Snow Much Fun

In the three winters we've lived where we are now, we've only seen snow flurries a couple times and only once did they stick . . . for about thirty minutes.  This is a BIG difference from where we lived prior to this location.  Being a teacher, Mommy is a HUGE fan of snow days, but fears she'll never experience another one!

Late on Friday, December 7th, the snow started falling in huge flakes!  Ruger had only seen tee tiny snowflakes up until this point in his young life, so naturally he did what any snow newbie would do: he BARKED at it!  He wasn't sure what that white stuff was falling from the sky.  We northern natives knew exactly what to do . . . wait to see if it was going to stick!  And boy, did it stick!  Mommy was totally surprised when we went out the next morning at 6AM and we had several inches already.  It continued to snow most of Saturday morning and we wound up with almost EIGHT inches of snow!  Usually, Mommy thinks snow on a Saturday is a waste of a snow day, but she's so desperate for snow, she'll take it anytime!  And it did result in a two hour delay Monday morning!  Yippee!

Naturally, Mommy saw this snow day as a photo opportunity!  We had recently ordered flannel bandanas from one of our favorite Etsy shops L and E Boutique, but thought for sure we wouldn't need to wear them until the new year.  Mommy broke out the new bandanas because they have snowflakes on one side and snowmen on the other.  We looked great in them!

 Jenna

 Dixie

Ruger

We had snoooooow much fun playing outside!  Ruger especially since this was his first big snow!  He ran around like a mad man while we just stood and watched him.

You can see how excited he was by the grin on his face below!

Mommy enjoyed playing in the snow too!  She said she thought she might cry from the excitement of breaking out her snow boots again!

Once we came inside, we all crashed!

We're hoping this won't be our last snow of  the winter, but chances are it is!

Dixie & Jenna

Let's Get Crackin'

Do you usually have a wonderful home cooked Sunday dinner?  I'm talking about the noon meal.  Traditionally in the South, this meal is called dinner and the evening meal is called supper.  Mommy can be very traditional in some ways, but not with these terms.  She, probably like most of you, calls the noon meal lunch, and the evening meal can be referred to as either dinner or supper.  Personally, I don't care either way since I don't enjoy a noon meal (something I need to take up with my momager).  I only receive two meals a day, and I just call them both HEAVEN.  But I digress.  Mommy cooks pretty much every week night, but when the weekend rolls around, she starts feeling lazy.  Often, my parents only eat two meals on Saturdays and Sundays.

For about the last eighteen months, they have had a semi-routine Sunday lunch.  Both of our parents grew up having a delicious home cooked meal on Sundays, but not anymore.  Our parents head to church on Sunday mornings and then straight to lunch.  They've been flip flopping between their favorite Mexican place and Joe's Crab Shack with a few others thrown in occasionally.   Daddy especially has to have Joe's during crawfish season!  Again, I'm not that picky.  You could drop me off at either place or any of the dozens of restaurants in between.

As our parents became frequent visitors at Joe's, they got to know their server Blaire, a graduate student in occupational therapy at our local university.  Blaire is the sweetest person.  She always knew what Daddy was going to order, but called Mommy the Wild Card since Mommy changed her order on every visit.  They even started requesting Blaire's area when they arrived so they could be sure to visit with her.

Recently Blaire graduated and moved back to her hometown for an internship.  Our parents haven't been to Joe's since Blaire left.  They're afraid it might not be the same.  Where else will they find such personalized service???

Our parents are on the search for a new favorite place.  (If Mommy has any say in this process, they'll head back to the Mexican place and never leave!)  I think they should take me with them to help make the decision.  After all, they don't call me The Foodie for nothing!

So, Mom, Dad, let's get crackin'!
The Foodie,
Jenna

Vegas Vacation

Our parents traveled to Las Vegas for the first time while Mommy was on spring break back in March.  It wasn't really a place Daddy wanted to go, but he agreed he wanted to be able to say he'd been there and done that .  Now they say they've been there and never need to go back!  They've decided they didn't really care for Vegas, but they LOVED the day trips they took while in the area.

They did spend a little time on the Strip . . .

They LOVED seeing these three in concert all together.  It was a great show!

Daddy learned what to do and what NOT to do while gambling his money away . . . Mommy is breaking some sort of rule by taking this picture, but she's the Queen of the Unseen Photographers.  

Hoover Dam was amazing!

Personally we think the BEST part of Hoover Dam was this guy . . . 

Mommy especially loved the road trips, because she got to see MOUNTAINS!!!!  (She hears angels singing as we type that!!)  Our Mommy is a Mountain Girl for sure!  She can feel her chest swelling with excitement when she sees them!  Seriously!  It's a big thrill for her.  (And now you know she's an even bigger weirdo than you thought previously!)

Our parents also took a day trip to Valley of Fire State Park about an hour north of Las Vegas.  

They saw these cool petroglyphs carved into the side of a huge rock.  Daddy even braved his distaste of altitude and climbed a BIG set of stairs for Mommy so she could see these!  Mommy admitted later the stairs weren't thrilling for her either because you could see through them!

What creature does this look like to you?

We do have pictures of Daddy, but he isn't a fan of having his face out here on the internet.

Our parents were super excited to see RAIN while they were on this trip!  It had been about five months since we'd had rain at home.  They weren't sure at first what that wet stuff falling from the sky actually was?!?!?!  It's now rained maybe three times since November, but we still haven't had a total of more than two inches!  We are definitely in a DROUGHT!

Mommy has developed a love affair with cactus over the last couple years.  She is fascinated by them.  Grandma recently traveled out West and is in total agreement with Mommy!  

