First Day of School

Puppy Kindergarten officially started on May 15, but that was strictly a parent-orientation night, so the girls' first day of school wasn't until last Thursday. After a week of training them to walk on a loose lead (which didn't go too well) and "watch me", the girls were ready for their big day:

Here is our "First Day of School" shot.
Clearly not everyone is excited about the prospect of Puppy Kindergarten.

We didn't take any pictures during class, mainly because it's tough to hold a camera when you have a leash in one hand, a treat in the other, and you're trying to get your dog to sit without actually saying "sit." Fortunately, all our practice during the week made Izzy and Emma pass all their tests! That's right, they knew "watch me" and picked up on the nonverbal "sit" and "watch me" commands too. The girls were even used as examples a few times! Class was so exhausting that the girls actually walked nicely out to the car, instead of pulling us to the ground:

If puppy school is this tiring, I think we should do it every day!

"Watch me...good dogs!!!"

At the end of the day, the poor babies could barely summon the energy to eat their supper. School is hard work, but we had fun and even made some new friends: Abby the poodle and Velvet the pomeranian. I can't wait for next week!

Homework for the week: "watch me", nonverbal "sit", and walking on a loose leash.

Sarah Has Finally Found A Talent!

After 26.5 years of life and and a multitude of hobbies that I was merely mediocre at, I think I might have found my forte: digital scrapbooking. That's right, after last night's somewhat poor page for Izzy, I decided to download some more freebies and make a page for Henry:

Paper from PeppermintCreative's Wild Weekend kit,
grommets from Scrapgirls Refresh Biggie

As you can see, I've improved much in the course of 24 hours. This one only took me about an hour, and I think it's pretty cute. I know, I seem kind of full of myself, but considering I've never excelled at anything, I'm going to brag all I want...

Just a Quick Note

It's getting kind of late, and I want to go to bed, but I feel a little guilty that it's been so long since I blogged! So I'll just take a few minutes to discuss, as I promised over two weeks ago, MarioKart Wii, which I think is my new favorite game of all time!

The new MarioKart comes with a little wheel that your Wiimote fits into. I thought this would improve my performance from past MarioKarts, where you used a regular controller. I think I was wrong. I kind of suck at MarioKart Wii. Ok, I suck a lot. I seem to have very little control over where my kart goes on the track, and I tend to fall off the track whenever that's a possibility. Regardless, the game is fun, and I'm improving all the time!

Some cool new features of MarioKart Wii: unlocking new levels, karts, and characters, as well as motorcycles being a racing option. And if you have wireless internet set up for your Wii, you can play others around the globe, randomly or specifically your friends. Very cool, although I haven't tried it because, well, I suck and I'm kind of embarassed about it.

That's all for now, since I really want to go to bed after a long, but fun Memorial Day!

Scrapbooking Mania!

Well, it's been quite a while since I blogged last, and I'm not sure where to even begin! So I'll start with my latest accomplishment: completing my first digital scrapbook page.

The Grandmother and I have been scrapping up a storm here on Seward Ave. She is almost done with an entire book about my grandfather's life, and it's adorable. I have, in the same amount of time, finished exactly three pages. She says I'm slow, I prefer to say that I am a perfectionist. Right now my pages are in a random scrapbook, but they're so cute (if I say so myself) that I kind of want to frame them. I wish I could scan them in so everyone could see them, but since they're 12 inches square, and my scanner is 8.5x11.5, I'm thinking it probably wouldn't work.

But onto some work that everyone can see, I finally worked up the courage to try digital scrapbooking. I know, lots of people think that it's "cheating" to make digital pages, since in essence, you just drag and drop various items onto a page. But reading up on how to do it, I was a little overwhelmed, because I have never used Adobe Photoshop Elements before, and it looked hard. Well, I was right about it being hard. It took me longer to create a digital page than it takes me to make a regular, old-fashioned page. And my first attempt isn't even that complicated:

It was kind of fun, though. I think I'll try another page soon! I got all the elements for Izzy's page at Scrapgirls. I used their "Refresh" biggie pack, which they offer free for anyone to try out digital scrapbooking. It had letters, paper for backgrounds, brads, flowers, and paperclips. Very cute! Definitely worth checking out their site, even just for ideas. Browsing around the internet, I also found Peppermint Creative, which has some nice freebies too!

