Happy Thanksgiving!

Wait did I really do everything I needed to do and in good timing too!!! Yes, I did! Why didn't I space things out like this before? I was done with the 4 items we are taking to my in-laws for the family Turkey day by...wait for it....8:30 PM. Oh my goodness, I almost didn't know what to do with myself. I'm usually up til 1:00 AM or even 2:00 AM still working on things or waiting for items to cool so I can go to bed. I decided this year, enough is enough. I need a new way of doing things.

I did extra stuff on Monday and Tuesday, so that my Wednesday could be mostly dedicated to baking. I did my usual chores for the day, plus worked out, then got started with my baking. I had numerous setbacks too. I made one experimental pie dough which didn't work. So on to another pie dough. Then a little while later I realized I needed wax paper. Couldn't believe we didn't have wax paper in the house. Grr! Trust me I tried hard to avoid going out to get just wax paper. But the wax paper is a must. The whole time I was trying to avoid going to get wax paper and just wing it with foil, my grandmother's voice was in my ear repeatedly telling me the wax paper is a must. Without those little setbacks from failed pie dough and an extra trip to get one more item, I can imagine I would have finished at least an hour sooner if not more than that.

It's always fun having those baking days like I did yesterday but if I start to too late in the day it can get stressful real quick. Anyway, hopefully I can continue this new little plan I devised this time around. Yay me! I do still have finishing touches to add, but those need to be done right before we walk out the door.

I hope everyone out there has a great Thanksgiving day. Gobble-Gobble! We are heading to my in-laws house for an early afternoon feast. Brad's family decided to have immediate family only type of affair instead of all families gathering together. So this is slightly different for us this year. Anyway, it will be nice this way and bonus....we don't miss out on seeing Granny. I know because Granny is currently with us! May you all enjoy turkey, football, and fellowship with those dearest to you today! Go Cowboys! Let's feast!

A Hubs Story

There I was in the kitchen chopping vegetables when all of a sudden I clear away some veggies to the side of my cutting board. However, as I cleared away veggies my eyes noticed something odd. What is that, I thought? I looked at "it" closer to discover it was a worm. I immediately exclaimed, "oh gross, it's a worm". My husband comes hurrying into the kitchen to see. First he didn't believe me so he had to hurry in to see for himself.

As we both stood looking over this poor little worm. I was ready to brush him off my cutting board and into the trash but Brad had to save him. He reminded me I should be amazed by this worm. LOL! As he listed all the places he's been and survived....the produce delivery truck, the grocery store, the produce bin, the ride home to our place, and our refrigerator. After Brad gave this list I did have a wealth of empathy for the little worm. Okay not exactly, but enough empathy to let Brad save him.

Never fear folks, the worm was released into the "wild", a.k.a. our backyard. May he live a great life out there and may he not succumb to frostbite or being trampled by Landon. And yes for the record I'm still a little grossed out there was a worm in my fresh veggies.

Get Up

Early morning shenanigans in the laundry room!

Landon: "Come on, get up!"

Piper: "Leave me alone pipsqueak."

Landon: "Come on, come on!"

Piper: no words...just a few swats at the little one.

Their mommie interrupts as Piper wonders how she got stuck in this "pipsqueakville".

Quick Snap Sunday

It's sweater weather right? Well it wasn't when we went to bed last night. The weather was absolute perfection yesterday, sunny and not cold not even chilly...it was perfect! Well a lot can change overnight. Early this morning as I opened the backdoor to take Landon outside I was surprised by the ridiculous coldness. I changed my mind quickly about going out without a jacket. Apparently my weather app on my phone failed me, because I didn't expect this today. It's a stay at home, make homemade chili and watch football kind of day.

Or if you are Landon, it's a get dressed in your first ever winter sweater, play with a fuzzy snowman toy and annoy big sister kind of day. If your Piper, it's a stay in bed all day and hope the pup-pup leaves you alone kind of day. LOL!

First Haircut

Today was Landon's first haircut. He had quite the groomer too. His groomer he absolutely LOVES. His groomer is his mommie! Can you believe it? I groomed him myself. Clearly I'm no expert. I've never cut hair or used clippers before. However, for some reason I have been wanting to try to groom Landon myself. Not sure why, just simply wanted to try it. Earlier this week I bought a pet grooming kit online which arrived today. I could hardly wait to try out my new tools. The end results from his groom is not a huge difference. I wasn't going for a huge difference. I was going for noticeable yet not too extreme, after all it's the colder part of the year right now. Don't want him to be too bare! LOL!

