving our house and enjoying being able to drive around instead of just driving in circles or running into the ocean. :-) We went to Panama City, FL last weekend and just relaxed. We rode go-karts, went to a water park, played miniature golf, and went to a brand new movie theatre. I even got to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings!!! (If you don't know, I love chicken wings and they have my favorite sauce...mango habanero!) The dogs got to go to doggie day care and had a blast. Even little Baylee played in the big room with the big dogs. On a side note, she had her last booster shot today for Parvo and they weighed her and she is a whoping 7.3 pounds! She was 3.14 pounds when we got her. She still isn't very big but she is definitely growing. She has lost about 7 teeth in the past week! Buddie is doing well and enjoying having a friend around all the time, you would think he doesn't get enough attention from us every day. He has also started a new behavior, it is like that of a lion. He will crouch down and walk really slowly towards Baylee and then run and pounce on her. Or he will lay on the ground and crawl towards her and then run and pounce on her. They are very silly!

Oh yeah, as for the title of this blog. For those of you who do not know...Alabama is the peanut capitol. They have peanut festivals and everything. What a change from beautiful luau's to painted peanut statues and boiled peanuts (still haven't tried them.)

How is this the same dog

I was looking at pictures of Buddie this morning and realized that he looks nothing like he did when we got him. He is a totally different dog, I think my parents switched him out when he came to Seattle. :-) He is still so cute and has become a very cuddly dog now that we have air conditioning and he doesn't get so hot...and probably because he was neutered.

3 months old...

10 months old...