Pet Parade 2009

One of the greatest things about living in (or near) a small town is that there are wonderful local carnivals to attend.   The town we are closest to, Saxonburg, is hosting its Volunteer Firemans Carnival this week.  It is tradition to kick off the week with a pet parade.  Erik participated in the pet parades when he was a young boy and I'm carrying on the tradition with my kiddos.  I guess in years past, there were themes for the parade for you to dress up for  - like one year the theme was "great duos" and Erik & his dog dressed up as superheros.  Fun.  There don't seem to be many rules to the parade these days but many folks do still try to come up with fun themes.  

Here is the local High School Marching Band getting ready to lead the parade.  The poor kids are still in school because of the teachers strike from earlier this school year.  They look kind of miserable that they have to participate in an event that is typically the KICK OFF for summer vacation.

Here are a bunch of folks getting their pets pampered and prepped to step out onto Main Street and the awaiting crowds.

More folks lining their pets up.

Here is Miss Maggie May.  She is posing as the Queen of England with her Pembroke Welsh Corgi.  Hank did a great job of staying in the wagon with the Queen.  I even brought the ipod with a trumpet voluntary to enhance the effect, but you couldn't really hear it with my wimpy little TJ Maxx speakers.
Here are the boys.  I had wanted to dress them as the British Royal Guard - I even found Walker a red blazer to wear - but when I showed him the photo, he balked telling me he did not like the hat and he wasn't dressing as one of "those."  Knowing Will undoubtedly would not wear the costume if Walker wasn't (and let's face it, where was I going to find a red 18 month blazer in June?) so I scrapped the Royal Guard idea and had an epiphany in church.  I decided to dress Walker as a chef and we would bring some chickens in a wagon.  Erik thought of the cleaver - I got together the materials to make it and Erik took over - hence the blood on it.  You can't believe the chuckles we got from Walker's "menu" sign.  Walker's dinner specials were:  Roasted Chicken, Chicken Cordon Bleu and Chicken Noodle Soup.  

Willie James was dressed as a hobo.  I thought he would jump at the chance to walk with Chloe but he jumped right into the wagon Walker was pulling and wouldn't get out for anything.  

We had a lot of fun - the kids were so good and so cute, but unfortunately, we didn't win a thing.  I think there should be some rules about winning - for the last few years, the winners were the same people and they don't seem to actually have any children attached to their entries.  

And that folks, is the sad commentary of my life.  I'm actually picking apart the judging of a local pet parade.  It did break my heart a bit when Walker asked, "Momma, did I win anything?"  How long will the, "No, but it was so much fun to dress up and participate" line work?  I think that must be how Oscar nominees feel when they say, "It's a privilege to be nominated." 

I saw some old dance or baton twirling trophies at the thrift store last week when I went looking for Walker's royal guard costume - maybe I'll go buy those up and make my own trophies for my kids.  

But right now, I've got to go drafting plans for next years parade costumes . . . 

This is why I hate to weed.

Because sometimes, creepy, slithery things are hiding under the weed you are reaching your hand in to pull.
This guy didn't jump out at me or strike (thank goodness) but he started to slither under a new weed.
I of course freaked out a bit and ran, but I resisted the urge to tell Erik to kill it.  I calmed down a bit, got my Momma courage up and gathered the kids to show them the snake.  They both thought it was pretty cool.  Walker asked if we would kill it and I told him, "No, because garter snakes are very useful to our gardens and ecosystem." I did not tell him that they are slithery sneaky creatures that I hate!  
'Nuff said!

Needless to say, I am avoiding that part of my work today.  I am focusing instead on planting all of the beautiful peonies and iris that Erik's client, "Aunt Pearl" offered us.  We went to her house last night and boy oh boy do I wish I would have had my camera on  me.  She has beautiful gardens.  Her iris bed at the entrance is AMAZING.  All of these beautiful, tall irises.  The colors she chose are so beautiful - from burgandy to deep purple to yellow - just breathtaking.  And she has little vinettes all over her gardens - an old table with some chairs here, beautiful pineapple urns hidden in spots all over the gardens.  I loved it!  She must have a thing for pineapples, like me.  (I am fond of pineapples because my Grammie was fond of them - she had a gold pineapple pendant that she wore from when she went to Hawaii and she had a crystal pineapple on her table.  She told me that pineapples were a symbol of welcome).

