Going, Going . . .

Since our last BIG snow, we have had our own personal luge course for well over a week !  We carved it out ourselves.  (It's actually the path we made on the deck from the house to the yard for potty and play time.)  As it's snowed, iced, rained, and repeated that process a few times for the last two weeks, we had ourselves a pretty slick run!

It started out like this . . . 

At the end of the path was a HUGE pile of snow that covered the steps to the deck.  Hunter is NOT a fan of leaping over the steps, especially when he can't see them!  At one point Mommy was calling our path a runway.  We would head outside in order of our adoption (total coincidence) and move towards the steps of the deck.  Not liking his necessary next move, Hunter would stop at the end of the deck and we'd have no choice but to stand behind him as we waited.  Our path only had space for one body at a time.  We looked like planes lined up on a runway waiting for takeoff.  Jenna grew impatient and finally detoured around Hunter.  Being the polite Southern girl I am, I waited behind him and provided encouraging barks.

There aren't any pictures of us lined up (I know!  Can you believe Mommy failed to take them??), 

but this is the progression from our runway to our luge.  

The more we used the path, the smoother it became.  We actually had to step UP onto the path when we stepped out of our house because of all the snow on the deck.  That step became quite dangerous as time wore on, growing slicker and slicker.  Hunter had to stand back away from the door to let Mommy know he wanted to come in; if he stood right at the door, he had the potential to fall and run smack into the door!  The entire path became one big sheet of ice the more our paws traveled over it.  Those steps Hunter dislikes didn't become any easier for him, just slicker!

So as we say goodbye to the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia, we're doing the same to our personal luge.  A few days of temperatures in the 40's and 50's, as well as some rain, has finally started to cause meltage!  It's a slow process when you have that much snow.  There are even a few places in the yard where the grass is trying to peep through . . . it's still brown, but that's a minor technicality.

I wonder what kind of weather March will bring us?
Dixie

PS: In case you were wondering, yes, we have a cover for the grill, but for some reason failed to put it on before winter hit this year.  And that trash can is our squirrel-proof birdseed storage!

It's All Fun & Games . . .

Mommy is a big fan of the phrase, "It's all fun and games until someone ends up in a cone!"  I personally cannot believe she likes that phrase considering my history.  I've had to wear the cone TWICE with my knee surgeries and there is NOTHING fun about it!

We now have a new phrase at our house: it's all fun and games until someone goes over the fence!  I personally think it's all MOMMY'S FAULT!!  I'm sure you will agree when you hear what happened.  We were outside playing in the snow on one of our recent snow days.  Mommy threw the frisbee for Jenna and it went sailing over the fence into the yard behind our house.  This has happened before, but not with a foot of snow on the ground!

At first, Mommy thought it was cute.  Jenna and Dixie were both standing on their hind legs trying to see over the fence.  You know Mommy; she thought she needed to capture a picture of their cuteness . . . well, she might think twice about pulling out her camera from now on!  Before she could snap the picture, even before I could see for myself what was going on, Dixie decided to show Jenna who was top dawg!  Over the fence Dixie went!!!

Mommy quickly followed Dixie and went over the fence too.  (This was pretty easy for her because the snow was so tall.)  Dixie was in heaven.  She had a huge yard to run around in all by herself!  I was a little stressed.  So was Jenna.  I wanted Mommy back on my side of the fence.  I think Jenna just wanted the frisbee back.  Dixie was a mad woman running around and totally ignoring Mommy's commands.  Mommy kept trying to get Dixie close to the fence so she could help Dixie get back over, but it took a while.

Mommy said she kept looking around the neighbor's yard for another option, but there really wasn't any.  The gate to the neighbor's fence is on the far side of the yard, and if it's like our gate, it won't open due to the tons of snow piled in front of it!  Mommy finally got her hands on the frisbee and sent it back over the fence to its rightful side.  She hoped Dixie would follow the frisbee, but no such luck.  It took longer for Mommy to get her hands on Dixie.  FINALLY, Dixie put her paws up on the fence and Mommy took the opportunity to grab Dixie's rear end and throw it over the fence!

This fiasco brought back lots of memories from when Dixie was a tiny puppy and kept escaping under the fence to the neighbor's yard.  I think Dixie wanted to dig her way back into the yard, but that was't possible thanks to Daddy's fence mending a couple years ago.  I think we were all relieved when Mommy, Dixie, and the frisbee were all in their proper places!  So the next time you go out to play, just remember: it's all fun and games until someone goes over the fence!

