Midterms and Puppies and Art Supplies Oh My!

If I'd have known a registered pup was this worry-free, I'd have had one long ago. Jasmine has quickly become part of the family. Even the feline royalty of the house, Tinkerbelle, has not only accepted her presence but is enjoying the energetic new playmate. The girls enjoy going outside with Jasmine; they go out much more often since I have to go outside with the puppy anyhow. Claudia thinks it's hilarious when Jasmine does 2. I don't know if Jasmine's housetrained faster because of Claudia's cheers when she does her business outside or in spite of it, but there's a party every time anyway. I suspect this is partly due to the cheers I give Nadine for using the potty...Claudia is a great help with that as well. I'm still amazed Claudia hasn't "explored" the cat box yet...all I had to do was tell Nadine the cat poopied in there and it became funny to see mommy clean it out. She laughs and tells me I've got cat poopie on my hands...

Nadine loves her new fingerpaints from Aunt Sonia. In a stunning role reversal, Claudia doesn't like the feel of them on her fingers and cries for wipes. I swear those two switch bodies sometimes. Nadine's supposed to be Mr. Monk, not Claudia. New storybooks are always a welcome addition. We bought a cheap bookshelf for them (knowing they are going to end up demolishing it), and that really thrilled Nadine. She loves having a special place for her books.

All in all around here, life just goes on. I'm in the middle of midterms and of course Dean has 2 classes as well, so things are crazy hectic. The most relaxing thing I have right now is 2 wonderful girls and a truly fantastic puppy playing in the yard together.

Did I mention my husband and my girls are wonderful?

Bad Goodbyes and Good Hellos...and magical Shiba Inus

We had to take Bear to the pound earlier this past week. He had gotten Nadine on the ground on several occasions that I thought were just rough puppy play but then he got jealous of Claudia getting my attention outside the other day. He jumped her and started biting on her head. She had a good-sized knot and a blue bruise on her temple. I can't have an animal like that around my kids, especially not one as large as he has the potential to be. So off to the pound he went with an explanation to the people there and a request that he not be homed with children. They said they wouldn't, but who knows really.

So with Claudia totally out of sorts without her former favorite cuddle Bear, Dean and I started looking for small dogs that were good with children. We found an interesting breed called a Shiba Inu and even found a breeder somewhat close to us (Deville, LA). I talked to her by email and phone about what we were looking for in a dog, and I had a really good feeling about her and her dogs. A big plus was that her grandkids are over all day 3 to 4 days a week while her daughter works, so these pups are the main attraction so to speak. They didn't have a clue that there are homes without these strange miniature humans groping them and chasing them constantly. She met me this morning in the mall parking lot as she was coming to Meadville to visit family. Sure enough, the instant the pup saw Claudia and Nadine she wanted to go meet them. There was no puppy hyperactivity or craziness. She just wants to be petted. In fact, she's in my lap asleep right now...farting little thing that she is.

I couldn't be happier with the way things turned out. Claudia is thrilled to have a puppy again, especially one small enough for her to hold. The best reaction has been from Nadine, who after getting thrown to the ground by Bear decided that she was not a dog person. All day she's been getting closer and closer to Jasmine, and tonight when she wasn't feeling well she asked to hold Jasmine. Nadine's usually a lot slower to adapt to new things (as Uncle Jon! lol), so this quiet little snuggle bug is getting quite the reception in the house. It's gone from "the puppy is for Claudia" to "Claudia share puppy with me and I share Tinkerbelle with Claudia". Big strides in less than 12 hours, especially when you figure in that Jasmine (or Lady Jasmine per her papers) was lost in the house for 3 of them. My mom found her sleeping in an empty 12-pack box of sunkist after I tore the house apart and moved the freezer looking for her...did I mention I moved that box 3 times?

Here's the gorgeous new baby...and no, I don't think even the presence of testicles would stop Nadine and Claudia from naming a pet after a Disney princess!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I was up late last night making molded candies for the girls so we could make some together today as well. Apparently I'm channeling Martha Stewart because I also decided to make cupcakes for the girls, too. I made them with them, or in spite of their "help", as the case may be. I filled the first pan, put the cup I using to pour the batter on the counter and started looking for the second cupcake pan. When I find it, the cup of batter is gone. This is especially troubling because that cup was NOT empty when I left it; it was when I found it, though. In a matter of 2 to 3 minutes Claudia managed to steal and DRINK half a cup of raw cake batter...the other half was on her face and her clothes.

My mom had the nerve to ask last night why I was planning to make candy with Nadine while Claudia was sleeping. If this isn't a reason, I don't know what is!

Aunt Lena kept the girls for me today while I went to class. They must have had a lot of fun; they came home wanting to play hide and seek. We played for a couple of hours tonight. Nadine only counts to 4, so you have to be fast! There were a lot of giggles around the house tonight for sure.

We played ring around the rosie, too. Claudia loves the falling down part and usually does a flip, dragging Nadine along for the ride.

Oh yeah. Nadine even gave Uncle Jon a hug today! Maybe she's figured out he's not such a monster after all.

The ultimate news: Another Manning won the Super Bowl!!!!! Take that, Tom Brady!

I couldn't help that last bit. I usually have a wallpaper on my computer of the girls, but I had to change it to a pic of on of the more vicious hits Brady took this past Sunday. Claudia sees a Giants football player and starts yelling "Eli! Eli! Eli!" That's my girl. None of that tainted LSU blood in this one like my turncoat brother. He was pulling for the Patriots, too, BTW. That's just Evil.