Wordless Wednesday-Frosty Lives

We are headed up north for the holidays but before we leave, I thought I'd share my favorite picture from our trip to NY last year. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See ya in 2008!

We Elfed Ourselves!

For a few good laughs, check it out!
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1431685971

Wordless Wednesday- Santa's Little Helper

There's Nothing Better Than A Good Fitting Pair of Jeans

I love a good fitting pair of jeans. The problem is things have shifted a bit since having 2 kids and I just can't seem to find that "perfect" pair these days. You know the ones that sit somewhere between my butt crack and my belly button, are long enough for my 5'9" frame and give my rear a little lift! Well lucky for me and the rest of you ladies who are searching for that perfect pair of jeans, 5 Minutes for Mom is offering a $200.00 gift certificate to TrueJeans.com where you enter your measurments online and the computer suggests jeans best suited to your measurements! Sounds good to me. Want to enter to? Head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom for details!

It's Starting to Look a Lot Like Christmas

We finally started decorating for Christmas. We've been a little slow about it since it has been in the 80's lately. There is something just not right about picking out a Christmas tree in swim trunks and sunglasses but we did (ok, so I wasn't wearing swim trunks but Sprout was!) And boy, there were slim pickins seein as how we are in Sweet Home Alabama and we waited until mid-December (see, I'm startin to pick up the vernacular). Our poor tree requires two books under one side of the stand and could still use a really stiff v-8 to get it to look somewhat straight! Sprout was still soo excited about decorating and couldn't bear to wait for the branches to drop. So, we let him put up the first ornament- to hold him over.

And I put up my favorite Christmas decoration...

It is an old window pane with snow men (one snow man and one snow woman, I suppose, in our case) painted on it. They are holding hands, or twigs, and gazing up to the sky watching the snow fall. I hang my icicle lights behind it and it twinkles in the night. I just love it.

And speaking of snow...we had our first snow...

I think this is the only "snow" our back yard will ever see here in Alabama. Gross, I know, but what do you expect from a husky/shepard mix when it is 80 degrees in December. He certainly doesn't need his winter coat around here!

Stay tuned for pics of our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree!

Grampy-O

This One's for Grampy!

Wordless Wednesday-Speechless!

Well, almost...

Remember my post Because She Would Look SO Cute In This. (click to refresh your memory)

Well, she does!

I was trying to win this pink pedal princess car for Sprite and lo and behold a giant 38 lb. box showed up on my door step a few days ago. The funny thing is, I was not the winner of this fabulous contest. A little elf, who prefers to remain anonymous, has been hard at work doing Santa's shopping early this holiday season.

Thank You Mystery Elf!

Calling All Dog Lovers!

Meet Otis...

Otis is the puppy of my Mother-in-law's Bulldog Dilly. He is an 11 month old Bulldog with juvenile general Demodicosis.

Before Demodicosis

With Demodicosis
Otis' Story
When Otis' family noticed something was going on with his skin, they took him to a veterinarian. They did a skin scraping to look for skin mites and they said the slide was clear. As they continued testing to figure out what was going on with him, his condition worsened. They brought him to see my Mother-in-law at her grooming shop, Puppy Pals, and then to another vet for a second opinion. Low and behold, when they did another skin scraping it was filled with mites! There was even talk of putting him to sleep because his condition was so bad and his immune system was too weak to fight off the infection. His medications include Clavamox antibiotics, s-adenosyl-225, which is an immune system booster, s-adenosyl-100, which is canine asprin, also canine plus- vitamin + mineral suppliments, omega 3&6 gel caps and vitamin E. He needed 2 baths a day at first, then just one, with special virbac Pyoben shampoo and mite dips. The total cost for his up keep is an estimated $700 a month and he needs at least 3 more months of treatment if he is to recover- that's at least $2100. This estimate does NOT include vet visit costs. He came to stay at Puppy Pals for 7 weeks while my Mother-in-law took care of him during the week. He went home on the weekends to spend time with his family. The poor little guy COULDN'T EVEN DRINK WATER. He would stand there in front of his bowl what seemed like forever. They put markers on his dish to see if the water level went down, but he wasn't getting anything. They started giving him his water with a syringe (no needles obviously) by holding his head up high and putting the water right in his mouth. He was a bit fussy about it at first but he adjusted to it after awhile. All he wanted to do was sleep all the time. This can be a normal for adult Bulldogs but not for a 9 month old puppy. He is slowly improving and is expected to make a full recovery, but the vet wants him to continue with his medication for the next 3 months to insure that he does. If he doesn't, then the infection could come back. They can't bare to see this poor little guy go through such a terrible spell again. They are doing everything they can to help him and his family through this rough time and are trying to raise a portion of his medical expenses in hopes that Otis' family receives the best christmas gift ever!!!!!! A happy, healthy Bully and a less stressful holiday season.

Since they live in NY and I am here in Sweet Home Alabama, I figured the least I could do was post his story and a link to the auction on my blog!

How to help...

An Ebay Auction to Help Otis...

HELP OTIS AND BID (CLICK HERE) ON THIS CUSTOM, MADE TO FIT, DOG COAT! EVERY PENNY GOES TOWARDS PAYING FOR HIS MEDICAL EXPENSES! HAVE A DIFFICULT TO FIT DOG? NO PROBLEM! COAT WILL BE MADE TO YOUR DOG'S SPECIFIC MEASUREMENTS!

AND DON'T FORGET THE FREE SHIPPING!!!!!! AUCTION ENDS DEC. 9TH SO HURRY UP AND PLACE YOUR BID TODAY!!!!



CHOICE OF RED OR TAN CHECKERED FABRIC



INSIDE OF COAT





If you would like more information about Otis, e-mail Brandi at pupgrmr@iwon.com or my Mother-in-law, Linda, at rompintoys@yahoo.com. Thank you for reading Otis' story and if you can help make this little darling healthy and beautiful once again-THANK YOU!

Good Night, Sleep Tight...

"Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite, have sweet dreams, I love you!"

Sprout says this every night when getting tucked into bed.

I say it back to him.

He turns to fall asleep with a smile on his face.

I walk out of his room with a smile on my face.

It doesn't matter what kind of day we've had...

This is the perfect ending!

Celebrating 100

I just realized that today's Wordless Wednesday post was my 100th post. I don't know how I missed the bells, fireworks, and streamers falling from the air but I did, so now I am going to make it up to you. In honor of my 100th post I am asking folks to share what they have 100 of. Here, I'll start! I have:

*100 blog posts (woo hoo, woo hoo)
*100 dog hairs (make that 100,000) on my pant leg
*100 photographs
*100 acorns in my front yard
*100 great memories
*100 crumbs in my couch cushions...

Your turn!

I'll even throw in a prize to the person who leaves the 100th comment on this post. I haven't decided what yet, I'm trying to come up with something to go along with the "100" theme...

Once I hit the publish post button, I won't be able to control the mobs of people waiting to leave a comment on my blog so hurry and don't delay, post your comment today! I had you going there for a minute, didn't I. Ok, seriously now, I don't normally receive anywhere close to that number of comments (unless it is a bloggy giveaway and I am giving away a basket full of goodies) so I am going to need your help here. Help a girl celebrate her 100th post, would ya? Tell your neighbors, tell your friends, tell your neighbor's friends! Typically, I think people limit responses to one per person but if you are crazy enough (uh-Sarah) to sit and type in 100 comments about 100 things you have without knowing what the prize is (it could be 100 rolls of toilet paper)- you have entirely way too much stuff and time on your hands!

So, what do you have 100 of?

Wordless Wednesday- A few of my favorites...

Tackle It Tuesday-The Giving Box

Today's project- decorate the Giving Box.

This is the start of what has become an annual tradition around our house this time of year-filling the Giving Box. As a parent, and as a former nonprofit professional, I feel it is important to cultivate my children's philanthropic spirit and teach them about the the gift of giving back. We do this different ways throughout the year but each year before the holidays, we fill a box, called the Giving Box, with items that we would like to donate to a local shelter or charitible organization. This tradition has become a family affair and even the kids participate. Sprite still requires a little help but Sprout sorts through his toys and picks out things that he would like to donate to other children who are less fortunate than he is. At first he was less than enthusiastic about this idea; especially since sharing has been one of the harder lessons for Sprout to learn. But each year it has gotten a little easier and he has grown more generous. I love watching him pick up a toy, think about it, and then willingly put it in a box for another child. Some of his favorite toys from years past have even made it into the giving box. I love hearing him say that he doesn't need a certain toy and watch him get excited while imagining another child playing with it. This has become a special time for us and usually becomes a time of reflecting and story telling about the toys that he selects to donate. It has become a tradition that I look forward to and cherish. I'll post a picture of the Giving Box once it is finished!

Check out this article entitled Teaching Children Charity or this one on Passing on Lessons of Charitable Giving. And for a list of publications on involving children and youth in Philanthropy, click here.

Do you have any Philanthopic traditions? How do you plan to give back this time of year?

Happy Giving!