I still remember the day I spotted a beautiful crystal pineapple light fixture at all places, Lowes.  I saw it when we were very early in our relationship and lived in the old townhouse - I loved that crystal pineapple and told Erik I wanted to put one like that in the entry hall of my house some day.  I didn't buy it then b/c I didn't have storage for it.  Then it got clearanced, discontinued and I've never seen another like it.  It has been my mission to find one at every tag sale, estate sale, auction, junk yard, online auction or craigslist!  It is elusive - as if I had imagined that one I saw.   If I ever find one, I'm buying it, no matter the price (well, you all know me - within reason).  There are very few decisions I regret and this is one of them.  

So, maybe I'll find out where Aunt Pearl finds all of her pineapples and go buy me some pineapple urns for my gardens!  Well, not that I have many gardens - I only have the one area landscaped, but someday I'll have more.  

I'm determined I will.

It's on my bucket list.    

Day one/Day 100

This was Walker on his first day of preschool this past September.  He is so excited and ready to go.

This was last Friday - his last "official" day of preschool May 22. 
September 

May
September

May
It amazes me how much my babies have grown in the last 8 months.  Maggie's hair was short - now I can put it in braids - she has become sassier and funnier too. Will wasn't walking, talking or doing much of anything.  8 months later, he's walking, running and doing almost everything his brother and sister are doing.   Let's not even start with Walker.  He's grown leaps and bounds both physically and cognitively.  He amazes me sometimes with what he knows and can do.  He's such a problem solver.  His favorite thing to do is to figure out how to do something.  He is very creative in his problem solving skills.  

Well, as usual the reminiscing is short lived - the natives are restless and demanding a snack.  Sounds about right.

Working the goats

It's spring and that means it's time for vaccinations and worming.  

We started off in the round barn which is basically a greenhouse with plywood sides and a silver tarp top.  It works great as our "mama"barn - unless, of course, we have 25 babies, then we have to switch occupants and make it the "already had babies" barn.  These 13 ladies already had babies or miscarried earlier in the year.  We herd the goats into the barn and try to capture one.  This is why we almost NEVER disbud or dehorn our herd.  We only disbud our baby goats if specifically asked for show purposes (which we are not fans of - let's not get started on encouraging the abnormal grooming of animals for show purposes - an animal has horns and extra fur for a reason.  Disbudding horns, clipping fur and the like seems ridiculous in promoting the natural beauty of an animal - my own personal pet peeve), and even then we charge because it can be a precarious process.  Horns are vital tools in managing our herd.  So, we catch a goat holding its horns and Erik pins it between his legs.  Erik's mom, Shelly, really enjoys helping us, so she gets involved too.  Today, she is in charge of drawing the vaccination syringes.  Erik hollers out the goat tag number to me (the secretary) where I record the vaccinations and worming medication names and doses.  We also record notes on whether that particular doe birthed any kids, how many, colors, any other important information about her and if she birthed females, we record their ear tag numbers too. 

To worm the goats, Erik hangs a bag of worming medication, this time we used Ivermectin, and uses a squirt gun type tool to squirt the medication into the goats mouths.  This is a delicate process as we have to be sure the medication goes down their throats and they don't spit it out on us.  It's a tough job because goats are ruminants which means they have great ability to spit up what they have eaten.  Erik has come out of the barns many a time wearing some wormer.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

This is a granny goat.  She is a good mother and is very inquisitive.

These are some of the Mama's and babies that need to get vaccinated.  This is Tan Gran.  She is a good Mama and almost always has twins.  Last year she gave birth to these twins.  A male and a female.  We kept the female and named her "oreo" because of her black fur w/ white belly.
This year she gave birth to twins again - and twins very similar in color to last years babies.  She gave birth to a reddish brown female w/ a white belly and the twin was another female w/ a reddish- brown head.

Hello goaty!  We haven't found a good name for you yet.
Her daughter from last year, Oreo, had a baby this year too that we call Gobby.  Here is Tan Gran with her daughter from last year, Oreo, and her new babies, yet to be named.  They were all upset after having vaccinations, so they huddled with their mama for comfort.  Oreo and her baby cuddle up with Tan Gran daily. 
Here is Oreo with her daughter, Gobby, and her sisters.  They are a big happy family. 

