Happy Halloween....from a trio of little mummies!

 

Is The Weekend Over?

Yesterday, well the entire weekend went by in the blink of an eye. Perhaps it felt different since our schedule was a little thrown off due to Brad having to make-up a tennis match on Sunday. His Sunday make-up match was from a few weeks ago when tennis got rained out. When he was first told of the make-up tennis match I think complete terror came over him as the thought of missing football was too much to fathom. Then his wife happened to quickly inform him...the Cowboys play Sunday night not during the afternoon. Whew, he could collect himself and breathe again. He missed some football for tennis yesterday but he was home by the time the Cowboys took the field. And what a game that happened to by! If you missed it then you missed out, be sad!

I spent a good portion of my Sunday doing some Halloween baking. I made scary monster cupcakes for Brad to take to work with him. My original idea wasn't scary monster cupcakes. Sometimes a back-up plan is in order after failure is achieved with the original plan. ;) Oops! Thank goodness for quick thinking and back-up plans. I made a few different colors of frosting so that I had different monsters. When my batches of cupcakes were all done they looked kind of like something you'd find on Sesame Street!

As for our typical Halloween plans tonight? Those might get a little off track since it's a Monday and there's Monday Night Football. We usually have a tradition to pick a scary movie. Mind you our version of "scary" movies isn't like most of the populations. No Chuckie, no Amityville, and definitely nothing named Carrie! So think mildly scary or unique...Hocus Pocus, Hansel and Gretel, or The Addams Family! Or virtually anything with Johnny Depp. He does weird creepy characters very well! So football or a Halloween-ish movie, what will win out in our household? One thing is for sure the meal will be Halloween themed in some manner as it always is! Remember, I'm crazy...but the good kind! Can't have a holiday without some type of theme being present! Classify me a good kind of crazy-traditionalist! :)

Quick Snap Sunday(on Monday)

Monkey Time!

 

The youngest little "monkey" of our trio of "monkeys" holding her little sock monkey! How many times can I use the word "monkey" in one post? This could be a record! LOL!

Yes, it's true...I love sock monkeys. Thanks to my grandmother! She actually made me my first sock monkey when I was a kid. It occupied a spot in my room all the way until I went off to college.

 

Quite a few months ago, in honor of my sock monkey fondness one of my cousins sent me a package containing 3 little sock monkeys for our trio. Super sweet gesture! This sock monkey pictured with Piper isn't actually hers, but she believes it is. Who am I to correct her?

A Simon Post

Hello to all! For it is I, Simon C. Vaughn. Anyone know what the C stands for? If you guessed Cute!....you are right in my opinion! However, that's not the answer. I have a real middle name. We all have middle names. I think Piper's is "Simona"...Piper Simona Vaughn...great name! She's my prodigy! Just kidding my peeps, her middle name is not Simona, but it should be!

Oh my folks I can not tell a lie...I have been down and nearly out. Geesh! I was so bad off, I didn't think I would ever have the ability to post on this here blog again. My head was foggy, I mean FOGGY.  I didn't know if I was coming or going. I didn't know if mommie was talking to me or if it was daddy. I didn't know if a door was in front of me or if it was Cody. I had numerous moments where I stood in the corner expecting it to open like a door. I walked in circles and sometimes panted as I circled about. I fell over more times than anyone can count. It was like a brutal game of Simon-tipping instead of cow-tipping. Oh and don't even get me started on these hallways that lead to our front door. I had no clue which hallway to walk down, let alone which door was our front door. Furthermore, I couldn't tell the difference between food and an electrical cord, which freaked mommie out to no end. My anxiety level was super high too. Therefore I didn't have much desire to go to bed ever. At the risk of losing some of me street credit, I'll admit I required being held quite a lot during my downtime. 

Whatever the come and go syndrome is I now have, I need it to not come back EVER. I was so messed up for days it was pitiful. I really wish any of the sentences in the paragraph above were an exaggeration on my puggie part but afraid not. All completely accurate info, no exaggerating. I was a little hot mess!

The good news is, I'm back to normal for the most part. As normal as a puggie-guy like me can be! LOL! One thing is for sure, through it all I've kept my wicked good looks!

