Halloween Love Tutu You!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

We looked to Mommy's past for our costume inspiration this year.  Mommy frequently chose to wear her ballet costumes as her Halloween costumes when she was growing up.  We decided to go as ballerinas this year in fun, festive tutus!  Mommy worked very hard to make our costumes with just the right amount of sparkle and tulle.  

Daddy seemed to prefer the tutu around our necks.  He thought we could be stars of Cirque du Soleil.

These costumes are just

TUTU FUN!

I'm going to have to tell on my sister Jenna.  Before our photo session even really got underway, these tutus became chew toys!  Jenna spotted a tennis ball in my mouth and decided she had to have it for herself!  She's not usually the tennis ball freak.  Maybe it's because the ball was purple?  As she made a move for the ball, somehow my tutu ended up in her mouth as well.  We had a HUGE tug-of-war and the tulle went flying to the accompaniment of Mommy's screams in the background.  

You'll be shocked to know Mommy did throw the camera down to try to salvage her hard work. This is the only picture she snapped.  My tutu was still in one piece at the time.  Mommy was very upset, but she managed to salvage the costumes.  

Daddy's response to the dilemma:  What did you expect?????  He reminded her that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  He wanted to know how many times she was going to attempt crazy pictures with us that didn't go awry . . . if I had to answer that question, I'd say FOREVER!!!

Hoping your day is full of tricks and treats!  

Tutu for now from the Halloweenie Ballerini, 

Dixie

GRAPES Galore!

Once again, we made grape jelly!  It's been two years since we last had this adventure.  That's my word for it; Mommy might call it torture.  Actually, she'll tell you she's always quite proud of herself once it's made, but just the thought of making the jelly makes her cringe!

We started out bright and early on a Saturday morning in September.  We took a bucket out to the vine and started picking . . .

Well, Jenna started eating the grapes while Mommy and Daddy started picking.  If you look at a list of no-no foods for dawgs, grapes are definitely on it!  Jenna has been able to defy the odds for a few years now.  Our vet finally decided it must be because our grapes aren't exposed to the same chemicals as store-bought grapes.

I sampled a few grapes too.  But I kept my tennis ball nearby in case someone's arm was free for throwing!

Last fall we didn't make jelly because the bugs, Jenna, and Mommy's pruning shears had taken their toll on the grape vine.  Against Daddy's protests, Mommy pruned the vine WAY back last year.  The previous year there had been fewer grapes and Mommy knew the vine needed some work.  She hacked it all the way back to its original trunk and Daddy freaked out.  He didn't calm down about Mommy's handy work until Mimi told him Mommy was right and the vine would survive.  [sigh]  I guess you're never too old for your mom's advice.   Moms are always right, don't you think?  (Kind of like MY Mommy and the pruning of the grape vine . . . )

Since the hatchet job, the vine has GROWN!!!  We eventually had to fetch a second bucket for the grapes.  We ended up with TWENTY-TWO POUNDS of grapes!!!!

The only problem with that many grapes is that it took SEVEN batches to turn it all into jelly! We used almost TWENTY POUNDS of sugar!!! All of  this turned into over SEVEN GALLONS of grape jelly!  

Mommy was exhausted when it was all said and done.  And my sister looked like Alfalfa!  You know how she likes to lick the inside of the dishwasher.  There is a downside to that bad habit.  Sometimes liquids from the top rack fall down onto Jenna's head.  She sported this look for a few days until Mommy finally bathed her!

Grape making is always an adventure.  Betcha can't guess what you're getting for Christmas . . .
Dixie

My New Trick

I have a new, fabulous trick and Daddy is super proud of me!  You have to understand that our parents do NOT usually teach us tricks.  We will never shake hands with you because 1.) we don't have hands and 2.) "shake" means something totally different to us.  When we hear "shake," we are usually in the shower or coming out of water.  That is our signal to shake the water off our backs and help our parents with the drying process.

