Dog Park

In an effort to socialize our kids a little better, we take them to the Norman Community Dog Park. Here are some pics from one of our trips there (and the consequences of having gone there).

Miller out playing

Molly out playing

"It's really hot outside!"

Jack likes to sit on the bench with Jordan and I when we go to the dog park.

(He doesn't like ANYONE there but his own "pack".)

Getting ready to leave

Now that we've left, Molly is getting ready to crash out on the car ride home.

Miller's a lot closer to crashing...

And Jack is pretty much gone at this point!

Toys

If you're going to incorporate any 4 legged children into your family, it's very important to have enough TOYS. Yes, food is good. Water, a given. Blankets for all: Great idea. TOYS: MANDATORY!! Why, you might ask? So your dog (or other sweetie) has something of their very own to chew on. Not that it always helps, but it's a good start. This however, is proof that no matter how many toys you have, there are always STICKS. AND, everyone wants the same stick!

Miller does have a favorite toy though... Here's a couple pics of him with it:

This is the "Kick It!" stance

"If I poke it, will it bark?"

"I'll get you!"

"This is my ball!"

"I'm only sitting here for a few seconds, after that, I'm going to grab MY ball and run with it so you can't have it!!!"

My Sweet Little Boy

This past Sunday afternoon Jordan and I deemed to be a lazy day at our house. We were both doing our respective things, me playing the Xbox 360 and he on the laptop when he started getting drowsy. So, Jordan decided to just kick the lazyboy back and take a nap. I on the other hand thought to myself, "if I take a nap, it'll be a waste of 4 hours" (YES, that's right, I nap for 4 HOURS). Anyhoo, so I grabbed my phone, camera and The South Beach diet book and headed out to the back patio. Of course when one of us goes outside, all the kids must follow! Well, my little Jack Jack decided that he needed to come see me on my lap, so I grabbed a quick pic of him.... (MY NEW FAVORITE!!!!) Hope you like!

I'll post more about Miller & Molly's afternoon later on, but I wanted to at least share this!

Fast Friends

In case you're one of those people who get annoyed by all of the "pet people" out there who constantly talk/blog about their pets, take pictures and tell all sort of stories about them as if they were actual children, you should probably stop reading my blog all together.

I'm an animal lover. I can't stand the thought of anyone being cruel or neglectful to a helpless little animal. It's when these things are done to the animal that they can turn mean or aggressive, but through proper teaching and loving, your animals will be a great addition to your family: if you let them.

This being said, Molly is acclimating to the family really well. We got her last Tuesday night (tonight around 8:00 will mark our official 10 days). That being said, it's amazing the transformation. Not only in our 'family' but in her as well.

Miller took to Molly quite quickly, probably because she's almost his size and he can run and play with her rougher than he can with Jack. They will run and play, and even Jack will sometimes look like he's trying to get in on the play time with the two of them as well.

Jack still doesn't LOVE Molly, but he's learned that she's not a (huge) threat to him. He still pretty much feels like anyone who might get some of my attention (which should rightfully be his) is somewhat of a threat and he watches them closely. However, he's not barking and growling at her constantly.

One thing that Jack will do with Miller is he will stand on his back feet and put his front feet on Miller's nose/head to balance himself and then he'll look Miller in the face, smell him, etc. Miller always lets him do this, more of as a "if i just let him have his 8 seconds of smelling me he'll stop trying and leave me alone." Miller doesn't seem to care one way or the other, and just moves on. Jack has done this for quite some time with Miller (as long as I can remember). Well, Jack has started to do this to Molly as well. He "checks her out" to see where she's been etc. It's kind of an acceptance thing for Jack.

The two cats still don't really like her, but Eddie is a little tiny itty-bitty bit more accepting than Missy is. Before Missy will come in the house she looks through the open door to see if Molly's there, and if not, then she will very SLOWLY and tentatively come inside. She comes to eat and sleep at night, but mostly when she's "in" she's in the garage on top of the upright freezer, VERY far away from Molly. Eddie will lay around and kind of ignore her, until she gets a little too close for his comfort. He will still occasionally hiss, growl, and swipe at her, but he too has come a LONG way since we first brought Molly home.

As for Molly, she herself has changed quite a bit. We noticed for a while that it seemed like when she wanted attention she would take something she wasn't supposed to have and run with it. She's not doing that as often now, and the attention she does get from us, she just soaks it up. She is still very much a puppy and LOVES to play, then she crashes out hard. She absolutely loves her 'daddy' and goes nuts when he goes out front where she can't see him or when she can't go with him. She enjoys sleeping on our bed (along with the other 2 dogs) and especially likes to curl up right next to dad. It's all very sweet.

