Raduation!!!

Yesterday Lollipop Raduated from Puppy Class (through PetSmart).

BFF's

Here is a new picture of Lollipop Rain (2 months 2 1/2 weeks old) and Edward (will be 6 in 5 days). These two just love each other. I am so glad that they will grow up together.

In Loving Memory

Today was a very sad day in the Thompson Household. We had our almost 12 yr old Beagle, Sebastian, put to sleep this morning at the vets. The house is a little quieter, a little lonelier, just different. I guess it will feel that way for a little while. Kirk isn't dealing well with this, as Sebastian was his dog (mainly). Kirk is already talking about getting another dog. I said I don't want to right now. I have reasons, for 1 I don't want Edward to think that loved ones are replaceable and that you can't have time to mourn someone before someone new comes into your life. I want to give everyone (including Bear and Storm) time to adjust to the fact that Sebastian isn't here with us anymore.

Our Other Babies

This is Bear (AKA Bear-Bear). He is our youngest. He just turned 6 in February. He is so sweet, though granted he isn't the brightest light bulb in the box. He does even temperament and is a easy going , laid back sort of guy. He is great with Edward and warns Edward a trillion times that he is pushing him to far before he will put Edward in his place. Bear is part Chow Chow and Wheaten Terrier. He is the only one of our "babies" that we didn't rescue. His was a planned "birth" so to speak. He recently took the position of the alpha dog (or at least does when Storm will let him) in the group. We have had Bear for 6 years as of this month.
This is Storm (AKA: Stormie Girl, Lil Girl, Sister, Stormie Mae). She is our Middle "child" of the 3. Trust me she has all the middle child qualities too. She just turned 10 yrs old. We aren't exactly sure when her birth date is but we figure it is sometime in Jan. She was rescued by a little old lady (who already had a house full of pets) when she was found wandering out in the street. The lady tried to find her owners but they never came forth, so she placed an adoption add in the local paper. We wanted a companion for Sebastian after we had to put our cat to sleep, so we made an appointment to visit Storm. I must say that Storm adopted Kirk, we actually were just looking at her. We had not really decided if we were going to take her or not, when we left she cried and kept trying to get to Kirk. Of course we are huge suckers and took her. Actually she is our best dog of the 3, she has had 1 accident in the house (and that was just recently when she was locked in and couldn't get out after hours of holding it...this was just at the beginning of all our construction and renovation on our house....she tried to tell me she needed out to go but I thought she was trying to get out so she could make one of her infamous houdini disappearing tricks....so I told her to go lay down and be quiet....I know bad MOMMY!!!) the entire time we have had her. She pottied trained Bear pretty much. She is afraid of vacuum cleaners. She is an extremely healthy dog. She does have "issues" where she is very needy for attention pretty much non stop. She recently has become a lap dog. She is two different kind of terrier mixes. She is a smart dog. Kirk says she looks like a bat without wings and that she is so ugly she is cute. She pretty much has maintained her puppy looks except for the white that is now creeping in around her face. We have actually had construction workers during our renovation and remodel say they want to take her home with them. Of course Edward will have none of this. Storm is his buddy. I think he likes her best now because she is small and he can manipulate her better than he can Bear and he would never try those things with Sebastian because they have an understanding between them. Storm will have been with us for 10 yrs as of this coming August.
This is Sebastian (AKA: Seb, Old Man, Fat Boy (granted he has lost some weight and is looking a ton slimmer here lately....2 weeks at a kennel with no table scraps or little boys around will do that to you.....maybe that is what I need to do to loose some weight). Sebastian is our oldest. We believe his birthday is somewhere around December. He just turned 11 yrs old. He was another rescued dog. He has become pretty docile with old age. He has a touch of Arthritis and has slowed down tremendously. He was found wandering in an apartment complex parking lot. The people who found him posted adds all over the apartment complex and even in the newspaper trying to find his owners. No one claimed him. They brought him by Kirks Work (the husband worked with Kirk) to see if anyone wanted him. Let me tell you Kirk has always wanted a Basset Hound since I have known him. Kirk fell in love with Sebastian as soon as he saw him. Sebastian doesn't have the traditional brown eyes of a Beagle, he has these green eyes that just show his soul (so to speak). The first thing that people notice about him when they see him is those eyes of his. As far as we know and what the vets can tell is Sebastian is a pure bred Beagle, however mostly likely the runt of the litter (meaning he isn't show quality). Sebastian will have been with us 11 yrs come this July. We absolutely love him. We cherish each day with him as he has quite a few health problems over the years and scares us at times. We almost lost him when we had him Neutered (he doesn't clot), then he got some kind of immune disease where his body was attacking itself (kinda like Doggy Lupus) and we almost lost him then (PTL he has been healed, we didn't loose him and he doesn't seem to have that issue anymore...yep we had everyone we knew praying for our guy), he has severe ear issues and is almost completely deaf now, he is allergic to fleas and of course the arthritis that I mentioned earlier. We dread the day that we loose him to old age.

