Pack

So. Apparently today is National Dog Day. How apropos this post is as I intended to write it even before I found out about today. Anywho, on with the post.

So you may remember that we got Mickey and Minnie last summer, shortly after returning from our trip to Disney World.  Rex was lonely after we'd had to say goodbye to Lucy and he needed a friend. Amy and I had always been talking about getting smaller dogs so once she saw the two of them online, it was a done deal.  We also literally thought we were done. 3 dogs. That's enough. Right?

Well, fast forward back to this past summer and our apparent inability to take it easy and go a summer without some kind of fun new adventure to create. Pair that with the fact that the SPCA was overcrowded and having a $5 dog sale and we stood no chance. $5!!  That's a huge discount to their normal adoption fee. So we headed to the SPCA to just look. Maybe we'd find a new furry family member, maybe we wouldn't. 

We knew what we were looking for. A female. 2-3 years old (so she'd be house trained). No larger than Rex. Not too many strict criteria. Surely we'd find something. If it was meant to be. Well, apparently it was because we found her. She was so quiet in comparison to all of the barking ruckus in the SPCA. She immediately took to Jackson, animals typically do. Truth be told, he basically picked her out. So we had them take her out and bring her to a private too, to meet. She was super timid. We were nervous but she was so sweet. We decided yes!  I mean $5!

So as we are finalizing her paperwork we find out that she had just been spayed the day before (hence the timidity). She'd only been at the SPCA for 2 days and that day was the first day she'd been available for adoption. It was destiny. Just as the case was with Mickey and Minnie.  So we knew we'd made the right decision.

We thought and thought about a name. Mickey and Minnie go together so we decided to find something that would pair well with Rex. Something meaning royalty. He was after all named after the Kind of Carnival (Mardi Gras!). No one liked Regina. We call Stella Princess so that was out. Queenie was a bust also. I finally suggested Duchess and everyone agreed that it fit. So there we had it. A new member to our family. Duchess. 

It was now clear that we owned a pack of dogs. 4 dogs is a pack indeed. It took her a while to warm up to the other 3, she was just so shy, but after about a week they all were getting along. By now she is fine and they all cuddle and play and run around like crazy together. It's a noisy bunch, but a happy one. 

Truth be told this was probably one of the cheapest and easiest hairbrained idea we've ever had. She wa son sale!  We still had a kennel large enough for her and she ate the same food as Rex. It was a smooth and simple decision. One that we have been pleased with. She's been a blessing and is super sweet and we love her. So, all in all, it wasn't really a truly crazy idea. Not really. Right?  So there's my post to introduce Duchess and with everyone a happy National Dog Day. 

All is well, + 1 more furry family member, in Drosche Land. 

Meet Duchess!

She's so sweet, just look at that face!

Meeting her brothers and sister for the first time!

Shameless

So the title of this post has the Garth Brooks song stuck in my head. Not too bad. Until, that is, I realize that the song is ancient.  A quick check with Wikipedia confirms this as the release date was 1991. Seriously?  Yikes. Now I feel old but it's still a good song so I guess I'll just go with it. But this post has nothing to do with the aforementioned song, Garth, or age. Nope. I'm talking about our dogs here. 

Surely you've heard about the dog shaming trend on social media. If so, then you can guess where I'm heading. If not, it basically is using photos to share the naughty behavior of your pets, thus shaming them publicly. Hilarity ensues. You get the idea. If not, scroll down to check out the pictures. I'll wait. 

Ok. So you're back. Yes all 3 of our dogs are quite naughty. Rex used to be so timid and mild-mannered, but lately he's adopted a crazy streak that often results in some random object being torn to shreds and strewn about the house. Ugh. Mickey is a pretty good dog. His potty accidents are very few and far between, I hope, and he generally stays out of trouble; opting instead for cuddles and cuteness.  Minnie though, is a totally different story. She is naughty to the core. Sweet, but oh so naughty. I believe she's also the ringleader of the 3, either inspiring the boys with her naughtiness or egging them on to join her. Or both.  She truly is shameless. 

