Finally! Decent action shots.

Finally I was able to get some decent action shots of the kids. Mitch also let me use his computer, so I could zoom in and crop. I don't have any software on my laptop to do that. =) Not much commentary will follow. I think the pics speak for themselves. We had some nice weather on Thanksgiving day. It was a little cool outside, but not cold enough for the kids to have to wear coats, so we let them out with their stuffies. Here's Maggie with the headless frog. Yes, you read that correctly....headless frog. Story about that coming soon.

They are always ganging up on Cueball. He is the fastest in this bunch, so they are always trying their best to cut him off to slow him down. Our foster Lion is the only one that has been able to keep up with Cueball or beat him.

I think this is what it looks like when they are putting on the brakes. =)

Booyah gets a turn with the headless frog.

Hey, did you hear that?

This is one of my favorite pics thus far. If that stupid tree stump was not in the way, this would have been even better.

Maggie with Lion.

Lion absolutely LOVES squeaky toys. He has learned our schedule and knows when we are going out to play. He picks up a stuffie to bring outside with him.

I think I am getting better at this whole photography thing. Finally getting the hang of it. It only took 6 months. ;-)

Watch out for that killer toilet paper

I have been sick since Thursday. Rhinovirus, cold, whatever you want to call it...it has been miserable. Constant coughing, sore scratchy throat, puffy face, watering eyes, continual nasal drip....you get the idea. The housework has definitely suffered, and today I am running around like the Tasmanian devil playing catch up. I am starting to feel a bit better and I am tired of laying around on the couch. The soreness in my throat is finally gone. My face no longer looks like someone beat me up and the coughing and nasal drip are at a minimum. I think I should be able to return to work tomorrow. I hate missing work, but Friday there was no way I could sit for 8 hours at a computer working and answering phones with a dripping nose, watering eyes, sore throat and constant cough. I am sure I would not have been the most pleasant or patient voice on the other end of the phone. Not a good combination when you are taking calls from patients who just had open heart surgery. =( So I did everyone, including myself, a favor and stayed home to rest. And rest I did. I layed on the couch all day Friday and Saturday. Mitch has been great with taking care of me. Even after working a 12 hour shift on Friday and Saturday, he still came home cooked dinner and cleaned up the kitchen. That's my sweetie. He is a wonderful husband and I am one lucky chica. Miss moo has also taken care of me. She layed beside me all day both Friday and Saturday. I have been the true meaning of a couch potato these last two days. I only got up for the necessities and to take the kids out.

My title has a point...promise..bare with me. So, I told you I have been sick. Well my nose has been like a freakin leaky faucet and we did not have any Kleenex in the house, so I have been using a roll of toilet paper. Hey if it is soft enough to wipe my bum with..then it is good enough to blow my nose. Right? And besides, I was in no mood, nor did I have the energy to drag myself to the store. I know, I know...excuses....excuses. Anyways it was accomplishing the task until this:
Yesterday I went up stairs to take a nice hot shower and came back downstairs only to find Maggie attacking the roll of toilet paper like it was a wild hare in a field. Or maybe she thought it was the cause of my sickness. In any case, it was too cute not to capture a memory, so I grabbed the camera to take a picture, but she quickly got up and moved to the other side of the couch with the following expression on her face.
I think she was pretty proud of herself. A few moments later she celebrated her feat with a jubilant happy dance with Cueball on the couch.
I was mad at her, but it only lasted a couple of seconds. It took me about 3 minutes to clean it all up. Besides it is my fault anyway. I know our three are big time chewers. They steal our shoes, belts, blankets, remotes, cups...and anything else they get their little mouths on. Just the other day Booyah destroyed his second remote. It put us out of commission with the TV downstairs for 2 days until the new remote from Directv arrived. Thank goodness for DVR, we could at least watch shows we had recorded. =)

The moral of the story is, watch out for that killer toilet paper. Thank goodness the cow queen saved us.

No dogs allowed

No dogs allowed on our bed. This use to be the rule in our house (set by Mitch), up until Friday afternoon that is.