Here are Dolly and Frank.  They look very similar but are of no relation.  They hang out in the garage waiting for us to finish our work and feed them.  Frank gets very fat in the winter time because he eats too much and will not leave the safety and comfort of the heated garage.  Frank is a reformed house cat.  He is still miffed that I had to kick him out of the house due to my severe cat allergies.  

He's still a sucker for a chin scratch though.

Iffy Thursday

It's an "iffy" day here today.  Sometimes the sun is shining, sometimes it spits rain.  It's a tough day to decide what to do with the kiddos, so we've opted to play inside. 

Will is talking on the telephone.

And shopping at the store Maggie & Walker have created.  He's got his "purse" and a bag to carry his purchases home in.  He is so environmentally friendly.  He has tucked into this purple bag some "bahs"  which translates to balls.  Will loves bouncy balls - he loves to hand them to me to make them bounce and I inevitably bounce them too high.  Today I bounced one into the ceiling fan and almost broke some stuff.  I often am not such a good role model.

Walker and Maggie are playing a combination of store and restaurant.  I asked them if they were playing "Cracker Barrel?"  They didn't understand my question and told me they sold neither crackers nor barrels at their store.  Apparently the way it works is an imaginary customer comes to the store, tells Maggie what he/she wants to buy,  
then Maggie tells Walker to look it up on the computer to see if they have it. 
 Walker then tells Maggie the price, and she conveys the price to the imaginary shopper.  As you can see, it is a family friendly store as Maggie brings her children to work with her and changes them right there in front of the customers.

A good system, I suppose. 

What may be the downfall of their efficiency is that instead of stocking their goods in a mannerly fashion, they just dump it all out on the floor.  They have every item they own crammed into this 6 foot space.  The rest of the house is spotless (well, except for my messes) but they apparently have a "path" through this jumble.  It must be imaginary, just like their customers because I cannot find it.  Good thing we have two entrances to the room or I would be stuck all alone in the other room. 

Wait, why am I doing this if I could be stuck all alone?   

This is the living room that I have designated as the "play room."  We used to have toys in almost every room in the house, then I decided that was too much, so I condensed everything to this room.  Train table, bins of trucks, dolls, etc. all within a pretty open floor plan.  There is a daybed couch that they can sit on and we even have a TV in there for when the adults want to have some peace and quiet. What more could my children want?This is where my children choose to play.  It is a 3x4 foot space in which I have crammed my treadmill.  I also have stuffed some baby toys in this area - it's sort of a storage area for those baby toys I have out for any babies that come to visit us at our house. (Ignore my attempts to hide my treadmill with the token tropical houseplant.)   It is not a big area, it is consumed by the treadmill, yet this area ALWAYS attracts the children and they insist on playing right under my feet.  This area is literally 12 inches from my feet when I am at the desk/computer doing "my" work.  
Here's a wider angle of that area.  As you can see, there is not much room at all to play.  But they love playing there.  Apparently, what makes a good play area is not space - it is proximity to Momma.  Why is it children always want to play under my feet????  Same thing as in the kitchen - while I am cooking, you will invariably find a truck or a baby doll under my feet next to the stove.  
This is a bit of a close up of the toys the children were playing with today.  Seems kind of odd.  A big rig with a trailer - tractor in tow, an upside down truck, a pig, some school papers, a baby stroller and a boat with sea animals.  I find it tremendously funny that the boat is actually on top of the sea creatures.  Clever.

Special thanks to Aunt Ara for providing the sea creatures for the fishing expedition.  

Has anyone ever really found the explanation for why children want to play right under their mother's feet?

I'm sure if I search my psych books, I'll find reasons such as:  The children want to be close to me physically to deepen our connection, etc.  

Part of me thinks it is a form of torture.  Beginning April 1, I become a sandals & flip flops only girl.  This means that while I am in the house, I am barefoot, which in turn means I step on some 99,000 toys in my bare feet a day.  All this hoop-la about the torturous acts being performed during terrorist interrogations has me wondering why they don't just fill a cell with matchbox cars, legos and Barbie shoes, and make the criminal walk across that floor with a blindfold on.  I would confess government secrets in order to get the children to stop leaving those toys under my feet! 

But what matters most is that they are having fun, right?  

Someone tell that to my feet.

I sure hope that a pedicure is in the works for mother's day.

Things can happen at home on rainy days. . .

Things can happen at home when you go to the YMCA to work out.

Good things can happen.

