Joy Riding

Last week Daddy was sick and needed a prescription.  The doctor called it in late in the evening and Mommy had to go out and pick it up.  Thankfully our pharmacy has a drive through window so Mommy could go in her pajamas and slippers (shhh, don't tell).  She was able to quietly get up from the sofa and walk to the door without anyone noticing but ME!!!  Strange, but Hunter and Dixie slept right through this!  She motioned for me to follow her to the door.  The next thing I knew, I was in the car and going for a joy ride!

We called it The Midnight Ride of Jennavieve (another nickname for me).  This is not to be confused with Longfellow's "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere."  For one thing, it was only nine o'clock and for another I was not spreading any major news.  Nope.  Just me and Mom out for a ride.

When we arrived at the pharmacy I was terribly excited.  We sat at the window for a while before we were waited on.  Mommy started to worry that she might have to go inside . . . in her PJ's!!!  Not good since we were at Walgreen's and not Walmart!  Eventually the nice man showed up at the window and gave us Daddy's meds.  My tail wagged a million miles an hour.  Especially when the pharmacist gave me a dawggie bone!  Yippee!

Maybe Mommy and I can go on another ride soon . . .
Jenna

Mommy Survived!

In case you were wondering, Mommy survived her overnight trip with forty-seven eighth graders!  She was so relieved and slept like the dead upon her return.  She said the students must have been tired as well because they acted like the walking dead the next day at school.

The students participated in a residential program that studied the ecosystem of the coast.  The weather was perfect for the trip.  There were a few times when it was a bit chilly, but no rain arrived to put a damper on the outdoor activities.  Students participated in tests to determine the amount of chemicals in the water, learned all about horseshoe crabs, went seining for fish, and trekked through the marsh and wetlands.

 One of the local lighthouses

 Mommy and her teaching partner, Mrs. C  (no one can escape the selfie!)

A horseshoe crab and mermaid's necklace washed up on the shore.

 The night walk . . . students had to be quiet to hear animal noises . . . a difficult task for them!

The swamp where the soil and water were taste tested . . . seriously! 

The marsh created the wet and muddy shoes that had been promised in the brochure.  For some reason the students were still shocked!  And again, water and soil were part of a taste testing!  ICK!

It was a GREAT trip and Mommy can't wait to do it again.  She says she'd love to take us, but for some strange reason animals are forbidden.  We don't understand; didn't Mommy take forty-seven monkeys with her????

Hmmmm . . . something to think about!
Hunter, Dixie, and Jenna

Isn't Life Puzzling?

When Mommy and Dixie left us at Easter, Mommy left something special behind for me (and Hunter too, I guess).  She has wanted to buy us a puzzle toy for a while, but they are rather pricey as far as dawg toys go.  Especially when one wrong crunch of the mouth could destroy it and all that money would be wasted.  When she found one at TJMaxx, she couldn't resist!  She thought it would be perfect for Daddy to try it out with me when there was one less dawg in the house.

The object of the toy is to hide treats inside, and then the smart dawg (that would be ME) learns to pull out the yellow pieces and turn the toy with her nose so the treats are exposed.  This requires brains and an appetite, both of which I have plenty.  Daddy said I did a great job.

Hunter gave it his best effort too!  He grabbed for the yellow pieces and then ran off with them.  He managed to leave his mark on one of them.  On the bright side, it still fits in the toy!  He's pretty smart, but he likes to take short cuts.  I think his mind tells him to destroy the toy and then all the treats will be his.

I, on the other hand, believe this is one time to follow the rules.  I like a challenge.  The toy was both fun and challenging.

I'm glad Daddy and I (and Hunter too) could share this moment.
Jenna


PS: Pray for Mommy.  She's on an overnight trip with her kiddos and you just never know what goes on inside those teenage brains of theirs!  She'll be back tomorrow with her brain hopefully still intact!

On the Hunt

Where I live there's hardly anything green yet, but that was not the case at my grandparents' house.  It was quite warm while I visited last week.  I kept ringing the bell to go outside, but I really just wanted to lounge in the grass.  Mommy was reluctant to leave me out by myself since it's not my yard and there's no fence.

Nothing says spring like an Easter egg hunt!  I got to help with the one we had for Cousins C and A.  I tried to help them out by pointing out the location of the eggs.  Sometimes I became a tiny bit confused because my tennis balls were the same color as the green eggs.  I was also hoping for a taste of some of the jelly beans hidden inside the eggs.

There were LOTS of good places to hide the eggs since Poppa recently cut down a few trees in the front yard and is still in the process of chopping and stacking the wood (much to Grandma's dismay).  I also had fun running around and leaping over the logs when the tennis ball was thrown for me.  It gave me quite a workout.

Mommy doesn't have any good pictures of us in our Easter finery.  We looked good at church, but then C and A went to their other grandparents' house for lunch.  They had changed into more casual clothes by the time they joined us for dinner.  (And so had we!)  I guess technically I wasn't actually present at church with the rest of the family, but I still looked good!

Hoping your Easter egg hunt was a good one too!
Dixie

The Chosen One

No matter how many times I try to tell my siblings that I am THE CHOSEN ONE, they don't believe me!  Well, the proof is in the car ride!  Mommy traveled to Grandma and Poppa's house for Easter and I was the ONLY one chosen to go.  Take THAT, Hunter and Jenna!

