Howie

Howie the water dog

Howie has been showing me how to enter the creek for a drink or just plain fun...................and I have been showing him a large towel in order to get in the house. He just jumped up on the bed in the computer room and proceeded to pull stuffing out of one of his three "bees". I can hear him sweaking it near Mom. I sent pictures of Howie to Melanie; maybe she can forward them on because I no longer have any e-mail addresses since "cleaning out" the memory of our computer.

I gave our cats 5 in 1 shots today and they still need their rabies. When November comes I will take them to the Brownsville vet since she is cheaper and gives me a "senior" discount. I sent away for "generic" Heartworm medicine from Pet Shed and saved a bundle.

I was pulling some weeds and a wet Howie nuzzled my arm; I was squating in the road and...........his collar wasn't working. It had lost it's rubber seal and was full of water. The new collar I had purchased made the appropriate sound but no static discharge. So I had to return the new one to Home Depot and got the "super receiver" for $15 more, air-blowed the old unit until it worked and then silicone chalked it. Then I also found another receiver/collar that I did not know I had; that makes 4 total, and all have been trimmed for small terrier necks. Howie had gone off barking while I was working in the garage on the collar and I was afraid he had crossed the barrier (thought I had heard a squeal) and so I walked down the driveway in the dusk urgently calling him. I forgot I had the old unit in my hand and............ lo and behold, the unit worked very well and I threw it about 15 feet (without really trying!). What a nasty shock.

Howie has a great move for Ms. Vicious. He bounds into her and when she growls and chasess he runs in these gay circles and bounces his shoulder into her teeth/mouth and doesn't allow her to bite/attack.

I changed the oil on the Rav 4 and Howie carried off a metal socket and the top of the milk container I was pouring oil into. He gave me moral support when I was on my back half under the SUV licking my face and jumping on my chest as I tried to inch under.

To end this I am very happy to say that he is a real lovey boy; enjoys cuddle time and likes to lay either on you or next to you with his head in your lap. Love Dad

Howie the Fox Terrier

I was exhausted when I got home with Howie. Charlie immediately started guarding the food dishes and water. I put Howie's around the corner, but she tried extending her boundaries and cutting him off at the past. Of course his toys became her toys. He climbed up in my lap to get away from Ms. Vicious. We went to bed at 7 pm, but Howie couldn't rest, too stressed out. Janice took Charlie to another bed room and they went to bed presumedly. Howie wants to be up, down, on my chest, to the end of the bed, etc. I got some sleep, but woke up to wetness at 3:00 am to find he had peed on the foam topper. I was too tired to clean it then; got out the shampooer this morning and hopefully can put the sheets back on tonight. The new shock collar did not work and he escaped down the street twice to visit kenneled dogs and the house right across the street from us. COME did not seem to be in his vocabulary, but at least he did not continued further and I was able to catch him. I put on an old electronic collar, put in a new battery and trimmed off 8 inches of extended collar and it worked fine. I mowed the lawn and mulched the leaves (the neighbors have a lot of trees besides ours). He got used to the noise and was outside with Charlie while I mowed for around 2 hours. He was a little nervous. Janice came home and wanted me to tire the dogs out so we took a ride to Foster Lake, 20 minutes from home, and I let both dogs run around in the county park with it's wide open spaces. Howie found a 1 foot deep creek that had to be crossed so we couldn't come home until both dogs were exercised and Howie was dry. Earlier, I found that Howie is a hose spray attacker when I tried to clean the underside of the mower. Charlie and Howie have had 3 fights over dominance and self-determination. On the last fight, Charlie got the worst. Howie is bigger and grabbed her collar and was content with a draw. Since these altercations both dogs are gaining some respect for each other. I stay away and let them become more amicable. At the park I would pretend to throw a stick one way and then toss for Howie to get it. He would run around leading Charlie on a merry chase and toward the end Charlie was giving up and letting him have the stick. Then she would sneak up and carefully get the stick and then bring it back. Since we have two dogs the dog biscuits we have have become important again. Both dogs are sacked out with Howie stretched out on a bed next to me. I am going to try taking the dogs out several times tonight to see if that helps Howie. I am wondering what Jan is going to have me do regarding sleeping arrangements. Howie wanted nothing to do with his new foam bed.Well...............will try to take some pictures tomorrow. Dad

Bomb Threat

Did you see Sweet Home HS on the news? Had a bomb threat early in the morning & they sent the buses on to the JH where they crammed all the HS kids in the gym. It wasn't pretty.

(Sorry if this is a repeat. I posted this all with a comment but then it went wacky on me.)

Anyway, the police identified the suspect and had her in custody by mid-day.

I've continued to be superbusy--still trying to get the gigantuan district improvement plan done at the same time as I'm trying to get everyone trained in the new state testing system. Lots of changes this year with that.

We now have Howie. He is a 1-year-old fox terrier of the black head and speckly white body variety. Charlie tries not to like how, but forgets herself occasionally and gets caught up in playing with him. Of course, if he ventures too close to her food dish, her toys or her humans he gets a fierce scolding. She drew a little blood today as well. I'll let Dad give you the details of this acquisition. I'm sure he'll leave nothing out in the telling.

