Reminiscing...

I'm at a conference tonight, and practicing avoidance of the work I SHOULD be doing. Instead, I have been playing with a few photos, and I had some fun memories as I scanned through a bunch of old layouts. Hope you enjoy them too!

At Summer's Farm

Last weekend we had a great time at the pumpkin patch. Katy raced from place to place to place, and it was a great time, trying to keep up and snap a few photos.

Fall is amazing in Maryland.

Nothing more beautiful

I love kid's drawings...always have. But when it's your own daughter holding the pen, it almost makes your heart hurt to see them. Here's a sampling of some of the drawings I stumbled upon in Katy's Spanish notebook tonight.

Too Cool!

Princess for a day

What little girl wouldn't love to have her class photos taken in a princess costume? Well, Katy's dream came true a few weeks ago. I am firmly convinced that, for the brief few minutes that she was in front of that camera, she totally believed she was a princess!

...and I loved the results!

Things that make me smile

Things that I am loving right now:

1. Katy on the cusp of literacy. "Mom, want to see? I drew my ABCs and 123s."

(...and she did!)

2. the coveted purple leotard. She's been in it all weekend, including bedtime. Yuck!

3. Backyard patio, completed. I love that the patio has increased our "living space" so much and seems to blur that line between outside and inside in the side yard. Our sweet neighbor, who grew up in this house, gave me a bunch of monkey grass and hostas (and some other plants!) this weekend, as she thinned her gardens. It made the dogwood in the patio look like it's been there for a long time!

4. Randy, just hanging in the backyard. As most of you probably know, she's a 12 year-old retired military working dog that I took care of several years ago while I was in Korea. She travelled half-way across the world to come live with us just about 6 weeks ago. She's loving life as a house pet, and she's completely spoiled rotten already. In fact, she's curled up next to me on the couch right now. Did I accuse Bryan of being the softie in my last post? (*raising hand*) Well, I'm guilty as well.

5. Bryan, who is incapable of letting an entire weekend go without starting a new project, despite my pleas to just relax a bit. He started (and nearly completed) a footbridge over the tree that blocks an easy path from the backyard to the side yard. I think he's enjoying having a creative project to play with, and I think it will be cute when it's completed.

6. Lying under the huge river maple in the side yard, watching the helicopters float to the ground, on a nice cool early fall day. I love that tree, and I love this time of year in Maryland. It's the perfect way to end a nice lazy weekend day!

Have a happy Sunday!!

Completely spoiled

I think the photos speak for themselves.

(Note that poor Tess makes due with her spot on the floor, while Randy enjoys the sofa.) Bryan is such a push-over.

More on patio and Randy

I know I keep talking about this patio that we did. It was, quite literally, the project from hell, but it's now completed and I couldn't be happier.

I've posted a couple of photos of the patio, as well as one of Randy. I got the nicest thank-you card from the MWD handlers in Korea, which just made my day. She is doing great, and we are delighted to have her.

It's a dog's life...

Randy definitely loves this retirement gig. She's taken to jumping on the sofa as soon as Bryan walks out of the house in the morning (sometimes she barely waits for him to get out the door). In the afternoon when he gets home, she quickly jumps off the sofa and lays on her bed, as though she's been snoozing there all day. (...Though he mentioned that the last few mornings, she hasn't moved very quickly to get off the sofa). I think she has found an "easy mark."

Katy routinely dresses her up....Put her in hats and covers her with blankets and encourages her to jump on the bed. Randy tolerates her beautifully.

On other news: The patio is about 2/3 completed. It is looking good. I will try to upload photos in the next day or so.

Randy update and new patio

No photos of Randy today...I have been busy with the patio and haven't had a chance to get the camera out after her lately. She is doing great, though. She has decided that the little dogs are great fun, and Kip is her favorite by far. She gives him hell, playing rough with him in the backyard. He get completely slimed as he wrestles with her and she bites him over the head and neck and back. He absolutely loves it, and the two of them are just hilarious together. I will try to get some photos of the silliness in the next few days.

As for the patio...we are working hard. Today we completed the edging and filling and compacting the base, and we started laying out just a few stones tonight. I think it is going to be wonderful, though perhaps way bigger than we needed. It's fun stuff though!

The Intimidator

Randy and the dogs are doing great. I heard one low growl from her today, but only because Tess was trying to steal a toy. Tess and Kip are both a little intimidated by her, but they have quickly realized that she's not interested in a confrontation so just moving away from her will eliminate any problems. Randy was very interested in Katy's stuffed animals and kept stealing them from her toybox, so I went and picked up a couple of stuffed toys. All 3 dogs had a good time with them, but it was funny to watch Randy collect them, one by one, along with 2 tennis balls until she had a pile. Tess briefly flirted with taking one, but Randy quickly helped her change her mind.

I am amazed at how quickly she has adapted to this situation. It's just now 48 hours since she arrived, and she has settled into life as a "house dog" beautifully. She still wants on the sofa, and I laugh when I see how familiar with that piece of furniture she is (--She's NEVER done that before, has she, my MWD handler friends?! * LOL*) She's also VERY interested in human food and only moderately interested in her own. She loves rolling in the grass in the backyard, and this may sound silly, but she seems almost "grateful" for the lifestyle change. I'm sure we will find something about her will make us a little crazy, but so far I haven't found it. There's definitely a little too much dog underfoot in our small house, but it's definitely worth it. It feels good to make a small difference in the life of a dog that has worked for so many years.

Ciao,

Robin.

Meeting of the dogs

After Katy went to sleep tonight, we did a brief introduction for the dogs. Randy's prey drive was evident--she really wanted to think those little dogs were fat little squirrels whenever they got a little wiggly and silly, but it was all okay. No arguments, no drama, despite Kip's obsession with her and her desire to taste squirrel.

We will watch them closely when they are together for a while, but I'm sure it will be fine. Randy is obviously very good natured, and so are Kip and Tess, so it's just a matter of them learning the ropes together. We'll do the same thing again tomorrow and take it slow.