We actually have a nickname for her - The Ninja. It accurately sums up her naughtiness in a nutshell.  She gets into anything. She's silent and quite stealthy. Her favorite action is to get onto the countertops and eat whatever food she can find.  We got wise to her and began moving the bar stools away from the counter. She then one-upped us and trained herself to achieve a 4-foot vertical leap and can now jump directly onto the countertops at will. Nice. Out own little JJ Watt. She's conniving too. She knows when there is something out. She will wait for you to walk upstairs or out of the room and then strike!  Naughty through and through. But she's so darn cute it is hard to stay mad at her. Not hard to get mad mind you, but to stay mad. 

So I've taking to shaming them publicly via Instagram and Facebook. I like it. It's funny. Plus it makes cleaning up whatever mess or chaos they've gotten into more fun when I know I can get a good picture from it. It's the little things in life folks, I'm clearly very easily humored. 

Below are my latest shamings of the canine residents of Drosche Land. Cute?  Yes. Funny?  I hope so. Therapeutic as I clean up dog poop from both kennels yet again?  Yes, definitely. 

So, fun as it may be,I think it may also be working. I tell them that I am shaming them and posting it to Instagram and Facebook for the world to see. I think they understand that because since the most recent offenses we haven't had any other shananigans from the 3 of them. So maybe it's a win?  We shall see. Yes, it's doubtful I know, but at least I'll have some fun with it. After I wash my hands of course!

All is well, shameful, here in Drosche Land.

All Aboard

Nope. No train ride here. I'm talking about potty training. 

See with Stella being 2 and the twin puppies in the house, 38% of us here in Drosche Land cannot consistently use the restroom at the right time and in the right place. But we are working on it. 

We began potty training Stella the week we returned from Disney and all has been going well. Very well in fact. She has been ready for a while so Amy and I were pretty confident that it would be an easy task. It's a little different with Stella though than it was with the boys. See, Amy single-handedly potty trained the boys in a few days. I just stayed out of the way and gave verbal encouragement to everyone involved. But with Stella, somehow I became fully invested in the process. At the beginning Stella really only wanted me to take her to use the restroom. This was surprising for both Amy and I, but we went with it. We are about a month in now and she is nearly fully potty trained. In fact, there is only 1 diaper left in the house and she has only been wearing them at nap time and bedtime, keeping them dry during those times. This will be the last diaper in the house for a while. That is of occur ruse, completely depending upon whatever placement we get. We could be totally thrown back into diapers. We will just have to wait and see. For now though, diapers are off the Costco list!

The puppies have also been surprisingly easy!  This is great because it's been about 3 years since we had a puppy. Both Lucy and Rex were extremely easy to potty train but the twins are younger than either of them were. Yet, they have proven to be fast learners. When Rex goes out, they go too and they have learned what to do when outside. Nor inside accidents are. Lessening and they are using the training pad somewhat. Plus, like I mentioned before, the accidents of 2 4-pound dogs are basically nothing so that's nice. 

Easy going as it has been though, we have been potty training someone for the bulk of the summer. Hopefully everyone involved will be fully (or nearly fully) trained by the time school starts. Then we will be back to 100% here. For a while at least. 

So, it may not sound like the most exciting thing, but it has been an adventure here this summer. Teaching everyone to go when needed in the correct location. 

All is well, in training, in Drosche Land. 

Double Trouble

Yes. The above happened this past week here in Drosche Land. 

Finally, some news on huge adoption front. Well, one of our adoption fronts. The pet one. See, we'd been debating getting a new dog for a while. We desperately missed Lucy and needed some grieving time. However, we also thought that Rex was lonely. He needed a companion. My parents watched him when we went to DisneyWorld and he loved hanging 

out and playing with her two dogs. Then we went on vacation with my family and again he enjoyed them. So, Amy and I decided to bite the bullet and get a new dog. 

Truth be told though, it was Amy who was ready first. Randomly one day she was researching and looking online. The next thing I know she was doing a great job lobbying on behalf of getting not one, but two dogs. Two?!  I wasn't so sure about this. Especially since we were looking at puppies rather than older dogs. Two?!  I mean, I've always wanted twins, but two puppies?!  At the same time?!  After some serious convincing I found myself with the boys on the way to a shelter. Amy had found two puppies and we'd fallen in love with their pictures. 

