Button and Pups

Button and Patch had pups!
Two healthy boys and 1 stillborn.
However, Button went prolapse after birth.
This means she kept pushing and pushed her uterus out of her body.

Thursday she gave birth, Thursday night she was in emergency surgery.
Also, Thursday night hubs and I spent the entire night hand feeding, keeping warm and praying for our lovely little lady still at the vet's.

Friday morning we got the call to come to get our girl.
 

She no longer has a belly button but she is home and doing well.
Of course, she had to have her uterus removed so these little boys will be the only pups she ever has.
She'd lost half of her blood and received a blood transfusion.
We are grateful she made it through.

Thankfully her milk didn't dry out during her 14 hours away from the pups.
The boys are healthy and adorable!
Cuddling on top of one another is their absolute favorite thing to do and if you separate them, for any reason, they whine. A lot.

Life has been full here, slightly stressful, very expensive, but full.
Full of joy, full of love, full of hope and full of gratitude that all is well.

PEAP from POTUS

My son G'man was awarded the Presidents Education Awards Program for
Outstanding Academic Achievement!

G'man was over the moon to receive this!
Something signed from the President himself.

After the last year of nasty politics, insults and hate it was eye opening to see such 

simple joy because the PRESIDENT signed it.
Respect and love for the office of his country.

We've gotten to embroiled in the details, the whose doing what that our country seems to have forgotten that we are one country.
We are one people, all wanting similar things.
To live well, to live safely and to grow old with those we love.

Also my adorable cutie really enjoys to pose for the camera!
Button is our lovely little lady.

Meet Button!

  Please welcome Button!

When Button was only two days old a girl in my daughters online Academy class held up a cute brand new puppy!
Long story short, we went to see the puppies!
This photo is from when Button was only 4 days old!

That day she was ours!
Named and paid for!
All we had to do then was wait! and wait and WAIT!
(I hate wait*)

Button came home at 8 weeks old
on the day of our 15th anniversary!
The photo above is her meeting our other pure bred Shih Tzu Patch



This is our darling today!

She is our sunshine!
Her and Patch are FINALLY getting along,
Patch was jealous, annoyed and afraid of the little darling with razor sharp teeth.
I've currently nicknamed her Tiny Teeth of Terror and its more than fitting!

 My life is richer, fuller and more filled today!

So welcome to the family my cute baby Button!



*Favorite quote from The Princess Bride

Early Morning Mountain Walk

Sunday morning  I took our dog (tiny one Patch) and Rocko (HUGE one) for an early morning walk, while the men made breakfast.

There are few ways I'd rather wake up in the morning than a solitary hike through gorgeous terrain.

Very few. 

Maybe only one.

The dogs were well behaved during both our walk and the whole trip. For two dogs that don't spend a lot of time together then being put into a camper for a few nights they were amazing!

Most of the time the sky was a bright blue, the first night we had a light fog roll in over the mountain range, making some of my photos hazy, but it cleared up and stayed clear the rest of the trip.

Glasses not mine, overalls mine

Breakfast Saturday: Pancakes, eggs (fresh from our girls) and sausage.

Then of course I headed back out with my camera to do more exploring, photos and hiking.

More on the wildlife and adventures tomorrow! 

An Eye Full

So today was a full day of running around.

First off I dropped off Patch for his hair and nail cut appointment.

Then I came home (attempted to clean but didn't).

Ran back to pick him up and run him by the house.

At which time I then had to run to the school grab both kids for their first eye visit.

First off I am not a slacker when it comes to getting things checked but I have paid attention to my children and Prissy has always seemed to have great vision.

It wasn't until this year that G'man started complaining about seeing the board at school.

Then he started getting closer and closer to the TV to watch it.

After talking with his teacher I made an appointment for both of them.

No surprise Prissy has 20/20 vision.

G'man is nearsighted,

but he also has astigmatism in his left eye.

Which can cause blurry vision, tired eyes and cause further damage if left to struggle on.

The good thing is that he will only need to wear the glasses at school.

For sports, summer and around the house he will hand them over to me to take care of.

So the above has a photo of the glasses we ordered and will be here shortly.

I have to say that I LOVE our Shopko eye center!