Anyhow, I'm off to ACMoore tomorrow, because they have a scrapbook center where you can print out your digital pages on photo paper, as 12 inch by 12 inch pages, which will fit perfectly in my beginner's scrapbook. Sadly, my printer only does the regular size pages, and I'm not ready to invest in a printer designed especially for scrapping.

Let me know what you think about my latest crafting expedition!

A Brief History of Ruthie

To celebrate Ruthie Poodaloo's one year anniversary on Seward Ave, I thought it would be fitting to review the past year in terms of Ruthie...

Ruthie arrived at Seward Ave via a pet store, where many customers stood outside to comment and laugh at her extra toes and strange stripes. But her soon-to-be adoptive mother, Sarah, saw that Ruthie's extra toes and asymmetrical stripes were not a handicap, but a gift, making Ruthie one of the more exceptional cats to reside on Seward Ave. So in May of 2007, Sarah took Ruthie home with her in a cardboard box to meet her new older brother Henry, and embark on a new life.

Ruthie quickly made herself at home, staking out the cushion of a loveseat as her new napping place.

Henry showed her the ropes: where to get food, the best napping spots, and how to convince Mom to give them extra kitty treats. He even shared his couch with her.

In turn, Ruthie allowed Henry to share her own small domain of the previously mentioned love seat.

Just two short months later, Ruthie was a true member of the posse on Seward Ave. So naturally, she got to move to the lake with the rest of the family. Vacationing with her family was a very interesting experience:

The Cat Carousel became her new favorite pasttime.

And Grandma Lynn came often to visit and rock Ruthie to sleep.

But all great summers must come to an end, and the little family made of one girl and two kitties returned home to Seward Ave. Fortunately, Ruthie was able to come up with many ways to keep herself busy.

Ruthie found new ways to entertain the family, including her Chalkboard Balancing Act.

She also devised an exhausting Cat Scratch exercise routine to keep herself in shape.

And she was also always very willing to pose for a photo op.

But then, one day, everything changed. Sarah brought home two new babies to join the little family. They were named Izzy and Emma, and took up much of Sarah's time.

Soon, more and more pictures were taken of puppies than of poor Ruthie.

Ruthie couldn't understand all the fuss, and decided to investigate these interlopers and their strange habits.

After taking a tour of Izzy and Emma's sleeping areas, she decided maybe she was better off being a cat.

Shortly thereafter, the puppies were housebroken, and Sarah had more time to spend with her Ruthie. And life on Seward Ave was perfect once more.

Happy One Year Anniversary Ruthie!!!

Izzy and Emma Learn to Swim

Today was such a beautiful day, sunny and 70 degrees, that I decided to pack the puppies up and go to camp. Since coming to live with me, the girls had never seen water, and despite their Labrador genetics, we weren't sure what they would do! It turns out that Izzy and Emma love the water! They aren't exceptional fetchers, but they loved splashing and chasing each other all around the shore. We let them off their leads for the whole day, and they were awesome about staying right with us. Hope you enjoy our recap of the day, although we wish you could have shared it with us!

Izzy and Emma's Big Day at the Lake

Izzy was unsure what the large mass of water was for.

She decided that jumping in might be fun and persuaded her sister Emma to join her.

Sarah decided to throw a stick to see if anyone would fetch it. There were no takers.

Oh, wait, Emma decided to jump right in!

Naturally, Izzy had to follow.

A brief scuffle over ownership of the stick ensued.

Fortunately, Aunt Paula intervened, and no one was injured!

