Happy Halloween!

This year was a pretty low-key Halloween for us. I went in to Kristin's classroom on Friday to help out with "pumpkin math" and brought the kids some cupcake treats...

Sunday we carved pumpkins which was a lot of fun. This was only my second year carving, so I stayed with a simple design. I used a stencil, but Kristin just dug in...

I thought the final products were awesome...

And of course we had to take the annual "Ellie with the pumpkins" photo (and yes, that is a rose still blooming on the rose bush!)...

Sunday night the doorbell started ringing around 5:30 and over the next 2 1/2 hours we got around 200 little ghouls and goblins. I love that this neighborhood has so many kids!

And now we head into November where we're sure to see our first snowfall and the fun of shoveling and bundling up begins!

Beautiful Fall Weekend in South Dakota

Kristin and I headed to South Dakota this weekend to enjoy a little family time. We spent a lot of time outside on Saturday. I picked some apples (which Kristin's mom quickly turned into a yummy pie), Kristin mowed....

And Ellie hung out and took it all in...

And then the camera died. :) We were able to spend time with Kristin's sister and her family on Saturday and Sunday. We celebrated her nephew Jacob's 13th birthday on Sunday as well!

It was a fun time and we were sad to leave, but look forward to seeing them in the Cities this coming weekend for a high school marching band competition (Go Lincoln!)!

Welcome, Mollie!

On Tuesday we adopted a new puppy, Mollie! Her paperwork says she is any mix of the following: German Shepherd, Bernese Mountain Dog, Rottweiler, and Australian Shepherd. I tend to lean towards the Rottweiler and Bernese Mountain Dog...but who knows. She's pretty cute, very lovey, a complete wiggle worm, and extra soft.

While she seems to have some things to learn (like potty training - she doesn't give much of a signal when she needs to go out), she seems pretty smart and her over-the-top sweetness makes it hard to get mad at her when she does have an accident.

She is only 8 months old, so she is still in high puppy mode, but I think she's going to be a great addition to our family!

Ellie hasn't shown much interest in her as of yet, but she has been really sick with some stomach thing (we think she swallowed something she shouldn't have), so I'm hoping once she is feeling better she will love Mollie just as much as we do.

Ellie Then, Ellie Now

So one year and eight days ago we recorded this video:

She seriously hasn't gone near the cat toy for a year. Then, tonight?

Burke is Back!

So Burke went to his new home on Saturday afternoon. We picked up our new foster dog, Jaime, on Sunday afternoon. Then we got a call on Monday morning that Burke's new family was returning him. This was no small decision, obviously, since they would only be getting half of the adoption fee back. Apparently he was fine, but their dog, Olive, went nuts with him there. I was disappointed they didn't try to make it work for a few more days, but whatever.

So the rescue organization asked us to take Burke back. We agreed as long as they would work on finding Jaime a new foster home. They are searching, but for a few days we have three dogs. That's right, three. But there was no way I was going to tell them they had to send Burke to yet another temporary home while they try to find him a permanent one.

Kristin and Jehn went to pick him up this evening, and I was thrilled to see my little gentle giant again. I am seriously in love with him and feel super protective of him now. The next family who wants him better have the perfect setup or I might have to turn into a mama bear. :)

Burke's Stats

7/20

Weight: 42 pounds

Age: 5 months, 3 weeks

7/27

Weight: 45 pounds

Age: 6 months

Burkle, Burkasaurus, Burkey, Burke

Several weeks ago we decided (well, Kristin decided and then convinced me) to foster a dog. We decided to foster through Midwest Animal Rescue (MARS) and filled out the application. After a home visit we were approved!

Burke arrived on June 27. We had asked for a small- to medium-sized dog, and they told us he was 25 pounds ad 6 months old. When we picked him up, however, we found out that he was actually 35 pounds (a little bigger than I had initially wanted) and 5 months old. The first couple of days were a little crazy, and I think we both, at times, wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. But he quickly shoved himself into our hearts.

Burke and Ellie seemed to get along great from the very beginning. Ellie has been a great big sister, sharing her toys from the very beginning. Sharing the humans was hard for her at first, but she has adjusted well.

In the two and a half weeks that he's been with us, Burke has learned his name, how to sit, and become house trained. He's super sweet and loves kids. He also ignores the cats, which is nice.

Since he arrived I have said that Burke is the perfect dog...for someone who wants him. Our house and yard are just too small for such a big guy, or we may have ended up keeping him! And it looks like he may have found a new home! The family already has a border collie mix and is looking for another one. They have been approved, and now we'll just go to the meet and greet on Saturday to introduce them! If all goes well there, we'll be heading home alone. While I will be sad to see him go, I know he'll be happy with a family with another dog and a big yard to play in...and we'll be getting another foster dog on Sunday. Whoever he or she is has some big paws to fill :)

Stats:

Name: Burke

Breed: Border Collie Mix

Weight on Arrival: 35 pounds

Age on Arrival: 5 months

UPDATE: 7/17/10 - Burke went to his new family today! His new mom, Lindsay, was at the MARS office to meet him and brought along his new big sister, Olive, a border collie. While they didn't seem to love each other, they didn't fight (basically just ignored each other), so that's good. Lindsay seemed very nice and Olive was very well trained. I think Burke is going to like being a part of their family!