As luck would have it they were available when I got there. In fact, that was the first day that they'd been available for adoption after their initial inspection, doctor's visits, and spaying/neutering.  Plus I was the first person to inquire about them since I got there first thing. The boys and I were instantly smitten. About an hour later we were headed home with two tiny puppies in the truck with us!

They're miniature schnauzer mixes. We personally think they look like they are mixed with dachshunds.  If this is so the technical name for them is, I kid you not, schnoxies!  However, I prefer my own term - schweenies!  So that's what we are going with. Originally we were looking into chihuahuas or chihuahua mixes. But after some research we figured they were not for our family. So mini schnauzers it was. 

Their names at the shelter were Hannah and Hamilton. As cute as those sounded we decided on Mickey and Minnie since this was the summer of Disney!  They are 8 weeks old and each weigh just under 4 pounds!  So far they have gotten along so well with Rex. In fact, he is so timid around them and Mickey chases him around often. Rex is so mild-mannered and timid in nature anyway. But he has become very protective of them and always stays where he can see them. That or he just doesn't want to be snuck up on!

We are in the process of potty training them and even when they make a mess it is so small that it is not remotely difficult or stressful. They also sleep through the night without crying so that is great.  So, overall they have been a great addition to our family and have brought a lot of fun and excitement into the house. The kids love them and Are great, we are working with Stella on being gentle though since, she is two and in that rough and tumble stage, she can be a bit heavy-handed. 

So, there's our second big adventure of the summer. Last year it was the pop-up and the Sequoia. This year it was my truck and twin puppies!  It's always an adventure here so we will see what next summer brings. I shudder to think!  :)

All is well, now with puppies, in Drosche Land. 

Lucy

Last night we said goodbye to our dog Lucy.  

In January we noticed she had developed a lump on her right front leg.  She began to lick and snitch at it, making it raw.  So we took her to the vet and it was diagnosed as a hot spot.  Common.  Antibiotics and spray were prescribed and we got a cone for her so she wouldn't bother it.

Time went by.  The lump got bigger.  She continued to mess with it, even with the cone, and it began to bleed.  She limped around and it seemed to bother her.  So Amy took her back to the vet.  It was a tumor of some sort.  We decided to have it removed so she could get out of the cone and return to normal.  That appointment was yesterday.

After school Amy called me.  The vet had called her midday.  They didn't like the look of the tumor, it had grown a bit in the week since they'd last seen her.  There were more, smaller ones, up her leg and on her chest.  A quick biopsy proved what we'd feared.  It was Cancer.  The tumor was inoperable due to it's size and the fact that it was a mast cell.  Removing it would only cause the Cancer to spread more quickly.  Given the other tumors it was likely they were present internally as well.  So the decision was made.  To help her.  To put her out of her pain and discomfort.  The humane choice, but definitely not the easiest. 

Amy had been having an uneasy feeling all week.  She seems to have a 6th sense for things.  Just one of her many awesome traits.  I guess I knew too, I just didn't want to think about it.  She had been more irritable toward us and the kids lately.  She had been sleeping a lot, was very lethargic, and just not herself.  It was time.  It was right.

So, Amy made the appointment with another vet and picked her up.  We brought the kids together with her and told them.  To let them say goodbye.  Braeden took it very hard.  Jackson, as usual, was just quiet and aloof about it.  But it will come out eventually.  He just processes differently.  The requested a picture with her, one last time.  Tearfully I obliged.  Amanda then took them so Amy and I could take her to the vet.

No details.  It was hard.  Very hard.  But it was right.

But in all things HE works for the best.  The funny thing is is that she was originally scheduled to have the surgery on Thursday, but I totally forgot and fed her breakfast.  Yikes.  This caused us to have to reschedule for yesterday.  HE knew.  Thursday would have been too hard.  This way we could have the time to say goodbye and mourn over the weekend without worrying about returning to school the next day.

She was an amazing dog.  10 years old nearly.  She's been with Amy and I our entire married life.  We got her in New Orleans after our first miscarriage.  She helped us through that.  She was with us when we needlessly evacuated from Hurricane Ivan, keeping us company for the 14 hour car ride.  She evacuated with us for Katrina.  3 moves.  3 children.  2 more miscarriages.  Road trips.  Vacations.  Good times.  Bad times.  She's been with us through it all.  

