Category: Playtime

Lazy Sunday and Kitties

6/26/2016

Sundays vary around our house. Some Sundays are very busy. This Sunday seems to be shaping up as a very lazy day. As I write this, all of the puppies are asleep- all three of the girls are snoring away on the couch. Kitty B is curled up asleep in her crate beside the couch, and the big cats are sleeping upstairs. I would get Kitty B back out and let her sleep on the couch too, but if I open the door to her crate, everyone is going to wake up. So I am just letting them all sleep.
A Costco opened up recently not too far away. I had never been too interested in Costco before- I figured it was basically just another Sam's... Then I went into the Costco during the grand opening. Now we end up going there almost every week. They have really good puppy treats, among other things. Last time we were in there, they had kitty trees. Our big cats like their kitty trees and use them a lot, so we decided to get another one for in the living room. I didn't think that Kitty B was big enough to really use it. Boy, was I wrong. She can go all the way to the top, which is impressive because it is 5 1/2 feet tall! Kitty P and Kitty S have decided that they like Kitty B and play with her every chance they get. They even clean her. I really wasn't expecting them to accept her like that, but I am glad that they have. Here are some pictures of their kitty tree antics.

The puppies still really like her, but sometimes they have more important things to do than to pay attention to kitties- like tearing up boxes. Kitty B is smart. She has realized that if the puppies are out, she can climb up the kitty tree and they can't reach to slobber on her. She likes the puppies, but they do tend to slobber on her a lot while licking her.

Yesterday, Mom and Dad went to visit Mom's niece and her kids. It was a nice visit, and I just had to post this picture of one of the boys having a meaningful conversation with his dog.

Have a happy lazy Sunday.

Spring Break and Birthdays

3/17/2016

This past week, Mom has been on Spring Break, and it has been wonderful. The puppies are very glad to stay in bed until it's light outside. They are also very happy to help Mom with the projects she has been working on since being off of work. Mr. C and Miss M were only too happy to hold the quilt in place while Mom was working on it. When they saw Dad with the camera, they were a little worried that he was going to make them get off of it. Mom reassured him that they weren't laying on the part that she was working on.

I (Mom) like to make a lot of things by hand. I got tired of trying to find bread that was non-GMO. None of the breads in the local stores are non-GMO. As far as I can tell, the closest store that sells bread without corn or soy in it is Whole Foods, and that's not very close. So in the interest of not eating GMO corn or soy, I've been making all of our bread for over a year. I was making a basic white bread until Grandpa gave me a sourdough starter. The sourdough bread is really mild and perfect for sandwiches. So lately, I've been making a lot of sourdough bread. One of the things I hadn't tried making at home was cheese. Well, that all changed a few days ago. My sister, Aunt P, had gotten a cheese kit a while back, and since I have had a little more time on my hands than normal, I decided to try it. The puppies of course were all to happy to help. I started by heating up two gallons of milk and then adding all of the ingredients. You don't realize how much two gallons of milk really is until you pour it into what you think is a really large pot. Here, the curds are starting to separate from the whey as the mixture sits in warm water in the sink. Note that the sink is normal size, and this is a big stock pot. That's how much milk there was.

After a while, the curds were transferred to cheese cloth and had to be hung up to drip dry for an hour. I didn't really think the hanging up to dry part through. While the milk was doing its thing, I had started another project- painting the kitchen cabinets. I only had one cabinet door left with the knob still on it, so that is what I used to hang up the curds. Mr. M was very curious about the dripping bag hanging from the cabinet. Notice the primer on some of the cabinet doors.

After letting the curds sit with weights on top for 24 hours, we were left with a block of cheese. Well, okay, almost cheese. It has to air dry for 3 to 5 days and then I will wax it and age it for 6 months. So maybe around Christmas time we will have actual cheese. Hopefully by then I will have finished painting the cabinets.

Between all of the cheese making and cabinet painting, something amazing happened. Mr. C and Miss B turned 2!! How did that happen?! It seems like it was only yesterday that we brought them home. It is hard to imagine that we have had them for almost two years already.
Of course we had to do something. We got them a little birthday cake and some toys. Everybody shared the "cake" because they wouldn't understand it if we only gave the birthday pups a treat. They don't understand birthdays. We put Mr. M and Miss S in their crates and let Mr. C and Miss B their toys. Normally when we get toys, the little ones take them away from Miss B and Mr. C. Since it was their birthday, we wanted to make sure that they had first pick of the toys and that they had a chance to pull them apart before the others came and took them away. They LOVED it. Miss B was so happy with her toy that she even rolled over onto her back to chew on it. Mr. C spread out on the couch and went to town on his toy. Miss M, who was out with them, was happy to chew on her ball.

Miss M eyeing the birthday "cake"

The birthday "cake," toys and treats.

Miss B noticed the birthday spread on the counter.

Miss B waiting patiently.

Mr. C, Miss S and Miss M waiting for their share of the "cake."

Fuzzy Cousins

3/6/2016

Our puppies don't get to play with other puppies very often. We don't know many people with dogs who wouldn't mind playing with five rambunctious puppies. So our puppies play a lot with each other but not much with other puppies. Occasionally we meet other dogs in Petsmart, and we try to let the puppies say hi when possible, but that's about it.
Lately though, they have had the opportunity to see other puppies. Mom's sister (Aunt P) got a new furry kid recently, and the puppies really want to play with her. She is a blue healer, and is as cute as can be. So far Miss M and Mr. C have met her. We are taking the puppies to meet her one at a time because she is still little and is intimidated by our puppies.
Miss M just really doesn't understand why she doesn't want to play with her. I think Little Miss Z would like to play but is still a little scared. So mostly, she just stays in her mom's lap while our puppies are there.

