What Happened to Spring?

I'm glad that I managed to snap this picture of my peony plant before the 100+ degree temperatures killed everything! So much for spring.

Another impediment to the growing season seems to be my dogs....they have been enjoying my plants more than I have. A little too much!

On an unrelated note, we've recently acquired some lovely end tables and lamps for our living room. Adding the lamps gives the room a lot more light and having 2 end tables creates a lot of symmetry in the room where there was none before.

We also decided to update the window treatments in the living room and dining room. It was hard to part with the mauve honeycomb blinds that Nancy (previous owner) installed, but somehow we made it through.....

Stay tuned for the 'final' reveal once we've finished the room!

Wildlife

So, I was in the back yard with Leo (the bad dog), in pajamas and no bra (give me a break, it was 8:45 pm on a weekday!). We've been taking chances with some 'off leash' bathroom breaks outside before our Invisible Fence is up and running, and this happened to be one of those days. Usually when we have 1 - 1 time outside, they go potty and its right back inside. On this occasion however, I was waiting for Leo to do his 'business' when a giant (according to me) coyote ran into the neighbor's yard. It took less than 3 seconds for Leo to bee line for Mr. Coyote - cue Krystle's heart attack. Luckily, coyotes are scared of people and this one ran away....right back to the elementary school playground that it came from. I didn't get to my camera on time, but this photo is a pretty solid depiction of what I saw.....

I'm ready for my close up.....

Some of you may not know that Rudy and Leo's cousin, Olive, is a famous TV star. Here she is in just one of many Subaru commercials. Olive has black fur with a pink collar.

Well, we're giving Olive a run for her money because Rudy and Leo have been featured in a Select Comfort print ad! With any luck this will show up in the fall catalogue. Look out world!

Chris took them to their photo shoot (it was all he could do to keep them from the Kraft Services table....kidding but I've always wanted to say that). Rudy was the star because he's our good dog that does what he's told. Hence Leo only appears in one cameo shot.

Rudy and Leo are not doing appearances yet, but if you send a request by mail you they will send a limited number of "paw-tographs" to some lucky fans.

Ciao!

Spring Has Sprung!

My tulips are blooming! Luckily I grabbed my camera in time to get a picture in between thunderstorms (what else is new). Finally a sign that winter is over!

Someone ate the Easter Bunny

We had a great Easter hosting the family at our house for some brunch. It was a low-key day and we thoroughly enjoyed it! Some of us sported our Twins gear especially for Grandma (her favorite team - even though we're not doing so great!).

Here we are with our bunny costumes from Grandma Gretchen. They are a little too big so we have to pose really nice for the picture.

Someone ate the Easter Bunny!

After such a long day we were tired so we took long naps!

April Fools....

....that's what we're feeling like after a couple of weeks with these puppies! They sure are a handful but just when you're about to send them back, they do something really cute and suddenly its all better :). This week Chris came home to an unexpected present in the dogs' kennel. Needless to say, he was not pleased. Of course the dogs had walked around in it too, so they needed a bath. The problem was, we didn't have any dog shampoo yet and they had never had a bath. What is a guy to do? Improvise. When I got home that day I knew about none of this until I walked into the kitchen and put some evidence together which brought me to the conclusion that something bad had happened. Behold:

Found: One dish rack in the 'used' position (also wet with soapy water) which Chris has never before used.

 Found: One bag of dog treats - opened.

Found: Two freshly cleaned and terrorized dogs.

We then promptly went out and got them some really fancy dog shampoo (makes them smell like coconut!) and gave them a proper bath....which they hated every second of.

On a totally unrelated note, my tulips are finally coming up! I'm so jealous of all my Des Moines friends and their stupid 80 degree weather. These beauties came up just in time to get dumped on with 4 inches of snow tonight - yay!

Learning and Growing

The little doggies are learning more and more every day! We have had them exactly one week but it feels like we've had a lifetime with them. It's been a lot to get used to, but they are so darn cute we can't imagine life without them. They are good eaters but don't like having separate bowls. They have way too many toys but only seem to want to play with whatever their brother has at the moment. They are gradually getting use to their crate, but they still have to come sleep in mom and dad's room to feel comfortable at night. They really hate it when anyone leaves the family room (where their crate is).

Rudy seems to be understanding that we have to do our 'business' when we're outside, but Leo has a tendency to forget that point. He is more interested in sticks, leaves and rocks when he's out there. This makes mommy mad when it's 3am. We can't wait until they can hold it a little longer and we don't have to take them out every 3 hours. Most of all, they like to sleep and are sleeping next to me right now, as a matter of fact.

We are trying to get them used to their collars and leashes - they don't quite know what to think of it yet.

They did learn how to go up and down the deck stairs to get outside, and they know how to jump out of the sliding glass door to get outside - progress!

We've had a lot of visitors and they think that little kids are especially fun! Here is baby Piers with the 'dah' as he calls them.