So it's odd not having her around.  Not having her underfoot when cooking and eating.  Not having her bound around the house.  Not hearing her snore loudly.  Not here to kick her water bowl and fuss to remind me she's thirsty.  It's different.  

Rex is doing better than we'd expected.  He knows something is different though.  He follows us around the house if we move.  Lays very near to us if we sit.  He was very attached to her too.  She was a great big sister.  We will see how he continues to handle it.  He is naturally an anxious and timid dog, so this will likely be something he has trouble with.  But we are all in it together.

Last night we prayed as usual.  We thanked Him for Lucy.  Thankful for the decade of crazy fun she brought to us.  Thankful for the unconditional love and loyalty she gave us all.  Thankful for her.  

So, here we are now.  Going on.  Moving forward.  Time will heal us.  Slowly, but it will.  She was a great dog.  She will be missed and forever loved.

All is well, mourning, in Drosche Land.

Lucy

The kids and their photo

That Darn Cat, uh, Dog!

This post has nothing to do with the Disney movie.  In fact, I'm not sure I've seen it, or at least I haven't in years.  But its name lends for a clever post title!  On with the post!

So you know we've been keeping the dogs outside during the day lately.  All was going fine.  They stayed out most days unless it was rainy or cold.  We had very little problems with it.  The amount of dog hair we were encountering inside was diminishing.  The dogs were getting exercise (we told ourselves), and all was going well.  Until yesterday that is. 

See, Rex likes to dig.  We've had minor problems with this in the past but have managed to fill in the holes.  It was one of the concerns we had when we decided to keep them outside.  But it seemed to be going well, he seemed to be stopping.  There were no new holes.  Life was good.  Argh.  Yesterday that dog dug next to and under one of the new, smaller raised beds we made.  Said bed (ha that rhymes) is collapsing and is now filled with the displaced dirt.  Argh.  The liner we put down to prevent weeds is also torn and wonky.  Argh.  Needless to say the dog (I'm too mad to speak his name) will no longer be left outside during the day.  Nope.  Nada.  Never again.  My biggest fear is that, once we get everything planted, he will dig and eat it all up.  Then I'll really be angry with the dog.  

So, now what?  He's back to being an inside dog during the day.  We have to decide if he will get to stay out or if he has to be kenneled.  We'll make a decision on Monday.  For now though repairing the damage is on my to-do list for this weekend.  It won't be too hard.  Plus, we intend to get the carrots planted this weekend anyway.  But still, it's the principle of the thing.

That dog.  Argh.

I've never had a dog that digs before.  I don't even know how to combat the issue.  Any good tips or tricks?  He can be out if we are home or outside.  Just not for extended times.  My guess is he gets distressed or bored and is looking for something to occupy his nervous energy.  So apparently he decided to be an amateur archaeologist.  Argh.

Anywho, I'm over it now.  Just had to vent.  The next step in what I am now referring to as "Project Bountiful Harvest".  Meanwhile everything is coming along nicely and growing like crazy inside.  Exciting prospects here on the Drosche Farm!

All is well, holey, in Drosche Land.  

Out Back

So, you know that Amy and I are always ones to suddenly start a home improvement project.  Just on a whim.  Out of the blue.

Sometimes it's thought out and planned.  Other times it's spur of the moment.  Sometimes it's a grandiose project that spans several days.  Other times it's a short adventure, lasting only a few hours.

You might recall some of our past projects.  Painting the living room and entry.  Painting the kids' bathroom (and then painting it again when we listed the house), tiling the living room and entry, building a deck, or the most recent project - chalkboard paint.  Well, this past weekend was a glorious 3-day weekend and we did our fair share of relaxing.  However, we can't go that long or have any extended break without getting involved in something.  Come on, you know us better than that.  So, lo and behold, Monday morning it began.

It has its roots in our frustration at the amount of shedding that Rex does.  Oh dear is it a lot.  A lot.  A lot.  A lot.  See, I had to write it 3 times in bold, italics, and underline to get the point across so you are aware of just how much it is.  I just can't believe that one dog can shed that much!  Anywho, I digress.  He sheds, you get the picture.

