Catching Up

Haven't done a blog post for awhile, and really need to catch up. The biggest thing going on in our lives right now is the struggle to find the perfect family pet for us. This is why I miss Petey so much, he just fit into our family so well and we were in a good place with him. We had the puppies here, but they just turned out to be too much. They were taken away from their mom too young (in my opinion), and just whined all the time. They were cute/sweet little puppies, but Joe really wants a non-shedding dog. The lady who owns this house has a daughter that owns a dog rescue and offered to find the puppies a good home. She is also having labradoodle puppies and said we could have one (non-shedding)...but I just don't know/think a puppy is going to work quite honestly. In our old home we had a place for Petey to go at night (our laundry/computer room), where even if he whined a little in his crate we couldn't hear him. Here in this home, no matter where you put a puppy, you are going to hear it. Not to mention a labradoodle will be big and Joe doesn't really want a big dog either. It's so hard to find "the perfect dog" because can't do a puppy, can't do a big dog, can't be a dog that sheds, etc., and it just get very difficult to find the right dog. Now I know what you are thinking...that "perfect dog" doesn't exist, yet I know it does because Petey was that dog for us, and I know he can't be the only one out there. Needless to say, since the puppies we have found a stray dog and also adopted a pig. The reason we opted for a pig is because we thought this might be the answer, instead of having a dog, maybe a pig would work. We definitely have the space to do it, living on a farm and all. Pigs are smarter than dogs (actually the 4th smartest animal on the planet), they don't shed, they don't get fleas, they are easily trained and the list goes on. But with that, a lot can go wrong with having a pet pig too. Because they are so smart they need to be kept busy, they need to be able to root, they can easily destroy your home, and get into trouble. The other issue, that we are just realizing, is that pigs are either dominant or submissive...there is no in between. And they are actually like this from birth (the more dominant getting the better teats and being bigger, and the submissive being smaller or the runt of the litter). As a first time pig owner, we really should have a submissive pig because they are less likely to cause any trouble. Unfortunately the pig we have is already showing signs of aggression, and is definitely dominant. So not sure if we are going to keep her or not, I feel like she would do much better with a more experienced/knowledgeable owner. Although I did some research on the good and the bad and I thought I knew what I was getting into...I was not expecting the aggression that I am already seeing in this 8 week old pig. Here are a few of pictures of her.

As far as the stray goes, she is definitely a lab mix. We are thinking Lab/Pyrenees mix and maybe something else in there, not sure. She looks very much like a lab, but is bigger than a lab and has many characteristics of the Pyrenees. I actually LOVE this dog and would love to keep her. She is smart, lovable, sweet, awesome with kids, and I think would actually truly protect us and our farm. The only problem is she obviously sheds, and the fact that she is so huge. When she goes outside she gets very dirty and muddy and brings that into our home....the bottom line is that Joe does not want this massive shedding dog in our tiny home. The other part is that Nicole is afraid of her, even though she really has no reason to be. The dog has never growled or been aggressive towards the girls...but she is mouthy. She is mouthy when she wants to play or be petted...but the problem is with how big she is. Petey was mouthy too, but he was small and Nicole wasn't afraid. When this dog gets mouthy my girls entire arm practically fits in her mouth! I don't want Nicole afraid to be in her own home with this dog...so currently she is an outside dog. :o(  We are debating on whether to find her a good home where she can maybe be an inside dog for somebody, or if we should just keep her ourselves as an outside dog. I personally love her and would love to keep her as an outside dog...it's just that part of me that believes dogs should be inside with their loved ones that kills me. Yesterday we went to the church and the dog actually followed us there...on foot! The church is probably 4-5 miles away and we have to travel a little ways on a highway to get there. The dog (now named Marlee), started following us so I stopped and tried to get her into the car but couldn't, so I then sped up to loose her and I did. I figured once she lost sight of us she'd head back home....well instead, about 15-20 minutes after being at the church, she showed up there! This is where we actually found her a few days ago, was at the church. So from now on, when we leave to go anywhere, we will have to put her in the kennels so that she doesn't follow us. I can't imagine if we weren't going to the church and we were going 30-45 minutes away into town or something!  So with that said, here are a some pictures of Marlee. :o)

I think what I would really like to do, is find the pig a home with a more experienced owner, keep Marlee, and then maybe just get Nicole the kitten she has been begging for since Charlie died. See, wanting a pet isn't just about me wanting a dog, it is Nicole wanting a pet of her own. Emily has Smores, Ashley has Joey, Pumpkin is all of ours, and Marlee would be mine/all of ours. But Nicole used to do a great job taking care of her rabbit Charlie, and wants a pet of her own. What she really wants is a cat, because she is afraid Pumpkin is going to die soon. I think as long as I can keep Marlee (even if it is outside), I would get the fulfillment I am looking for with owning a dog, and then Nicole would just need to have the pet of her own she is looking for. I think the pig will be too aggressive and dominant for Nicole to be the owner of her. Last night we put the pig (named Jasmine by the way) in the kitchen with the gate closed for the night, which we've done every night we've had her, and then she started making screaming noises and ramming the gate to get out. We had to put extra support there to keep her in, but if she keeps it up, it will only be a matter of time before it is hard to find something to keep her in the kitchen. :o(  Okay, well that is enough pet stuff...

