Tails Of Us

2008-07-31T11:29:00.004-06:00

Ham for Breakfast:

Me: Do me a favor, please, bud...would you go get me a roll of tp for the guest bath?
Mr. B: Sure! Anything for my nugget pugget Mom!
Me: LOL!

Oh, yeah-I moved my scraproom!!! Will post post pics later :-).

2008-04-16T22:01:00.004-06:00

Like a donut...??

I guess this is what he meant? Mr. B and I are watching the Big Cats Diaries and we see a beautiful baby cheetah. B says "Ohmigosh-he is so cute I just want to hug him and then dunk him in coffee!!!" I laughed so hard I had tears streaming down my face.

The stuff this kid comes up with...it's so weird. And funny. :)

2008-04-09T07:46:00.002-06:00

Quick update...praise doG, it wasn't the cancer! It was a very large, very heavy marble and, after having it surgically removed, he is on the mend. Where he got it, I have no idea...must've been one of the neighbor's kids who accidentally threw it in the backyard, or it rolled back there, or something. Expensive marble. It is now mounted and sitting on DH's desk. Maybe he figures it'll inspire him to work that much harder so we can replenish the savings ;).

2008-04-06T17:58:00.003-06:00

My big beautiful boy is sick :(

He started throwing up on Thursday, and by the afternoon he was dehydrated and required an overnight stay for IV fluids, pain meds and antibiotics. One of the possible causes is pancreatitis, but we can't rule out that perhaps the cancer is back. If you pray, say a little extra one for Holden please. He still won't eat and threw up again today. He is in danger of becoming dehydrated again, so we'll be at the vet first thing tomorrow, if not at the emergency hospital tonight. Let's hope he rests comforatably tonight, and doesn't throw up any more.

I'm keeping a close eye on him, but he doesn't want anything to do with me since I've been shoving pills down his throat. Poor baby. C'mon, Hodie-just ROAR!!! (love this pic-caught him barking.)

2008-03-24T08:40:00.009-06:00

Back to school today. :) Spring break was so much fun-started with a get-together with the neighbors on the first Friday and just kept going. We all got together for impromptu dinners outside and the weather was so beautiful, we kept it up all week taking turns.

In-between we went to the movies, the zoo, did some shopping and an easter egg hunt.
Ended the week at the crop with my CKMB friends...what more could a gal want?!

Obviously didn't make it back last week to post my layouts so I'll post them now:

Actually did this one at the crop before, but I have to post it because I love the look on Mr. B's face.(Sorry for the crappy pics :0 ugh). Okay, fixed the pics, but I won't quit my day job. ;0

Classic B:

Love me some Making Memories!!! Found this line at Target. Happy day.

Found the MM Garden Party line at Mike's:

And some Christmas layouts. Yes, I know it's Easter, but better late than never.

2008-03-18T08:23:00.012-06:00

I think this fits me perfectly. ;) LOL Click the link at the bottom to get yours....

What Miffy Means

M is for Mi Amor

I is for Incandescent Eyes

F is for Flower

F is for Flawless

Y is for Yummy Lips

What's Your Pet Name?

Been doing a lot around the house lately...finally got the dining room floor done:

The furniture piled up in the LR:

Lance working hard. He's a keeper :)

The final result (almost...need to put the glass back on the table).

Can't wait to do the rest. The carpet in our room looks like it's 20 years old. We've been in this house for, umm, 4 (!) years. Yikes.

Now I just need to figure out the paint. Got my picture wall done, too. May just give this green a go in the dining room, below the chair rail...not sure, yet.

On the other side of the doors...SNOW!!!! In March...in Texas!
Sadie's never seen this much snow...she's unsure:

Winston romps immediately. That's his specialty! This is good Labrador weather:

Sadie finally braves it, only to be bombarded by Holden:

And the obligatory snowball fights ensued:

Yeah, I had a little laundry to do after that. That's it for now, but I'll post some LO's in a little while. Right now, Mr. B has an urgent need to play on the computer ;).