I must say I'm a bit proud of myself. I think he looks good, considering I'm a total rookie. I'll get better as I continue to groom him. My groom kit I bought cost the amount of one professional groom. So if I continue to groom him, we will have quite the savings each 4-6 weeks.

  Before

 After

Fuzz Ball

I seriously doubt cat hair ever acts like this, at least Piper's never has. However, this little comic strip I saw reminded me of Landon this past Monday. When we arrived at Landon's school the other night I looked down at him to see him appearing much like the 3rd pic of Garfield above. He had hair sticking straight out in all directions. He was a sight! His hair had so much static electricity in it all I could do was giggle then try to comb it into place with my hands. My lame "combing" did not work. He looked like quite the fuzz ball for the entire class. If any one knows how to keep static electricity from attacking their dog's hair let me know.

Landon Learns (Part 4)

Is it January already? Did I miss Turkey day and Christmas? Because it feels like January. It doesn't even feel like December to me, it feels likes bitter cold January/February. On Monday evening I held Landon close as I carried him into school. I didn't want his paws to get too cold on the ground so I carried him. I also didn't want him to take too long. I can carry him faster than he can walk at his current stage.

When Landon's class started he was officially beginning the second half of his puppy school. This week's class featured a really long pop quiz. He did very well. He's getting more comfortable around other dogs. But still somewhat frightened if big dogs start barking too much. That's one thing about him so far, he's not much for barking. I hope that doesn't change as he gets older.  

As for the lessons taught on Monday, we added some commands while on leash. Then we had this exercise where I had to call for Landon to come to me but I wasn't allowed to use his name or a command. Yikes, a real challenge. I'm going to blame myself for our inability to achieve the exercise during class time. Not a single pup achieved the exercise successfully though. So we weren't the only ones! Afterwards I kept thinking...Why didn't I use a nickname? Only to then remind myself we've been so focused on him learning his REAL name I haven't progressed to using nicknames with him. Oh well, we'll get it down. Still though that one is on me not Landon, his mommie didn't do very well. But seriously who hasn't been put on the spot in a situation and after it's over and done you ponder what you should have said but didn't? Next week I'll get a second chance!

Quick Snap Sunday

 

 

Hey world, what's up? I got my first ever hoodie! This post should be titled "Landon in the hood"!  My first sweatshirt hoodie is super nice, double lined on the inside for extra warmth, which is a great thing since snow flurries are in the forecast this week. Wait, what did I just type? Snow flurries? What are those? I'll have to ask my mommy about that later. Anyway, my new hoodie says "cuddle bear" and the hood features bear ears. LOL! My dad thought it was lacking a little street credit but my mom thought I'd look "beary cute" in this hoodie. Get it..."beary cute" it's a "cuddle bear" hoodie? Yep, I got my mommie's sense of humor! Hee-hee!

 

 

Along with some extra pics there's a video at the bottom. Enjoy your Sunday, it's just mom, me, and my sis keeping warm and watching football. My daddy is playing tennis this afternoon. His last match of the season. He was dressed extra warm too because it's chilly here folks.

 

 

 

The Duo and The Colder Temps

I guess time got away from me. I haven't made a post since last Sunday. Let's see, what has been going on? I'm super happy to say our fur baby duo of Piper and Landon....aka Pipdon...are getting along better and better as each day passes. A very common sight in our household now is a cat chasing a puppy or a puppy chasing a cat. Both of them love the game of chase. Especially the youngest one! Watch out, don't get in their way! She also loves boxing his ears, he allows this but tries to get in a little nip here and there. He does the same no teeth nip maneuver Simon used to do.

I'll admit I was a little worried how they were going to coexist long-term if she didn't start to accept him. But Brad kept telling me, she'll warm up to him in her own time. Just this past week she's finally come around. But up until this week we've dealt with Piper biting him, batting at him(in a non playful manner), hissing at him, and spraying him. Yep, Landon's had a couple extra baths thanks to his big sis. For those that aren't familiar, cats can "spray" an odor on things, similar to a skunk spraying it's nasty scent. Typically took two back to back bath sessions to get the smell off of him. Annoying and disgusting!

Weather has turned a little chilly the last few days. The week ahead appears to be a somewhat cold one too. As of this moment we still haven't started up our heater. We're comfortable enough with the space heater. But when the temp drops to 29° come Monday evening I think we'll need the heater. Landon might need his snow coat to go to school on Monday night. Oh wait, he doesn't have a coat yet. He doesn't have anything. We will go shopping for him tonight. Because it's turned too cold too fast and nothing from the pugs fits him.