On a better note, Nicole has finally lost her two top teeth! One she lost a couple of weeks ago, and the other she lost last night. Here is a picture of her when she lost her first tooth, and then a picture after she lost the second tooth.

Other than that, here are some pictures of some things we've been up to lately around the area.

 

At the TN River Museum, we bought lollipops with bugs in them! All the lollipops either had a cricket or mealworm in it. Hey, once in a lifetime experience right!? I ate my cricket and Emily ate her mealworm. Nicole and Ashley both tried theirs, but couldn't follow through with it. Strangely enough, in the lollipop, it kind of tasted like a potato chip. Haha

 

The picture of the log is actually where a beaver has chewed through the log, and the picture of the girls with cannon, is Shiloh National Park, where part of where the civil war took place.

 

Last, but not least, here is the final picture of my home, the dining area.

 

 

 

 

End Of Life, New Life

End Of Life...

Nicole's bunny (my favorite) Charlie died. :o(  We have no idea why, he was fine one day and dead the next. I've narrowed it down to two things...either something bit him or stung him, or he was sick and we didn't know it. We had a little funeral for him just like we did for Petey and he is buried over near where Petey is. I feel badly for Nicole, but told her no more bunnies. We now have a male and a female and if/when they have baby bunnies, I might let Nicole pick one. But for now we are focusing on the new life in our lives.

New Life...

Two new little puppies have joined our home. We are not planning on keeping both, but rather are just trying to see which fits better in our home. We have a male and a female. The boy, Nicole named Bear after his grandfather. The girl, Rachel's family named Tiny. Her name is Tiny because she is the runt of the litter and definitely the smallest of the 11, being half the size of the biggest in the litter. I will keep everyone up to date on their progress in our family, but for now here are some pics I took of them as soon as they came to our home. Here are pictures of the boy....

 

Here are pictures of the girl...

 

 

And a picture of them passed out in the kitchen. In this picture you can see the size difference between Tiny and Bear.

 

 

On a couple of other notes, one of Nicole's top teeth is finally just about ready to fall out, so I will take a picture of that once it happens. And the other night we got to see a spider build a web right outside our kitchen window. It was really neat to watch. Funny thing was the spider was only there for the night and gone in the morning!

 

 

 

 

Missing "Home"

Man, yesterday I was missing home, family, friends, and even just my town (things to do around town)...more than ever. For awhile when we first moved here, I was under the impression that Joe was more than likely going to want to move back home after the year. But talking with him yesterday he is positive now that he is going to want to stay after the year is up. This is really bad news for me because I am pretty positive that I am going to want to go back to FL when the year is up. I know a lot can happen between then and now, but I can't imagine a whole lot happening that would make me want to stay here away from everything I've known and loved for the last 30 years of my life. If it stays this way, this is going to be a huge problem at the end of the year for us because somebody is going to be extremely unhappy...and that somebody is usually me. I sacraficed so Joe could finally live his dream of moving to TN and seeing what it is all about, but I did that knowing that I would not want to stay here the rest of my life. I guess I should have just refused to come as everyone suggested I do. I guess all I can do now is wait until it gets closer towards the end of the year and see where it goes from there.

On a different note, ugh...here is a cute picture of a turtle Joe found in the middle of the road. The girls wanted to keep it, but we had nowhere to keep a turtle of this size, and he wasn't exactly the friendliest turtle ever either.

Staying with the animal theme, our baby bunny Joey is finally starting to eat other things other than rabbit food. We couldn't get him to eat a carrot, or fresh flowers (which the bunnies love), or any other "snack" other than regular rabbit chow. Finally the other day Lacy was holding him and trying to feed him a flower, and he ate it!

So with the rain comes mud and with the mud comes messy kids. Actually, just one messy kid. Nicole and Ashley don't have much interrest in getting all muddy, but Emily loves it! She gets on her rain boots and jumps in the muddy puddles, and even sticks her hands in it. Here is a picture of my muddy girl...

