What We've Been Up To...

A couple pictures from my visit with Catie! (They are now really outdated, but soooo precious)

Maggie has developed a new fear of steam coming from pots in our kitchen (a while ago we burned something and the fire alarm went off...so she now associates anything that resembles smoke with that high pitched beeping! Poor thing :))...So one night while I was cooking, Taylor called me into the closet, where Maggie had buried herself into our pile of dry cleaning clothes!

We babysat Scooter, my neighbor's little guy, for about a week while they were in Costa Rica... Here he is helping me re-paint the yellow guest room (this yellow was a bit too bright ;)). I thought I had locked the dogs out of the room, but Scooter found a way in!

(EM! Do you recognize the mirror? I still love it :))

I hated leaving Scooter in his crate for too long, so he came with me and Gamer to one of Taylor's baseball games! He loved watching everything... Gamer had one of her panic attacks after a man started whistling really loudly, so we had to leave early. Scooter is very normal compared to our 4 little ones...it's nice to have him around! haha ;)

One night while we were watching TV, Tubbs decided he wanted to snuggle (he is NOT usually a snuggler)...so he wiggled (as much as a 100 lb lab can wiggle...) between the couch and ottoman and fell asleep like this-- with his head on our legs. It was so sweet :)

And here's what happens when we give our dogs chewy bones...Gamer does not share toys well. I re-distributed them after this picture though :)

Last week was completely crazy with our floor being tiled (we got rid of the carpet! :))... so we had to camp out in the guest room and office until we were allowed to walk on it! It was really fun, and so cozy :) We had our big TV in there, so we watched the whole first season of LOST, and we are now totally hooked on it. The dogs could have spread out into the office, but they decided to stay in there with us :)



And here's a typical morning in our bed...

1. Taylor sleeping peacefully with 2 of his girls...
2. Gamer hears me wake up so she tries to wake Taylor up with kisses...

3. And then she gets LOUD...and really mad if he is paying attention to another dog... and she continues to growl/talk until we are both out of bed!


Finally--here's a glimpse into an afternoon at our house. Each afternoon after work, I stand in the yard while the dogs play (it's the only way to keep them outside for an extended period of time :))...

First, Maggie and Pumpkin start playing really well together...they are best friends :)

Then, Gamer inevitably walks right into the middle of the 2 girls rolling on the ground...which leads to an awkward stand-off between Maggie and Gamer (we call this Gamer's "rattlesnake tail.") Although Gamer is serious here, Maggie is totally over it...

So, Pumpkin jumps in to break up the tension...

Maggie tries to play with Gamer for a second, then Gamer awkwardly tries to play back...and then gets mad when Maggie gets too close...

Meanwhile, Tubbs looks on, unphased by all the activity.

Next, the gate opens and Kathy lets Scooter in (if he hears our dogs playing, he starts to cry, so he has an open invitation into our yard anytime!) Notice how thrilled Gamer is to have the new visitor...

Maggie lets the two young dogs beat her up--she is so patient :)

Tubbs moves into the screened-in porch to cool off and then starts barking for his dinner... Maggie and Pumpkin play with Scooter for a few more minutes...
And Gamer is annoyed by it all... She really is a sweetheart--we just seem to capture all her little quirks on camera! ;)

P.S. COOPER HOWELL, I added lots of dog pictures just for you!!! :)