So, Stella is nearly crawling (we're like a week or so away!) and it is killing us to think about the shedding and her impending mobility.  We can't get rid of the dog.  I don't fee like wrestling him down to shave him bald, plus he might get cold.  Brushing doesn't seem to help.  Our options are limited and running out.  We decided to get them out of the house more.  Maybe that will help.  Less time inside, more time to run around.  More exposure to varying temperatures to help.  We're at the end of our rope here dear readers.  

So, we ventured out on Monday to the lovely Home Depot in search of a doggy igloo, you know the one I'm talking about.  Well, in case you didn't know, they don't sell those at Home Depot.  At least not the one near our house.  We didn't want to tackle building a doghouse or dog run so we were once again limited and desperate.  Then, in a moment of beautiful inspiration, Amy had an idea.  We'll move down one of their kennels (the big one they can both fit into) into the back yard and take the door off.  Bingo!  Problem solved, plus it was FREE!  

Meanwhile, we have 100 concrete pavers that we put down in our backyard when we first moved in.  Just to the right of the patio.  It was a quick and easy attempt to extend the patio.  However, it was also done hastily and, dare I say, lazily.  We didn't have quite the knowhow or funds to do it properly.  We didn't level it correctly or lay down any kind of barrier.  So, over the few years you can imagine what we have now.  Wobbly, uneven pavers with weeds and grass growing on, in, and around them.  NOT the picture we had in mind when we created it.  So, it's been bothering us for at least a year but we haven't decided what to do to remedy it.  Until this past weekend that is!  Up came the pavers.  Some were re-purposed to lay out a platform for the dogs' kennel/house.  The others sacrificially gave their lives so they could each be broken in half and used to build a (drumroll please) raised bed!

Woo hoo!  We've always wanted one and now we are well on the way to having it.  It's laid out and build (with barrier thank you very much).  We are now waiting to purchase the soil and seeds after we do a bit more thinking and research about what we'd like to grow.  Again, this project is all the more better because it was FREE!

I know what you're thinking though.  What about the big empty space where the pavers were that is devoid of grass and holds the potential to turn into a huge mud pit when the next rain comes?  Good question and no, we are not installing a mud wrestling pit (bummer).  Nope, we bought grass seed to plant.  The grass in our backyard is nearly all dead, I'd say a good 75% gone, after the massive drought/heatwave we had 2 summers ago.  This is our first step to re-grassing (yeah, I'm sure that's a word and a home improvement term) the backyard.  We'll start with this small area and then move on to the rest of the yard later.

See, now aren't you proud of us?  Not only are we hard at work on another project, but it only cost $15 for the grass seed.  I'm pretty sure Dave Ramsey would approve.  We figured that since we have finally, fully decided to stay here (we love this house and the area so much) forever, it was time we focused a bit on the backyard.  So, we will continue to revamp over Spring Break and into the summer.  Stay tuned to see what lies ahead!

So, that's it.  I'm pretty stoked about it all.  It was fun to get out there and work.  Reclaim our backyard from the jungle I had let it become and see our vision come to life!  Hopefully the work will continue to stay on this path of easy, fun, and inexpensive!  Below is a picture of how the raised bed looks now!

Upcycled, revamped, and FREE!

All is well, one more project begun, in Drosche Land.

Sunday Snapshot - A Girl and Her Dog

Amy and I are dog people.  We love them.  Lucky for us, our kids do too.  Also lucky for us, our dogs have always loved the kids.  On a side note, before the post begins, I want to say how much I LOVE the shot above.  Stella is giving Lucy her stink eye.  She's been working on this look lately and I just so happened to catch it!  Today's pictures aren't anything staged or fancy, just taken with my iPhone because it's always handy!  But they're cute so on with the post!

I've always had dogs growing up and Amy did too.  When we got married and moved to New Orleans we got Lucy after our first miscarriage.  She was our baby for quite a while until the kids came.  She's a great dog, albeit opinionated and at times ornery, but an amazing dog.  She has always been very protective of the kids when they were small, often laying near or next to them whenever she could.  Stella adores her and will just stare at her.  Lucy, having been through this baby thing twice before with the boys, obliges Stella with her pats, ear pulls, and fur tugs!