And another reason why he needs a coat...because he got his 3rd round of booster shots today...you know what that means? He'll be lethargic and a whiny baby tonight. Well, yes. That's a given. But it means something else too, it's time to start taking him for walks. I'm so excited. We've practiced a lot with the leash indoors but it's time to further leash train him outside. Look out neighborhood, Landon is coming! 

Quick Snap Sunday

She found a sunny spot! She loves to suntan, don't all pets? At least a high majority! We've had so much rain and last night we had quite the thunderstorm. The status of Brad's tennis today was a little in doubt. But as you can see from the pic above the sun is shining bright outside. Piper is soaking up as many rays as possible on her face as she waits for the sun to adjust further and hit the rest of her.

Time Change

Not my fault! Okay, kind of my fault! So Brad said last night his tennis match was at 1:00 but then he mentioned after time change happens in the middle of the night his match time is really at 12:00...noon o'clock, as I like to say! All of a sudden this morning I look up at the clock on the fireplace mantle to notice it's 10:30 already. I immediately think Brad needs to be getting up to get ready for tennis. Getting breakfast, a shower, deciding on an outfit, travel time to the match, and arriving early enough to warm-up is just barely possible if I wake him up now, a mere 90 minutes until his match time. With Landon in my arms I marched into our bedroom to wake Brad up. Seconds after I said his name to get him to wake up, it hit me...he said his match was at 1:00 which after time change is "technically noon" but duh, the match is 1:00 not noon.

I'm such a dope! For some reason though when he said noon yesterday that's the part that stuck in my head. Anyway, he rolled over and went back to sleep and is still sleeping. This time I'll wake him up by 11:30 if he hasn't already gotten up. 

Here's the key to time change...change your clocks to the appropriate time when you go to bed the night it happens. Then when you wake up in the morning don't think about what time it was yesterday. Just accept the new time the clock reads. You can't keep thinking, "oh it's 11:00 AM but  yesterday at this time it was noon." Yeah, it's a beast to adjust to if you keep thinking that way. Same goes for when time change is about to occur. Don't confuse your wife by saying, "my match is at 1:00 but technically that's noon when tomorrow arrives." LOL!

Halloween Wrap Up

On to November...spend all October anticipating Halloween, in the blink of an eye it's over and November has arrived. I think the same thing about my birthday too, not a fan of having a birthday on last day of the month.

I just bathed the "kids" of our household. Sometimes I choose to do certain tasks at certain times then midway through I think to myself, 'why did you decide to do this right now?' It's because I greatly underestimate the natural noises the fur babies make. Typically on Saturday bath day, Brad hasn't been home, he's been at tennis. This week his tennis match was switched to Sunday. Don't get him started on the fact he has to miss some football to go play tennis tomorrow! Anyway, both furries tolerate baths but both meow or whine at some point as if they are wanting me to hurry up. I'll let it be a mystery as to which one whines and which one meows. LOL! On weekend mornings trying to keep the furries quiet while Brad sleeps is an interesting task. Landon can hardly wait to make his toys squeak in the mornings plus he loves racing around and being rambunctious.

Now I'm going backwards a bit to talk about our Halloween night. We had plenty of trick or treaters. Brad went out to get more candy at one point. Brad was really into handing out the candy too. We both went to the door but he was loving handing out the candy, he wasn't relinquishing that bowl of candy to me. Lol! Landon dressed in his pumpkin costume was present for all of it too, super friendly to all. His big sister hid in the laundry room completely under her bed. Can you say scaredy-cat? In between answering the door to trick or treaters we were having our annual Halloween movie night. Both Hocus Pocus and Nightmare Before Christmas are good Halloween movie picks for future reference for anyone out there. Completely appropriate for all ages too. Nightmare Before Christmas is animated for those that aren't aware, it's about the king of Halloween town Jack Skellington(a skeleton) suddenly becoming interested in a thing called Christmas. He wants Santa's job, but a Halloween king doing Santa's job is not welcomed nor does he know how to do it as well as Santa. As for Hocus Pocus, it's not animated but has good special effects especially considering it was made 25 years ago. It centers around kids curious about an abandoned house that has a superstitious storied past involving 3 witches. Stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as the three witches. Two excellent choices, added bonus of Nightmare Before Christmas it kind of gave us a little jumpstart of the Christmas spirit. Someone, not mentioning any names, but someone has watched Nightmare Before Christmas again since Halloween night. Hmm, wonder who that someone is?

Bonus pics taken on Halloween night, the two guys of the house and the scaredy-cat with a brother that kept going to check on her: