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"Where are you going today? Well, that's very odd, 'cos I was too...let's go together..." -Us Two by A.A. Milne

Labels: Dose of doodle, Emma-doodle dog

Labels: Emma-doodle dog, family

A funny thing happened the other day, I dropped off our labradoodle for her first ever professional grooming session...










Imagine my shock when I picked
her up, and was handed a
standard poodle!

Under all that fluffy, curly fur was a glam-girl.

Our oldest flat out did not believe it was our Emma. I had to run her through her tricks!



I admit I was a little afraid of what my construction/steel-toe boot-guy was going to say...he actually liked it, he liked how clean and neat she looked.

Spa day for dogs...so when is my day??

Labels: Emma-doodle dog

Labels: Emma-doodle dog, Wordless Wednesday

Early Sunday Morning (3 A.M.) we were awoken by a very serious barking doodle. She sleeps in the master bedroom, so yes, we were suddenly very wide awake. (groan)

Let me shorten this and say that we had a series of getting up, checking the house, calming the labradoodle and coaxing her back to her bed. And then we'd do it all over again.

Best way for a dog to freak its person?

Stand in the middle of the house growling at nothing. Just stare. Look at the ceiling. Growl, stare.

I don't believe in ghosts...but a chill ran up my spine!

At 4 A.M. we went through this whole scene yet again, but this time she ran outside barking. So, I had to follow, because the neighbors are friendly and I want to keep it that way.

I expected to find an opossum on the fence, but...nothing.

Then I saw it, a ghostly white opossum face looking down from the patio. Mystery solved.
He was probably walking on our roof the last hour. Meany marsupial.

I said security system or dog.

I got Emma the wonder-labradoodle: *Head of house security.

*see Hank the Cowdog for this reference!

Labels: Emma-doodle dog

Labels: Emma-doodle dog, Jen's world

Labels: Emma-doodle dog, Wordless Wednesday

Labels: Emma-doodle dog, memes

Sunday night at our house means serving dinner to a houseful of Bible college boys. We usually grill, because I seem to be challenged when it comes to cooking things in big batches- it's never ready on time when I cook. I do like to do dessert, though...here is one that is easy and a favorite

Apple-cranberry crisp recipe*

(I usually double the crisp part, and we serve it over ice-cream...and it is very good without the cranberries if you don't have any.)

Hilary Weeks and her version of My Favorite things...which happens to be my favorites, too :)



hat tip to Rudy Family Rukus for introducing me to Hilary Weeks, what a treat!

Well, I'm thinking about breaking out my 30 day shred dvd again...I did several days of this back in the Spring, it was pretty intensive but thankfully short, you just feel like you are going to die for 20 minutes. I had to stop because we had just brought home Emma the wonder-dog and she would go nuts when I tried to do it. So, I'm about to break it out, anyways, there are several bloggers doing it, I found this interesting blog called Shredheads, with lots of advice and encouragement. Check it out if you are thinking of trying this!

goodnight, God bless you!

Labels: Emma-doodle dog, recipes

Friday was one of those fleeting crisp, sparkling fall days here in So. California. We headed to the park for some lunch and adventure.

A stroll across a wooden bridge just shouts out 'child-hood', doesn't it?

We got a good 15 minutes of play before a group of 60 school kids showed up with their lunches. Hmm.... 60 young-ish kids, my 4 and 4 swings- 2 slides. Odds are that this is not going to work out well for the non-schooled minority set.

A good reminder why we never come to this park, even though its bounty of trees, bird- life and river walk are very alluring...it's across from the Science Museum and the school field-trippers have annexed it as their own private lunch grounds. We, the public part of 'public park' skiddaddled.

And no, we are not allowed to play at the public school playgrounds.

Labels: Emma-doodle dog

We had a fun day at Classical Conversations today, we dissected owl pellets! This is something I've always had a hankering to try...when I was young, I read a lot, and somewhere I read about owls coughing up pellets- yet I wasn't sure exactly what that meant, or what one would look like, but I went looking for them out in the orange groves that were near our house.
Now that I've seen one, I doubt I would have recognized one! We found a bird and a shrew in our pellet. I divided the room into two groups, the other group found a rodent and a shrew.
My van wouldn't start after class. It just had to be the day I decided to not pack lunches and to just go home for lunch. I had a van-full of hungry kids. Luckily, it was just the battery, Sky came down and gave me a jump. Later, he came home and presented me with this...I'm a lucky girl! He then installed it, filled up my gas tank and washed my windows. He's a full-service kind of guy! Again, I'm a lucky girl!
This is the first year my dwarf apple tree is bearing apples. Look, they are turning red! Apple trees in So. Ca are not an everyday thing...we don't get the cold spells needed, this tree is a special tree for our area.
Lastly, here's my baby. Who could not love a face like that? Again, I'm a lucky girl!

Labels: classical Conversations, Emma-doodle dog, school year 09

Labels: Emma-doodle dog, Wordless Wednesday

There is more than one way to cone a dog...or fit a dog with an e-collar, the more precise term...

Are you eager to begin? Emma was not, either....



1. gather your supplies.

A) dog in need of a cone B) the cone of shame or e-collar C) the magic

2. bring out the magic (a delicious people food treat she rarely gets...in our case, it was small pieces of hot dogs)

3. bring out the cone of shame, let her sniff it. Put cone of shame on one of your kids (just hold it there, no need to fasten it) let dog sniff kid and cone. Put cone around your dog's favorite person, let dog sniff. Praise dog the whole time and share a few pieces of magic.

3. place cone of shame on doggy's bed, let her sniff it, praise and treat.

5. put leash on your dog just in case

6. ask dog to sit, and have someone stand behind dog so she cannot back up

7. praise and treat, place cone of shame around doggy, praise and treat very liberally.

8. give some more treats

9. don't do this in the middle of the night, it scares them. ask me how I know...

10. place mushed up towels under food and water bowls so they are tipped at an angle so the dog can use them with the cone on.

Labels: Emma-doodle dog

We've reveled in the delights of dog ownership, specifically-we've delighted in dog ownership of the right sort of dog...Emma is frankly, delightful- and as I've said before, practically perfect in every way. I've reveled/danced/gloated/done the llama-llama and now pay-back has come in spades. or spays, actually. This week we had Emma spayed.
The dancing is over. over, I tell ya.

We suffered through the first night, which was really hard on Emma and on us. I insisted on taking home pain medicine for a day or two for her, even after being assured by the lady at the vet clinic "dogs are more resistant to pain then we are"...um, I can't type out my response to that without probably offending some of my readers...It was very plain after I gave her the first dose of superfluous pain medicine, that relief visibly came calling.
Poor, poor doggy.

Enter the cone of shame.

They put it on at the vet office. Emma let the weight of it drop her head floor-wards, and then refused to move a muscle, the picture of fear and misery. We removed the cone of shame and put it away for another day. This worked out well, because she was in so much pain and misery that she didn't move much and so it wasn't needed. At 4 a.m exactly...ask me how I know...she perked up a bit. We instituted the cone of shame, and Emma had a panic attack. I didn't know dogs could have panic attacks, but that was what it looked like. She got up from her bed at one point, I assumed to move to her other bed, was still...and yet I heard panting, panting that got louder and faster until maybe 5 or 10 minutes later I turned on the light and discovered her standing, frozen next to her bed with her head down.

Exit the cone of shame.

So, I have to sleep, alert to sounds of licking...and if she goes outside, I have to follow to watch for said licking. And someone has to watch her all day.

I bought her a new, better cone of shame- this one is see-thru and not as long/tunnel-ish and easier to get on and off. Tried it out at bedtime, same, but slightly less panicky result...but still panicky. And she cried. Off came the cone of shame, gone went my sleep.

It's going to be a long 7 days.
Any advice?

Labels: Emma-doodle dog

Labels: Emma-doodle dog, Wordless Wednesday

You might remember Emma-doodle, the wonder labradoodle... We approached getting a dog with much fear and trepidation...and somehow we ended up with a dog that is practically perfect in every way. I was half worried we would end up with a Marley.