For some reason Daddy got it in his head that he wanted to teach both me and Dixie to hold a treat on our noses until he gave the command for us to eat it.  Dixie is doing somewhat okay with the trick.  She can hold the treat in place, but she gives in long before Daddy gives the release command.  She jerks her head backwards so that the treat falls right into her mouth every time.

I'm doing an EXCELLENT job of holding the treat in place until I hear Daddy's release command.  For a foodie like me, this is a HUGE accomplishment.

Apparently I need to pay closer attention to Dixie's catch and release technique (or is that her release and catch technique?).  I can catch my treat, but . . . sometimes I throw my nose up in the air and the treat goes flying behind me. . . right into Dixie's mouth!  Other times I swing my head around quickly and the treat goes flying . . . right into Dixie's mouth!

I need to keep working on my paw-to-eye coordination so that I can have the benefit of every tiny morsel of those treats and not just Dixie's crumbs!  [sigh]

Jenna

Gone Huntin'

Since we're unsure of the red and black Dawgs lately, Daddy decided to try his luck with ME!!  He took me duck hunting this morning!  I had a BLAST.

I helped Daddy load the Jeep last night with the decoys and other hunting gear.  As soon as I saw Mommy put the seat cover on for me, I was super excited.  It took me  a while to calm down and go to sleep last night.  I kept running to the garage door in anticipation of the morning.

When the alarm went off at 4:30 this morning, I was READY for action!  We went to a nearby pond with one of Daddy's friends and his young son.

It was a bluebird day, so the ducks weren't flying.  Even though the men were willing to wait a little longer before calling it a day, I knew we weren't going to shoot anything.  I decided to make myself useful and pick up the decoys.   Although Daddy doesn't want me to make decoy retrieval a habit, he was thankful I was such a big help to him.  It was a dirty job, but some dawg's gotta do it!

Mommy insisted I take a bath when we returned.  Apparently I had a bit of an odor following me around.  Daddy calls it Swamp Magic!  It was worth it for all the fun I had.

Hopefully I'll get to go again soon!
Jenna


PS: Mommy and Dixie were up for an early morning breakfast and then went back to bed.  I'll let you decide who the Lucky Dawg was . . .

Go Dawgs

How are you spending your Saturdays?  We work our days around the football schedule and kickoff time.  We LOVE football season.  We have our flags flying and are sporting our fall collars in support of our favorite team!  Football season is soooooooo much fun!  Well, it was until the last two Saturdays, but we digress . . . Crossing our paws for a better day today!

GO DAWGS!!!  WOOF!  WOOF!  WOOF!

Jeep Love

Back in March Daddy traded in his truck for a brand new JEEP!!  Apparently he had always wanted one and so it was a dream come true.  Mommy likes the new Jeep, but she thinks the truck is going to be sorely missed during hunting season this fall.  She also didn't realize that owning a Jeep was the same as becoming a member of a cult!  Who knew there were so many accessories that could be purchased?  Daddy did and he wisely didn't mention that to Mommy BEFORE the papers were signed!

Someone else loves the new Jeep too.  Jenna likes the occasional late night joy ride.  She recently took it out for a spin.  Usually Jenna prefers to be the one in control and sit in the driver's seat.

But there are times she can be persuaded to be Daddy's passenger!

Jenna is going to continue to work on perfecting her "Jeep wave" for her next ride.  Who knows, maybe she'll let Dixie drive . . .

One Last Secret . . .

It's been a little over a month since Hunter passed away.  We're doing fine surviving as a family of four with only two dawgs.  On the bright side (if there is one), Mommy doesn't look quite as much like the Crazy Dawg Lady as she did before.  She'd gladly embrace that title again if given the chance.  And in case you have any crazy ideas of your own, NO, we are NOT looking to add to the gang any time soon.  Mommy's not up for all night house-breaking potty sessions any time soon.  And she limits those to the summer season (hence the reason all of our birthdays are in May!).

