Grommet-ized!

This is Grommet at 1 week old, when we picked him out.



These pictures above are Grommet at 2 weeks old. Just starting to open his eyes a bit.





These pictures of Grommet on the red fabric are him at 3 weeks old. He's just starting to stand here, and his eyes and ears are open. He started barking at this age, and Donna, the breeder, said that it's funny when they do that, because they startle themselves!




The above pictures are Grommet at 4 weeks old. Look how fuzzy he is! He's so fuzzy, I could die!!! We got to meet him 'in person' yesterday morning. Oh. My. Goodness! He is so adorable! We can't wait to take him home!

Below are pictures of our visit with him. He was sleeping when we first got there, so was pretty still while I held him. I didn't get any pictures of ME holding him. I forgot to ask Kai to take photos, but he did try to take some videos. I'll see if they came out later.


Noe holding Grommet. He kept on crawling off of our laps and exploring. This was the first time he had been away from his mommy for so long. She was NOT happy, and apparently growled at Donna when she took him away. She barked the whole time we had him.

All three kids playing with our puppy! They all loved him, and we are super excited to see him again and take him home after Nationals (weekend before Thanksgiving).

Kai, TRYING to hold him. After he woke up, he just kept on moving!


Grommet loves his belly being rubbed! He seems to have a ticklish belly, and kicked his feet a lot when we scratched it!

What's this?

It's a 'road kill' toy. This type of toy resembles a squished road kill squirrel, and has no stuffing, so it's safe for doggies to play with. They don't have to worry about choking on stuffing! I think there is a squeekie thing inside too. Grommet dragged it around a bit.

Noe, petting the doggie in motion. We got to visit with him for about 1/2 hour or so, before he needed his mommy again. I could have held him for a long time! Such a sweet puppy! Donna says he's the biggest one in the litter and most likely will grow to be about 60 pounds. We met his daddy, and he was really nice too, and another female puppy (about 11 months), who was also very well behaved and friendly. I really like this breed of dog. I've never been a 'dog person', but I really like the Australian Shepherds and we are really excited to have Grommet join our family!

Side table

This is a side table I made for Arnez for his side of the bed. I made it up all by myself with no pattern!

This is the table before it was finished and without the extra shelf in the middle.

Here it is finished. I put in the extra shelf to add some stability and for Arnez to be able to put his sleeping hats on instead of on the floor.

Cross Country

So, our lives are sort of ruled by the Cross Country bug right now. Starting in August, we once again began running with the Belvidere Tornados. Even Sophia is running now! Kai and Noe REALLY want to go to Nationals this year, which is in West Virginia. Last year (in Kentucky), we didn't go because A) it was our first year and B) they were very slow, and they wouldn't have made the team. THIS year, Kai and Noe have shown dramatic improvements! Here are some pictures of them.

Sophia, don't SING! RUN!

"So, we have to do WHAT now?"

Noe running at the practice race

Finish hard, Noe!

Kai running at the practice race!

Some lunchtime reading.

Finished!

So, today I finished the bed. Brought it up stairs and screwed it together. My lovely assistants, Noe and Sophia, helped. They both alternated between holding up headboard/footboards and dancing in the center of the room to two different birthday cards I had gotten (the kind that play music). I was a bit disconcerted to realize how HIGH the new bed is! We are either going to have to get used to it, or lost the box-spring mattress. I DID take a nap in the 'new' high bed today and it seemed to 'work' fine! I'm glad it's done and now I have some extra wood left over. What to make?

Sicky Sophia

Sicky Sophia Sleeping Silently... in the dining room. She threw up at least 5 times. Maybe 6. Then passed out and slept for about 2 hours.

My friend Julie came by with muffins for us. Sophia declared she was ALL BETTER and wanted some muffins too. I told her to see if the water stays down first! I tied her hair up not very prettily one of the times she was puking into the garbage can so I don't have to wash carrot puke out of her hair. Yes. Carrots. Again and againandagain.... How many times can one person puke up carrots in one morning? It was ONE carrot yesterday! For LUNCH! So it SAT there ALL DAY! And all night. Blech.

A running family! And some icky stuff.

So, yesterday finished the first week of cross country practice for my kids. Even Sophia, who mostly refuses to run when *I* take her out, ran on Wednesday and Thursday! A whole MILE! Wow. She's only 4! (5 in October) I took her out yesterday afternoon before practice and got her her very first pair of official running shoes. The whole family now has official running shoes! Arnez got a pair last week and went running yesterday with me and Sophia. I'm not supposed to run right now, because I have hip bursitis and I'm trying to get that to heal, but Sophia is too little to run on her own and doesn't know the course anyway.

Sophia woke up at 4 a.m this morning throwing up. I'm not sure why, because she felt just fine yesterday and didn't feel sick while running and ate a nice dinner with no problems. I could tell she was puking up lunch as well as dinner, so that strikes me as odd that her lunch was sitting in her stomach all day and she didn't feel sick while running. She's thrown up 3 times so far and it's only 6:15! I'm hoping she feels better soon. I don't like her being sick, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do if she's still sick later. I teach karate on Friday night. Right now, I've got her sleeping on a little 'bed' of blankets I made up for her in the dining room. That way, Arnez can get some more sleep before he has to head to work.