2008-02-27T09:07:00.005-06:00

So I get this e-mail that my brother forwarded to me, and I have to do a double take when I see who it's from: my very bestest friend in elementary school!!!! Hi, Michelle!(: I have thought of her so often over the years, and just recently she had crossed my mind yet again. We haven't spoken since my senior year in high school when I went to visit my dad, and we had gotten together for lunch.

Her phone # was included, so I called her up, and we got to chat for a little while. It was impossible to ask and answer everything we had been wondering about in the short amount of time we had, so I'm sending her the link to my blog. Now she'll be able to see how glamorous my life is! {grin}

Michi...e-mail me those pics!!! I'm dying to see your girls. =)

In other news...I am having the BEST time with my two puppy classes. All of the doggie parents are working hard, and it shows! They are doing great. It is so fun to see the light go on in these puppies eyes and see them so eager to earn that next treat! It is such a pleasure to see these people work with their companions. I will never understand those who pay to take a class and then waste their time arguing with the trainer as to why nothing I suggest is working. But I'm not going to rant today. =) I am going to enjoy the fact that I have a whole class of people willing to open their minds and try.

Tip of the day: if your dog growls at other dogs, and/or people, please don't punish them. They have already told you they are uncomforatable with their body language but because us humans don't always pick up on these cues, they have to communicate more clearly. Dogs can't say "hey, my personal space bubble is being invaded and I'm getting scared" so they growl. (Some dogs have a huge personal bubble and will react to something 50 feet away.) Most people will then feel terrible that their dog is being so "mean" (or they will think the dog is being "dominant" which is rarely the case) and they will pop the leash, yell, or worse...hit their dog. Imagine this: you are standing in line at the movie theatre, restaurant, etc. The person behind you is breathing down your neck, so you step forward. They scootch up closer. You turn around and look at them, but they're clueless, so you make an attempt to put distance between you and give them the eye. They just keep on scootching up and actually bump into you several times. You all get the picture.

Now imagine you are standing there minding your own business, and some strange person comes running up to you and jumps you. You'd be pissed (unless you are one of those clueless people (; that stands as close to strangers as you can) and would most likely bark "back off you nimwit!" Now say your friend turned to you, yanked you by the arm and told you to quit being such a jerk. You'd think WTH?!?! Are you with me so far?

Here's the thing...if you punish the growl, they will have no other option but to escalate to a bite. If the bite backs the "scary person/dog" off, you have just succeeded in teaching your dog that biting works. AND-not only are they now scared at what is coming toward them, they are also scared of being punished. Double whammy.

So here's what you do. First, learn to watch your dog for signs that s/he are uncomforatable. Ears down, looking away, hiding behind your legs, whale eyes.
(More on this later.) Now, LISTEN to your dog, and give them the space they are desperately seeking. If they respond to their name well, call them and reward them for hearing you. THEN get the heck outta dodge!! Our goal here is to teach the dog that another dog/person/scary thing is their cue to look at you. If looking at you is rewarding they are more likely to keep looking to you when they are unsure. If you are watching them, you are more likely to pick up on the fact that they are in need of direction.

Okay, so it's not a tip-more of a whole page, but you get the point. If you are having a hard time with this, please find a good, positive trainer. The apdt is a good place to start. Working through issues like these require the help of a professional, and watching a tv show may not be the best way to learn about your dog. Always talk to the trainer before you sign up to see if your dog needs privates or can be worked with in a group setting. Also, find out what methods are used. If there is anything you are uncomforatable about, keep looking. There are a lot of good trainers out there, but there are also some that will charge you a mint to teach you how to scare the he** out of your dog. (Sorry, it sounds a bit like a rant, doesn't it?)

In scrappy news: the crop was a blast! Only got one LO finished, but I did get some serious shopping done, and that's part of the fun =).Will post the LO later...off to do some glamorous stuff, like find out where the heck my steam cleaner is! (Yes, it's MIA again. Broke down 1/2 an hour after I got it back...argh!!!) The good news? they put TWO special tags on it this time. That's sure to work, right? Riiiight.

2008-02-21T12:58:00.011-06:00

One of the clients whose dog I trained recently asked me to pet sit. I thought it'd be nice to thank her with a couple photos:

Aren't they cute? The Golden's name is Pete and the Yorkie is Bridgette. Doesn't her little face look like a heart? Wish Pete hadn't come out so blurry, but he looked real goofy in all the other pics.

