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"And that's what I think of that!"

Editor's note: This is not my reaction to the "Stylish Blogger Award" passed along to me from Elizabeth over at Chronicles of Cardigan. I will have to blog my acceptance speech another time...still trying to gather my own nominees. It is just a funny moment I caught while Reese enjoyed her pig ear. I NEVER catch these moments normally! Yay me! =)

 ~A

Nom nom nom...

The big fur-kids got a couple of new choice chewies today.

We took Wally on a field-trip (read: socialization outing) to the Iowa Pet Foods store where he got pats and smiles outta people and met a nice lady that thought he was just "beautiful." =] While there, we picked out a nice beef snout and pig ear for Walt and Reese to try out. They enthusiastically ripped into them as soon as we got home, and I was able to catch the reaction on video. Yay me!

Wuv.

Reese and Wally have been getting along pretty well. They really wear each other out, for which we are VERY grateful. =)

Imagine a heart shape. Awww. =]

Saturday Blog Hop: This picture deserves its own post.

First off, let me give you a little back story...

The cats were being extra annoying all week around Thanksgiving last year (yes, these pictures are kinda old). See - they like to be little furry buttheads in the morning if their food bowls are empty. When we finally got annoyed enough to get outta bed and look, sure enough - their food bowls were empty. How could that be? Each night we had filled the food bowls with their allotted food because we know how annoying they are in the mornings when they are empty. It just did not add up. They don't go through food that fast. Begrudginly (cuz we were hoping this wasn't going to be a trend and we were hopefully not going to end up with tub-o-lard sized kitties), we filled the bowls up again and went to take our showers.

Har, har, har. I know what you're thinking...but, we DID NOT set these shots up.

Ryan got done with his shower first and came through the family room on his way to the bedroom. I hear him laugh out loud and yell, "You gotta see this!" I come running around the corner and Reese was happy as a clam on the TOP tier of the cat tree, cocking her head and wagging her tail with such self-satisfaction and gloating on her face it was hard not to erupt in hysterics. So...seems we had a cat-food vacuum infiltrating the [supposedly dog-proof] feeding stations on their cat tree. We figured she must've jumped from the recliner to the side table and onto the cat tree with ease. Needless to say, we moved the end-table to the other side of the recliner after this episode. All of a sudden, the cat-harrassment and empty-bowl drama cleared itself up. =->

~A

Some good pics

So we got a little card adapter thingymajig that allows us to take the pictures off of Ryan's phone and put them straight onto the computer instead of having to email them to myself (and the long, arduous process of saving them, resizing, etc. that ensues). I had previously posted some pics that weren't of the best quality, so I wanted to re-post them as they were meant to be seen. There are also some new ones that I didn't have the patience to email to myself before too.

Reese with the kitties in the guest room.

This one's new - That is Jon teaching me how to cut! ha

Yay! I made it to the bottom of the bunny hill. ha

Remember this? I wiped out under that tree. =)

This one was fuzzy and small before - at the top of the hill.

Ha - my first-aid station appearance.

New one. Ry & me...just takin a break in the chalet.

The blanket wasn't enough.

That blur? The Reeser molesting her boyfriend Jon.

Yep, she climbed up and over the couch cuz she was so excited to see him. =) Goofy girl.

Reese and Walt thought my lap looked empty.

I just love this one of Loki. He looks so regal.

Sulley's cocoon.

Hmm, I guess that works.

I hate having my pic taken.

Again with the "snow puma." Fits him well, no?

~A

Dance of the Dwarves

Introducing....Reese and her new buddy Walt from the "Dirty Dozen" litter over at Foggy Bottom (aka Random thoughts on random things)!

We picked Walt up from Cindy and her crew at the Des Moines dog show this weekend for a much-needed respite from his brother Charlie. Hoping he will enjoy his stay for a couple months whilst he learns to be a little more independent while apart from his brother! When we introduced him to Reese, they instantly hit it off and it's been so fun watching them interact. Now, Reese is almost 4...and Walt is only 6 months, yet he is nearly as big as she is! His paws are HUGE! He will be a good-sized dog when he grows into himself. The funniest thing is watching all that size try to coordinate itself with all that puppy-energy to try and keep up with the Reeser! haha....too funny for words. Luckily, Ryan was home "dog-watching" Saturday night while I hung out with friends and fellow dog-bloggers at a chili supper at the Mummes' house and grabbed his camera phone to catch these two really enjoying themselves on their first night together. Note: Just imagine this video on repeat mode about 10 times a day! =)

Unfortunately, I was only able to upload snippets. We're trying to figure out how to use (free) video editing software to make one long video because the clips his phone takes are so short. I have about 8 of these in sequence showing how long they went about it! Anywho - you get the picture!