Sebastian

When we took Sebastian (our Beagle) to the vet last week. I convinced them (finally) to give him something for Arthritis. He has been very stiff in the hind legs, he has even fallen down our stairs a few times and sometimes can't even get up them. Well, the new vet (the last time we saw a vet was right before we moved from Oklahoma last June) agreed to put him on a 2 week trial of meds to see if we can see a difference in him. Well, I am so happy we have. He has a little more pep in him, is able to mange the stairs much better, and he isn't as touchy in his hind legs. He was so touchy before from being in pain. He has only been taking the meds for about 4 days now. Both Kirk and I are so pleased, it seems he has been given a little more of his life back...he is even up moving around more even with this cold weather we have gotten all of a sudden. I hope that they keep him on the meds. The bad news with Sebastian though is that he is almost completely deaf now do to ear problems. There is nothing we can do for this, unfortuantly. As long as he has a good healthy quality life, that is all we care about and want for him.

Escape Artist????

Took the dogs to the vet today. They took Sebastian and Bear back to the kennels first, the little gal came back to finish the check in. I was still holding on to Storm. I looked back at the door because I heard what I thought was scratching and sniffing. Sure enough I did. Bear-Bear had broken out of his kennel. He is such a goof ball. We were able to get him safely back into his kennel. Leave it to our dogs to be the trouble makers.

Dog Days of Summer

It has been a very ho hum day around here, the only thing I have accomplished is getting the front and back yards mowed. I am so glad that that is done and I will not have to worry about it until I return from WA state. I am going to finish folding Laundry and getting the rest of the packing for our trip done (well, as much of it as I can). Edward is playing and Kirk has been doing some work that he brought home. So pretty much been a quiet day for us in the Thompson household. The only true excitement that we have had today is this morning when I was mowing and Edward let the dogs (Bear and Storm) out of the yard. Had to have Kirk drive around front and chase them down. Lucky for us as soon as they see our van, they come riding, eager to get a car ride. Sebastian doesn't have enough pep in him anymore to get to the gate before we realize that it is open.....but when he gets out boy does he go. So far he hasn't gotten out of our yard but once. Bear and Storm (mostly Bear) have gotten out a gazillion times already. It is never a dull day with them around. Storm had to have a small hair cut, as she got gum in her fur somehow (hummm, a little boy named Edward did it). So it will be interesteing to see what color her hair comes in as. The reason I say this is because the dog is a freak of nature, besides being made out of eyelashes, her fur as gone from Black to a light brown as she has aged, now when you remove hair from her it tends come in white. I swear it is like a life expectancy gage. When she is completely white, she'll have lived the life she wanted and leave us. Kirk says she looks like a bat without wings. I say she is sooooo Ugly that she is cute. She defiantly is one of a kind that is for sure. She has kept her puppy looks for the most part and she is still as peppy as ever at 8 almost 9 yrs old. Bear is our Fur ball, dumber than a box of rocks (walks into walls at times) but as sweet and patient as can be. He is still young and pretty active. He's 4 1/2. Sebastian is our old man, he is 9 almost 10 yrs old. He is already on a geriatric plan with our vet. He has alot of ear issues, bless his heart. When he was a puppy we weren't sure if he would make it in our home. He was constantly dashing out the doors when you opened them, then he would run you ragged trying to chase him down. Once he even got into the frig and at sour cream, eggs, yougurt, cream cheese and various other types of food one. WHAT A MESS that was!!! It is hard watching him getting older and slower. Knowing that one day (before we know it or are ready for it to happen) he'll leave us for Doggy Heaven. Yes, I believe that animals go to heaven, they are creatures of God too. Weeeeellllll, I better get to folding and packing.....and get a load of laundry started. Chow for now!!

Does the Insanity Ever END???

Family....Friends.....Dogs......Children......Pleasing everyone.........Peacemaker.............Loss of hair. Things are just insanely crazy for me and I don't know if this insanity will ever end. Does it seem that way for you? I need a maid, someone to motivate me, someone to finish unpacking from our move, someone to pack for our vacation, dogs to quit barking, Edward to quit dragging the dogs around the house, dogs to bathe themselves, sleep, people to be where they say they are going to be when you travel 2 1/2 hrs to see them, people to be more giving of themselves and their time and less demanding of me and mine when I am the person who always adjust her schedule for other, sleep, quiet, time to myself, a good book, a nice warm bubble bath, Laundry to do itself, glass that doesn't collect dust and fingerprints, a child who listens better, sleep, a husband who was more romantic, central heat and air, more friends and less worries, and did I mention sleep?????