Hunter

Cabin Fever

Have you ever had cabin fever?  We don't actually live in a cabin, but we were definitely feeling the pressure of this dreaded disease last weekend.  Mommy had two snow days in a row and then had President's Day off too!  (It was so bad, even she will tell you she should have gone to school Monday!)

We did what all of the other neighbors were doing to combat this sickness:

We made hot chocolate . . . well, WE did not actually get to enjoy that delectable liquid, but Mommy sure did.  She even broke out her largest mug for the occasion.  It's twice as tall as the other mugs in the cabinet. Daddy bought this for her when they lived in Minnesota.  It's big enough for all three required ingredients: the hot chocolate, the marshmallows (in French vanilla snowman shapes), and a splash of Bailey's Irish Cream to top it off!  Apparently, once you add all of that goodness, you need a BIG mug!  Again, WE wouldn't know! If only I could get my paws on that mug . . . [sigh]

We played outside every day!  

We had SNOW much fun, but we didn't know if we were coming or going!

Once the weekend hit and Daddy didn't have to go to work, he came out to play too.  We built a Pinterest-inspired upside down snowman.  It looks normal sized by itself . . .

. . . until you see all of us around it.  Well, four of us are present.  Dixie was hanging back waiting for us to be finished so she could resume tennis ball fetching!  Fifteen inches of snow was not holding her back.  Don't Hunter and I look thrilled to be included?

If you've had snow the past few days, we hope you haven't caught the dreaded cabin fever.  But if you have, just follow the doctor's orders and do what we did!

Jenna

Happy Heart's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!  (or "Happy VD" as Daddy likes to say!)  We hope you have a day full of sweet treats.  (Feel free to share some with us!)

We thought we'd share the results of our most recent photo session with you.  Mommy loves to send Valentines to our family, so that calls for some great pictures.  She did not start off trying to get one of the three of us together (she's smarter than that!), but we just kind of posed together so she went for it.  Unfortunately, the lighting is bad in one and the other is a tiny bit blurry.  Oh well.  We tried to make it happen for her.  You'd think she could live up to her end of the deal!

Jenna was practically a "one and done" girl for this shoot . . . when she wasn't trying to get her mouth on that paper heart!

Dixie was another story.  Mommy really liked this picture best since it looks like the sweet girl Dixie is, 

but Dixie isn't looking at the camera . . . 

Dixie is looking at the camera here, but Mommy thought Dixie looked like she was in a police line-up!

What do you think?

Better, but still not looking at the camera!  Also, Dixie tends to have a tortured look in many of her pictures.

I can't imagine why . . . 

Mommy finally settled for this one!  Not great, not bad, not too tortured . . . just alert!

I personally liked this picture of me best.  It shows off my slim and trim figure!

It reminds Mommy of some she took of me when I was only a few years old.  

This is the picture Mommy chose since I look so happy!  

(Yep, happy this torture session is almost over!)

We hope you have a terrific Valentine's Day!  (Full of chocolate and not photo sessions!)  Don't forget to give your pooch a smooch!
Hunter

Winter Wonderland or Winter Hades??

You know by now that Mommy and Daddy have two very different outlooks on snow.  I'm sure if Mommy had a different job her thoughts on snow might not be as kind.  But maybe they'd be the same.  Grandma still goes to work in the snow, but that doesn't stop her from LOVING it!  Of course, she only sees snow every once in a blue moon where she lives, so geography might influence her opinion.  I guess some people are just winter people and some aren't!  I'm sure the same can be said for dawgs, but thankfully we are all winter dawgs here!

Mommy had a snow day just ten days ago and is having another today.  We never showed you what we ended up with at the time.  We had five inches of snow that Monday followed by an ice storm on Wednesday morning.  Amazingly, Mommy only had a two hour delay after the ice storm!  We were blessed to have power after the ice; most of our area didn't for about five days!

Yep.  Still going to work with this on the car!  [sigh]  The joys of living in Yankeeland!

This tree is just down the road from the house.  

One of our arborvitae trees bent over with ice . . . hasn't broken yet, but hasn't stood up yet either.

The Yankee version of Spanish moss??

As of this morning we had about 8-10 inches of snow and it was still coming down!  That might mean a second snow day for Mommy tomorrow . . . maybe!  Crossing our paws, but kissing her spring break goodbye!

Grandma always says she wants it to snow "knee-deep to a giraffe."  

Wonder what she thinks about belly-deep?

Please pray Daddy makes it home from work okay this evening.  It looked like he took an extra change of clothes with him.  But that can't be right.  Who will clean off the driveway if Mommy has to go to work tomorrow?  If Daddy doesn't return, she might hook a snow plow to us and put us to work.  Are there dawg labor laws to prevent that??  Something to look into today . . .