Now for some stills....cuz they're just so darn photogenic!

Trying to figure out where his dog-nappers have brought him.

Such a beautiful head.

Great profile.

Hai handsome!

Pretty much captures his personality. =)

Stick hunting

Look ma! I caught one for ya!

He honed in on the best spot of the couch real quick-like!

Reese says she'll let him enjoy her spot for a while...but she won't like it!

That can't be comfortable.

New toy = great pillow

New toy we got at Petco yesterday. Supposed to be indestructible. We shall see!

Oy! Long day!

I think we will get along pretty well. Thanks Cindy for letting us keep him for a little while! We're really enjoying him a bunch (as you can tell!).

~A

Welcome to the Thunderdome!

Since it is Valentine's Day, my romantic husband got me tulips and a bag of live crickets as a gift. =) Awww. Ok, the crickets were for the animals (and cuz we find it amusing to watch them engage their predatory instincts). Here are pictures of what ensued...(Yes, they are in the bathtub...best way to keep rogue crickets from becoming annoying nighttime chirpers.)

 

The crickets are surrounded! The cats are deciding whether they can "take" them...

All in!

The first couple of crickets you see here did not entertain the cats very well. Alas, our kitties are not the greatest hunters...or at least they need more practice with it. So, we called in reinforcements to take care of the invading cricket population...

What's this?! [cricket is the small brown thing in front of her nose]

[Chomp!] 

I think that went well. =)

Mmmm...Can I haz anuder?

Reese is our resident bug-killer. She will push the cats out of the way with reckless abandon to attack any intruding insect or arachnid that they see in the house or outside. The cats are great at catching moths, flies, spiders, etc....but crickets must not be their thing. Oh well - we know who to summon to take care of the rest of the Valentine's crickets I guess. =)

Now - just some fun pictures because they're cute.

Another stuffed sink shot.

A rare sight.

 The cats allowed her to join them on the guest bed. Notice that she didn't push her luck to get the prime spot. heh

Naughty baddog up on guest bed.

She got the prime spot this time though!

I'm sensing a theme here...

Smile! It's Valentine's Day! =^ >

~A

Ski trip!

We went with some friends to Afton Alps in Minnesota over the weekend for some skiing. Fun (and some sore joints/muscles) was had by all and it was a great time away from the daily grind. This was my second-ever time skiing. Of course my first time was last year here in Des Moines at Sleepy Hollow Sports Park (which doesn't really qualify as real skiing in my opinion after getting to see what Afton Alps was like). I learned a lot...and can't wait to go again when we get the money/time.

Yay! Skiing! Oh how naive...

Yep...that is me wiped out under the tree. Yay for learning!

Jon says, "This is me skiing yo!"

Ahhh, our first refreshment at the chalet on day 1. (me, Jon, and Kevin)

Kelly and Nick decided to take a break from snowboarding and join us.

Kevin, Nick, and Kelly

Ry and me

Happy to be on vacay.

Fun in the chalet watching the Super Bowl. Nick looks like he's bout to take Kevin out...hehe Creeper.

Dunno why the pic is so blurry...but this is me after getting off a lift getting ready to head down a hill.

Action shot of Nick on his board!

Yep, that's me at the first aid station. The result of day one: concussion. Hey - at least it was at the END of an otherwise fun-filled day. =)

Don't worry. I'm fine! =) They gave me oxygen and all the funny lights I was seeing went away almost immediately. I did twist my right knee pretty bad the next day though. (No, I hadn't had enough torture and wanted to go back out!) On the upside, day 2 was way more fun cuz I stuck to the easier hills (and fell less!) for most of the day and spent a lot of time watching the Super Bowl in the chalet. Downside = Steelers did not win the Super Bowl. =( We went back to the hotel and hung out in the hot tub, then chilled in our hotel rooms til we couldn't keep our eyes open any more. Excited to go back again soon hopefully.

~A