Our Dr. Broadbend was amazing with G'man. 

Talked him through everything, calmed him down about what was going to happen and was amazingly patient!

Patches before and after photo!

He is so cute!

Comfy Fall Days

My kids!
Where do I start?
Watching Doctor Who this weekend - Angles in Manhattan - and my kids yelled at the TV the whole way through!
Don't go in there!
They're behind you!
Don't do it!
Watch out!
Ug!
Why!

Then my daughter - my amazing wonderful talkative girl - she starts having a double conversation with herself concerning a different movie.

"What are you thinking?" "Maybe---" "Nope that was really dumb" "Why would he do something that dumb?"

Last night - my daughter takes a pink rag away from Patch, then she starts pretending to be a matador. After a few minutes of Patch watching the rag and then walking away Prissy looks up at me.
"Mama, why do people fight bulls? Don't they know its stupid?"
I cracked up! Almost spitting my drink across the table.
"Yes honey, they think it makes them both brave and smart."
"So they don't know that they really are just stupid? They are even dumber then I thought!"

Yup my girl! Gotta love it!
 

Fall has arrived!
Cool nights, peaceful days and falling leaves!
Pumpkin spice, cinnamon and vanilla fills the air.
My dog Patch is two years old, he loves pillows!
During the summer when its warm he puts his head onto pillows, his bed or his favorite toy, keeping his belly on the cool floor.
Such a smart dog!

Gund Dog Contest

Pure Puppy Patch!

Vote

Don't you think he is adorable?

Don't you think he would make a plushy you would want to take home?

You can vote once a day from now until Aug. 16th 2012 when judging begins.

Thank you for voting!

I know that I think he is adorable and I would buy him, mainly because I have the live version of this adorable Shih Tzu laying at my feet right now.

Besides being adorable, he is a sweet, loving member of our family.