As you can see from this picture, he is quite comfortable. So how did this happen? Mitch was home on Friday playing a game on his computer when out of nowhere Cueball jumped up on the bed. Mitch chuckled, did not correct him and that was the end of that. Cueball won. =)

Now lest you get the wrong idea, just because our kids were not allowed on the bed and still are not allowed up there when we are sleeping, does not mean they don't sleep in the lap of luxury. Quite the contrary.







They have a sofa in our bedroom.



And double stacked dog beds (a set for each kid), with the one on the top having memory foam under the natural bed stuffing.But even with both these cozy options, I guess Cueball decided that these options were not cozy enough for him and wanted to try out our bed, which also has a memory foam mattress and I must say is quite cozy, but it is only a queen size bed and no where near enough room for Mitch, myself and the kids to share at night. Luckily last night Cueball did not attempt to join us in bed, but this morning when Mitch got up to let the kids out and feed them, Cueball jumped right up and took his spot. We will see how this goes, but I have a feeling I will be awoken from a deep sleep by a 74lb dog jumping on the bed in the near future. ;-)


Other happenings.

Today is absolutely beautiful outside. A little windy, but warm, sunny, gorgeous fall day. While outside with the kids, I was able to get a great pic of each one of them enjoying this beautiful day.


We are also still fostering Lion. It did not work out with his slated forever home, so he is now in the foster program. We will foster him until he finds a home. He is no trouble at all! He is doing great with our kids!! We love his happy personality. He is a very sweet, good boy, who will likely need a home that already has a dog. Look at his sweet face.....how could you not want to take him home with you?
Last weekend we attended the monthly meet and greet in Glen Allen. We had a great turnout.
I took Lion with me and he did wonderfully! When we got home, Maggie had ETS.


We have been pretty busy lately around the house. Mitch and I are both working on the extra bedroom upstairs. We are re-purposing the room. Soon it will be a computer/sewing room. This will free up some space in our bedroom. =)

Last night we went out with a friend of mine from work, Jennifer and her good friend Phil. We went to the Wine Cellar for a wine tasting, then to Carrabas for dinner(yum). The wine, at the tasting unfortunately was not very good, but we had a very good time anyway. =) We bought a couple of bottles of Cabs from Chile to try.

Tonight we are heading next door to meet our new neighboors. They are having a housewarming party. It will be so nice being so close to home. We don't have to worry about who will be the designated driver, or about rushing home to care for the kids. Yeah!!

Bubble and Lion

We had a fairly busy day on Saturday. We woke up early and met the VAGA hauler and picked up two hounds. Kalahari Lion and CTW Duble Bubble. The other 9 hounds went to Fredericksburg for adoption. Pics can be seen on VAGA's blog.

Bubble and Lion are both very sweet. Bubble went to her forever home on Saturday. I am so glad her family decided to name her Bubble. The name so fits her bubbly personality. She has the cutest ears, they stand straight up to a perfect point. =) She is super sweet, very playful and tiny just like my moo. Lion reminds me a lot of Hank. He is a sweet boy. We are fostering him for a week until his family is ready to adopt him. So we get to teach him the ropes. So far he is doing really well!
The three boys are tolerating each other so far.




He is pretty low key in the house, but quite playful when he is outside. He is a good boy. We are going to enjoy having him for the week. I really enjoy fostering. It is such a neat experience watching these hounds come out of their shell and seeing their personalities develop. The first time they pick up a toy and play is so neat. =) Teaching them how to climb stairs is amusing. They learn so quickly!!




We also went to the New Kent Winery on Saturday. We did a tasting and bought some wine. It is a beautiful winery and only 15 minutes from our house. Score!!!!! My favorite was their White Norton, but I also enjoyed their 2005 Chardonnay, and Vidal Blanc. Mitch and I both did not care for their Meritage or Merlot. We had a good time and will be visiting again soon.



Sunday we spent lounging around the house watching football and just taking it easy. Next weekend we have some more DIY planned. Our computer/sewing room should be complete. I can't wait! I have started sewing Christmas coats for the kids, but it will be so nice to have an actual space to put all my fabric, thread, ribbon etc. instead of carrying boxes to the kitchen table to sew. And, it will be nice not to have the computer desk in our bedroom. This will give us so much more space. The kids will enjoy this also!






Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! And, Get out there on Tuesday and VOTE!!! EVERY VOTE COUNTS!!!!!!