Now for a little doggie education/rant from your friendly trainer... ;)

Look what good dogs Sadie and Winston are being! When we sit down to dinner, this is where they know to go. Technically, they aren't supposed to be off the carpet, but Winston has a knack for testing...see his paws just over the boundary? Mmmhmmm. If your dogs drive you nuts at dinner, you can train them to stay behind a certain boundary and they can practice being good dogs. It takes a little effort the first few days, but after that, it is so worth it. One of my favorite sayings to clients is "You get what you re-inforce." If you reward the dog for staying where you want him, that's what he'll do. Simple, no? Well, it is for the dogs. :) Unfortunately, people get caught up in the idea of how the dog should do it "because he respects me." {insert eye roll here}.

Dogs have no morals. They don't know right from wrong. "But s/he KNOWS s/he did something wrong! S/he "looks guilty" when I get home!" This is one of the most common things I hear. Or, "s/he peed on my carpet/chewed up my pillow to get back at me". This is called anthropomorphism:

an·thro·po·mor·phism (nthr-p-môrfzm)
n. The attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behavior to nonhuman organisms,animals or inanimate objects.

If the dog "looks guilty" when you come home, (a.)s/he is responding to your body language(dogs can pick up on the tiniest changes in our body language that we aren't even aware of. This makes them amazing, don't you think?), or (b.)there is a history of the owner getting angry when they come home, and their homecoming is now a source of stress for the dog. In other words, the dog relates their human's homecoming to having been punished/yelled at in the past, and his "guilty" look is more of a "calming signal". (To read more about this go to Turid Rugaas' site). I can give my dogs "the look" and they'll respond by looking guilty even if they haven't done anything. I promise you-your dog is not up all night scheming ways to get back at you or take over your household.

Unfortunately, there is a very popular t.v. show that is teaching people how to "dominate" their dogs. I find it very presumptious. I didn't get a dog to control him. I got a dog (or four :0) to be my companion. Yes, you must be a good leader, and teach your dog what behaviors are acceptable, but one needn't do it in a scary or painful way. A lot of kindness and a few treats go a long way!!!

{rant over} :)

Meeting some friends from CKMB for dinner and a crop tomorrow!!! Gotta get packing-hope you have a great weekend!

2008-02-12T17:00:00.000-06:00

Check it out:

A scalloped edge punch!!!! I absolutely love those scalloped edges, and now I can get 'em without cutting them by hand, which is really good, because then they won't look like they were cut by a five-year-old.

In other news-
I haven't finished my mini-book yet.
I hate laundry.

Have a great day.

2008-02-10T20:40:00.000-06:00

Happy Anniversary to Craft Critique! I just found their blog through Mugsy Boo (one of my faves) and they have some great previews from CHA. How amazing would it be to attend?!

Love looking at all the eye candy, but it must be absolutely overwhelming to see it all in person. I remember going to market in Dallas for the children's clothing store I worked at and ooh-ing and aah-ing over all the beautiful clothes. I wanted everything, and I didn't even have kids yet! I'd have a hard time containing myself at CHA. Heck, I can barely contain myself at Hobby Lobby :0 and recently, even at Mike's.

No new pics today, but I'm almost done with a friendship mini-book I'm making to cheer up a buddy of mine. If I can get it done, I'll post it tomorrow.

2008-01-31T13:49:00.000-06:00

I made a Valentine's day banner. I'm thinking it still needs a swirl stamp here or there. (This is the BK {before kelpie} pic-she managed to rip it aaargh!) What do you think? I'll try to take a better pic when I fix it. If anyone's out there, leave me a comment...they make me happy. ;)

My latest pug page:

On the top right hand of the pic is a label. I'm still trying to think of what to put on it-any suggestions? I love this blog, but try as I might, my layouts are just not anywhere near as cute and I know it's not for lack of an adorable subject. ;)

I also added the "Stop Puppy Mills" banner that is on Martha's blog (Mugsy Boo). Thanks, Martha!