He is everything his breed is supposed to be!

~~~

Now for a few small facts about Shih Tzu's

They have "Real Hair" making them a wonderful allergy friendly breed.

My daughter is allergic to dogs, cats, weeds, dyes... the list continues

She is fine with Patch. (lvl 5 allergy)

My BFF  has a higher allergy to dogs (8-10)

She has a slight allergy to the oils from his skin 

so if she pets him (which she does frequently) she only has to wash her hands.

Many breed of dogs are said to be "Hypo Allergenic" 

Some because, they don't shed or they are a low dander dog.

I have found the Real Hair breeds to be the BEST hypo allergy dogs you can buy.

That said, we still don't allow him to sleep in her room, get up on her bed and any time she plays with him for to long she must wash.

Compared to her cat allergy these small safety measures make living with our dog easy.

Just walking into a house with cats can trigger her asthma, hives and other assorted nasty things.

Patch turns 2!

First off I am sorry I don't have a recent photo - our clippers died - in the middle of my shaving my dog... lets just say he looks really really funny!

What can I say about my dog?
His name is Patch
He is a pure breed Shih Tzu
This is a good thing as my daughter is allergic to dogs and cats (this breed is a real hair so they are more allergy friendly then most)

How we acquired Patch is the real story. We were in the middle of buying our home - in fact we had put down our bid, and were in the middle of closing.
At the time we had moved out of our mobile home (we had a strange arrangement that if we didn't redo the loan after 3 years we could forfeit the mobile back to the park with no penalties)
and were living in my BFF's basement until the closing was final.
My hubbies best friend, Shayne was engaged (now married) to Sarah, her cousin's dog had had a batch of adorable puppies.
I may be biased but I am fairly sure mine was the cutest of them all - however he was bought (down payment paid) TWICE and both times the people said they could not follow through and pay the rest.
Thus they got to talking sent us a few photos of the cutie - after a few days of deciding we went ahead and made arrangements to buy him once our home closed.

We have been thankful ever since then that this little guy came into our lives! He is the PERFECT fit and my 3rd albeit furry baby!
Today he has been as spoiled as any well loved, pampered house dog can become - in other words its been a perfect day in dog terms.

Gosh Darn it!

I have a confession to make.
I hate darning
Ironically though
I'm good at it.

See first it's there and then its gone!

LittleMan grows up

One moment he's hanging on mama

wanting juice, hugs and mama time

the next

he's laying down chillin' playing video games

Wordless Wednesday 1/4/12

New Basement Living Room

Last year my BFF gave us her old TV console and TV when she and her hubby replaced them with a newer set. We were thrilled to have a TV and console for the kids down stairs - especially second hand that way we wouldn't want to kill them if they broke it!
One year later and my BFF bought new couches! Guess What???

That's right! I got her old (6 yrs and in great condition) couches!

Where we had the TV set and a ton of still unpacked boxes as well as one pink tiny chair and one rocking chair. I cleaned it out and hence the Before photo.
The after is with my new leather couches! Love them!

Now with the couches and the entertainment center & TV I have my BFF's entire old living room set!! We are both happy! She has a new everything downstairs and I have a full set that I didn't have to buy!

The past three days have been filled with unpacking, washing, cleaning, organizing, throwing away and re-storing. As well as a few "Wow! I've been looking for that!" & "Why the heck did we pack that away?"

We attempted to have a friend help us move the furniture but he never returned our calls - so instead of one easy trip back and forth we did three trips - I'm blessed with a friend that will watch my kids even when she has wet carpet!

This Christmas season has been remarkable! My hubby has spoiled me rotten and I am positive our kids are going to be in heaven on Christmas Day!

Even my doggie has a full stocking and a few wrapped presents (I added doggie bacon treats to prompt him to unwrap them himself) he is like another member of the family!

Collars and Fun

My fur baby!

A few days ago he got scratched by a cat (or skunk or raccoon) 

Since it was on his face and he won't stop scratching it.

He now has the inflatable collar!

On the plus side 

while my fur baby HATES the rain and will do anything to avoid it 

he LOVES the snow!

Even with his collar he still managed to bunny jump through the snow!

 

Loving my new camera!

I spent the day making homemade applesauce from my fathers homegrown apples!

For the recipe and photos click here.

Dogs and Dragons!

I bought this set of dragon fly mirrors the other day at Target

My BFF helped me add them to my wall!

They are tiny mirrors and they look amazing!

Also my doggies before and after shots!

Swamp cooler day two

Guess which one is new?

Yup Patch is the cutest and sweetest dog ever!

That's right! My man reads directions!

Would have been fixed up tonight but one piece was the wrong size so we will try again

soon?

Mean while two new posts on my food blog chronicling my journey to a healthier me!

The Dog Door

Last winter we bought a dog door

After choosing to add it to the screen door, we also decided to wait for warmer non winter whether to install it.

Here's what to do: Buy a pet door

(yes our is from Pet Safe, no I don't get paid for this)

Tape the cutting guide onto the spot

MAKE sure this is WHERE you want it.

Make sure you dog can get through it, at the height you want to cut & that its big or small enough for that dog.

Have tape on hand as you cut so you can retape behind you as needed.*

*Not kidding

 

Our tool of choice was the Rotor Zip

(again I am not a paid reviewer and I get nothing from this)

This was the first tool I bought my husband - even before we were married.

Its lasted 10 years and is still going strong.

30 minutes from start to finish and all I still have to do is sweep the saw dust

and train the dog to go through the door of course.

Oh and besides getting a new door 

Patch also got his hair cut!

See his upside down heart? 

Cute right!

Patch and Towels!

Today my dog turns 1!

Here is the very first post - back when he was much littler!

He is now a full member of this family!

Craziness and all!

Today is also Towel Day!

I am so Proud that my doggie was born on this day that he is even getting his own towel later - we need a pay day first!

I have to say that I love the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy.

I did a post way back when check it out.

My favorite book from the series is The Restaurant at the End of the Universe!

Now off to work more on the Shed - will blog later!

More rain photos

A bit of fun on a rainy day!

Today I am going to have a bit of fun with my dog Patch.

Why?

Because its still raining!

This is my dog

He is a pure breed Shih Tzu

He also looks like a Ewok

No seriously to me he really does!

See!

If my dog walked upright and wore a hood they would almost be the same!

Garden day one!

To keep this simple I am going to show the process in pictures only.

More than half our items are in and planted the rest will go in the next few days!