Cassi Visits!

Cassi came to visit this weekend! We didn't do much but had fun exploring all Saint Paul has to offer...like Ax Man, the Minnehaha dog park, Bibelot, Mall of America, America's smallest dedicated park...and more that I can't really remember...but I'm sure it was fun...because I know we had a good time. :) As I was looking through the photos we took while she was here, though, I realized we didn't get any of us together! Ah well, we'll have to remedy that during the trip to Denver in three weeks.

Cassi and Ellie along "my" trail by the Mississippi.

Cassi snapped this picture of Ellie at the dog park. I loved it. :)

Proof we were at Albert Park. :)

This is where we found Ellie after Cassi left (in the bed where Cassi slept while she was here). She stayed there for a long time. She misses her favorite Aunt Cassi!

It is a GORGEOUS day here today so I decided to take Ellie for a walk down by the Mississippi River. She had a blast playing in the river, and I soaked up all the sun I could get. :)

May Day 2010

Today Kristin and Ellie went to the May Day Parade in Minneapolis. They went with our friend Jehn while I stayed at home nursing a migraine (which was completely gone by 1. I was bummed I didn't go!). Kristin took the camera (at my insistence) and got some great photos (so a big thank you to her!). Here are a few:

Good Morning, Ellie!

This morning Ellie had a hard time waking up. Even her fur looked sleepy :) Since I have been home all day with her most days she has become my best bud. I'm pretty much in love with this dog. :)

Spring Has Sprung!

I have always liked spring, but this year I am enjoying it more. I don't know if it's because of the unseasonably warm weather or the fact that we now own a house and trees and flowers and it's fun to watch everything grow or because I'm home more to enjoy it, but it's wonderful!

Here are a few pictures I snapped this morning from our yard...

Ellie

Misc. November Pictures

Ellie's Godmama Jehn gave her an adorable French maid costume.

Surprisingly, Ellie didn't seem to mind wearing it.

She was looking a little straggley, but was still cute :)

Wearing my new red coat - ready for winter to arrive.

Rosa posing in her beautiful new outfit.

Halloween

This year for Halloween Ellie was a pumpkin.

We had a couple of friends over and decorated cookies.

Kristin loved decorating the cookies.

Happy Halloween from Ellie! :)

Ellie - Week 8

Ellie is huge. Okay, not huge, but she has definitely grown over the past 8 weeks! I can't believe we've already had her for 2 months. She is sometimes a joy and sometimes very, very, very annoying. She has begun to show her territorial side. If we are on the couch together she wants to be in the middle. If we are petting the cats, she wants to be pet. If we are on the bed with the cats she has to be on the bed. Just today I was laying down with all three cats. Kristin put her on the bed and within 2 minutes she had, one by one, chased them all away so she could have us to herself. What a brat.

She is house trained, for the most part. When she has to go she'll whine by the back door. She does occasionally go to the bathroom inside, but not because she couldn't hold it to get outside. She has decided that when she doesn't get her way she'll repay us by pooping or peeing on the floor. I'm not exactly sure how to break of her of this habit, so if anyone has any ideas, let us know.

The picture below was just taken today after she had made a mess of a Kleenex she found and then gone outside and played in the rain. Crazy puppy.

For all of the craziness, she is still adorable and smart. She likes to cuddle (once she's had a nice long walk) and makes us laugh which are both very good things. We love her to pieces and wouldn't trade her for the world...

Ellie - Week 4

I can't believe Ellie has been part of our family for almost a month! Time flies! She is as cute as ever, but she has grown quite a bit...especially her legs. She was house trained for the most part until we messed up her schedule a couple of days last week. Hopefully we're getting back on track, though.

The cats aren't especially thrilled with her yet, but I think they're finally figuring out that she is here to stay. They all pretty much tolerate her until she tries to play with them...then they show her who's boss.

On the gross side, Ellie has had the runs for the past couple of days. We're not sure if she's sick or if it's her food or if it's just normal puppy stuff...but the vet says as long as she's eating and drinking she's fine, so I guess she's fine...but it has made for short nights since she has to go out ever 2 hours or so. She's good at letting us know when she has to go, though, and there haven't been any gross pooping accidents while we've been home (there was one that poor Jehn cleaned up while we were at Lisa and Beth's wedding...poor Ellie and poor Jehn!).

All in all things are going well and she's seems happy. This picture is of her and her "monkey" in the cat bed. She tends to fall asleep in it and then slowly pours out of it and inches across the floor in her sleep. Super cute. :)