Physically, her coat is getting healthier looking (fullness/shine). She's more active than when we first got her, and she's eating well. VERY WELL. Now that she has a large back yard to run and play in, we're sure her muscle development will be happening soon too. We've also been taking her and the boys to the dog park as often as we can, and she's doing really well with the socialization. She's still a little timid around the dogs that tower over her, but that is to be expected. She does love going though, and she's really good about exploring everything but coming straight back when she's called (we're still working on that with Miller).

Pretty much our biggest drawback at this point is that she seems to think she is a lapdog when we're in the car. I suppose it's probably because she sees Jack up front with the 2 of us, so that's where she wants to be too. She LOVES to sit on dad's lap, be it when he's the passenger OR THE DRIVER!! -We're working on this too. We also noticed that when the car was moving she didn't like to put her head out the window. She's working on this too. She's gradually putting her head out when we're going down the road, and she puts it a little bit farther for a little bit longer each time it seems. Hopefully she'll be brave enough to act like a "normal" dog when it comes to car windows soon.

Here are two pictures of Molly and her new best friend that Jordan took this morning. I thought they were really sweet!

Parma High School Class of 1999

In an attempt to try and find all of my classmates and see what they've been up to, as well as find a contact address/information for reunion purposes, I've set up a blog page for the class. If you are a member of my class, please fill out the info and submit it. If you have an email address for someone else, send them to the page so they can fill out their info as well. We need to stay in touch! Message me if you have any questions!

Happy Birthday Linsey!

Another one of my dear friends from Parma, Idaho is having a birthday! -Linsey (Nielsen) Ethington- Happy Birthday Lady! Hope it's great!!

Happy Birthday Melissa!

One of my dear friends from my small little town of Parma, Idaho -Melissa (Weber) Despain- is having a birthday today! Happy Birthday Mel!

We Are New Parents! Our adoption story and photos!

Ever since Jordan and I started dating seriously, then decided to get married, we’ve talked about how we wished our family would grow. One constant thing we’d talked about over the years, was getting a little girl. Knowing that we would have to have the help of others to obtain this goal, we took our time. We’ve had countless discussions about how exactly it would take place, and when the time would be right. How would we know? What challenges would we face? Would she come from a loving home? Would she love us? What would be the best age to get her at? Would she be a newborn? Would she be a couple years old? What sort of financial obligation would we taking upon ourselves? How much money would we have to put up front? Would we have the money when the situation was ‘right’? Where would she come from? Would it be far away? Would she be brought to us, or would we have to travel to get her? What would she look like? What would her personality be like? Would our ‘kids’ love and accept her once we brought her home?

Well, the time came last week. We found out that our little girl was ready to be placed with a loving family, but we were told up front that it might be a small challenge. She’d been ill lately, and had been to see her doctor who put her on i.v. fluids and medications. The illness had taken quite a toll on her small little body, and at just around 8 months old, she wasn’t necessarily underweight, but she wasn’t filled out as much as she should be. AND, she wasn’t completely over the illness. She would need additional care and much, much more love. She was abandoned without reason and left in the care of an acquaintance, who, having kids of their own, did not have the resources to her care for her the rest of her life the way she would need to be. It was decided that it was time to place her for adoption. Through several emails and a couple phone calls, we were told we could come pick her up on Tuesday (the 13th). After Jordan did what he could to prep the house for her and get the basic necessities that we would need, I got off work, picked him up, and off we went.

We drove about 45 minutes north and east (through a storm) to a town called Shawnee where her temporary home was. When we got there, she was very happy to see us. I think she knew she was heading for a better life. She was happy, with a great big smile on her face. She had beautiful brown eyes and dark hair. She has big feet, but she’ll grow into them and won’t be clumsy forever. We discussed names, and from the photo, then seeing her in person, we decided she looked like, and would be named Molly. After talking for a while with her caregiver, we were able to take her home. Jordan sat in the backseat with her, and you could tell she knew that he was her new daddy. It was all very sweet. She is very sweet. And, we’ve found that she brings a nice balance to our family, a balance that was missing. Miller was leery of her at first, but he’s warming up to her. It will take longer for Jack, as I’m sure he thinks this new baby is moving in on his mommy territory. As for the cats, it will take even longer. Here’s a few pictures of the newest member of our family.

We do not in any way feel like this is a burden, as we were able to adopt her out of a bad situation where she was neglected and eventually abandoned, crawling with fleas and full of worms. She will be given a loving home, and will be taken care of the rest of her life.

