Fabulous Army Life

Our beloved Cairn Terrier passed away this morning after 17+ years with us. We were all with her when she stopped breathing. It seems she left this life the way she lived it ... on her own terms. She spent the previous 36 hours showing signs of her body breaking down as she wasn't able to stand or walk without assistance.  She's always been fiercely independent and highly energetic so the sudden change was very noticeable.  Once she hit this final stage, in my mind, she simply decided on her own to say goodbye, not willing to lead a life less than she was accustomed to.  She waited until all four of us were surrounding her and let us all say goodbye to her, then steadily breathed her last.  We will certainly grieve for her but are so grateful that she never suffered. She was full of energy to the very end. Nate, Trey, Joshua, and I spent some time today after she passed looking up photos of her and telling stories of how much she has impacted our lives. ...

Our boxer puppy is our first foray into the world of larger dogs.  I had several types of terriers growing up ... my husband's family had dachshunds and a beagle in his growing up years.  Our first dog as a married couple -- who is still with us -- is a Cairn Terrier (like Toto on the "Wizard of Oz," only blonde, not black).  So ... the world of big dogs is a new one for us. First, I am amazed at the rate of growth!  I think sometimes Leo has grown during a single nap!  He is still a wonderful pet, mild-tempered, obedient, and sweet as pie ... but BIG ... and growing! Leo (7 months) and Shadow (15 years) posing for the camera. Leo is fabulous with our boys.

We've officially lost our minds. My family (parents and siblings) are taking a cruise this week. Since the tickets needed to be secured several months ago while Hubby was still deployed (and we had no idea what our next assignment would be or what his next job would be), we were not willing to chance it so we did not sign up to go. It was a wise decision ... any military Family can tell you making long-range plans is not easy. The losing our minds part comes in, though, as we agreed to watch all the family pets while they were away. We currently have in our home: a 15-year old Cairn Terrier (ours), a 2-year-old boxer (my sister's), a 6-month-old Labradoodle (my mom's) and our 3-month old boxer puppy. There's a lot of canine craziness going on at my house right now! Honestly, though, they are having a great time together. Landri the Labradoodle is the sweetest little girl ever, a fluffy cloud of black curly hair who is always wearing a smile. Beaudreax, the black...

The boys' wish came true today ... not that school was cancelled (although that would have avoided a lot of hassle) but that school was released early for SNOW! It hasn't snowed much here since that infamous snowy Easter several years ago (I did get some really great photos of bluebonnets -- the state flower of Texas that only blooms a few months each Spring -- covered in snow), so today was a truly special treat for us. We saw a little snow on Christmas Eve this year in Dallas, but here ... HERE it's a full day of snowman-building, snow-fort constructing, snowball fighting, sledding down driveways and lots of hot chocolate and snuggling in between. Enjoy the show! Thanks for stopping by to read. Hope you're all having a wonderful and warm Tuesday out there!

If you are a die-hard dog-lover, I should have some great posts for you as I gush about our precious new puppy. If you're not, you may want to just skip anything tagged "puppy" or "Leo" ... it'll save you some time. =) New puppy Boxer Leo and fifteen-year-old Cairn Terrier Shadow are really getting along well ... Shadow is showing more spunk with a puppy in the house than she has in years. She often initiates play, grabbing one of Leo's toys and running off with it so he'll chase her (which he always does). Leo, for his part, is a wonderful addition to the family. He is learning his place in the hierarchy well and makes life very fun for all of us. It's funny to me how dogs, pack animals that they are, instinctively know things like: Daddy is the alpha male, the current dog rules over me, and I have to find my place to fit in with my new 'pack.' Leo understands that Daddy is alpha male, that I rank next (and that I am his primary source o...

After weeks of research, days of debate, and a couple of hours of prep work ... we have a puppy! We adopted a boxer puppy today and love him already. We used www.puppyfind.com to look at lots of adorable puppies. It's one of the best websites I found in my search and we are so excited to have found our new family member there. The breeder is in the local area. She was fabulous with us, sending us emails, photos, and giving us lots of fun tips on our new puppy's personality traits. We met her tonight just to see "Simba" ... but came with a new kennel, leash, collar, dog food, and chew toys, um, 'just in case' we wanted to leave with him. She brought one of his litter-mates along for the ride and I seriously considered coming home with two new puppies. Sanity won out in the end, though, and we only have one. Our 15-year-old Cairn terrier, Shadow, was very patient with him when she met him tonight. I've been worried about her reaction. She was our fi...

We've always been dog lovers. With both mothers-in-law allergic to cats (and neither of us with a great affinity for cats), dogs have always been our option for household pets. I grew up with a variety of mix breeds ... "Trampus" who looked just like the dog Benji from the movies (we think he was taken from our yard because of this resemblance), then "Aggie," a black-and-white terrier mix. My husband grew up with dogs as well ... a beagle then later a dachshund. It seemed logical to us, then, after we were married, to get a dog of our own. We wanted a smaller dog since we were living in an apartment then, and spent lots of time searching at local shelters and in the classified ads. (How old do I seem when I say that the internet was not an option for us then?) Finally, we got a call from the local rescue shelter with just the right dog for us! The previous owner of this dog had dropped her off, saying she just didn't realize she was allergic to animal...