goings on

Gosh I've been such an awful blogger lately. Here are weekend snaps from the past two weekends.

We had a low key fourth watching and playing with fireworks.

We got kiddy pools for the pups. They had a ball.

First tomatoes from the garden. Homemade muffins.

Sallie graduated from her class and is one step closer to becoming a therapy dog!

Linking up with 6inthecity.

weekend snaps. 6/15/10

Linking with 6 in the city.

This weekend was one I had been looking forward to for many months! I went to Seattle for a pet photography workshop taught by Jamie of Cowbelly Pet Photography. And it was even better than I expected!

Got to explore Pike Place Market.

Original Starbucks.

Space needle and museum designed by Gaudi.

We stayed at Hotel Max and held the workshop there too. It was very artsy and original. Loved it.

The best part of the weekend by far was the last day when we got to shoot seven pugs. I wanted to take them all home.

And we got to meet Jamie's adorable dog Fergie.

Of course, I was glad to get back to my own babies, who had to take turns sniffing every square inch of my suitcase.

For many more pug pictures, jump over to the Whisker Snaps blog.

weekend snaps. 5/17/10

A weekend of:

Sallie's training class: week three. (Improvement is minimal. Pray for us.)

Plant and seed shopping.

Nursing baby chicks that have to be returned soon, sadly.

Braving the neighborhood railroad tracks so I could get a (very noisy) shot.

Dog park.

See what everyone else did at Six in the City.

i heart faces - celebrating mom

Little Sal loves her Mom.

weekend snaps. 5/10/10

This weekend was a busy and fun {and sunny at last!} one filled with eating, farmers markets, babysitting, the dog park and celebrating Mom.

Go see what everybody else did this weekend at Six in the City.

having a ball {or not}

This yellow child loves her ball. Sometimes we take one to the park to throw for her. She's really great at swimming out to retrieve it.

Sounds great, huh? How easily we forget.

Forget that Honey's "love" for the ball is actually more along the lines of a maniacal obsession.

Forget that Maddi, who doesn't give a rip about the ball, loves to steal it and make Honey jealous. 

And see Sallie's wheels turning?

That was right before she did this. 

We forget that poor Honey has to cling to her ball for dear life. She swims way out to get it, then is attacked as soon as she hits shallow water.

But don't feel too sorry for her. Because she won't bring the stupid thing up on the shore. She drops it in the water. Every. Time. Then whines for you to throw it. We forget about that, too.

We forget that she's recently taken to picking a fight if another dog tries to take her ball. So out of character for miss submissive. This is not good.

This child is the only one who doesn't want anything to do with the ball. But we forget how she loves for the others (and us) to get distracted by it. Perfect diversion while she digs up half the park.

I think the ball is staying at home from now on.

wags not words

One of my favorite things about dogs is their transparency. I wrote a personal essay on this subject for a writing class in college. At any given time, I can look around the room and tell you pretty much exactly what each dog is thinking.

Maddi's little mind stays on food and massages most of the time.
For Lilly, it's squirrels and cuddling.
Honey: the other dogs and patrolling the counter for scraps.
Sallie: shoes and sleep.

And I think they know what I'm feeling, too. My energy, as Ceasar calls it. I think just about every dog owner would tell you they communicate with their pups nonverbally...and verbally too, of course.

So when I got an email from a Pup-Peroni rep about a new survey they had conducted, Wags Not Words, I was sucked in. It's all about the strong bonds people feel with their dogs and how they communicate without words.

As part of the survey, a body language expert also analyzed pictures of celebrities and their dogs.

This one of Queen Elizabeth and one of her (ten!) Corgis is my favorite.

source

Apparently most of her Corgis are descendants of Susan, who was a gift to Elizabeth on her 18th birthday! Wonder how many generations there have been now?


Here's what the expert said:

“I love the Queen’s warm smile. Her cheeks are up and her mouth is open, which is unusual considering her lips are typically purse together. I watched a three hour documentary of the Queen with her family and she didn’t smile once. Look how she is leaning forward and reaching out with her open thumbs up hand to him. She is truly happy to spend time with her dog. You can bet the Queen is among the 67 percent of pet parents that said they feel guiltier leaving their dogs behind when they are out town, than their own family.”

So interesting. How could she not smile looking at that chubby little furball? Thanks Pup-Peroni for sharing your survey!


Also, if you have a minute, you should watch the Today show's top dog finalists. They're amazing.

weekend snaps. 5/3/10

Linking with Six in the City.

It was another nasty wet stormy weekend.

Friday we went to the brother's choir concert. This is the one they all look forward to because they sing pops instead of traditional music. These kids are amazing. They recorded a CD. You should listen. Now that they're done for the year, they are having a guitar hero tournament today. There was serious practicing going on yesterday.

We also ventured out into tornado warnings (they lasted all day) to take the baby to her first training class! She did better than expected.

Sunday the weather finally cleared up, and four little furballs were very glad.