A guy can show up and finally install the beautiful copper cupola you have had stored for almost 4 years.  You can pull in the driveway and see a copper rooster shining from the top of your almost finished roof.  It is a joy and you will look at the sky, bending your head between the windshield and steering wheel to get a good look at it.  And you won't focus on how having a bright, shiny new cupola really makes the old grey green insulbrick look even more awful.  No - you won't concentrate on that for a minute!

Which is exactly what your husband wants because the bright, shiny cupola will distract you from this:Roscoe - a Pembroke Welsch Corgi that your dear husband found for free on craigslist.  He mentioned it to me the other day saying a lady was giving one away for free.  I assumed (silly me) that we would discuss it more - weigh the pros and cons, etc.  Turns out, the lady called Erik today (conveniently while I was at the Y) and when she found out where we lived, what we did, and how Roscoe would be treated and loved, she told Erik, "I'll meet you in Cranberry Twp.  He's yours!"  Apparently, Roscoe previously lived on a farm and his owner had to leave said farm.  She has been keeping him caged in her new place and he was just sad to live like that.  

So, we are the owners of this silly looking, cute and no doubt loveable dog.  The kids think he is wonderful - Will calls him "baby" - well, because Will calls everything smaller than him baby.  Maggie said she's just going to call him "Chasey" and I suggested that since his name is so similar to Rocco's, we might try calling him a new name.  I thought "Hank" sounded good - but we'll see what happens.  Roscoe has lived with his name for 3 years already and he may not take to a change.  Although the way he's running around the place lifting his leg on everything, I'm going to guess change isn't all that hard on our new dog.

             

He's taking every advantage to explore the property.  The other dogs aren't too sure how to handle this guy though.  

Rocco is relying on his sheer size to intimidate.  "Hey buddy - this is my place!"

       

**Imagine an audio caption with this photo - remember when Joey Lawrence played on that show, "Blossom" - we'll I'd insert an audio clip of him saying his trademark   "Whoa!" here.**       

I think Maverick is trying to pretend he doesn't exist, which just inspires Roscoe to get right up into Mav's face.

I can't even show you the pictures of how Roscoe is acquainting himself with Chloe.  I could be brought up on distributing dog pornography charges or something.  

Running total for Goodness Grows Farm?  

70 some odd goats

2 geese (and mother goose is sitting on a nest)

1 donkey

7 ducks (with mother ducks sitting on at least 2 nests)

2 cows

2 cats

2 guinea hens

4 dogs

3 children

1 husband

50 chickens

I am officially outnumbered and I have given up even pretending anymore that I have any control over what happens on these 40 acres. 

And I may have to stop going to the Y if things keep showing up like this - especially on rainy days.   

Before . . .

Oh - look at this scraggy ragamuffin!  I've been struggling with what to do with Will's hair for many months now.  It was too long and Will ALWAYS puts his food in his hair wreaking havoc with any styling I try to do.  

After these last few HOT days, and the slathering of the sunscreen, I decided tonight it must be cut.  So I did it!

Below, you will see the result.  I now have two big boys.  

Excuse me while I cry.

Before I indulge, let me forewarn you that hopefully in the next few days I will be blogging photos of our trip to Colorado.  If you have chosen to receive emails letting you know when I update the blog, you may want to unsubscribe to the feed so you don't get a million emails telling you I've made a new post to the blog.

Ok, resume reading my hair cut story and pretend to sympathize that my baby has lost his baby hair!  I'm going to bed to cry now! 

Will's first haircut

Will's first haircut, originally uploaded by Jenniferschwalm.

Well, I broke down and did it. I almost made it 18 months and 1 week. After the kids had their shower tonight, I was combing hair and as I pulled the comb through Willie's baby hair, I noticed I was combing almost to his mid shoulder. Not so appealing for a baby boy. So, I cut his hair. Maggie & Walker sat enthralled watching me comb the hair over and over as I marveled at how Will has changed so much in such a short time. I am one of those Mom's that is hair attached. I knew his hair was long overdue for a cut, but, I clung to it seeing that wispy mess as the last of his babyhood. When I cut off that hair, I cut off the last of my baby. Boy hood has been fast approaching since his birthday, but I try to avoid it. Out of uncertainty, I suppose. Part of me knows things are so easy right now - we can gather up and go with little effort, no bottles, nursing, etc., to worry about. But part of me wonders if a baby might still be in our future. I'm not saying it is - I'm not saying it isn't - I just know that keeping Will as a baby allowed me to stave off that internal discussion for a while. Now I will really have to examine my feelings and how it would affect our family.

