Vinnie Before and After

Every year Vinnie gets a hair cut. Here is why.
1. Vinnie is a "low rider" he is very low to the ground and sometimes the grass gets very high. The first thing in the morning when he goes outside to potty or say we are at camp he gets very wet and unhappy.
2. He often gets bits of twigs, leaves, and burrs from bushes stuck in his fluff
3. He hates to get brushed and so he gets mats that I have to cut out.
4. Sometimes his "poo" gets stuck in his fur and I have to cut it out. :(
5. He gets very hot in the sun at camp
6. It's easier to find ticks without so much hair
7. He just looks so handsome!

Ugh, What a Day

This blog contains the words: Poop & vomit. If such things are an offense to you, don't read.
*don't say I didn't warn you*

Izzy the dog has been sick. It started out with stinky gas, like really bad gas and I assumed (how silly of me) that that was where it would end. Then one night she farted while pooping and I heard it ooze to the ground. In the meantime Vinnie the dog has been hacking up mucus and grass (yes I know TMI you can skip this blog entry if you need to, I will understand). I thought (also wrongly) that it was nothing and would pass. *sigh* Last night as I was putting Vinnie to bed in his crate (a cat carrying thing) he wouldn't go in, he sort of sniffed and backed out. I got out the flashlight to take a peek and lo and behold he had vomited the night before in his bed. It was too late for me to clean it up so I threw the soiled stuff in the bathroom to clean in the morning.

Morning arrived. I got up to do my normal routine and clean up the vomit bedding so I could wash it. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, it didn't even smell all that bad. I went about my day until around 1pm when I realized I needed my knitting for while the kids slept. I came over to my apartment and was greeted by the worse poop smell on the planet.

Izzy walked up to me low to the ground, apologizing for her mistake. She had diarrhea on my floor. Not in the kitchen where it would be easy to clean. Oh, no, on my RUG! Have you ever tried to clean poop off a rug? How about liquid poop?

I almost threw up. Then, when I was at my mom's getting supplies I almost threw up over there and I couldn't even smell or see it! I told her, "I don't know what I will do when my kids are sick, I just can't handle the mess."

Back at my apartment I practiced the ancient art of breathing through my mouth in order to avoid a foul smell. I found that if I did not look directly at the mess, sort of saw it out of the corner of my eye, the gagging was a lot less.

I did the best I could with what I had, then ran to Wal-Mart to get the most expensive rug cleaner I could find. I also bought some strong candles to help, because even though the poop is gone, the stench remains.

Flea on Lee

Jason came with me to Boston (to work one of the last two times that I have to go down to pay off the car!!). It was so much fun having him there with me. We took the kids to the Museum of Science, we saw only the barest of fractions of the museum. The kids were cranky for several reasons: 1. They get up a 6am in the morning 2. I got "turned around" on the way there and it took close to an hour to get there instead of 1/2 an hour max (G fell asleep, lucky bum) 3. We got there late so the other two were tired and hungry 4. They were hungry 5. They were tired. We did have a good time. Jason says we can take our kids there too so the experience wasn't too bad for him. I asked him that after working the week-end with me if he felt more ready for parenthood. He answered with (and I'm paraphrasing): "Darling, I have never been nor will I ever be ready to be a parent, but I still want to be one." So I would say that he weathered the storm well. I don't have to go down again until the first part of December and then I will be done. I think that in the spring (as long as I'm not super preggo) I will go down again if she needs me. The money is good and easy to make.

As to the Flea on Lee. We saw signs in Boston that said "Flea on Lee". We didn't go but apparently it had already been here. I found a flea on Vinnie today, yuck. So that meant Front Line for everyone. $123 I think we're good! Sometimes it does not pay to have so many animals and to not buy stuff on-line. I have learned my lesson! I will be buying it on-line where it is a FRACTION of the price!

Our Babies

Here is two of our five "babies". The kitten is named Cali and the pomeranian is Vinne. We cut him short in the summer so that he doens't over heat, and the fur is easier to maintain. I plan on taking some pictures of our other three babies sometime soon. I want to get one of Izzy jumping into the pond. She is very funny. The picture of Cali and Vinnie was taken this week-end. Jason found them both locked in the bathroom, which is odd since Vinnie is not allowed in the bathroom. For some reason Cali perfers to lay on the damp bathmat than anywhere else in the bathroom. Animals can be so wierd sometimes! I just went looking through my pictures and I found one of Izzy. She's laying down so you can't really see her true length. I really don't know what I was thinking when I agreed to get a black lab! Cali is so funny with the dogs. She loves to play with Izzy's tail and she pounces on Vinnie when she gets bored of chasing fluff and shadows across the kitchen floor. Vinnie and Izzy also like to play tug and chase, in the house. It is a minor miracle that they don't destory everything in our apartment!