Evan

The pack and pride just got a little bigger. Evan, the red-eared slider, came to live with us yesterday. My coworker's daughter Darby is letting me watch Evan for a while. :) Thanks Darby.

Evan is very little. He is pretty shy right now, but is already showing signs of coming out of his shell a little. Fitz (aka Mr. Trouble) has already noticed him and now I am trying to think of ways of reinforcing the top of Evan's aquarium. Any ideas? Right now I am keeping some books on top of the screen.

I went to Pet Food Center last night to get the dogs and cats some food, and a screen top for Evan's aquarium. While I was there I got the cats a new toy. It's shaped like a banana and is full of catnip. Alley LOVES this toy!

I am so glad my family is finally feeling more comfortable at home!

Alix the "Superstar"

Good news is that I am almost done with Alix's sweater. I have one more buttonhole to get to and then it's done. Maybe 20 rows to go. I am so excited about this! Here is a picture of Miss Alix trying on her new sweater.

Mom and Dad had a cookout for Memorial Day. Bummer was that Dad was at work. He doesn't get to attend a lot of family stuff because of his job. It kind of sucks. Well, we had a cookout and most of the family was there. Mom, Grandma, Amanda, Brandon, Alix, Me, Darby, Harley, Reno, & Jasmine. Rufus wasn't there and neither was the rest of my pack. Everyone had a nice time. Alix showed up all "Hollywood" in her shades. I think she really likes wearing her "Hello Kitty" sunglasses. :) TOO CUTE!

Other than the cookout I have been keeping busy with yardwork. I went to the storage facility the other day and got some of my agility equipment. So after I cut the back yard, I set up the weave poles and a jump. Then I took each dog and worked with them on their own. Darby and Sadie haven't had much agility training, but both show a lot of promise. Brindi did well and Cosmo did too.

And then I have been knitting feverishly trying to get Alix's sweater done. There is something about all most having a project done that pulls you in to finish it.

Oh, and I have had a couple of evenings babysitting Alix in the past couple of weeks. She is growing so fast! And just gets cuter every time I see her. :)

Road trip!

Well, it's official. I have finally sold my boat. WOO HOO!!!! Jay and I had a 2005 Bass Tracker fish and ski boat. It's been almost 3 years, but it finally sold. Sadie and I took a nice drive today to Bloomfield to deliver the owners manuals and other miscellaneous boat stuff to the new owner. I am so glad the boat sold!!!

Sadie enjoyed the trip :)

Mother Daughter Dinner

Sorry, it's been a while since my last post. Been pretty busy. What with the yard work, knitting, playing with the dogs, and entertaining Alix whenever I get a chance to see her.

The Harralson/Owen/Davis/Kaelin women attended a Mother Daughter dinner at my sister's church. We had a nice dinner and had a great time playing games. Miss Alix won the first doorprize of the evening and I won the third. Amanda won one also. Actually I think Amanda won a couple of prizes. We got some daisies for door prizes and Amanda won a massager for having the youngest daughter at the dinner. Amanda also won a "bloomer" too! (inside joke) It was really nice to have 4 generations of my family at the dinner. Here is a picture of Great Grandma Harralson, Amanda, Alix, and Grandma Owen!





Brindi and I have been to our second agility class and had a great time. A lot of time was spent on "around the clock" with the jumps. That just about fried her brain and mine. I just wonder if I'll ever be able to send her to an obstacle from any distance or from any entrance. We have some homework to do for sure. We also worked on weave entries. I had never been taught to try the entry like this, but it makes sense. It's hard to explain, sorry. :(
All in all the second class was a thinking class. Brindi was ready for zoomies after the short drive home.





That's right, short drive. I am only minutes from agility and knitting!! Woo hoo!! I love civilization!!!





Alix's sweater is progressing nicely now. Thanks mainly to my knit mentor, THANKS!!!! I have one sleeve done and am working on the second one. There is hope that I will get this finished in time for Alix to wear it.





I have sort of started Alix's minky quilt. I mean, I have started cutting the blocks for the quilt. Funny thing about the minky fabric, I don't think it's supposed to be ironed. See, I'm used to washing the fabric for my quilts, then ironing them (the only thing I iron is fabric for my quilt fabrics, BTW), and then I start the quilt. Well, when I started ironing the minky the dots began to disappear. I had ironed them out. WHAT?!?!


Needless to say, I didn't do too much ironing. Now I am trying to cut the squares. I probably shouldn't have washed the fabric, because it is now curling up on the sides. DAMN kit projects. Not enough direction in the directions is my main gripe!





Ok, sorry for the rant, but it had to be said.

How I know we are settling in.

Brindi and I began our agility class today!!!!
Woo HOOOOOO!!!!

We had a great time tonight. This is our first class in Evansville. It seems like a great group of people and dogs. Can't wait for next week's class!!!!

It's been a long day.
Off to knit!

More Alix time!

Alix came over to visit Saturday. We had a great time. I think she and I are really starting to bond. We read "Go Dog, Go" and then watched a bit of Baby Einstein. She then tried out the new jumper I got her. Poor kid will never have anything new or fun. :) The jumper is a bit too big for her right now, but I am sure she will grow into it quick.


Here are some pics of her in her jumper.










Here is where Alix and I like to hang out.



And Cosmo had to get a little bit of camera time too. She can be a ham.



And after all the reading and playing Little Miss went nighty night.

New House Pics

Well, we are all moved in (sort of). I need to get back to work and start unpacking boxes again, but we are getting comfortable here. The house is a real nice fit for the pack and pride. And me of course.

What I really like about the house is the new colors. My bedroom and bathroom are my favorite. I have always wanted my bedroom this color of green and I just LOVE it!!! And the entryway color is more inviting than the purple. I still need to add a 2nd coat to the entryway, but it is already an improvement.

This first picture is looking from the kitchen (green) to the entryway towards the hallway. Brindi is not a big fan of the floors, but anyway.

The second pic is of Cosmo lounging in the living room. Nope, no dog toys in this house!

The following picture is of Darby in my bathroom. Don't you just love the green!!!

And this last picture is of my bedroom. Sadie, Brindi, and Evie are lazing about.

Huge Thanks go out to my family for all their help in moving and painting.

And a special thanks to Brandon for finishing up the bathroom painting. Good to know you are not too afraid of heights.

We got TREATS!!!

We got some treats the other night from our new next door neighbors! They brought over some homemade m&m cookies for me and some rawhide twists for the girls!! Wow, we've never had such nice neighbors. We really love our new home and our new neighborhood.

My niece the "thumbsucker"

I got to watch Alix a little bit last week. She was pretty good company. She has become quite the little thumbsucker! And she LOVES her Elmo doll. Of course everything has to go into her mouth!

My pups and cats are getting used to her being around. Although Darby still gets distraught when Alix cries, but they are both doing better. Alix didn't seem as cranky during the last 2 visits. I hope she is getting used to being around me too!

The dogs are still a pretty big hit in the neighborhood. The next door neighbors are pretty big fans of the girls already! It seems as though they kids next door have got the dogs potty times down and tend to be outside when we are out too. The kids are really good with the dogs and enjoy playing with them. And it's nice to have someone else throw the frisbee for Darby!

Update on Alix's sweater: I had to rip it out and start it all over AGAIN!! My knit group swears it'll work out fine I just have to pay more attention to the pattern. UGH!