 Daddy and me having a conversation.

Quick Snap Sunday!

The Trio!

 

I'm all about capturing the trio together in one photo. I especially feel the need to take advantage of these moments as much as possible lately. Clearly Cody and Piper need to switch beds. LOL! But there's no way she would push the issue with Cody. She is smarter than that. Cody would issue her a stern warning by reminding her he is KING and she needs to bow down to him! LOL! Trust me, I'm exaggerating, he's not that mean. But he doesn't give up ANYTHING for a sibling.

 

Looks like one of the fur babies is trying to bring a little Christmas spirit to the day as the toy in the middle is a reindeer. Dragging out that reindeer is most likely the work of Cody. Can you believe Christmas isn't all that far away? Halloween is a week from tomorrow. Exciting! I love all holidays! I honestly think I like them all so much for different reasons I'm not sure I could choose a definitive fave.

Our Dear Sweet Simmie

This past Sunday night Brad was having one of his "I don't want to go to bed" evenings. I, on the other hand, forced myself to go to bed at the conclusion of the overtime Sunday Night Football game. Houston was set on me staying up later than I wanted. :)  At about 1:00 am(technically early Monday morning), I'm awakened by one of the worst sentences to be said by my husband regarding a fur baby...."Honey, you have to get up, something's wrong with Simon." In a flash I was up to see what was going on with Simon. He was unbalanced, he was pacing, he didn't seem to fully recognize us, he also didn't seem to be able to fully recognize where a wall was. In a way he was like the Energizer bunny as he paced, refusing to stay still. If he did stop though he fell over. Both of us stood over him dumbfounded. After being up with him for quite a long time we finally settled him down and all of us went back to bed. Well Cody and Piper never got up in the first place.

The next day he was definitely dealing with some issues. Bad balance, confusion, poor eyesight and anxiety were all present. However his overall energy, appetite, and everything else was normal. On Tuesday he suffered a seizure, which scared me to no end. I freaked! I thought he was a done deal at that point. After the seizure on Tuesday evening he was still suffering from all the previous issues I stated. Since Tuesday he has shown small improvement.

As it stands right now it is thought he suffered a stroke or has canine vestibular disease, both have very similar symptoms. However, seizures can be a side effect of a stroke. What now for him? We continue to love him and care for him. We adjust to the new Simon. We help him adjust to the new Simon. He has improved slightly each day since Wednesday. If he did have a stroke then he could make a full recovery in about 4-6 weeks. Yet if it's canine vestibular disease which I believe it is...then it will come and go until his end days. It'll be something he'll deal with for a few days or a couple weeks then it will go away as suddenly as it appeared. Likely reappearing at different times, it's not life threatening. Canine vestibular disease is very common in older dogs. It's nicknamed "old dog syndrome". Based on the fact he's already made steady improvement over the past few days is why I'm thinking its vestibular disease and mere coincidence he had a seizure too. If it had been a stroke I think he would be doing worse than he is. He's still got issues going on but steady improvement each day this week.

The weirdest thing about all this, in a way I feel like I'm dealing with a puppy again. Puppies can't recognize what is edible and what isn't, that's the new Simon! He'll try to nibble anything, including a foot or a finger. Last night I was too late getting to him before he ate the white tip of the door stop. Puppies are also up and about with extreme curiosity, that's the new Simon. Can't be settled in one place for too long. 

His biggest struggles: balance, confusion, eyesight, and anxiety.  Life with two aging pugs, it's a journey! My oh my! In case anyone was wondering Cody remains his same old cranky Cody self!;)

Quick Snap Sunday

How?

In this picture I'm thinking both of them are asking one another these two questions:

 

How did we get here?

 

How much trouble are we going to be in for being on the couch?

 

This is the only time pets are allowed on the couch...when I put them there. While vacuuming yesterday each one was fast asleep in a pet bed, I simply picked each one up bed and all then placed them up on the couch to get them out of the way. Once landing on the couch Simon looked at Piper and Piper looked towards me with a puzzled glance. 

 

It's cute to watch them communicate with one another. Mostly through glances, stares, and the occasional whine. Or at least that's how the communication goes between Simon and Piper. Let's simply state Cody's version of communication is a completely different style!

