After playing with Ms. S, Mr. M decided he needed to look for ghosts in the tree.

We have gotten to the point again when I start questioning the wisdom of living in Texas in the summertime. I like Texas in general, but summers are just not always fun. So what do you do with this many dogs when it's too hot to even go to the beach? 
Pool Party Time!
It had been a while since we had brought out the kiddie pool, and we weren't even sure if they would remember it. They pretty much just picked right back up where they left off last year.

Unfortunately pool parties don't last very long at our house because as soon as they've played in the water for a few minutes, they are nice and cool and ready to play. So this happens:

Then this happens:

Then this:

And the water ends up looking like this:

Luckily there's plenty of entertainment inside too. There's napping, kitties, napping with kitties. 

Of course, in all fairness, the kitties nap pretty much everywhere.

Kitty B takes first prize for napping in odd places. She decided that Dad's computer was pretty comfortable. While he was trying to use it.

Apparently we missed an important date. Yesterday was National Pets Day. We celebrated unknowingly by giving our puppies lots of treats. Of course, we pretty much do that every day. Miss M thought about showing her support of National Pets Day, but she was too busy lounging in the puppy hammock.

On a side note, we are trying to get the grass to grow. Right now though, the ground is pretty dirty. It's a small yard, and once all of the puppies have used the bathroom, there aren't many dry patches left. So we made a puppy hammock out of canvas and pvc pipe to give them a place to sun bathe off of the ground. 

​So anyway, Happy National Pets Day.

We gave up trying to figure out what season it is here. The day before yesterday, we had the air conditioner on. Today, the yard is a swimming pool, and it's cold again. The puppies have been wanting to snuggle a lot lately, and even the cats have been trying to spend more time on our bed- even if the dogs are on the bed...
Some of the mornings have been kind of foggy and cold. That hasn't stopped the puppies from having fun in the yard.

Mr. C isn't too impressed by the singing Cowboy Santa. He kept a respectable distance away from this strange moving thing.

Miss M isn't sure whether or not she appreciates cooler weather. Some mornings, she would just rather stay in bed under the covers.

Mr. M doesn't really like the cold, but is always happy to stand guard and make sure the cats don't come outside. He has taken it as his personal mission to keep the cats in the house. Any time they push the door open and venture outside while we are out with the puppies, he stalks them and chases them back in.

Summer seemed like it would never go, but all of a sudden, colorful leaves started trickling onto the ground. The puppies have been enjoying the cooler temperatures. This weekend, they had a good time playing in the yard and napping on fleece blankets.

Dad was cleaning up some of the marital arts equipment in the back yard, when one of the puppies found the rag he was using. It quickly turned into a group game of keep-away.

Mr. C was in a particularly bouncy mood and was up to his usual antics. He still gets quite a bit of air for such a big puppy.

The puppies had a good time running around the yard taking the towel away... until Miss S got the towel. Taking anything away from Miss S is easier said than done.

With all the cool weather coming on, Mom decided that the puppies needed something in the bottom of their crates to keep them comfortable. Last winter we tried pillows and blankets, but the puppies tore the pillows up and ended up peeing on the blankets. (They were a lot smaller then). Mom found some nice fleece blankets on sale and sewed them in half and then in half again. She then sewed a piece of cotton material (actually part of a sheet) to the back so that on cold days they can use the fleece side, and on cool days they can use the cooler side. I will have to take some pictures of the finished crate blankets and post them. Mr. M discovered his while I was sewing one of the others and claimed it immediately by smelling it, pawing it to adjust and then cuddling up on it.

This just in: Apparently Chewy.com boxes really are chewy. (According to Mr. M)

Also just in: Kitty P is getting fat. Kitty S is also putting on some pounds, but she is longer so she doesn't look as pudgy as Kitty S.

The rain has stopped, but the ground is still moist, so the puppies haven't been able to play in the yard much. We have been having to play more in the house, which is a little tricky. It gets crowded really quickly when all five puppies are playing and rowdy. So we end up having to play with them one or two at a time, which is good individual time. They really enjoy their one on one time. 
In other news, the puppies are really growing up. Their Aunt P informed us jokingly that they really aren't puppies anymore. They are big dogs now. They may still grow some, or at least bulk up, but they will always still be our puppies. It is really hard to believe that little Miss M is already a year old. Looking at them now, it's hard to imagine how small they all were when we first brought them home.

Okay, seriously? Again with the flooding? Why do we always have to have rains of biblical proportions? Can't we just have a little bit of rain like normal people?

It started raining Saturday afternoon and really hasn't stopped since then. Every time we take the puppies out, they just stop and look out, and then they look at us like, "can't you turn it off?" Normally if we open the door, we have to watch out because they all fly out. This weekend, I'm pretty sure we could leave all of our doors wide open, and nobody would even get up off of their blankets and pillows. If you look closely in the picture below, you can see Miss M looking out at me while I was taking pictures of the backyard. Notice that the door is open, but she is quite content to just sit and look at me. She eventually ventured out onto the porch, but that was as far as she went.

