CHASING MY TAIL

Hang on..... this post is going to be all over the place!!! I have a lot of catching up to do!!

I cannot believe how quickly time has gone by since I last posted. I have attempted to sit down almost everyday, but I do not get to sit down too long before I have to retrieve something from the mouth of a puppy. The puppies have adjusted to home life rather well. They seem 1000% comfortable and right at home pulling things off tables and shelves and destroying cat toys (which I have discovered are filled with sawdust). I know I am in trouble when the house is quiet.

My status on my Facebook page says, "I don't know if my house looks more like a kennel or a girl's soccer locker room." That could not be any truer.

#3 tried out for the middle school soccer team last week and made it. She is still on her travel club soccer team. Both are in full swing right now. She has two practices back to back most school says. She has one game at school during the week and then we have all of the games and traveling to look forward to on the weekends. I have soccer laundry stacked up all over the laundry room and the overflow ends up on my bed. ( Note to self: Never ever own another house whose laundry room is situated directly beside the master bedroom. It sounded so convenient before we built our house, but I am so tired of my bedroom not looking like the "retreat" it is supposed to be. It is usually the folding room and most days I have stacks of laundry on my bed and floor. )

#3 leaves for school at 7:10 in the morning and doesn't get home until 8:15 at night. She is one tired puppy girl right now. I leave to go pick her up from her school practice at 4:30 and depending on where her club practice is, we head straight to the carpool meeting spot and sit and do homework. Before she tried out I made sure she was fully aware of what her schedule would be and just how tiring it was going to be. So she knew what she was getting into. #1 and #2 had schedules similar to this while they were playing soccer and cheering in high school (and all over the south) so it is not new to me or our family. At night, I am going to have to sit beside her during homework time everynight to keep her on task and keep her organized and we take advantage of every minute we can for studying. I call out review questions almost everywhere we go.

My kitchen has two crates in it plus a small pen. For someone who cannot stand clutter, this might just be the thing that sends me over the edge.

Bubbles loves the crate idea!

When I am doing other things (like soccer laundry) I put Charlie and Lola in the playpen with toys and their beds so that I know where they are. I tried keeping them with me and getting things done around the house, but that didn't work.

Charlie looking for some kind of trouble to get into...

while innocent Lola is taking a rest!

Until they are completely housebroken, I won't let them wander freely. Right now we are taking them outside every 30 minutes (regardless) when we are home and they stay in their crates when I have to leave. They go to bed around 11:00 (crated) and then get up around 6:00. They only whimpered the first night, thank goodness. We won't let them sleep at night until bedtime so now I think by the time we actually crate them they are so looking forward to some sleep they don't even care where they are. HA!

So far everything is working out and they are good puppies. It has just added a tons of work to our house, but that is okay. I know they will settle down when they are older. They are picking up on the "potty outside" routine and I can't wait for the day that I can trust them in the house.

The Man of the House and I are planning a little trip to Napa. We just decided that we wanted to get away. We have had a horrible six months, both loosing our mothers and we just wanted to go and do a little something for ourselves. We are planning on going at the end of March. We are planning our itinerary now, so if you have ever been and have any suggestions please email me. We are going to be there four nights and there are about eight restaurants we want to go to, so we are having trouble with that decision too.

There are a couple of other things that I wanted to mentioned but I will do it in more depth later. Yesterday, it was one month since my mother passed away. The " sick mom" is fading from my memory and my "real mom" is what I am starting to picture when I think of her. It is becoming harder for me now because of that. I wasn't emotional before because I was so thankful that my "sick mom" was no longer suffering, but now I am just missing her and being reminded of her in my everyday life and routine. My heart is a little heavier since my focus on her is changing. I knew this would happen.

Also, yesterday was #2's birthday. It was a little bit of a let down for her. It is her first year in college and think the vision of what it would be was a little different than how it turned out. I went and took her to lunch (along with #1), and took her flowers so I am glad that she at least got to do that. She had sorority meetings last night until 8:30 (or maybe it was later) so she couldn't come home for dinner and presents. Everyone was a little busy with their own schedule and she spent a lot of the day alone, which I know was a let down. That is a hard thing to do when you are 19. It is not about presents from people, you know it is the little things that make you feel good. I don't think she had too high of expectations in a spoiled way, she has done things for others many times. It was just sad to be the mom at home hearing that she was a little sad on her day. All I want for her and my other girls is to be surrounded by people that love them, protect them and support them.

I am headed to spin class and already running late, so I hope there are not a ton of mistakes

in what I have written. (It wouldn't be the first time!!) I will have to come back a clean it up while I am recovering form the torture I am getting ready to go through!