She was practically perfect in every way, until this weekend when she realized her new large size could carry her through the garden fencing Sky put up to A) protect the garden from the hens and from Emma and B) to protect the hens from Emma.

Emma is a lover, not a fighter- and she has been very, very unsuccessful in convincing the cat to ever, ever play with her.

She's an optimist, and never gives up!

This weekend she decided the hens might make better play-mates...and she was partially right! They make a big show and hullabalu, and feathers fly everywhere...very, very exciting and amusing.

Me, I'm not amused so much.

today was spent trying to teach her to leave them alone.

I miss my quiet routine, we had a utopia here, I tell you,

a utopia. sniff. sob.

Labels: Emma-doodle dog

I think we really lucked out in the dog department. She is such a delight, and very few faults. Okay, partly luck, and partly research. She's a labradoodle, we picked this breed because labs are known to be great family dogs, love children, are happy, love to play..tho they can get a little goofy and hard to control in the midst of a bout of excitement - so, in comes the standard poodle part...very smart, calm, quiet. The non-shedding was an added plus. Our Emma is actually more poodle, she has a labradoodle mom and a standard poodle dad.

what you get is Emma-doodle

who is doodle-icious.

okay, I'll stop....
But not before I leave you with this. This is my favorite part of her, except the nose. I can't decide if I like her big paddies or her big nose best. Right now, the paddies are winning.

Labels: Emma-doodle dog

A brief time-out on account of severe cuteness. She arrived at our house on Sunday, and my life is now topsy-turvy...not that it wasn't really before...but now, you know...

Labels: Emma-doodle dog

oh, my! So many things are a happening here! This is a catch-up post of sorts.

First, we have moved from the position of considering getting a dog, to that of having placed a deposit on a soon-to-be born Labradoodle puppy. I am mostly very, very excited...but also a little bit anxious and a little bit not looking forward to house-training.

I predict that Oliver will be very, "put out"...when our new family addition arrives. I feel sort of bad for his position of absolute ignorance of the future.

And, what will the girls think?? I am sure they will have much to discuss.


Next, we are wading through curriculum changes and planning. Meg is starting Highschool next year, I'm suddenly very awake to the fact that I need a plan...Looks like it will be Sonlight, now the chore is to figure out which cores and in which order.

We are also likely looking at leaving the homeschool charter school program for Meg for High school and possibly enrolling her into a private Christian umbrella group. The new group has been chosen for the wider social and academic opportunities Meg will enjoy.

We are re-evaluating the many outside enrichment activities Meg participates in, big discussions about these- and we are looking at some outside science classes through a University program.

It's just all getting a little tooo serious

Josie is about to start fencing.

The garden is coming along nicely, we are enjoying Spring here.

Labels: Emma-doodle dog

We are seriously thinking/talking about getting a dog. The kids are, of course, ecstatic. They have been begging for one for some time. We are in the research/try to take educated steps-phase, and so we are looking into lots of dog books. Growing up, I had several dogs in and out of our family life...so, I thought I knew a little something about dogs. Turns out, not! Here is something that I honestly did not know; many dogs need a basic level of exercise and for certain breeds-something that seems like 'work' to them. Having a good sized backyard does not satisfy the need for exercise/play (I thought it did...) Looking up information on each breed will offer you an idea of a minimum walking time-and if the dog gets less than this, they will act out their boredom by tearing apart your yard, barking, and doing other undesirable stuff. I really did not know that. I guess it is a good thing we are doing all this reading! Sky wants to take his time with this decision and be ready for the dog, if we do get one.

Great homeschooling opportunities here- Meg and Josie are spending a considerable amount of time researching breeds...topic report, anyone? A pro/con report? Or how about a persuasive essay? (Mom is just getting started...)

Unfortunately, the girls' passion for research is turning up lists of obscure/exotic breeds. Ones I have never heard of, infact. I had to break it to them that we need to look for more common breeds we could actually find in our area, and that wouldn't be really expensive because they are not common, and one we wouldn't have to pay airfare to ship...

On our list to go meet so far,:

Beagle
greyhound rescue
whippet
labradoodle
soft coated wheaten terrier

Labels: Emma-doodle dog