But, for now - Ode to Willie! He is a big boy and getting smarter, stronger and FASTER every day. My biggest enjoyment with him right now is to watch him run. His little feet go so fast - they almost look like paddle wheels- like those Flintstone cartoons where the feet would paddle wheel and the legs and body would stay still - his favorite game is to get his brother or his sister to chase him and run. Luckily they all enjoy that game.

Will is really starting to talk now too. He says the usual, "Momma, Daddy, ball, baby, Mimi" and he tries to say Walker, but usually says, "Bubba" and I'm not sure half the time if his "Ma" means Maggie or Goat. A few weekends ago, Erik took Walker and Maggie to my Dad's for the opening day of fishing season. I was home alone with Willie and the first night we were home alone, I had fed Will supper and bathed him and was going to put him to bed. I was playing with him, smelling his arms and legs saying "Mmmm - you smell good!" So he imitated me by trying to smell me. I laughed and said, "Ooh - Momma smells stinky!" He sniffed at me again and said "Stinky" So now we can say, "How does (insert name here) smell?" and he will sniff at them and say, "Stinky!" It is very funny.

Maggie turns 3

Maggie turns 3, originally uploaded by Jenniferschwalm.

We celebrated Maggie's birthday on Sunday at my moms with my family. It was a lovely day. We shared the day with little Livy who turned two and Maggie & my mom share the same birthday of March 16. My sister coordinated a great little party complete with all the girly girl fixins. Everything looked great and I think everyone had a great time too. It was a beautiful day so the "big" boys were able to skip the girlie party things and play hunting outside.

This picture looks so unnatural, but I love it. It just is Maggie. She brings such joy to my life - like all of my children do. I don't feel the urgent sadness of her growing up as much as I do the boys for some reason - my guess? Because of the saying, "A daughter is your daughter for all of her life, a son is your son until he takes a wife" - I am confident that Maggie & I will always have a strong relationship.

I was so excited that Maggie allowed me to curl her hair and get her all gussied up for the party. I even painted her toenails to show through her peep toe shoes - she was thrilled! I didn't paint her fingernails because I planned on taking her to have a manicure on Monday - her actual birthday - but typical Maggie, she refused to go once we started on our way. Instead, we went to Walmart, did some shopping, and bought polish and did home manicures. As I kissed her goodnight last night, she hugged my neck, her warm breath on my cheek, "Thank you, Momma, for buying my finganail poldish." Melts my heart that she found that to be so special to thank me.

The last two days, she has been going through her new clothes and removing the tags and trying everything on. She spent most of yesterday and this morning in a bathing suit. Every day is a fashion surprise with Maggie May.

Happy Birthday, angel. I love you bunches!

I hate it when everyone stares at me!

I hate it when everyone stares at me!, originally uploaded by Jenniferschwalm.

Maggie isn't quite sure what to do with everyone singing to her.

Beauty shop

Beauty shop, originally uploaded by Jenniferschwalm.

Maggie says she wants to put a ponytail in Will's hair.

Sleepy head

Sleepy head, originally uploaded by Jenniferschwalm.

Maggie, ever the fashionista, decides to sport a headband to bed one night.

Rub a dub dub

Rub a dub dub, originally uploaded by Jenniferschwalm.

The kids enjoy a bath - playing with all the fun water toys we have.

My little lovies

My little lovies, originally uploaded by Jenniferschwalm.

I love these little buggers so much! I could kick myself every day for not taking more home movies of them - or not writing down all the wonderful and funny things they say.

Today, after the Y, we were driving home and Maggie asked me, "Momma, will you help me grow up?" It was so sweet.

Will is starting to talk more. He can say "please, thank you, excuse me, drink and stinky feet." He can say more, but that is really what I hear him say most days. We started a funny ritual of every time he has his diaper changed, he pushes his feet up in my face and I smell them and say "Pew! Stinky Feet!" He giggles every time. It never gets old for him.

Maggie is quite a pistol. She challenges us every day, but can still be quite the sweet heart. Her most adorable moment so far this week - she has a play baby harness - like a Snugli - that she puts her baby it. Each day of the week she has a new baby that she plays with. The last two days, she has put the ducky in the baby carrier and taken it on all of her "shopping expeditions" and last night and today at her nap she put the ducky in the carrier and gone to sleep with it.