2008-01-19T10:13:00.000-06:00

OMG-just read this on Smultringunn's blog, and had to share while I remembered. This is the life of a dog-owner in a nutshell. I had tears streaming down my face from laughing so hard. If you don't get it, it's cuz you don't have a dog. :)

I figured out the link thingy! Yay, me!

2008-01-18T10:43:00.000-06:00

Trying to figure out how to add the thingy that lets you comment...thanks, Detta, didn't realize it wasn't working. Yay, now it is!!!! Don't know why it still won't do it on the other posts.

I wish I had taken pics of the calendar I made for my mom. It turned out really well, and made her cry...(that's actually a good thing). Unlike most of my other scrappy things, I kept it really simple. Yesterday I decided to make a page with one of the same pics I used in her calendar...same title and everything, but try as I might I just couldn't quit messing with it. Thought I'd keep it simple...hah! Here are my latest three:
This one shows the everyday silliness...LOL! Have to switch out the big pictre with a new one 'cuz I scratched it.

A few more views...love the pic of Winnie with his head stuck in the box. What a goober.

that's Mom behind Lance there...try to take a pic, and all you get is ham!

The look on Mr. B's face here cracks me up (the pic on the left)...he looks like he's saying "take the picture already!!!"

This is one of the pics I used in my mom's calendar. Not real happy with the letters-they look so flat, but I'm trying to use up my huge stash of alpha letters.

Off to play with my paper some more...hope you have a great weekend! :)

2008-01-12T11:27:00.000-06:00

I found this blog last night and stayed up way too late playing with all the links. Love this post...says exactly what I've got bouncing in my head right now. (At some point I will remember how to make a link into a word, but for now, this'll have to do.) Love Ballard Designs, too. (http://paperandink.typepad.com/thegoodlife/2008/01/slowly-but-sure.html) Been a fan forever, save all the catalogs and actually have a few pieces from them. Yay, me. :) Love these tables: A friend and I were discussing whether or not our personalities matched our signs...I'm an aquarius, and one of the personality traits listed is eccentricity. I don't think I'm eccentric. She disagreed, because I have a thing for tables. A fetish, like with patterned paper. :) Sigh...I really miss her. She was so much fun to talk to. We don't talk much anymore :(

So this link thing is making it hard to read my blog probably. I apologize to all 2 people who read it. I will stop linking things until I figure out the word-thingy.

So, here's part of my rain and liverwurst: my steam cleaner died. A month ago. (UGH!) Good thing I bought that extra repair warranty, right? They fixed it in about a week. So worth it, I thought.

Brought it home and revved it up only to have black oily-type stuff spewing from it-all over my
beige (well, mud and koolaid-colored used to be beige) carpet. This was Dec. 20th. Lance took it back, and the repair place put a priority tag on it. (Funny how much a piece of paper can change things, huh?) Well, it must have fallen off, because the promise date was Dec. 26th. We're still waiting for backordered parts. Whatever...

I tried explaining to Bubba over at the repair place that I have 4 dogs, 2 kids and a husband that dribbles coffee everywhere. (I never make any messes. ). Can you believe he doesn't care? Well, of course not. He doesn't have a 90lb. Lab with separation anxiety that pees in his house when he leaves. And if he did, I doubt he'd stress about it.

This makes me the laughing stock of the neighborhoood as far as my choice of career. (Okay, career may be too strong a word.) As a dog trainer I should be able to potty train a Lab, right? It's just not that simple. His medical and separation anxiety issues make it very difficult. (Can't crate him-he hurts himself trying to get out. The thyroid contributes to his excessive urination as does the fact that he is prone to crystals in his bladder.) I NEEEEEED my steam cleaner!!!! Why couldn't I have chosen a smaller dog with these issues? Noooo-gotta be one that makes a lake everytime he pees. Next time, I'm getting a pug. :)

On a happier note, I'm finishing up a layout that completely contradicts my state of mind right now. I guess yesterday was a good day. :) Will post soon.

2007-12-29T16:10:00.000-06:00

Christmas is officially over...phew! It was a great Christmas for all. The kids had a blast and have enjoyed their gifts, there was happy news from several friends and the house is still standing. Seriously, not an easy task with this crew plus my mom and her pup. And, I am finally feeling better. Had a bugger of a cold that went into my chest. Amazing what a few doses of antibiotics can do. Here's hoping you and yours had a great holiday, too.