I guess the joke was on me since I had to wear a dawggie seat belt this time!  [sigh]   Mommy said she didn't do it to prevent me from moving around, but to prevent me from flying through the windshield in case of an accident.  She said the guilt was getting to her.  If she had human children, they would naturally be strapped in and since I'm just as important to her as a two-legged child, I needed to wear one too.  It took some getting used to and I couldn't get comfortable lying down in it, but I suffered through.  (Until Mommy felt guilty about my discomfort and then she unclipped me for short periods of time!)  I guess I'd better be nice or next time she'll make another proper parenting decision and put me in the backseat so I won't be smacked in the face with the air bag!

I had a great time at my grandparents' house.  Mommy helped Grandma and Poppa do a little spring cleaning and I lounged on Grandma's white sofa.  Thankfully, Mommy had brought an old sheet to cover the sofa so I would not leave tiny little black hairs all over the place!  I was QUEEN of the castle.

My cousin Cocoa was there, but she's so old (sixteen!!) all she does is eat and sleep.  Daddy says that's all Hunter does too, but he hasn't seen Cocoa lately.  That girl can sleep!  And where did she sleep?  On MY bed of course!!!  She takes over my bed every time I'm there.  I'm not sure if it's just that much more comfy than her bed, or if that's her way of telling me she's really the queen??  (We took my crate with us, but I was such a good girl, it never made it out of the car!)

As usual, I had fun with Grandma and Poppa.  I got to snuggle in bed with them and play ball.  During the spring cleaning I scored a few sets of tennis balls (cha-ching) and a pink bandanna.  Life doesn't get much better than that!

I hope you had a great Easter too!
Dixie

PS: For my cousin Lucy, I'm sorry you can't stay with my Grandma and Poppa while you're "homeless."  I've heard Mimi and Grandaddy aren't quite as fun with their grandawgs.  So sorry!  Only a few more days until you are home sweet home!  No offense Mimi and Grandaddy.  We know you love us, just not those little black hairs all over the place!

All for Me!

You've probably noticed I haven't been receiving equal treatment from my parents or siblings lately.  We have no pillows that look like me and no new toys for me.  I was starting to feel a bit like a second class dawg around here until something showed up in the mail just for ME . . . a new bed cover!

I guess technically I needed one.  I tend to go round and round and round when trying to get settled at bedtime.  I also tend to use my nails when making my rounds.  I have put numerous holes in my bed cover over the past three years and Mommy has diligently patched them up.  My bed was starting to become an eyesore.  I practically had more patches than actual original bedding.  I even had holes in the patches!  Mommy had given up on matching the patches for color.  She was just happy to find enough at any one time to do the job!  (And if you know my Mommy, the lack of color matching was killing her!)

Mommy went online and found the exact bedding I needed.  I've had it for about two weeks now and it's still in pristine condition.  It's even softer than the original cover which means it's bedder, I mean better, than Jenna's!  Ha!

Hopefully, my new bedding will last a nice long time . . . just like ME!
Dixie


PS: Speaking of things that last a long time, happy birthday to Mimi earlier this week and to Aunt C tomorrow!  You're both getting better all the time too!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

He is Risen!  

He is Risen Indeed!

Jenna

Hunter

Dixie

(Of course, there's always a bit of drama behind the scenes . . . )

We hope you have a terrific day full of love, blessings, and a few Easter Bunny treats as well!

The Dawgs

Fetching Spring

As spring begins to creep in around here, Mommy has to find creative ways for us to burn off some energy on rainy days and muddy days.  Mommy usually doesn't really get into the spirit of spring until around our birthdays in May.  The reason: MUDDY PAWS and MUDDY FLOORS!  She does NOT like this in-between season where the temps are trying to become warmer, the snow is still melting, the rainy season begins, and the yard is a soggy mess.  No matter how much grass we have growing, we still manage to collect gobs of mud on our under carriages.

The solution:  the upstairs hallway!  Mommy sits at one end and opens up the master closet (aka The Bowling Alley) on the other end.  We can run and run and then run into each other!  We really enjoy this play time and Mommy enjoys not having to clean us up afterwards.  Hunter isn't as much of a fan of these sessions.  He sometimes gets in the way and is almost knocked over by one of us running back and forth.

Dixie naturally plays with tennis balls.  Sometimes I have a tennis ball and sometimes I choose a different toy.  I have come to the slow realization that if I don't choose something else, Dixie will steal my tennis ball and the game will be over because she won't turn over either of them to Mommy.

Recently I chose one of our new Duck Commander toys (yes, they are still alive and well).  We had so much fun playing indoor fetch.

Dixie won't actually had over the ball to Mommy.  (Me, I put the toy wherever I'm asked!  I'm such a well-trained dawg.)  Instead, Dixie drops the ball and rolls it with her nose in the direction of Mommy!

Mommy loves this picture of our feet!  We're lining up on the runway to FUN!

Mommy can always tell when we've had enough playtime.  Dixie lies down nearby and I run out of sight with my toy.

I hope you're enjoying spring as much as we are!
Jenna