We've only had Rex for a little over 2 years so this baby thing is totally new to him.  But, bless him, he's a great dog too.  Sure he sheds like crazy (a whole other topic for another post) and he's as timid as they come, but he's great.  Being timid and shy the boys aren't his first choice to be around as they are loud and rambunctious, however he does enjoy them, when they're calm.  A noisy baby working on crawling is also a little intimidating for Rex, but he loves Stella anyway.  It's hard to get a picture of the two of them because  he's usually wandering around elsewhere when the kids are playing, but he does come around for the occasional pet from Stella.  

So, between 3 kids and 2 dogs (who are like our kids) there is always someone underfoot somewhere.  Luckily we all manage to get along and not drive each other too crazy.  The newest addition to Drosche Land seems to be a dog lover herself.  Or at least she's pleased to have 2 dogs wrapped around her little finger along with the rest of us!

All is well, picture perfect, in Drosche Land.

  

Sit. Stay.

Our latest adventure began this afternoon when we opened our house to dog-sit Amy's Mom's dogs for the weekend.  She and Adam will be traveling to Nebraska so Adam can visit the University of Nebraska, one of the choices he is pondering.  It's only fair seeing as how Adam watched Lucy and Rex for a week when we went to Arkansas and Austin and then again for a weekend when we went to Galveston.  We owed them one.  So, for the next few days the number of pets here in Drosche Land will equal the number of humans.  

Basically we are running the house on a time share program.  Our dogs will stay out and about for part of the day while their dogs stay in their kennels, behind closed doors.  The canine inhabitants of Drosche Land will then switch roles so everyone gets equal rest alone time and roam free time.  

In the short while they have been here, although all has gone well, it has become quite clear to me that we are only a 2-dog household.  Don't get me wrong, I love dogs and pets but, barring the purchase of a ranch or other property with lots of acreage we have reached our animal capacity.  We just don't have the room.  Who does?  Martha Stewart maybe, she'd got a little army of Chows right?  But then again she has the acreage, not to mention a bazillion dollars.

Our temporary residents should make for an interesting few days.  The poor visitors are not used to the noise and commotion that 2 small kids can make.  They are normally put up or outside when all the cousins get together at Mema's house.  But I'm sure they, and we, will all survive.  Although I have to admit I'm not looking forward to cleaning up the backyard (if you know what I mean) or busting out my handy Swiffer more often to accommodate the additional mess!  Scoop and sweep!  Sweep and scoop!

All is well, going to the dogs, here in Drosche Land.

Hare Today

So, I've been meaning to blog about this topic for a while now but I just haven't sat down to do so.  Honestly, it has been an ongoing situation so I was also just waiting to see how it would play out.  See right after we got back from our Arkansas vacation I (or rather Lucy) found that 3 small bunnies had made our backyard their home.  It was right after I'd finished our deck and I was outside observing it and on the phone with my mom when I heard a squealing/squeaking sound.  I thought the dogs had found a baby bird at first because right before we left for vacation Rex brought a dead bird into the house.  However, upon further investigation I found that it was 3 tiny, newborn bunnies in a hole under the boys' playscape.  

Clearly a mother was nearby and I immediately thought of the rabbit that we first saw in our yard last summer, read about it here.  We have seen her in the yard throughout the year.  Apparently, despite the dead grass and presence of 2 dogs, our backyard is a wonderful place to raise a family of rabbits.  Who knew?  So started the adventure.


The next day we had a day-long torrential downpour.  About an hour into it I began to worry about the bunnies.  They were so small and helpless.  I venture out, with an umbrella, to check on them.  Their little hole had flooded and they were huddled together shivering.  Awwwww, go ahead, you can say it with me.  So, not wanting their drownings on my head I covered them with a storage tub and gave them some food and water.  After some research on wild rabbits in your backyard (there are a lot more resources on this topic than one would imagine) I decided to let them be.  What else could I do?  So I kept the tub out to cover them when the dogs were out, lest I witness a hare-raising (HA) massacre.  I even named them, I mean why not?  Betty - the mother and the triplets - Beatrice, Bernard, and Bradley (I took a guess on their genders). 