The Weather Channel keeps telling us that the rain should start coming to an end  later this evening. I'll believe it when I see it. I will say though, that it has actually been pretty cozy with the bad weather. It is a little cooler (65 outside) because of the rain. I was able to bake some bread yesterday, and we made brownies today. I also had a little bit of time to work on puppy sweaters. So even though it is a pain in the neck when it's time for potty breaks, it's not bad otherwise. Plus, the puppies have been super cuddly this weekend- which is nice.

It's hard to believe that Miss M is almost a year old and that it has been almost a year since Mr. M and Miss S got their first rabies shot. We have to go get their rabies booster in the next few weeks. How is it that they are already old enough for their boosters? It seems like yesterday that we were just taking them to vet for the first time.
I have to say though, one thing I don't miss about them being little puppies is the whole potty training thing. 
When we got Miss B and Mr. C home, it took several weeks for them to get the idea that they should always go outside. Once they figured that out, we were halfway there, but their bladders were still small. So we still had to take them outside every few hours in the middle of the night for a potty break. Just about the time they started sleeping through the night without any accidents and without waking us up to go outside, we brought Miss S and Mr. M home... and the potty training started all over again.
We were still sleep deprived from the first set, but not taking them out every 2 or 3 hours meant cleaning up puppy messes in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning. So every 2 or 3 hours, we were out with the little ones. They did pretty well with the potty training. I think they worked hard on it at night so that they could sleep in the bedroom with us and with the big puppies (not in the bed yet of course). Right about the time we got them sleeping through the night, along came Miss M, and the potty training started over. Again. So did the waking up every few hours.
I think that people who have a hard time sleeping at night should just get puppies. After a few weeks of taking them out every 2 or 3 hours, they wouldn't need sleeping pills any more.
Another thing I have noticed is that the bigger our puppies get, the more they like to snuggle. When they are little, you always want to cuddle them, but they pretty much just tolerate your kisses and snuggles. When they get older, they realize how cozy it is to snuggle up next to you. So the snuggles get better and better. Pit bulls are the best snuggle dogs as far as I can tell. Their skin isn't particularly oily like a lab, so they don't have a very strong doggy odor. They are also solid enough that you can hug them without having to worry about the weight of your arm hurting them. They are like warm teddy bears.
​The one thing I have to admit that I do miss is the cute little puppy breath. 
I'm really glad we had more than one puppy at a time. They keep each other entertained and exercised. Plus, Miss B has a ton of energy, and without the puppies, Mr. C would be worn out all of the time. They stay much happier when they get plenty of playtime and exercise. Notice how Mr. M is keeping Miss B on her toes...

It's the middle of the week. Thursday is a strange day. It isn't hump day, so we are almost to Friday, but we aren't quite to the weekend yet. We still have to get up early tomorrow, so we can't go to the beach. But, we still need a little exercise and fun. This Thursday, the puppies decided to change things up a bit. Mr. M found a nice used toothbrush in the bathroom trashcan. Miss S thought it was her lucky day when he put it down and she was able to snag it. About that time, we realized what they were chewing on and took it away. Mr. M tried to reason with Dad to get it back.

Miss M tried to help him reason with Dad. Mr. M didn't appreciate her help and leaned way back to see what she was doing. 

Mr. C was a little concerned with all of this talk about toothbrushes.

Eventually Mr. M got bored with the toothbrush and made the argument that we should go outside. It seemed like a good idea.

We let Mr. M and Miss B play together first before bringing the others out. They both like to run and will wear each other out if we give them a few minutes for their zoomies.

Once Miss B and Mr. M were tired, we took them in to cool off and brought out the others.

Before going back in, Miss M took the time to play chase with Dad.

All in all, I guess it was a pretty good Thursday.

It's fall, but apparently the weather didn't get the memo. I hear that it is supposed to be cooler this weekend. For now though, we are still enjoying summer. In October. Complete with air conditioning and flip flops.

The puppies have been enjoying the backyard. Mom has been working on knitting more sweaters so that they will each have a sweater by the time it gets cold. The sweatshirts they had last year are too small, and they looked a little ragtag. We will probably get the puppies each another sweatshirt to wear around the house and in the backyard, but the sweaters will look more stylish when we are out and about.With as slow as the Texas winters are in coming, she probably has a few more months to get the sweaters ready. 

In other news, the cats are getting fat. More specifically, Kitty P is getting fat. Kitty S is just looking normal. We suspect that Kitty P is hogging all of the food. We would like to think that she is just fattening up for the winter, but I think she's just a little piggy.