The new year is upon us, and I am looking forward to all it will bring. This past year was full of change and challenges. There have been friends lost, and friends found. There have been many blessings and some hardships. In other words, it was a year full of life! ;D What will this year bring? What can I do to make it a happy one for my family? What will I bring to the new year?

I have plenty of thoughts, plans and good intentions. I don't know if they are resolutions as much as hopes. We'll see. ;)

A few of my favorite pics:

My niece...what a doll!

2007-12-07T06:24:00.000-06:00

I need sleep. For the past three weeks someone has been throwing up, coughing, needing medicine or having to go outside in the middle of the night. Last night everyone, including me, finally made it through the night only to be awakened at 5:00am (!!!) by the most horrendous music on the radio. Ugh. DH had the alarm set to some Mexican radio station in hopes that it would jolt him out of bed. He slept right through it. The dogs didn't. They know when the alarm goes off, it's time for breakfast. Pavlov sucks.

So when you're sleep deprived you start to think weird thoughts. A few nights ago, as I slept soundly, I woke up to a soft "whoof....whoof". I opened one eye, and this is what I saw:

(Well, not exactly this, because although scrappers always have their cameras at the ready, it was 3:00am, so just pretend the background is dark, etc.). I fell back asleep for what felt like a minute, but could've been an hour. Then came the "whoof" again, only not as softly. I opened the other eye, and saw this!! Wait...weren't you just white? Wha....

I swear I thought the dogs were playing tricks on me. I had to open both eyes to scan the room, and make sure they weren't giggling at me. I imagined Holden and Winston plotting to confuse me. "I'll sit by the bed and bark, and when she opens that one eye, I'll look at her all innocent-like, and then we'll trade places and she'll think I changed colors. Bwahahaha!!" Like I said...sleep deprivation. Weird thoughts. DH thought it was humorous. I bet he's in on it.

********************************************************

In other news: I finally finished the gifts I was working on:

This came as plain chipboard and I painted and papered and stamped and glued for days. So fun!!! Gotta run-will post more pics later! :)

2007-11-18T16:10:00.000-06:00

I've been a bad blogger, but a good scrapper. :)
I've been working on some gifts for Christmas, including a mini-book and some calendars.
Will post pics soon...

2007-10-23T08:20:00.000-06:00

Here is that journaling I was talking about, along with the layout I did.

Journaling reads:

Sadie, they say that dogs don’t lie-that they are not capable of deception or jealousy and that we mustn’t attribute human traits to our dogs. But I’ve seen you, little one!! I watch you as you come up to Winston acting for all the world as if you want to play with that little stubby tail wagging furiously until he takes you up on your invitation only to have you turn on him at the last second.

You’re like the big sister who lures her suspicious little brother into a game, only to tease him mercilessly and giggle with malicious delight when he walks away with his tail tucked and his ears drooped. Look at you! You look so sweet and innocent. I’ve seen you bat your eyes…literally, as if to say “Aren’t I a good girl?” but from one female to another, I know what that look really means…
Oh, but you are a cutie…a cuddly, licky little ball of energy. You make me laugh, and that’s a quality, indeed. You are like a mischievous toddler, ringing the bell to go outside repeatedly only to bark incessantly and interrupt what I’m doing to go outside and make you come back in. And if you can’t entice the others to follow you out, you scratch at the door frantically to be let back in only to turn around and ring the bell again five minutes later

2007-10-19T18:25:00.000-06:00

One of my faves of KK-she and her
friend took it. A natural beauty and
smart as all get-out! My baby girl-
love her so much it hurts.

2007-10-19T18:23:00.000-06:00

This fits Mr. B perfectly...funny, mischievous.
Quite the charmer. I adore this boy.

2007-10-19T16:45:00.000-06:00

Now for some scrappy stuff. :) I picked up the HOF edition of CK. Hate paying that much for a magazine but I was too lazy to go get a Sunday paper, hence no coupon. Anyway, there was a lot of inspiration in there, and it makes we want to play!!!!! One of my goals is to better about my journaling. I know what the pics mean to me, but I am not too great at conveying the message to
the rest of the world thru mu LO's. That's the main reason for the blog. I can sit down and type out what's in my head, and it'll be there when I sit down with the pics and the yummy paper.