Sadly, all days at the lake must end, and Sarah instructed the girls to shake themselves off and head for the car.

Izzy decided she didn't want to leave, and made an attempt at escaping up the hill towards camp.

Seeing that her family was leaving without her and worried that she might not get dinner that night, Izzy ran after them. Everyone made it home safely for supper, and then Izzy and Emma settled in for a nice nap. What a great day at the lake!

Fun stuff at Target!

Today the Mothership and I set off for the big city to pick the Aunt up at the airport. Because my favorite route to the airport passes by a brand new Target, naturally we had to stop. I mean, how can you ever pass up Target? Really, how can you? Please let me know!

Anyhow, I had a coupon for an extra 10% off, and went a bit crazy. Can I just say, I LOVE the See.Spot.Save section. I found scrapbooking ribbons, popcicle makers, and greeting cards all for $1.00! I also found adorable croquet and bocce sets for $12.99. Of course, I had to pick up a few Jodi Picoult books:

And then there was my favorite purchase of the day, and the one I've been looking forward to for a few weeks: MarioKart for the Wii.

Now, I haven't played it yet, but expect a full update when I do. MarioKart has been my favorite game for SuperNintendo, Nintendo64, and GameCube, so I'm thinking it'll probably be 4 for 4 with the Wii, too. Although boxing on WiiSports is kind of addictive. Can't wait to try it out!

Disappointment at PetCo

Well, the Mothership and I have spent the past week exclaiming repeatedly how excited we were about starting Puppy Kindergarten. Okay, I spent the past week exclaiming, and my mother politely ignored me most of the time. Anyhow, today was the big day...at 7:30pm we were due at PetCo for Puppy Kindergarten orientation. I could barely contain myself. Others were gathered in the designated area as well. But our instructor never showed. The Mothership and I were both very sad. The day we had looked forward to for so long was not meant to be. Now my babies will never be Good Canine Citizens after being so brutally rebuffed by their new teacher! Just kidding, I'm hoping class will just be bumped ahead to next week. But I am sorely disappointed...I was really looking forward to some housebreaking hints, and getting the puppies better at walking with a slack lead. Wish us luck!

I guess I'd better start working on "OFF" on my own!

Mother's Day

Just a reminder to everyone that Mother's Day is coming up rather quickly, and we all need to send our cards out soon! I wrote all of mine out last week and put them in my planner, because I am a natural born fool who buys tons of cards for every holiday that exists and then forgets to send them out!

Playing at the Farm

Izzy, Emma, the Grandmother, Woody, and I were invited out to the farm today for a little picnic and play time. We had a lovely meal, and then my parents and brother joined me and the pups out in their huge backyard for some fun! Izzy worked on fetching...she's really getting good! And Emma had fun racing between all of us. Then we went on a long walk all around the yard and fields, before coming back home. Now the girls have passed out, and I'm hoping that I'll get to sleep until 5:30 tomorrow morning! It would be a miracle!

It was a very tiring day!

Review: Healthy Choice Four Cheese Manicotti

I think that the Healthy Choice Four Cheese Manicotti may be my new favorite frozen meal. Not only do you get 2 delicious cheesy manicotti, but broccoli and a dessert of caramel apple crisp to boot! All around, it was good. According to Healthy Choice, this meal is equivalent to 7 Points, which seems like a lot, but take into consideration that you're getting a full meal here - main course, veggie side dish, and a dessert! Per serving, according to the box, you are getting a full vegetable, but I was surprised that it doesn't count as a serving of dairy as well. Not that I have a problem getting any of my dairy in, but I know some people do. Overall, this is definitely going to be a repeat, since the 3 dishes made me think I was getting a real dinner, not just a diet dinner, so I felt quite satisfied afterwards!