We have little sugar ants in our bathroom. Can't figure out why. I removed the mouthwash and cold medicine thinking they might have sugar in them. DAd has sprayed with toxic chemicals. The hardy little devils keep coming, although they do seem to spend a lot of time running in circles or clinging desperately to electric cords. They are not well.

I, however, am on the mend. Thought I had this cold licked, but some stuffiness remains. I shall prevail. Had my annual (although it has been a couple of years) checkup and was pronounced healthy. I have to go back to have several parts checked by radiology of one sort or another, but that's another day. Too busy right now.

I'm trying to get excited about Halloween, but all I can think about is having to spend 3 hours answering the front door 100 times. Bah humbug.

Maybe if I had a costume I'd be more excited. When I retire, I'll sew myself one of those, too.

haunted house

This Saturday we're going to a haunted house. The woman organizing it said it's really haunted; it was her husband's parents and is now abandoned. Maybe I'll see a phantom or something. I'll let you know. I'm dressing up as a '50's girl - poodle skirt and all. Tuck is going as Frankenstein -India as Frankenstein's bride. Christian is wearing a Planet of the Apes mask. I don't think I can get him to kind of hunker down and swing his arms like an ape, but I'll try. Tim as usual won't be dressing up. I'll just introduce him as Opie or Howdy Doody.

Haven't heard from Greyson recently???? Must be having better baby days.

I found a published author who read my novel and said it was great but had too much stage directing and that is a novice mistake. She thought after I made some of these transitioning changes I'd have a good chance of getting published!

I've been told we should get freezing fog any day now. I guess it's beautiful, but can get a little dreary after a few weeks. Glad I don't have to travel.

Hope to hear from someone.
Traci

Colds

I knew it was bound to happen. The Deans were sick, my husband was sick, my mother was sick, now I am sick. So far it doesn't seem to be that bad of a sickness and I haven't had a cold for over a year so I guess it is time. The babies have been fine so far.

I have been back to work for 3 weeks now and am getting used to the whole schedule again. We have started getting the babies up at 11pm for a feeding. Or I should say Greyson feeds them and I sleep. And then I get up when they wake up around 5am for a feeding and Greyson sleeps in. I have started just going strait to work after I get them back down for a nap. So sometimes I can get to work at 6:30am and back home by 3pm and have the afternoon at home. I am not normally an early riser so it is tough for me.

And then we have Saturday's, my day to sleep in. But for some reason my mother and sister think that I should be up at 8 or 9am just because they are. Well I am not. I feed the babies and go back to sleep as soon as they are down for the morning nap. And I only answer the phone so it doesn't wake the babies. So if I seem a bit grouchy when you call, that is because I am.

We have been giving the babies a bath in these plastic baby baths, but because they are getting bigger and splashier they are starting to make quite a mess of the counters where we bathe them. So to try something new we decided to bathe them both in there baby baths but put them in the clawfoot tub so they can splash all they want. Of course as soon as we got them both in Samia started crying and her voice reverberated inside the cast iron clawfoot tub and scared Piper who screamed and scared Samia who joined the screaming and the noise bouncing off the tub walls was deafening. So until they start liking bath time a bit more we won't try them at the same time in the echo chamber again.

Samia's belly button looks almost normal. The hernia is gone but now she has some extra wrinkly skin left over. But that should go away as she grows. Piper's hernia is less but still there.

I have been doing a lot of breastfeeding the last month and apparently Piper has taken a liking to it. She now is turned off by the bottle and will often just roll the bottle nipple around on her tongue and makes this disgusted face and refuses to drink for a bit. She does that even if there is breastmilk in the bottle. She is quite the turkey. Greyson finds it quite frustrating. I think she will get over it once she realizes she doesn't have an option while I am gone.

So that is my update and I may repost this on the baby blog so that Greyson's family can see it as well.
Take care everyone,
Mel

Six months old/ Our happy Noah

Well, I had to share Noah's six month old pictures. Every 3 months I have a coffee cup made with the baby's new picture. I drink my morning coffee out of the newest one and retire the older one to the motorhome. It makes me feel a little closer to him , and makes me smile. Grandpa is very much smitten with his grandson, so I get no complaints about my cup purchases.

On a more serious note, our area is sure suffering today with the Santa Ana winds. The malibu area really has a fire burning which is spreading. Phil and I have reservations at the Malibu RV resort next weekend, so glad it wasn't this weekend.

We are just loving the RV and Murphy just thinks its so much fun. Dogs to meet, wind and new smells, not to mention being with Mom and Dad with all the attention.

Grandma is fine and enjoying Bernie as lot. She had a cataract removed, but is disappointed that it didn't help her vision as much as she expected. Due to her diabetes, there are some changes to the blood vessels in the back of the eye that affect her vision separate from the cataract.

Hello to everyone, hope to see some pictures of everyone else.

Love,

Aunt/ Sister Chris