Happy Snow Day!
Hunter, Dixie & Jenna

V-Day Torture Teaser

As you know, Mommy is always up for a good photo session.  We three tend to think of them as torture sessions.  As far as these sessions go, our most recent was the least painful we've had in a while!  We were mostly cooperative.  Dixie was the least cooperative at Christmas, but started out the best this time.  Her only real problem was that Hunter and I wouldn't get out of the way.  We all wanted to be included!  Hunter was pretty good when it was his turn too.  I was perfect as usual . . . .well, some might disagree . . . by now Mommy should know what happens when I'm around PAPER, don't you think???

More to come on Valentine's Day!
Jenna

Are You Enjoying Your Toys?

What did you receive for Christmas?  It already seems like it was fur-ever ago!  Grandma gave each of us a new toy for Christmas.  We each received a flat "stuffed" animal (can you call it that if it's flat??).  The great thing about the animals is that you can enjoy it in its flat state or you can insert an empty water bottle for lots of LOUD, CRACKLING enjoyment!  Daddy prefers the flat state; Mommy doesn't mind either.

I don't know what it is about the sound of a water bottle, but I LOVE it!  When I was an only child, I was given empty water bottles all the time.  I don't think it drove Daddy as crazy when there was only one bottle, but when Mommy has to dole out three bottles, it drives him NUTS!!  I love bottles so much that when we went to the dawg park I would sometimes try to steal other people's water bottles!  They would be walking around minding their own business and holding their bottles down by their sides and I just couldn't help myself . . . it was right there, ripe for the picking!  If they didn't want me to go for it, they should have held it higher, right?  Mommy was quite embarrassed.

Recently Mommy indulged my love and gave each of us a water bottle in our new flat animals.  I was so good with mine.  I crunched it over and over and never once tried to remove the water bottle from the animal.  My sisters . . . not so much!

Jenna gave her animal (a zebra) a C-section in no time flat.  She won't be enjoying the snap, crackle, pop of a water bottle again anytime soon, but she still likes carrying around the flat zebra.

Dixie was a bit overwhelmed with all of the sounds Jenna and I were making.  She took her time with the fox toy (as she does with everything) and then made off with more than one (as she does with everything).

I hope you're still enjoying your Christmas presents!

Hunter

Gingerbread Valentine

While our company was here during the holidays, Mommy had a great idea for her and Miss C to make a gingerbread house decorated for Valentine's Day.  Miss C and her family didn't arrive until after Christmas Day, so it was kind of pointless to make one in red and green.  Instead, they used red and pink on their house.

Mimi gave Mommy this house a few years ago for Christmas (at Mommy's request), and it is the best gingerbread house ever.  It is made of plastic and can be put in the dishwasher when you're finished with it!  How easy is that??  At this point, I begin to fantasize that my name is Dishwasher and that I will have a chance to give it a thorough cleaning . . . [sigh]

Miss C and Mommy had such a good time decorating the house.  Dixie, Hunter, and I had such a good time drooling over the house.  We camped out under the table and at each person's elbow hoping good things would fall our way.  I knew I could count on Miss C; she dropped a few bites for us on purpose from time to time.  She even let us lick the icing off her hands.  Is she a great gal or what?

She was also a very sweet gal.  Mommy kept asking Miss C what she wanted on the house, until Miss C finally reminded her, "It's your house too, Aunt J.  What do you want?"

Before you go getting crazy ideas in your head, that is DIXIE in this next picture!  She was caught hanging out in the dining room just sitting there whining . . . NOT ME!!!  (Turns out there was a tennis ball under the table, but she was whining near the house nonetheless!)

Only ten more days until Valentine's Day has come and gone.  Perhaps I can find a judge to officially change my name to Dishwasher before then?  Either that, or convince Mommy to start decorating for St. Patrick's Day!

Dishwasher Gal Jenna

Again???

Just when we could see more grass than snow in the yard, here it comes again!  The groundhog did indeed see his shadow yesterday which means six more weeks of winter!  There are many groundhogs across the country that try to predict the arrival of spring, but the most famous is Punxsutawney Phil and he seems to be right this year.  

We are expecting anywhere from 4-8 inches, but we'll just have to wait and see how much it actually snows.  It didn't really start snowing until about 6:30, but by then school had been called off already.  Here's what it looked like at 7:30 this morning:

Wonder what it will look like by the time Daddy comes home?  And I thought I was going to get to enjoy the outdoor dawg bed soon . . . . [sigh]  

Snow long to you, 
Hunter

PS: Do you think Mommy will mind that I pottied on the deck again?  I hope not  . . . the steps were way too slippery!