My New Vegan Breakfast

I recently read the book Skinny Bitch, and have since decided to become a vegetarian, with the ultimate goal of being a vegan. Now, I've put veganism in my 10 year plan, as I'm figuring it will be a really long time before I can give up a toasted Velveeta sandwich, or skip a cool glass of milk with my grandma's awesome chocolate chip cookies. So for the time being, it's regular vegetarian for me. I've lasted 3 days so far (normally, my veggie stints are about 17 hours before I cave) and it's going fairly well.

But the idea of being a vegan is just fascinating to me, because if you think about it, everything has animal products in it. Cookies and cakes have milk and eggs, mozzarella sticks are cheese, even Bush's Baked Beans have bacon in them. So on my last trip to the grocery section of Wal-Mart, I decided to peruse the aisles for vegan fare. I didn't get very far, as Wal-Mart doesn't even stock veggie burgers, but they do have Silk. Now, Silk is a soy-milk product that I've always been terrified to try, since my unfortunate introduction to soy via a nasty tofu burger. But I resolved to try it, and picked out the vanilla flavor, which I thought would go nicely with my favorite granola, Cascadian Farms Oats and Honey. Tonight I tried a little as a desert, and let me tell you, if I hadn't poured the Silk onto the cereal myself, I would have thought it was regular milk. Awesome! Now, if only the soy cheese is as good...

Bottom line:

+ = YUMM!!!

A New Frontier of Shopping: Umbrellas!

A few weeks ago I got my monthly 10% off coupon for Target.com in the mail. So naturally, I went online and started compiling a shopping cart of everything I wanted. At the top of my list was a pair of galoshes that I have been lusting after since getting the puppies (and making midnight pee runs in the rain!)You have to admit, they're pretty cute. And they are easy to slip on when the pups need to go potty. And my socks don't get wet, so I don't have to waste any of my precious sleep-time changing socks before I go back to bed! And all this for just $19.99, which is an amazing deal according to all my research...similar models for going for $50 to $100 at places like JCPenney, LLBean, and LandsEnd. (If you, like me, find these boots necessary for survival, they're still available at Target.)

But of course, Target is never one to let you purchase only one item. Oh no, they line up recommendations like it's their job. Which, I guess, it is! Anyhow, one of my recommendations was this adorable Totes Elements Clear Bubble Umbrella in the Dots pattern.I fell in love with this umbrella and had to have it, since I've been searching high and low for one all spring to no avail. This one was moderately priced at $16.99, and is way better than any of the umbrellas I found in stores. It comes down over your head and shoulders, so unless you're in the midst of a hurricane, you really don't get wet, even with two brutish lab puppies pulling you about town. Sadly, it is currently out of stock, but for anyone who has to have one, may I suggest the striped version, which will also go great with those brand new boots you're planning on ordering!

While I was waiting for my purchases to arrive, the Mothership and I made a short trip to the outlet mall, and naturally I had to stop in at the Coach store, where I found the umbrella of all umbrellas:Isn't it just beautiful? Now, I'll admit I was a bit frivolous, as this one cost about $30. But then I went online and found that they were going for about $60 on eBay, so now I know there are people even more foolish than me. Should you feel inclined for this particular model, I think you'll either have to go to a Coach outlet store, or search for a Coach Bandana Umbrella on various auction sites, since it isn't available on the company's online store any more.

Well, that's all for now, since it just started sprinkling again, and the pups are due for another walk...I'm off to find my galoshes and bubble 'brella!

Vintage Henry and Ruthie

The Mothership and I have been trying to organize all our photos...a daunting and somewhat unpleasant task. But we have had the unexpected joy of running across several photos that we thought had been lost for all eternity. My favorites, of course, are pictures of my babies when they were, well...babies!

This photo was taken during Henry's first overnight stay at the Mothership's house. It was January of 2007, when I went to visit Courtney for her housewarming party, and Henry needed a place to stay. He ended up loving it at Grandma's house, and has been back several times since!

This was Ruthie, in what was possibly her cutest stage of life. Looking at this picture, I still just want to squeeze her! This wasn't long after I got her, probably in June of 2007. What a little cuddle buddy!