Say hello to...

Well it's official now as we got another dog.  Mike and I swore that we would not get another dog after Angel passed away.  Somehow though that didn't last long.  For one thing Coleen wanted a new dog so badly and when she told me that she had prayed to Jesus to change Grandpa and Grandma's minds I knew it was a losing battle.  Plus to tell the truth I missed the thought of not having a dog around.  I'm mainly a "Cat" person but for the past 19 years I've been around dogs and well it just seemed so lonely looking out in the Dog Pen and not seeing a dog there.  So after some pleading and coaxing to hubby he agreed to let us get a new dog.  It had to meet certain criteria though. 1. No long haired dogs. 2. It needed to be a female 3. We decided on a small dog and 4. It had to be good with children.  So while searching the Internet for puppies I happened upon a picture of a sweet little black puppy that was available right away.  I called and made arrangements to drive over on Saturday morning and pick the puppy up.  Coleen was so excited she could hardly wait until the owner arrived at the designated meeting place.  It was "Love at first sight" or should I say "first lick!"

So who is this new little bundle of energy?  We'd like to introduce you to....
Cricket Krause

Isn't she adorable looking!
She is certainly a bundle of energy and oh so cuddly and lovey. 

The cats were not so thrilled about the new addition and you can see they were really checking her out in the carrier after we got home in the following pictures.

They all ran from her every time she got near them.  It was comical because all of them are so much bigger then she is.  Slowly but surely they are warming up to her so I think in a few days all will be right in their world again.

Here she is peacefully asleep on Mike's lap Saturday night.





Coleen adores her already.  You can see that in the next picture and in the fun little video we took of her and Coleen.

Alot of people might think it was too soon to get another dog after Angel's passing just barely a week ago but we feel that we have our wonderful memories of Angel and that we have love to give for another dog and so we opted not to wait.
Cricket is already becoming a well loved family member.  We hope you will enjoy her to as we begin our new journey with her as a family pet.

Good Bye Sweet Friend

In Loving Memory

Angel 1998-2011

Early this morning we made the hard choice to say good-bye to our dog, Angel.  She's been rapidly going down hill and was having a difficult time walking and getting around.  She was having "bathroom" issues on a regular basis and we knew it wouldn't be long.  late last night around 11:45 I noticed that she was no longer able to stand up and walk.  Something had happened and her back legs were paralyzed and she was just panting heavily and looked so confused.  We called the On-Call Vet and then had our daughter get Coleen up out of bed so she could come down and say good-bye to the dog. 

Coleen loved that dog and was often found playing inside her pen with her.  She'd dress her up in clothes or just lay next to her on a blanket.  Didn't matter if the dog was stinky because that was her friend.

We got Angel to give our dog, Rebel a companion after our other dog, Daisy passed away.  They were such great pals to each other and it wasn't until Rebel passed away that we learned Angel could actually "bark" - Prior to his death she just whined a lot and he'd bark for her.

We had a lot of fun with her even though we didn't often bring her into the other rooms of the house as she had a tendency to pee on the carpet and I was allergic to her. Here is a picture of her around Halloween:

She was a "patient" dog always letting us do things like put bat ears on her.

One of our favorite pictures of her was taken a few summers ago when she needed a good grooming and they decided to give her a "Lion" cut.

She was a mom to at least 3 litters of puppies.  Her third litter though were all still born and the vet told us she was messed up inside and recommended having her spayed to prevent any further damage or pregnancies.

This is her first litter of puppies.  The one in the Middle is my mom's dog (Rusty).

She was a good mother and loyal companion and a "Dork" dog as we often called her.  This was because if you tried tossing her something to eat instead of trying to catch it she would duck and get conked in the head most of the time so we said she was "dorky" but she was lovable and she will be missed.

Our cat, Harley developed a fondness for Angel and was often seen sitting next to her in the pen or fuzzing up against her when she'd come in from outside.  It was really cute to watch them together.

She's now crossed that Rainbow bridge and I'm sure is enjoying a romp with her faithful companion and friend, Rebel.

Rest in Peace sweet Angel - Forever in our hearts.

Conversation of the day

Hi! - Today I was reading this entry on Lynn's blog titled: Little Boy Conversations and was chuckling at how fun it is to know that other people's kids/grandkids say and do funny things too.

Wouldn't you know it Coleen came up with a "Little Girl Conversation" worth sharing.

It went something like this:

"Grandma I'm trying to think of ways to be Impressive."

To which I replied, "Why do you want to be Impressive?"

"Grandma,  I want the kids at school to be impressed but I don't think Coleen is very impressive."

"Coleen, You just need to be who you are and people will like you.  Did you know that God made you just the way He wanted you to be?"

"I know, Grandma." 
"You want to know what I've been telling the kids at school?"

"Sure." (Almost afraid to ask at this point.)

"I've been telling them I'm from the Desert!"  - "They just keep looking at me really weird like!"

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Note: Picture taken after she attended one of her friends (Fairy themed) birthday party last month.

What can you do with a Bean?

It's small and really not all that interesting but oh my what a day this bean had.

I'm sitting at the computer when the phone rings.  I answer and it's the nurse from the school Coleen goes to. 

She proceeds to tell me that Coleen has apparently put a bean in her ear and she is unable to get it out!  Okay kids do these kinds of things but when asked why Coleen tells everyone that she can't remember why she did it. Of course I had to call her mom and she ended up taking time off from work so we could take Coleen to the doctor.

We get there and there is another woman with her son just ahead of us in line at the Walk-in-Clinic.  They register and sit down.  Then it's Greta's turn and she tells the receptionist what happened as says that she's embarrassed about the fact that Coleen put a bean in her ear.  Suddenly this other woman starts laughing and then proceeds to tell us she's there because her son got part of a Q-Tip stuck in his ear!  How funny.  Best part was that he was older then Coleen. I'd guess around 8-9 years old.  So at least Greta knows that it just wasn't her kid doing something dorky.

Coleen was scared it would hurt to get the bean out and did a little bit of crying while waiting for the doctor but in the end he had the bean out in no time flat and she recovered quickly from the trauma and even went back to school.  Later after she got home she said that everyone at school learned a lesson today about not sticking things in their ears, nose or eyes! (Guess the teacher used her as an example of what not to do).

Ah the joys of childhood!