Piper's Birthday Pics

Piper's birthday kind of got delayed a bit or just extended. She got sick Sunday night. She started to feel better and better as her birthday(Monday) progressed. Just as the NFL has their concussion protocol, I have a fur baby stomach related sickness protocol(long title for it but it works). After 14 years with the boys there's a definite way to deal with a pet's stomach issues....trust me!  That being stated her birthday celebration which included her tuna "cake" was pushed back to Wednesday night. She was none the wiser that she was celebrating a couple days late. Oh wait she wasn't celebrating late, she was extending the celebration. Wink-wink! My grandpa Pete was an expert in extending his bday celebrations every year!

We did give her a gift on Monday which was an epic failure. She didn't like it at all. She liked the packaging more than the gift. Since I was still hiding from the public thanks to the burn on my face, Brad was completely in charge of Piper's birthday shopping. The funniest part was him trying to convince her it was a good gift. Lets say he got tricked, he thought the "kitty vault" came with toys inside. But in reality it was just a kitty vault and no toys. The purpose is to place a few key toys in the kitty vault with catnip, that way the toys are infused with catnip. Don't get me going on the catnip part of the gift. We as pet-parents decided we were not going to introduce her to catnip. Poor Brad got two perplexed stares come Monday night, courtesy of both ladies in this household.

Skip ahead to Wednesday evening, the epic failure gift was switched out and she enjoyed her tuna "cake" complete with sliced egg as the garnish. Easiest cake I make all year! The quickest too! She got a little mouse pull toy, you pull his string and he goes lightening fast across the floor. She loves it. As for her bros they got Halloween toys, little toy pirates. Every dog needs a pirate to beat up on at some point in their life. I'm pretty sure these are the first pirates for the boys. It's so funny the type of toys I pick versus the type Brad picks. I think cute! Brad thinks tough! He wants the boys having toys that look tough and are super boyish. Same goes for their wardrobe now too. He can't have his puggie sons walking around looking like chumps. So the world will never get to see how cute Simmie can look in an argyle dog sweater. Sad isn't it? LOL!

Without further delay...on to the pics:

 This was the epic failure toy.

 Brad tried hard to convince her it was a keeper!

Piper: Nope, sorry daddy but it's all about this packaging.

 Cody watching and taking it all in. He had just gotten done roughing up the little bird when this pic was snapped.

 Tuna cake time! Yes, we are that crazy that she even gets candles!

 Let her eat cake!

 

 

To Piper, happy birthday little girl. We are so happy you are still with us and we can celebrate your birthday. You are the cat that defied the odds. All the odds were stacked against you but here you are! One of my best memories during your health crisis occurred about 10 days after you had come home from the hospital.  While returning to the vet hospital for a check-up and to have your stitches removed there were doctors and nurses surrounding you from all angles as they were astonished you were still alive. Good going hypey-Pipey! We're proud to be your parents and your brothers are super happy to have you as their cat sister. Happy 3rd Bday!

Happy Birthday Piper!

Today is the day little girl! It's your birthday! I hope your brothers remembered to go shopping for you! And trust me whatever is given to you from Cody has been snotted on by him. Geesh!

Pipe back in May I didn't think this day would come for you. You gave us quite the scare. Look at you now though! Filled with zip as well as mischief.  Woo-hoo, you've made it to 3! Hopefully you blow out many more candles, as many as your predecessor did! Mommie expects you to be around for a very long time, many more years. So don't disappoint your momma, little "kid"!



Side note...coincidentally this blog is celebrating too, this the 1000th post on this blog!

Quick Snap Sunday(Bonus)

 

I couldn't resist grabbing the camera and capturing my Cody-man.  It's pumpkin day in our household. Which means Cody's mommie is making pumpkin cookies. No, I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin. I never have liked pumpkin pie. However, I love experimenting in the kitchen, I'm always willing to try out something new. Plus, has anyone noticed how popular pumpkin is this year? Of course it's always popular this time of year but in my opinion it's reached a new level this Fall. Usually pumpkin recipes share the stage with apple recipes during the Fall months so far very few apple recipes are getting any hype as dozens of pumpkin recipes seem to be filling up pages of cooking magazines. Or at least the ones I pay attention to.

 

Cody LOVES pumpkin. I mean LOVES pumpkin!!! His love for pumpkin is so high he'd have to think twice about trading his mommie for a can of pumpkin. Simply look at the pics above and it's clear to see he's a happy yet messy boy after his pumpkin yumminess.

 

I love the first pic as he looks around to take note of the mess he has just made. Notice his Cowboys shirt was removed for this yummy time. The true secret to a happy-go-lucky Cody....keep the pumpkin coming.

Quick Snap Sunday

Hey Piper are you celebrating early? Tomorrow is Piper's big day! Her 3rd birthday!

I think she already got her favorite gift...a gift bag! Cat's love bags, plastic or paper. Our Piper is not picky.

Doesn't that little kitten on the bag look like her? Same markings on the sides of the face and same white chest. She likely thought she was looking at a mirror when she first saw this bag. Both are cute little tabby cats but I'm certainly partial to the one in the bag! ;)

In case anyone happened to be wondering Piper is a Mackerel tabby cat. She's a domestic short haired cat as her breed but her coat pattern is Mackerel tabby, if that makes sense. Kind of like Simon is clearly a pug but considered a "silver pug" because of his dark markings. Cody is a fawn pug. For cats though the resemblance of the coat is much more important and heavily noted.  Storm was a medium hair calico. Yes, there's lots of breeds of cats but the biggest percentage of them fall into 3 categories...short hair, medium hair, and long hair. Discussing cat breeds is a lot more complicated than dog breeds! Believe me!

Short Side Note: In early September of 2013(about 4 months after Storm passed) I was walking through Petsmart one day when I saw a tabby cat up for adoption. I made a mental note at the time that I would like to have a tabby cat next. Low and behold a mere 6 weeks later Brad walks in our front door with this super tiny newborn tabby cat. Hello Piper-Girl!

Hide Me!

Good thing I'm not around a lot of people this weekend celebrating my birthday because I have quite the issue I certainly wasn't planning on dealing with. I'm not embarrassed to admit this, after all I am my grandmother's granddaughter...I get my eyebrows waxed as well as a few other key areas on my face. I would be willing to bet there's a very small amount of women that do not deal with waxing.

Anyway, there I am getting my unenjoyable chore done. It really does feel like a chore to me too. Something that has to be done occasionally but something I'd rather not do. While the lady was finishing up my waxing, I felt something a little uncomfortable. Upon looking in the mirror I didn't notice much but they always have the lights turned low at the place I go to. It wasn't until I got home that I fully saw the issue.  As a result of a bad waxing job I have quite the burn like mark on my face. I don't believe it was the wax as much as I believe it was bad technique. If the wax was too hot I would have felt that at the time instantly. This is similar to a burn, picture a gym burn or a rug burn...now picture it on my face.  Um yeah, unpleasant. From time to time over the years I've dealt with issues from waxing, but never this bad, never like this. This is a result of serious error!

After dealing with some of the pain and discomfort for a couple hours I decided I needed to be bold. I needed to return to the waxing place to demand my money back before they closed for the day. I paid to get waxed not to be injured. The whole time I drove back to the place I was giving myself a pep talk. I even pictured my mother-in-law cheering me on. She was my true inspiration, because I know without a doubt she would have urged me 110% to go let the place know of their wrongdoing. I have aspects of my personality that are bold, I'm certainly not a pushover. Yet I'm not used to dealing with this type of stuff.

In the end I kind of got my money back. They gave me a gift card for a manicure or pedicure for the value of the waxing plus the tip I had included. I was also given a huge full section of an aloe vera plant. Once arriving back home, my husband immediately laughed at me when he saw the huge aloe vera section in my hand. Yes, he got in trouble for laughing at me. I was in so much pain at the time. Yet, I understood it must have looked odd as I carried this huge section of an aloe vera plant around. Huge is no understatement, it stretches from one side of the fridge to the other.