We encourage you all to open your hearts and homes (or just your pocketbook if you want, and if it’s possible) to help save these sweet babies who can’t ask for your help themselves. They rely on the goodness of loving people to provide them with the life they deserve to have. Here is a site where you can make a difference. Please visit the site as often as you can to feed the babies.

Much love to you all!

I'm slacking

Okay, for anyone who (tries to) read my blog on a regular basis, you know that I've been slacking in the posting area. AND, since I just got on my friend Linsey about posting more often, I thought I should update this. {I know, I know...it's a do as I say, not as I do kinda thing...}

Even though I did post about the Bird caught by the cat & Rescue/Donation, and Mother's Day, I still need to post about Tuesday (13th) We're New Parents! --> which leads to Wednesday (14th) I'm incredibly sleepy! I will do this soon...I promise!

Mother's Day

For mother's day, as you know by my previous post, we went to the WildCare Foundation and dropped off a bird to them. Well, being how I AM mommy to a housefull of 4 legged children, my sweet husband decided that I needed a little Mother's Day Love as well. He went out to our little rose bush and cut me a little boquet of the pink flowers and put them in a vase for me. He also made me a card. "This was the boys' idea," he said. Either way, whoever deserves the credit, it was very sweet and I appreciated it. Here's the card I got.

Front:

The Inside:

I thought it was very sweet! Thanks kids (& Jordan)!

Details: Bird Caught By The Cat & Rescue/Donation

So, with the wam weather that has happened off and on lately, (mostly on though) we have a tendency to leave the blinds in the living room open. This gives us a clear view to the backyard. We also have a dog door that leads into the garage, and we leave the back door to the garage open so the dogs and cats can go in and out as they so choose.

Well, this particular Saturday, Jordan happened to be on the computer and I was playing an Xbox 360 game. I happened to be waiting for my game to load some new information and I glanced out the window. I saw Eddie (the orange tabby cat) out in the middle of the yard just laying there. It also looked like he had something laying in front of him. I wasn't sure just what it is because, let's face it, I'm getting older. I don't see as well anymore. I need corrective lenses. I was wearing them, but still, I don't see as well as I'd like. So I turned to Jordan and said, "What does Eddie have?" He looked, but wasn't sure as well. So, he put on his shoes and went out to investigate (as did the dogs--they like to help dad investigate EVERYTHING). I decided that it was for my own good that I don't go out there and investigate, but I did go to the window and lean a little closer. I could see that Eddie had something brown. And it looked like it was alive at some point. (It was at this time I reassured myself that it was indeed a VERY good thing that I didn't go outside to investigate closer.)

As Jordan got over there and went to pick it up, the brown lump moved. It didn't so much fly, but it did a kind of a little fly-hop thing. (By this time I was about to carve in stone my genius for staying inside...) Well, apparently it was a little bird that Eddie caught and injured, but didn't kill. Luckily. I hate that sort of stuff. I'm an animal lover. -I'm sure you know that by now. Anyways, Eddie injured a wing so the bird couldn't fly away, and we think the bird was 'playing dead' in order to save his/her life, which is probably what happened. Well, Jordan was able to pick it up and it perched on his finger, so he brought it to the window for me to see. It was then that I decided I'd take a picture of the poor little thing.




After my photo op, I called the 24 hour emergency vet clinic and they gave me a phone number to a wild animal care place. It's called the WildCare Foundation. What they do there is accept and treat any native wild animal, and when it's back to full health and can fend for itself again, they release it on protected (no hunting) ground for reintegration in nature. When I got them on the phone they told me that they accept animals from 9:00am-7:00pm, and since it was already almost 8:30pm, they would be happy to take it the next day. So, we (meaning mostly Jordan) made a little bird nest shaped area out of a hand towel, we put some of our birdseed on a little plate, put down a little plate of water, and put it in Miller's kennel for the night to await his new home the next day. We put him in the kennel because we didn't want him to hurt himself by trying to fly around.

Anyhoo, on Sunday we went out to the property and gave them the bird. They told us is was a Morning Dove (I had no idea....it was BROWN was the best description I could give them on the phone....). They said that it had lost some feathers on the wing and it probably would be okay because nothing felt broken. They also said that being that it's spring time, a lot more babies get abandoned by mom getting killed one way or another, so at that moment they had over 600 animals of all kinds that they were taking care of, 300 of which were babies. The facility runs solely off of donations, and they have a vet that donates his time to the facility to help as well. So, if you're wanting to know more about the facility, or how you can donate to this WONDERFUL cause, check out their website by clicking here.