We do have one more picture of Hunter to share with you.  It was taken in June, but Mommy never shared it with anyone.  She didn't want to freak Daddy out.  If Daddy knew then what he'll soon know after reading this, Hunter would have been in deep trouble.  Then again, maybe not.  Daddy had a soft spot for Hunter in his old age (you can determine if that pronoun refers to Daddy or Hunter!  Ha!).

To truly enjoy this picture you first have to remember a few things:

• Hunter hated walking on the hardwood floors.
• Hunter had never before crossed into the man room in ten years of living in this house because of the hardwood floors.
• Hunter followed Mommy everywhere except into the man room and the bathrooms (he didn't like the floors in there either).

When Mommy was cleaning windows in the man room this summer, she snapped this miracle moment!

Hunter didn't stay on the bear skin rug for long since there are only two windows in the man room and it only took Mommy so long to clean them.  She was quite surprised Hunter ventured across the floor and onto the rug.  She was almost as surprised when he proceeded to settle down on the rug.  

We thought it would be okay if we revealed Hunter's (and Mommy's) secret to you now so that you too could marvel in his moment of bravery!

Enjoy!

Dixie and Jenna

  

Stinky Feet?

Do you have stinky feet?  We figure most everyone does at some point in their lives.  The real question is do you like the SMELL of stinky feet?

Our brother Hunter loved smelling the insides of everyone's shoes.  He loved coming across a pair of shoes that had been removed and taking a good long whiff of them.  He'd plant his nose inside the shoes and inhale.  If he really liked what he smelled, he'd begin to roll around on the shoes.  If he really, really liked them there might be some euphoric moaning and groaning involved!  You've probably seen dawgs roll around in the yard when they come across some sort of smell that really appeals to them.  Usually it's a smell their owners don't care for, but the dawg wants to bathe in. That's what Hunter did to shoes!

Poppa couldn't stand it when Hunter did that to his shoes.  He swore Hunter was ruining his shoes!  There was never any licking or slobber involved, but Poppa learned to put his shoes out of Hunter's reach.  Daddy didn't really care for Hunter rolling in his shoes, but only because one shoe usually got away and it took a while to search for it across the room when it came time to put them back on.

Mommy, on the other hand, catered to every olfactory whim of her boy Hunter!  When she arrived home after a day of work, Hunter would follow her around knowing good scents were going to come out of her shoes.  He eagerly awaited at her feet for her to pull off her shoes.  She allowed him to take a roll in her shoes daily.  One might say she even encouraged him to indulge in his shoe fetish!  One might also say she must have stinky feet, but  . . .

It's okay if these shoes are ruined . . . the 80's are calling for their return anyway!  

But don't tell Daddy we said so!  Ssshhhh!  Or maybe YOU should tell him!

Most of these pictures were taken last fall.  Mommy kept the camera in the closet for several days running trying to capture the perfect images of Hunter rolling around.  She never got it quite right, but I think there's enough here to have a decent understanding of this strange habit of Hunter's.

Here's to stinky feet!  And to my big brother Hunter!
Dixie

The Tail Marks the Spot

As a reading teacher, Mommy has tons of bookmarks at her disposal.  However, that doesn't mean she always uses them.  She tends to just dawg ear the corner of the page or use the paper cover if it's a hardback book.  She has been gifted with two bookmarks in the past year that she is actually trying to use.  Aunt Holly gave her a purple monogrammed bookmark and Aunt Gwen gave her one that is red and says "Keep Calm and Carry On."

A few weeks ago, Mommy had a different bookmark to help her keep her place: Hunter's tail!  Hunter lived on the old loveseat when he was a puppy (kind of like I used to before the new one arrived), but as an older dawg, he didn't hop up there too often.  On this particular day, he took a running leap and made himself comfy beside Mommy.  When he settled himself, his tail had no where else to go!

I'm sure he just wanted to be helpful since he was taking up so much room on the loveseat.  Mommy didn't mind one bit.  She was happy to share the space and her book with him!  

If only she looked that happy when I invaded her space!  [sigh]

Missing my big brother,   [bigger sigh]

Dixie