So I had several ideas for layouts today:
(did ya really think the subject of dogs wasn't going to leak into the scrappy stuff? They're perfect subjects for a LO...they don't roll their eyes when you try to get a shot, or give you a goofy smile. They 're exactly them. All the time.) Anyway-

I was watching Sadie digging under the barbq pit to get at whatever she smells under there and thinking about how tenacious she is and how, despite the fact that she's got the attention span of a gnat (particularly when working on her stays at the door), she did some major problem solving. I watched her figure out how to move a huge brick off two others to get at whatever it was she wanted to get. I know she's no Lassie, but it was cool to watch.

So I've had this saved in word for a few weeks, and I think with some tweaking it'll make for
good journaling: okay, it's not in word , which means that it's in some notebook somewhere which shows why I am so glad I started this blog. I'll come back to it.

The other idea I had was to do one of those everyday kinda LO's. You know, documenting my daily existence, which included steam cleaning the carpet only to come home and find that Winnie threw up while I was shopping for groceries. He has the whole flippin' house to himself (all other dogs are "put up") and where does he throw up? You guessed it! On the clean carpet!!!
Aaaargh! This is my life.

Now, I know I signed up for the job, and I wouldn't have it any other way, but no where in the job description did it say that I'd have to steam clean the carpet twice in one day, make a minimum of 8 snacks a day (my kids are on different schedules) re-wash the laundry that was never worn by my 12yr. old daughter because it's easier to put it in the hamper than hang it back up....etc. You get the picture. I know. I know. My life is blessed. It truly is. I just wish Winston would quit blessing me so often.

Anyway, back to scrappy stuff and HOF. While I am awed by the talent of the HOF'ers, I actually found myself more drawn to the LO's done by the HM's. I'm not a real linear scrapper, so I guess that's why. It seemed that a lot of the layouts done by the 25 ladies that won the title
were more linear.

Okay, just so you don't think I'm obsessed only with my dogs, I'll share the other loves in my life. I hope this turns out well-so far I've messed up every single post. Okay...here goes:

Apparently, they ended up at the top rather than where I wanted them. Oh, well. The point is that they're there...my two loves. Now, if I can find a pic of the hubby...not an easy task. Think I'll go play with paper now!

2007-10-18T13:56:00.000-06:00

Puggy Cuteness: Zack
Mom brought her puppy up for a visit, much to
Winston's chagrin. Sophie and Holden loved him
(once Holden realised he wasn't an evil alien), and
Sadie....sigh. Sadie chases anything that moves.
She didn't spend much time with him-maybe next
time. She has to mellow out eventually (riiiight.)

2007-10-18T13:30:00.000-06:00

I finally got all four pics and their names in the right place...had to do separate posts.
So, finally, here is the four-legged crew!

2007-10-18T13:26:00.000-06:00

Sophie: the best dog ever. Seriously.

2007-10-18T13:24:00.000-06:00

Holden: my nervous nellie and resident dufus.

2007-10-18T13:22:00.000-06:00

Winston: the problem child :)

2007-10-18T13:16:00.000-06:00

Sadie: The troublemaker. She's a Kelpie-'nuff said.

2007-10-13T07:23:00.000-06:00

With Christmas just around the corner, I thought I'd add a little something I had swimming around in my head (I know...scary) a year or so ago, when Winston was still a puppy.

2007-10-13T07:08:00.000-06:00

A Doggie Christmas
(to the tune of Chestnuts Roasting )

The Kelpie’s chewing on the Christmas tree
And nipping at poor Winston’s nose
Labradors mill around with their eyes all aglow
While we try not to step on their toes

Children running in and out the door
Making Sadie want to take flight
Oh those cats and the birds taunting her from afar
Are making her crazy tonight

We know that Winston’s gone upstairs
And now there’s dog pee everywhere
Even though he just went out an hour ago
And knows how to ring the bell

All the doggies know that if we leave the fridge unlocked
They just have to bide their time
Because sooner or later Sophie will open it up
And they’ll all have a grand time