Miss M gave up on playing with the little puppy and decided to tear the squeaker out of a toy instead.

Then she decided to go help Grandma in the kitchen. Surely Grandma would understand her dilemma and give her something yummy.

Grandma always has just the thing to make little puppies feel better. She was making chicken and dumplings and let Miss M be the official chicken taste tester. Miss M of course needed to take several bites to make sure the chicken was seasoned right. She's always glad to help out in the kitchen.

Miss Z wasn't sure how long Miss M was going to be in the kitchen and wasn't taking any chances. First she tried sitting in Grandpa's lap. Then she went back to her mom's lap, and finally decided that sitting on the back of the couch was the safest place.

Once she was certain that Miss M was busy elsewhere, she ate some of her mom's hair and then cuddled up for a nap- on the back of the couch. Being that cute all day wears a puppy out.

New Year, New Update

1/6/2016

The puppies have been getting used to the new house. They love that the get to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house more often. Grandma and Grandpa's cats don't really appreciate their attempts at being friends, but the cats are started to mildly tolerate the puppies being in the same room
At home, Miss M has discovered that she can look out the upstairs window to see where we are when we go outside. I thought it was the cutest thing ever when she did it the first time. I went out to the car to run to the store. When I looked up, she was looking down at me through the window. They are all finding favorite spots to sleep.

Mr. C and the two little girls at the puppy treat store

Miss M on a puppy pillow in the living room.

Miss B discovered a blanket on the floor...

Mom made the mistake of sitting on the floor with a blanket. Before long, there were 2 puppies asleep in her lap.

Miss B and Miss S comfortable on the carpet

What do you mean I don't fit in the cat bed?

Mr. M has decided that he likes to sit on the lawn chairs that we have temporarily in the living room- even if the chair is a clothes folding staging area

Merry Christmas from the Puppies

12/29/2015

This Christmas we decided to do something different. We decided to get another place- one that's close to where Mom works and super close to Grandma and Grandpa. I didn't really know what to expect bringing the puppies and the cats to a different house and then staying there. We had never taken the puppies anywhere to spend the night. I expected that they would be a little nervous and that they would pace up and down and not be able to sleep.
But, once again the puppies surprised us. They settled right in. Of course, it helps that they now have stairs to play on. They LOVE the stairs.

The cats completely surprised us. They don't travel well. This is not a surprise. They pooped their cat carrier on the drive to the new place- also not a surprise. Once we got there though, we put a baby gate up in the doorway to the upstairs bathroom so that they have a safe place. We put them a cat tree on the stair landing so that they could come downstairs and still have a refuge to get away from Mr. M. Before long, the cats got bold enough to even venture downstairs and come into the living room. They discovered the little window on the stairs and have been sitting in the window to look out. They found our closet and have been chilling out in the closet. They have actually been acting more at home than they did at home.

Besides the stairs, the puppies' favorite part of the new house is that they get to run down to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Pretty much every time we go outside, they go to the back gate so that we can go to Grandma and Grandpa's. It's the best game ever. Christmas Day they got to take turns going down and visiting with everybody. Miss S got to play with kids for one of the first times. I think it was her very first time playing with kids where she even got to be off leash. Mom's nephews are 4 and 6 and are a little shy with dogs, but it only took them a few minutes to completely warm up to Miss S. Miss S was extremely polite and didn't jump up on them or try to steal food off of their little table- which was at a perfect food-stealing height. She was interested in saying hi to everyone, but for the most part, she just napped on the floor while all the present opening was going on. We were very proud of her.

I didn't have any pictures of Mr. M on Christmas Day, so here is a picture of him from last year. What a difference a year makes! He was so tiny!!

It's Winter, It's Summer, wait, It's Fall?

12/13/2015

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.

A mid-Autumn Picture Post

11/24/2015

We have been experimenting with Mom's phone camera. Even though these pictures aren't totally clear, I decided to include them in this picture post. Notice Miss M cleaning the cat's ear while Mr. C lunges on the bed. Just a normal evening at our house.

Getting Ready for the Holidays

11/22/2015

With the cold front we are having now, Mom has been in a holiday mood. She was cleaning up on Saturday and moved some things around while folding clothes. She noticed that one of her teddy bears had fallen on the floor, but she didn't think about it too much because Miss M and Miss B were out helping her. Neither one of them seems to mess with stuffed animals too much. When it was Mr. M's turn to help with the cleanup effort, Mom forgot that the teddy bear was within puppy reach. Mr. M is not quite as friendly with teddy bears as Miss M or Miss B. Mom noticed that Mr. M and Miss S were being a little quiet- not usually a good sign. When she went to check on them, she noticed a trail of stuffing. It didn't take long to remember the teddy bear that Miss B had been using as a pillow. Unfortunately for the teddy bear, it was just too late for the bear to be rescued.

Miss S and Mr. M have an understood agreement when it comes to toys and treasures. When one has a toy or something fun, they will sit and wait patiently for a while to give the first one a chance to chew on whatever it is. Then they eventually take it, at which point the first puppy lets them chew on it for a while before eventually taking it back. They take turns. Notice Miss S waiting patiently for her turn to tear up the teddy bear.

Finally, Miss S took the opportunity to take the teddy bear (or what was left) and decided to relocate to a safer spot so that she could have more time alone with the teddy bear.

As with most games, the destruction of the teddy bear soon turned into a group effort.

Miss S tried to convince Mom that they weren't actually making a mess. Miss S argued that she and Mr. M were trying to make fake snow to use as holiday decorations. Mom didn't quite buy it.

In between folding clothes and picking up pieces of teddy bear, Mom managed to at least get the table looking a a little more festive.

Midweek Update

11/4/2015

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.

Mid-Week Hustle

10/8/2015

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.