It's a Zoo Here

My house is bursting at the seams with animals and I can't take it tonight! We have a tabby cat and our mastidane puppy. However, our middle daughter needs us to watch HER tabby cat for a couple of weeks. Which is okay even though he doesn't really like our cat; he's not afraid of the dog who just wants to play with him. The final straw, though, is that our oldest daughter needed us to watch her puggle while she's out of town for four days ... Evil Sadie is baaa-aack!
That dog thinks she's the head of every house. It's sad, really, to see her standing over Apollo, growling, while he's flat on his back ... he's three times as big as she is!! But he's just a sweet puppy who wants to play, and she wants to be in charge. So, I have to spend all my time refereeing them, locking them in their kennels (and listening to whining), or taking them for a walk - which is HILARIOUS as I'm being pulled in two different directions. And, they're both SO STRONG.

I really need to sew tonight but I'm so distracted! Hurry up Sunday night (Tara's flight is at 5pm)!

Busy Week, Quiet Saturday

Did everyone else have a busy week? I always forget how hectic autumn can be when I'm in the middle of summer. So, I tend to over-schedule once things get ramped up again. Not as bad as last year but here's a sample of what I mean.
Mondays -- There's a terrific puppet ministry at our church and this is first year that T was eligible to join. She's loving it! Practices are Monday evenings from 5-6:30 pm and then we'll have several performances in the next few months. It's Heros on TV, too, but I'm not loving it as much this year.
Tuesdays -- One Tuesday a month, T has Girl Scouts. This is the ONE activity she would not give up when we were talking about schedules that year. We found a new troop since we moved half-hour from the last one, and they're sweet. (I'm their new Cookie Mom, but that's a post in itself.) This week we were all set but illness got the leaders' daughter. So, next week is the first official meeting of the year. This is also the only night I love TV in the week -- of course, there are THREE shows on at the same times that I love. Thank goodness for DVRs on two sets!! My favorites are The Biggest Loser (yeah Abby, boo Tracey who I thought I'd love), NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service), and their new spin-off NCIS-Los Angeles with Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J.Wednesdays -- The only thing going right now is that T has school choir right after school for an hour. This week, I had my Chill MAMAs over for Sausage Lentil Soup and an evening to talk about our first year of Supper Swapping. The evening was made a bit stressful because my honey helped me out. Read more here.

Thursdays -- Ok, one more activity for T but just for a few weeks. Her new school offers Enrichment Classes like the old one did, and they're so fun. Parents and teachers volunteer their time to share their knowledge with the kiddos. T's very excited about her Advanced Arts and Crafts class for 45-minutes after school into December. This week, they made adorable hand-stamped cards.
Fridays -- Shockingly, we normally have nothing going on Friday nights. This week, T went to her new friend's house after school and had a wonderful time. Then, we headed to the local dog park with her Tualatin best friend and their labrador, Buddy. We spent an hour or so letting them run themselves ragged and stayed until just after dark. That is SO necessary for our sanity as a family; it's so not fair to our dog to keep him in the house, and he gets rowdy if he's not exercised enough. The fun part about the dog park is we've met two of Apollo's littermates, Suki and Inga. They both live nearby, unbeknownst to us, and we met there. The puppy above is a new friend, a Great Dane puppy named Henry. He's only two months older than Apollo but he's HUGE!

Saturdays -- T and I have been attending morning Puppy Obedience Classes with our sweetie. Today was "Graduation Day" and we somehow didn't fail. He only stole the class props a few times, didn't have an accident on the floor like those silly beagles =), although he couldn't fit through the tunnel so was given a free pass there, and we didn't have any cool tricks to perform other than "Sit" and "Shake". Next level classes are starting next week and I'm trying to decide if we're going to keep it up or have a short break. We really need the help, though, and it DOES wear him out.....Sundays -- We attend church regularly and I volunteer every other month in the nursery. We're also getting ready to host a small group in home in the early evening. Small groups are a great way to make our big church seem smaller, and to make new friends who are also believers.

Add in regular exercise, bible study, crafting, dog walks, sewing, LAUNDRY, and that's a typical week for our family! How does that compare to yours?

Today was super special ... T had two girlfriends over and they are so good together. It was a fun day. Now, we're watching Twilight and I can't wait for bedtime. =)

Dog Food Taste Test

Well, Apollo's veterinarian says it's time to transition him off of the puppy food. He's only four months told, but giant breeds like him will grow too quickly on puppy chow. So, we went to the local pet store and they gave us several samples to try. We set up a taste test of the following high quality dog food brands:
HOLISTIC SELECT

WOLF CUBWOLF KING
EAGLE PACK SUPER5MIX

I set up a simple test, loading the food onto four paper plates and wrote the brands on each one. Once he was hungry for din-din, we had him sit and quickly set down all four. SO FUNNY!! He really sniffed and snuffled each one, then set right to eat on Wolf King (made with real bison). Once that was gone, he headed over to Wolf Cub and gobbled that down too. Finally, with apparently some room to spare, he split the rest of his dinner time equally between the remaining two.

So, Solid Gold's Wolf King it is!!

Have you ever walked your cat?

The puppy was SO rambunctious last night because we had the Ice Cream Social at school and came home too late for a walk. So, I decided I better walk Apollo first thing this morning. We just got back from enjoying the sunrise, which you can see really well from a few of our neighbors houses. Why didn't I think to snap a picture of that too? Oh well.

So, we're walking just a few hundred yards when I hear something behind me. Yep, our darn cat is stalking us and WILL NOT go home. Well, I have to work today and I'm not going to re-trace my steps to take him home and then start out on the walk again. I figure he'll get bored and head back on his own. Oh no. He stalks us the whole way around the blocks, and the dog keeps darting after him while trying to rip out my shoulder at the same time. Finally, toward the end of the walk, I was able to capture them both in the same shot on the cell phone. Look, Oliver the Tabby has just plopped himself down in a neighbor's driveway and looks like he's ready to set up house. The dog's posture says it all .... "Let me at 'em!" (Sorry it's so dark ... cell phones aren't the best cameras.)

If this keeps up, I'm gonna need a kitty leash!

I was also able to capture a few really bad pictures from Tatum's first day at her new school and in the fifth grade. NEED MY CAMERA CORD for the other shots.