About a week passed and they were growing.  My sister-in-law and her kids came over and we showed them.  By now they had ventured out into various parts of the yard seeking shade from the oppressive heat.  She, being the goof she is, picked one up and carried it around.  They had grown quite a bit by now and I figured that if they were out hopping around, literally, then it may be close to the time when they would bid Drosche Land adieu.  I took away the tub and hoped for the best.  Then they left.  Or so I thought.


Another week passed without seeing hide nor hard (HA) of the bunnies.  Betty came by once or twice but it seemed as though the adventure was behind us.  In my research I found that rabbits give birth in early summer so I'm wondering if this will become a yearly occurrence?  Who knows?  At least we can be prepared now for their return.  It was an interesting and quasi educational experience for the boys as we watched them and talked about them.  Just another great part about living out here in Cypress away from the city. 

Well, I wish the story ended here but it doesn't.  In fact it ends on a bit of a sad note.  Just when I thought they were gone, I find I was wrong.  So, I'm in the backyard grilling hamburgers (side note - Bubba burgers are AWESOME but that's a topic for another post, in the mean time find them at your grocery and try them - now!).  The dogs were out with me and Lucy began going crazy.  I immediately knew what it was.  I ran to her hollering, but I was too late.  She looked at me, bunny in mouth, totally saying "WHAT?!  I'm part beagle dude!  What did you expect?".  I took them inside and went back out but it was too late.  Bernard, Beatrice or Bradley was gone.  I briefly thought about a burial but both Lucy and Rex are diggers and that wasn't something I wanted to revisit anytime soon.  Obviously I didn't tell the boys about the bunny's untimely demise, they only know that the bunnies grew up and moved away.


Since the attack I haven't seen them anymore, although I assume they are still there.  Hopping around randomly and passing through.  Lucy occasionally starts up a barking frenzy at the back door and whenever she goes out she seems to be on the prowl.  But things on the rabbit front seem to have settled down here, for now at least.  We will see what next summer brings!  I did though take pictures of our furry tenants.  They were quite cute, even Amy would agree with that.  Although she did tease me for encouraging their stay in our yard by building them a "Rabbit Hilton"!  :)


All is well, hopping right along, in Drosche Land.

 When I first discovered the bunnies, they were well camouflaged!

 The triplets all snuggled up in their hole

 They were so cute!

 Betty came the evening I found them, one of her twice-daily (learned that online too!) visits

I love this picture of the boys on bunny watch!  Cute!

Sunday Snapshot - Dog Days

Well, Rex is just so darned cute I decided to give the newest member of our family his own Sunday Snapshot.  I'll hold onto the soccer pictures for another day.  So far all is well with Rex and he is doing great!  The boys love him, Lucy is getting along very well, and he has had no accidents in the house (fingers crossed)!  He slept most of this morning and early afternoon but has started to play around a bit recently.  Lucy is being a good sport with her new bounding, yelping, nipping little brother.  So of course I had to throw in a picture of our first baby dog, she is awesome!  On an unrelated side note, we are experiencing some beautiful spring weather here and I am outside blogging while the kids and the dogs play in the back yard and Amy dozes on the couch.  So, enjoy the pictures below of our too-cute-for-words new little puppy! 

 His first bath

He won't fit in the kitchen sink for baths very long!

 

The new big sister!

 

Too cute!

 

I couldn't resist playing with and editing some of his pictures!

 

Another cute one!

Addition

Well, Friday night the boys stayed at my parents' house and Amy and I enjoyed a date night.  We ate a restaurant that was not particularly kid-friendly and the boys would not have enjoyed.  We ate and enjoyed each other and adult conversation.  There were no reminders for anyone to sit down or use their inside voice.  There also weren't several trips to the bathroom.  Nope, just a nice relaxing dinner with my beautiful wife.  See, Saturday, yesterday, Amy and Julie had a Scentsy booth at the Kingwood Mardi Gras Festival and I was going with to help them set up and run things.  So the boys stayed with my parents, hence the sleepover the night before.  All in all the day went great.  Sales weren't terribly great, but they weren't awful either.  Plus it was a great time and we enjoyed the festival itself, eating delicious nachos from a restaurant called Chachi's (YUM), who had a booth, and of course some funnel cakes!  