Yesterday we went to a local state park, it was fairly nice, didn't get to check out the whole thing, but what we did see of it was decent. While there Ashley asked another girl around her age to play with her, and the girl said "no, I don't want to play with you". I couldn't believe it! Aren't we in TN where everyone waves at each other and seems genuinely friendly?  On the flip side Nicole found a girl around her age to play with. On the way home we stopped at another place which were ancient Indian grounds. A lot of walking, so we just went to one mound. Here are a few of pics. I got a picture taken with the girl's too, but it didn't come out too well.

 

 

And last, but not least, a while back ago I posted some pictures of the house. Well I now finally have my kitchen how I want it, so here are a couple of pictures of the kitchen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slumber Party!

Before I get into the slumber party, it must be said that one of the reasons Joe wanted to move to TN was because he was/is afraid of FL flooding since it is surrounded by water and not much above sea level. Ahem! With that said, here is what it looks like around here after a few hours of heavy rain and a few hours of light rain in one day. One of these pictures is taken 5 minutes from our house, one of these pictures is on our street!

5 minutes from home

Our road!

After seeing this after one day of rain, I am very concerned about flooding around this area! Much more than I've ever been in FL. What if we had a storm lasting a few days or a week!?!

 

ANYWAY! So tonight the girls had a sleepover with their two closest friends here (their only friends really). Originally it was only going to be Laura staying the night, but their friend Lacy was here with them most the day so I invited her to stay as well. They played with toys, they played Minecraft, we had spaghetti for dinner, cinnamon buns for dessert, they painted, and now they are lying together watching a movie. Laura and Ashely fell asleep by 9pm but the other 3 are still awake. Hopefully they will be falling asleep soon! Here are a couple of pics of all of them tonight.

 

 

 

 

 

Some of you may know, but for those of you who don't, we will be getting a puppy within a few weeks or so. I feel ready to move on and feel I am ready to give love to another dog. At first Joe didn't want to get a puppy, but he DID want a 4-wheeler, so we made a deal. He gets the 4-wheeler and I get the puppy. He said he wants to be part of the process, so when my friend's puppies are ready for a new home we will go together as a family to pick out a new puppy for us. Not looking forward to the housebreaking again, but other than that I feel I am ready. 1st thing will be picking out a puppy that is NOT skittish, because that is why we couldn't get Petey back in the house. If you tried to approach him like you were going to pick him up, he'd run away scared. He was that way his entire life, even before we got him, so it really couldn't be trained out of him. We'll be looking for a medium energy, friendly, playful puppy. I will start training early, and the dog will not be allowed outside while were are leaving the house, under no circumstances. The dog is just a mixed breed "mutt" and will be free, so really looking forward to seeing how this puppy will do for our family compared to Petey, since he/she will be completely different than Petey was. Though I still miss my boy very much so. :o(

 

 

 

Rabbits, Loose Teeth, and Minecraft

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE Nicole's rabbit? I love all the little rabbits, but especially love Nicole's. Out of the 3, he is just so sweet and lovable, he is the only one that will run right up to you when you open the cage (to come out and be held). He's the best eater and basically just like a baby (as close to a baby as you can get for a bunny). I also had to give him a haircut with the electric clippers because his hair got all knotted up before we knew it. Let me tell you, for never hearing, seeing, or feeling clippers...he did so awesome letting me cut him! If I could have him inside in a cage I would, but I just don't really have the space to do it or the money to get him set up to do it. This isn't a great picture of our neighbor Lacy, but it's a great picture of Nicole's bunny where you can really see his personality a little bit in the picture. He loves to be held like a little baby and fed carrots, lol. :o)

 

So Nicole still has those 2 top teeth loose but already lost another bottom tooth! It happened rather unexpectedly. We went out to eat and she tried to open a ketchup bottle with her teeth, and it loosened up a bottom tooth that wasn't even loose prior to her doing this. Doing that got her tooth so loose, that it actually came out the very next day. I did the same thing I did for Emily, tied a string on it and yanked, and it came right out! She said it didn't even hurt. Here is her picture once the tooth came out.

 

 

The latest thing going on at our house is the addition of two more computers. We put the girl's computer desk next to ours and put two computers there so that we can all play minecraft together. During the day Ashley can play on Joe's computer, and in the evening she will sit with either Joe or I and play. The girl's have definitely gotten into both playing minecraft and watching minecraft video's. I can't really complain because there isn't a whole heck of a lot else going on around here. They still get their schoolwork done, they still play with their friends, we still go to the park and church, and they even still play with their toys...but minecraft has definitely become part of the day and the routine. I guess you could say it's official, we're a gaming family! Here is a picture of the family playing together (minus me taking the picture).