Like mother, like daughter!

One final look at the mountains . . . wish we could have been there too! (insert eye roll)
Dixie and Jenna

PS: Tomorrow is our parents' NINETEENTH anniversary!!!!  Whoa!!!

Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

We hope you have a terrific day full of only a few tricks and lots of treats!  Can you guess what costume Mommy is torturing me with???  If you guessed Big Bird, you'd be wrong!  But I do believe that would be more manly than what it actually is . . .

For some reason Mommy thinks our costumes need to match each other somewhat.  She found the perfect costumes for my sisters, so I had to suffer with the matching costume.  Here are my sisters in all their BEE-utiful glory!

And here's me!  "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!"  Perhaps you can envision me as Muhammad Ali???

The bee's head is an actual hood, but it's a bit of a squeeze on my noggin!  Perhaps I can make a case for a more manly costume next year???  [sigh]

Treats for the Sweet (that's me), 

Ruger 

(Dixie & Jenna too)

Five O'Clock

Have you heard the Alan Jackson song "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere"?  It's several years old, but I sing it all day every day when Mommy is around. In fact, you could say it's my theme song!  Before you start thinking badly of me, please know, I'm not singing this song in the hopes of having a drink.  I have a water bowl available to me 24/7.  I'm singing this song and hoping Mommy will notice me and FEED ME!

I might not be the best at telling time to the exact minute, but I can definitely tell when it's meal time. I start stalking Mommy through the house at about 4:30 every day.  Sometimes I'm a little bit early, sometimes a little bit late, but I KNOW when it's almost five!  I do not give up.  I put my head on her lap, I try to engage her in a staring competition, and I start saying silent prayers that she will notice the time!

Sometimes she gives in and feeds me and Dixie early.  Other times she acts as if she doesn't know what time it is!  Really, Mommy?  I know you can tell perfect time.  What harm does it do to go ahead and give in to my poor pitiful look?

After all, "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere!"

Pretty please,
Jenna


PS: Daddy wants it known that when he's in charge, HE chooses the feeding time.  He is not swayed by poor pitiful looks.  We don't have him fully trained yet like we do Mommy, but we're working on it.  Mommy just needs to take a nice long vacation . . . .

Where's the Broom?

For those of you old enough, do you remember Wendy's advertising slogan "Where's the Beef?"   We don't actually remember it ourselves, but Mommy has talked about it when teaching advertising techniques.  We feel like adjusting it a bit and going around the house asking, "Where's the Broom?"

Since we've lived in this new house, the broom has almost completely disappeared.  The Swiffer only makes a weekly appearance.  What's going on here?  In our previous house, the broom or Swiffer made almost daily visits to our kitchen.  Mommy had a love/hate relationship with those two devices.  She loved the results; she HATED how often they came calling on her.

Here's a reminder of what the previous kitchen floor looked like on moving day:

From far away, the floor looks pretty good.  It's blue and white, one of Mommy's favorite color combos.  But it's only from far away that this floor looked good.  If you were to see it on a daily basis, you would know why Mommy hated it!  She asked herself a million times while living in this house who in their right mind would put WHITE tile in the kitchen!  Daddy started asking who in their right mind would have two black labs in a kitchen with white tile, but that's another story.

One of the best things about the new house in Mommy's opinion is the tile in the kitchen.  I think Mommy's IN LOVE!  This tile has to be the best invention known to man or dawg.  It shows NOTHING!!!!!  Well, it might show a few tiny water spots from a certain unnamed dawg's drool, but only in the right light.

Every tiny little bitty dawg hair is able to hide out until it decides to form a tumbleweed.  That is the only time Mommy notices anything on the floor.  When she sees a tumbleweed that has formed, she simply reaches down and picks it up.  She does not go looking for the broom or the Swiffer.

The poor broom is basically only used and abused for outdoor chores now (and boy, do we have some serious dust and dirt out there!).  The Swiffer is only invited into the kitchen once a week when Mommy does her regularly scheduled cleaning.

I personally have the feeling the Swiffer should invite himself in at least twice a week, but Mommy is living by the philosophy of "Ignorance is bliss!"

Whatever makes Mommy happy,
Jenna


PS: Happy Birthday tomorrow to Grandaddy!  We hope you have a great day!

PPS: The broom did make an appearance Monday on Halloween . . . after all, Mommy has to get around somehow!

The Perfect Breakfast

What do you like to eat for breakfast?  As a dawg, I usually eat the same thing I eat for dinner and breakfast, and dinner and breakfast, and well you get the picture.  Mommy LOVES breakfast foods such as pancakes and french toast, but she rarely fixes them for herself.  She does eat breakfast, but it's usually something quick and easy.

Recently she remembered that the town we are now calling home has a KRISPY KREME!!!!  She knew it deep down in the back of her mind, but she was pretty sure they didn't have anything wheat free on their menu.  She decided to throw caution to the wind and head out early one weekend morning while the HOT NOW sign was on!  Not only would she have a quick and easy breakfast but it would be delicious as well!

The best part?  I got to go with her!  I'm not sure what made Mommy decided to take a dawg along for the ride, but if anyone was going to go, it couldn't be Jenna!  There's no way that girl could have kept her paws much less her jaws off the doughnuts long enough for them to make it home.

I took my job very seriously and kept an eye out for anyone who might be a potential threat to Mommy's breakfast happiness.

We made it home safely, made coffee, and started enjoying those perfectly glazed specimens of baked supremacy.

Jenna was a bit put out that she wasn't invited to go along, but after splitting a doughnut with me, she forgave us both.

YUMMY!  Seriously yummy!
Dixie