How does the title tie into this post about Scentsy and carnival food?  Well, next to the Chachi's booth (which was conveniently located directly across from Amy's booth) was a both for the Montgomery Count Humane Society.  Oh yes, we did.  Amy fell in love with a little black Lab mix they called Wesley.  After a trip over to view and then hold him, she called me over.  How could I say no to those adorable pleading eyes, that cute look that said "I love you and you know you love me too."?  The puppy was also cute.  Of course I was putty when it came to the two of them teamed up together.  I can't lie though, I too am a sucker for a puppy and we have been debating getting another dog.  Amy and I were equally smitten with him and he melted our hearts!  So we made the decision to go with it.  The boys are older and Amy's hours are better so the timing does seem to be right for us.  He spent the rest of the day wrapped in a blanket (it was chilly yesterday) in one of our laps.  He was so docile and calm.  When we brought him home Lucy was highly interested and we had to keep reminding her to be calm with the "baby puppy".  All in all the evening, and night, went surprisingly well and today has been great also.  As I write this he is sitting at my feet, alternately licking and nipping at them!

His name?  Well, we were at a Mardi Gras festival so we thought Rex (King of Carnival) was fitting.  Plus it's easy for the kids to say!  Speaking of the boys, they are loving him and he seems fond of them as well.  He is so calm, I hope he stays that way!  :)  We could use a little calm here every now and then!  But he is awesome and a wonderful addition to our family.  Another adventure to have!  Of course I have been taking tons of pictures of him so I now have to decide on the topic of today's Sunday Snapshot!  Check back later to see what I've chosen!  For now enjoy the first picture we took of him below, how can you not fall in love?  :)

All is well, with twice the canine fun, in Drosche Land.

    

Finding Nemo

1 Crowntail Beta - $5.99.  
Fish bowl, rocks, fake plant, & Beta food - $11.46.
Seeing the boys' excitement over their first pet - priceless! 

Yes, we got the boys their own pet - a fish, and as you can guess from the title of this post, they decided to name him Nemo.  Now we join the countless number of families with small children who own a fish named Nemo that looks nothing like its Disney namesake.  We have been mulling the idea over for a few weeks now.  Wal-Mart has become one of the boys' favorite places to go (sad I know) because they love to go and see the fish in the pet section.  So today we finally broke down and got them one.  However, we did not go to Wal-Mart.  Nothing against them, but the only type of fish I would feel comfortable buying there are of the frozen variety.  Instead we went to PetSmart and as it turns out Nemo has a two-week guarantee!  Hopefully we will not need to redeem it, or partake in the awkward conversation about a dead Nemo that would come with it.  So we are now the proud owners of a Beta.  At least the kids have a preference for low-maintenance pets, for now at least.  He is currently living on our dining room table as we tried to find a place that was high up so he wouldn't end up knocked over, but somewhere where the boys could easily see him.  Truth be told, I am a little excited, I have always liked fish but not the work that comes with them.  A Beta is the perfect match.  Plus it reminds me of college when Amy and I had fish as pets.  

This post is a 2-part post and you are about to enter the second part.  So, here is a brief intermission in case you want to get a snack or run to the bathroom.  Go!

Ok, so you're back.  Thanks.  Well, this second part of the post revolves around our debt snowball - which just got a kick to the butt!  So, the other day we got an unexpected check in the mail and I thought it was one of those gimmick checks that credit card companies send you to trick you into signing up.  Luckily, Amy has a bit more patience in reading through the fine print than I do because it was real!  It was the escrow overage from our mortgage!  All was legit!  Well, we could have celebrated this joy by blowing it on TVs or a new couch, or even a down payment for a new car.  But NO, we didn't!  Instead we did the responsible thing and used it to kick our debt snowball into high gear and paid off our Sears credit card!  This card was set to be paid off by the end of this month, but with this newfound blessing we have bumped up our snowball by about a month!  Amy made the payment online this afternoon and boy did it feel good!  Ahhhh, this is one time when being an adult didn't totally blow!  Take that Sears - we're done with you!  Boo-yah!  

All is well, a bit fishy and less of a slave to the lender, in Drosche Land. 

The boys putting rocks into Nemo's bowl

Nemo gets a decorative plant

Observing their new pet

 Meet Nemo

 Braeden feeding Nemo

Jackson feeding Nemo