Walker continues to grow up despite all of my efforts to keep him a little boy. I've faced facts - he's now a "big boy!" He had a blast in Kentucky with Erik at the National Farm Machinery Show and tractor pulls. He even got to buy a replica pulling sled and now we have regular tractor pulls here at the house. Today he was a great help at the grocery store and when I asked him if he would volunteer to get out of the shopping cart (we always get the fire truck shopping cart) and give it to Will, he did so willingly. I was able to hand him the groceries and he would put it in the cart. He was such a good boy.

Things are pretty slow around here on the farm. We've had some decent weather - no snow - so Erik has been working on projects around the house. His priorities and mine are a bit different, but he's getting them done - hopefully all will be done by spring when it is time to go back to work every day!

We're hoping to have some goat babies born soon too. Time is marching on and it will be summer before we know it. I'm looking forward to it, but am also apprehensive as this will be Walker's last summer before he starts school.

I'm going to go sob now . . .

First tooth lost

First tooth lost, originally uploaded by Jenniferschwalm.

Well, it happened - two weeks and one day after the discovery, Walker finally lost his first tooth.

He's so grown up!

He was outside helping Erik cut firewood and said to Erik, "Hey dad, look at this!" and he proceeded to push his tooth out with his tongue onto his bottom lip.  Erik responded with, "Well, if you can do that, it's time to pull it."  He grabbed the tooth, and it came right out.  Walker is very proud to have lost a tooth and was very excited to find what the tooth fairy would bring him.  (she brought him a note about brushing his teeth and how proud that he was cavity free - and three dollars in quarters).

To celebrate, I decided to take Walker out on a date - we had to run an errand to Sam's club first, then ate at one of Walker's new favorite restaurants - Long John Silvers.  He was very concerned about eating without his tooth, but I convinced him that it was easy - just like eating with a tooth.  He really enjoyed his fish and I even allowed him to have Dr. Pepper with his meal.  He told me, "It tastes just like Dad's Cherry Coke."  

After our glamourous fish dinner, we went to the Mall cinema to see "Marley and Me."  Walker found all of the dog shenannigans very comical and I loved hearing his little laughs.  For those of you who have not seen the movie and don't want to know the end, stop reading now.  At the end of the movie, when Marley is in the vet's office and John is preparing to put him down, Walker began to understand that something was wrong with Marley, and asked me about what was going on - I told him that Marley was very sick and the Doctor was going to try to make him better.  He didn't say anything more until the part where the family is saying goodbye to Marley at the gravesite - then he looked at me with tears welling in his eyes, "Momma?  Is Marley dead?"   As I nodded yes,  crocodile tears dripped from his big brown eyes.  I felt horrible taking him to see that movie, but as we gathered our stuff to leave, he reassured me that Marley had had a great life and just like our dogs, Marley's family loved him very much, and maybe they could get a puppy now.  I told him that I thought since they loved dogs so much they probably got a new puppy too and that really made him happy.

His favorite part of the movie?  The fact that Marley got to sleep in bed with one of the boys.  It was a 15 second scene.  Think he's trying to tell me something?  We've tried having our dogs inside.  Chloe is too jittery, she prances and follows you everywhere and is always under MY feet.  Maverick likes to be inside to sleep, but is getting older and with his hip dysplasia, he is wary of the kids climbing on him while he sleeps.  He has never nipped at the children, but I don't want to put him in the position where he injures one of the children because he is reacting to them hurting him accidentally.  Rocco - well, get real! He's GINORMOUS and would not be content in the house.  Plus, his barking drives me nuts from outside - how would I deal with it in the house?  Dudley has been adopted by a neighboring family - he comes home occasionally, but really prefers their house - they have pre-teen aged children that play with him daily.  Plus, I think they do allow him in the house all the time!  This is sad for Erik, but he has always said he doesn't want a dog that doesn't want him.  Dudley is an affection and attention seeker, and really resents the fact he has so many others vying for his attention.  He is better off where he can be played with more regularly and be the only dog being paid attention.  So that's our dog story.  I'm sure a puppy will be in our future as the kids get older and can take more care of it.  We'd love to rescue a dog, but because we do allow our dogs to live outside, we doubt we will be selected as an appropriate candidate.  

Our next dog I would prefer something smaller than what we have now.  A welsh-corgi comes to mind, but I'm open to suggestions.