So this should be an interesting weekend! I doubt I'll be going out much at all. I do believe it will heal quickly or at least that is my HOPE! It's Red River Rivalry day here...some good college football is on tap in this house. Cody is dressed in red for Oklahoma and Simon is in Texas orange. Piper is neutral! No need to go out anywhere, it's all about football today and tomorrow. Stay focused!

Birthday Messages

Brad's granny celebrates her birthday just 5 days after I celebrate mine. Which means granny was doing some celebrating this past week. A few years ago when granny's birthday rolled around Brad and I were out shopping for a card to send to her. We came across a card that was written like it was from a cat. We figured we could cutesy it up even more and she would likely get a big kick out of receiving it. After sending her the card some weeks passed until we saw granny at a family function. As soon as we did see her, she made a point to tell us how great it was to get the birthday card from the "cat". She went on to explain she liked it so much because it made her extra excited to see her sisters so she could brag to them that even a cat remembered her birthday! LOL!

In the spirit of granny as well as bragging, this fur-baby mommie is about to do some bragging too. Last weekend for my birthday I received a special card from my "kids". Each one wrote a sweet message to me. It was quite fun reading their messages. Not to mention, seeing what they are capable of when it comes to expressing themselves in writing. I thought I would share what each fur-baby wrote. Without further ado take it away "kids"...

Cody's message:
Mommie, I never worry because I always know you are taking care of me. Yes, I can be a really big pain at times. But you wouldn't have it any other way. Lucky for me you are willing to overlook my freakish ways and still love me. Happy Birthday from your firstborn son. I love you, Cody

Piper's message:
Momma, you continue to take such good care of me. Thanks for staying up with me night after night and doing all you did to keep me alive back in May. Thanks for always being on time when I get hungry. Oh and thanks for the girlie pink stuff the boys aren't allowed to play with!  Happy Birthday! I love you, Piper

Simon's message:
To the best mommie ever,  Yes there are times when I think I might starve to death. But when my darkest hour of hunger pangs worsens and things are getting seriously tough, here you arrive with a treat or my food bowl. Thanks for always remembering to feed me and walk me. Happy Birthday from your loving son, Simon

A Hubs Story! (Part 1)

I'm starting a new series of posts that will appear once in awhile. It will not be on a regular schedule, count on a husband story popping up from time to time. It will be those kind of funny/strange stories that makes husbands so darn loveable!

So here goes the first one in this series:

In our household since it was established back in December of 2012 we have had an odd problem...the sock problem. I don't know how it happens but socks come up missing? I'm almost certain our dryer eats them. LOL! Although we are on to our 2nd dryer since getting married and the newer dryer appears to have an appetite for socks same as the old dryer. We keep a special section in a drawer dedicated to the single socks living without mates.

Well the other night soon after my husband arrives home from tennis practice I begin collecting his extremely stinky clothes from practice. The beware and keep my nose plugged moment of my Tuesday and Thursday evenings! LOL! I didn't notice the socks, I just gathered them up. A little while later Brad asks me if I noticed his socks, then tells me he came home with mismatched socks. He then explains while at practice he lost one of each pair he took with him. HUH? I instantly gave him a confused look. Meanwhile he laughed and admitted it sounded weird but oddly enough that's what happened. He says he arrived at practice with 2 pairs of socks, by the time he changed to come home he had lost one sock from each pair.

Clearly, I couldn't help but laugh! He laughed too. How does one lose a sock from two different pairs all in the same evening? Husbands! Perhaps it's not the dryer eating the socks.

Quick Snap Sunday

It's his mommie's birthday weekend but he's the one featured getting a kiss. What can I say?...he's kissable! Piper would agree, she kisses him daily. See folks!...he's fully recovered from his issues that started a week ago today. Back to being our normal extremely mischievous little dude.  But he sure was sick and for too long. He wasn't nearing 100% until Friday.

It's been a good weekend. We had a little birthday party last night that my in-laws did an amazing job hosting. A great time was had by all. Great food, family bingo playing, and two cakes....what more could a person desire?  Nothing! 

Perfect weather has capped off this weekend. The only bad thing?....what happened to the Sun Devils last night?  Geesh, lets leave it at that and not go any further with that topic! On to the NFL games, let's go Cowboys and Cards!