Friday, December 1, 2017

Fleur; Getting Our 2nd Puppy!

Back Posting for February 2017

We had been ADORING having our sweet Falkor since last August.  But he often seemed lonely once school started and the kids couldn't devote as much time to playing.

Every once in a while, Stephen and I would contemplate a second dog, but we felt so blessed that Falkor wasn't making Lucy sick and we didn't want to push it, or ruin a good thing.  In January I had gone to Pet Smart and seen a sweet, healthy puppy that Falkor really liked, and I noticed that, like Falkor, she didn't seem to have much dander or a strong smell.  But still, some dogs immediately cause Lucy to struggle with breathing so I just walked out of the store and left her there.


I kept thinking about her and wondering if she was still there.  I went back the next week and she wasn't, so I figured she had been adopted.  Falkor started whining ALL the time while the kids would do school, because he wanted to play so badly.  And I was really missing his little puppy self sleeping on me, we had called him my therapy puppy when he could cuddle on my chest.  And Lu was just doing so shockingly well with him!

I was kind of bummed that she had been adopted, but still thought maybe I'd like Stephen to take me back and maybe I'd like another puppy to go with Falkor for my Valentine's present.  So Stephen took me and was kind of skeptical, and pretty certain we would walk out of the store without getting another dog.

We walked in and almost her entire litter was back, including her!!  Stephen saw her and we both got a bit smitten.  We loved her personality, and I checked her for dander, still nothing like most dogs.  But she looked SO sick!!  We found out that she had been gone because her entire litter got Parvo :(  So, she still looked incredibly pitiful, had lost a ton of weight, and had gotten mange and fleas while her immune system was weak.

So, naturally, we walked out with her in our arms :)


When we got home we were met with squeals of joy from our kids.  We warned them that this was only until we were sure she didn't make anyone sick, but none of our hearts heeded that warning and we all fell in love.  Falkor decided he was a momma dog and immediately took to keeping her safe and out of trouble.

 Look how skinny and pitiful she is!!  But she was still oh-so-cute!!


This was when the issue of her name came up.  Falkor is from a fantasty movie/book, so we thought we would stick with that theme.  We discussed many girl names and finally settled on Fleur from the Harry Potter books.  So, now will all our future dogs have "F" names from fantasy books or movies???











She had to wear a cone A LOT.  The was because of her mange and then because of her spaying.

We had a scare, because Lucy would occasionally have small hives on her forearms or need her rescue inhaler, so this was our allergy test.  They slept on the same pillow all night in the living room with me.  NO Problems!!  We were so thankful!!  And whatever she was having problems with disappeared.





We got a Wisdom Panel DNA test from Amazon.  We had done one with Falkor and it was so exciting to get the results, he came out as mostly Golden retriever, American Bulldog and English bulldog.  Here are Fleur's results...

 She gained weight swiftly, regained the hair she had lost and just became an overall healthy and happy dog.  She's our more dominant and protective of the two, and, honestly, bullies Falkor a bit.  But he seems to love her bossing him around.


Love our Fleur and are thankful for her!! 

Iris's 11th Birthday Party

Back-posting for Jan 2017

Iris had a sleepover for her 11th birthday!

Activities began, of course, with some lock-picking, because that has been the activity of the year...


...followed by spaghetti...

They all decided they wanted their presents opened before they set to work on the cake.  Katie and Iris have similar shopping tastes.  Katie got Iris some gloves and a handkerchief from an antique store.

Sylvia made Iris a gorgeous coloring book.

Then she opened her her fantastic beast book, and mini-pie baking kit from Teva and Ada...


Then they all set to work on making the cake.  I offered no help, because they wanted to do it on their own.  They did a great job dividing the labor with no arguments!

Then it was decorated and we sang...

Katie, Teva, Iris, Sylvia, and Ada...

Ferret cuddles...



Tucking in Falkor like a baby...

They all slept in the livingroom where they could easily watch Princess Bride and some Barbie movies...

Some watermelon on the van later as we waited for pick-ups.  ;)

Always an amazing group of girls!  Happy 11th to my Iris!!

Lucy's 15th Birthday Party

Backposting for Jan of 2017

Lucy decided to have a sleepover at home again for her 15th, she seems to love this type of party the most.

She wanted a lock-pick cake... I wasn't sure how to do that, but I think it turned out pretty good??? <3 p="">

Here's the gang left to right, Ellie, Meg, Shannon, Lucy, Lilly, Courtney.


After lock-picking for a while, they built tiny crossbows....

and then the shooting started...




This fun and frivolity was followed by a bit of an impromptu movie-marathon.  It started with a Mom-edited  version of Now You See Me, followed by Avengers, followed by some pre-approved episodes of Leverage, only to wake up and eat breakfast to Cinderella.

Sweet Girls!!  Happy 15th to my Lucy!!