BUSY PUPPIES

I knew the puppies were going to keep us busy, but I did underestimate the amount of time

it would require. I am not really liking walking them out into the wooded area behind our house every thirty minutes. Especially this afternoon, we are expecting a cold heavy rain, maybe snow showers too. I might have to go buy them raincoats and booties. That sounds better than cleaning their feet and drying them off everytime we come in. They are doing very well with their training. We are keeping them on a strict food/water/potty routine and that really helps them and us know when to take them out and helps with the organization of the day. They already know as soon as we say "let's go potty", they head straight to the door. When they are finished, we tell them "inside" and they scoot up the stairs and sit by the door. We were told the were very smart dogs and would be easy to train, so far so good.

They are sleeping in crates in our kitchen. The first two nights they whined the first thirty minutes and then slept the rest of the night until 6AM. Last night they didn't whine at all!

They went straight into their crates and went to sleep.

Thank goodness.

We have named them.......

Charlie and Lola.

The names just fit them.

They could have been named, "Clown 1" and "Clown 2".

They are quite goofy.

Mr. Bubbles is keeping his distant. Each day he is coming closer and closer.

Charlie is the only one that has noticed him and has tried to get closer.

Mr. Bubbles isn't ready for that and we are letting him do it all on his time and keeping his spaces dog free.

He wants me to take the sign down!

Sweet little Charlie already knows, "sit", "down" and "over".

He is a chow hound and he knows a little treat is involved in learning tricks,

so he is a good student.

They went to the vet yesterday for shots and a check up.

We took them during their regular "nap time" and it was so funny because they could barely

keep their eyes opened and would just flop over when you picked them up.

So it is going to be another busy day here in Doodlesville.

#3 is home on Winter Break so it is nice to have some help

and hopefully we will get out of the house to do some girl things!

I think we are going to get our nails clipped ..... I mean get pedicures!

PUPPY LUV

It's too late to turn back now

I believe, I believe, I believe

I'm fallin in love.

Do you know that song?

Well, the pick up went well.

I was expecting a little more process and drama,

but everything went smoothly.

The puppies arrived safe and sound and their flight was on time.

I was a little worried that the weather up north was going

to cause some delays or cancelations.

So did you pick up on that??

"PUPPIES"

-as in plural-

-as in more than one-

!

The man of the house is officially crazy.

He came home the other day with a big grin on his face.

He couldn't resist either of the two puppies we were choosing between,

so he got them both.

He told me on Tuesday.

I went to see my attorney on Wednesday.

Ha!

Let me go ahead and apologize, there are a lot of pictures now

and I can only imagine that there will be a lot more to come.

DOODLE SHOPPING

"So which Doodle are we getting mom?"

AND THE CUPBOARDS WERE BEAR

We woke up to it snowing today.

It may snow all morning, but it is not expected to stick to the roads or cause too many problems. There is still school, but it is filled with many unhappy bitter kids , #3 included. I bet there is not a lot of learning going on. Here in the middle of NC, some winters we do not see one single flake of snow. Some winters we do.

We have had three snowfalls this winter and that is unusual.

The first snowfall happened when it was bitterly cold outside and it stuck and froze on the roads for several days. We ended up with about 8 inches.

We are not equipped to handle that here and it causes a lot of

(unnecessary) excitement.

It is funny to see everything come to a screeching halt and folks stock up like it is the Armageddon.

We were eating out when it started snowing (surprise-surprise) and on the way home we stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few things.

We were too late, kind of out of luck.

#3 wasn't worried about our food situation.

She was so excited, she broke out into a little Snow Dance

in the middle of one of the isles.

********************

Tomorrow is the BIG day!!

Tomorrow afternoon we will be adding to our family.

I've got to run a few errands today and load up on cute doggie stuff (and then hide it).

I cannot wait to see #3's face when she sees her.

She knows we are getting a dog, but she thinks it won't be for a few weeks.

#1 and #2 already know that it is tomorrow.

We bought her from a breeder in another state and she is being flown here.

It isn't too far away, and the whole process will only take about five hours.

I was so against it at first and really upset about the shipping of puppies, but we looked into driving to get her or even flying there and carrying her back as carry on, but it just wasn't going to work.

I will be so nervous tomorrow afternoon.

The flight she is taking is one especially for pet cargo and she is being "escorted", traveling in a heated area of the plane and hand carried to an office, so I am feeling better about the whole process.

I am losing sleep about the $$$ though.

The things we do for love!!! HA!

I hope to put some pictures up tomorrow night!

Can't wait.