 

 

I am starting to heal over the loss of Petey. I still have my moments of just not being able to believe he is gone, but I'm not crying everyday anymore. I feel that if we got another dog, I'd be able to show it the love it deserves (which right after Petey's death I really didn't believe). My friend's dog had 11 puppies and in a few weeks they will be ready for a new home. I am considering getting one because it will be free, and it will be a great opportunity to try and start over with a new puppy (and it also wouldn't be a small dog, but more of a medium sized, hardy dog). Not sure yet, I probably won't even make a decision until that time comes because I still have so many mixed emotions over it.

 

The other day I actually rescued, saved, and found the original owner of both a cat and a chicken....all in one morning, it was crazy! Nicole is starting to feel really homesick, telling me she wants to go back down to FL to visit her friends and family that she misses so much. Because she is my most social child, I really expected this, and am rather surprised it took a whole two months for her to start feeling this way. The restaurant is doing fairly well, especially since they haven't advertised and had their grand opening yet. Tonight Joe called me to tell me he was on his way home, and that they had an extremely busy night (and at night they are only doing pizza). Basically they do BBQ for lunch and pizza for dinner.  Other than that, no other news to report.

 

 

 

New Bunny

So I am still very much so trying to deal with Petey's death the best I know how. I have written about him and to him, I have talked about him and how I am feeling, and I have read on-line about how others have felt and dealt with their animal losses. I feel I am getting better, but very slowly.

My cat Pumpkin has been amazing, almost trying to make up for his loss in a way. Doing things she wouldn't normally do, such as sleeping in his spot where he would sleep at night, coming in the room in the morning and sniffing or licking me then snuggling with all of us in the morning...basically just showing us that extra love that we (and especially me) all need. I don't know what we'll do when she also passes away, as she is pretty old.

For some good news, we got a new pet bunny, one that I have been planning on getting for awhile now. Ever since Emily and Nicole got a new bunny, Ashley has wanted one. I had been planning on getting her one but haven't been able to find another Holland Lop to get her. Finally I gave up and just got her one of my friend's baby bunnies for free. This is a mixed breed, but he's very cute, friendly, and likes to snuggle under your neck or on your shoulder. Ashley named him Joey, here are a few pics of him.

A Very Sad Day

Today our little dog Petey passed away. He was only 1 1/2 years old.

Since we've lived here, Petey has been mostly an outside dog...on his own accord. He could come in any time he wanted. We wanted Petey to have the same live all the other dogs have around here...free to run around and roam as he pleases. Very few cars come down our road so we really didn't fear him getting run over. Even though he liked to chase cars, by the time he would get to them, he was pretty much well behind them. Joe even said so himself, that if Petey got ran over it would be by one of us because when we leave he is right there by the car as we're leaving. This morning he went out a couple of times but came right back in (if Sally is out there, he won't come back in, he'll spend all day out there with her). One of the kids let him out again, I don't know who, and didn't ask because I don't want any of them to feel guilty. So as we were leaving to go to the bank this morning, I tried to get Petey back in the house, but he just wouldn't come in (and he won't if he knows we're leaving). We could try and catch him to put him back in the house, but he will just run farther and farther away from us...he is impossible to catch. Joe backed out and saw Petey behind us and then took off thinking Petey wouldn't catch up and would be behind us. Well he did catch up, and he went right under the front tire and pretty much died instantly. Luckily the girl's and I didn't see or feel it.

I do feel guilt, I wish we would have screened in our porch, or had a leash for him to be on outside, but out here in the country nobody has a dog on a leash, and we thought we were just giving him the country life I guess. The two months he was here, he was happy and loved it. He and his "girlfriend" Sally would roam the property hunting and playing or lounging on the porch. Plus at night and in the morning he would get loving from all of us. He really had the best of both worlds, I'm just so sad his life was cut so short. To help me cope, I wrote Petey a letter, here it is...

Dear Petey,

I am so sorry this happened to you. I blame myself for letting you run free. We should have had a leash you could go on, a fenced in porch, or even just a tennis ball that you could chase back into the house when it was time for us to leave. Your life was cut too short, you were only a year and a half old and still had a very long life to live. I was planning on you and Ashley growing up together. The kids did love you so, and so did I. What I will miss the most is you coming in my bed in the morning, giving me a sniff or lick, and then laying next to me until I myself got up in the morning. I will miss how good you were when being groomed (brushed, bathed, or hair cut). You were such a good boy with that. Always playful, happy, and ready to go. I was waiting for warmer weather to be able to play ball with you outside, with all this room to run, you'll never get the chance now, I'm so sorry. You were such a smart boy too, learning things really quickly...top of your training classes at Petsmart. You could be annoying to others, but were dedicated to us. We were your family, you knew it and you showed it. I'll miss watching you play with your new best friend Sally. She still comes over here, and it's so hard to see her here, without you right there by her side. I hope there is an after life for you and that someone there is scratching your ears and throwing you a ball. I love you so much my friend, and again, I am just so sorry.

My Favorite Picture Of You