PUPPY WATCH 2007 IS OFFICIALLY OVER!!!

that's right folks. sami delivered her pups last night and this morning. all 11 of them. she only lost 1. pretty good for a first litter. they are all black (i guess, they were still a little wet when i saw them) and a few had white markings. all seem healthy and of good size. i was a little surprised though, i thought for sure we would have atleast one that looked like sami. perhaps a mastiff sized golden retriever? or maybe a golden retriever sized mastiff? by the way, anyone out there in, say, the greater st. louis area need a new puppy? they will be ready around thanksgiving! of course christmas follows shortly after thanksgiving.

oh yeah, the contest! guess who picked 11! NOBODY!!!! ha ha ha ha! we all actually picked around 11. i think jeff and i were the closest...i picked 10, and i gave him 12. (i guess i should say my 2 guesses) so no kids get to fight over which puppy stays with us. darn!



has anyone seen the new show on nickjr called yo gabba gabba? the weirdest show i have ever seen. i think the creators are perhaps involved with drugs and raves...seriously, watch it and tell me what you think. it actually is a pretty funny show, but seriously weird. (if you can find the episode with the "party in my tummy" song, watch it. i cracked up for hours afterwards! i know, it doesn't take much to entertain me anymore.

perhaps i will be able to post some puppy/kid picks soon. but don't hold your breath! (that means you rachel)

POD-PEOPLE HAVE LANDED!!!!!!!!

i am not sure if this is a joke yet. i am actually a little worried. you see my husband has been displaying some very strange and worrisome behaviors. it all started with me telling the kids they could do 4-H.....

strange behavior #1

alex tells us he wants to do a pig project in 4-H. instead of yelling about responsibility taking on an animal like that is, or saying "no way they stink too bad" he says the strangest thing he has ever said: "as long as you keep it in the house and treat it like a pet"


strange behavior #2

i tell the kids "lets have a contest about who can guess how many pups sami will have"
the kids start guessing, i write them down. jeff says "whoever guesses right, gets to keep a puppy"


strange behavior #3

this is actually related to #2...i ask him if he realized he just said this in front of our children (these comments i usually reserve for other people's kids) he responds by saying "i think it would be pretty cool to keep one of the puppies. it wouldn't be so bad having 2 dogs would it?"


now for people who don't really know my husband, these are not common thoughts of his. he is more of the "pets are complications." "i had enough of animals when i was a kid." and the ever popular "amy do you know how many holes i had to dig to bury dead calves, foals and pigs?" in case you haven't caught on yet, my hubby is not an animal lover. you wouldn't believe what i had to do to get my 4 little chickens! (but that is a little personal) anyway, i am not sure what exactly is happening to him. maybe i am slowly changing him? is he becoming more like me? would that be so bad?

wait a minute...does that mean i am becoming more like him? well if i am, i guess i'll at least get a clean house out of it. (ha ha ha)

puppy-watch 2007

that's right, we are definitely expecting puppies. in fact any day now. poor sami is panting constantly now. her belly is getting pretty big and you can actually feel the pups moving around in there. it is pretty cool. she seems pretty miserable though. we have 2 possible leads on homes for atleast 2 pups. we shall see. i am pretty sure they will be golden retriever and mastiff mix, but since she was out a couple of times without anyone watching her (thanks kids) i can't say for sure he is the only possible father. i am trying to decide if i use this as an example for the kids to discourage sex before marriage. usually i just watch the paternity shows on maury for that, but this is a little closer to home.

anyway, it is testing week at school for haley and alex. it is similar to the mmat tests we did in school, but the arch diocese uses a different test. the kids love this week because there is no homework, and they only test half the day, so the rest of the time is fun stuff. i don't know how i feel about these tests. they give the kids 2 different tests. one measures what the kids know, the other is similar to an IQ test, but it tests their ability to learn. now (not to brag or anything but) my kids always test very high in the "what they know" test. alex has done horrible on the IQ part though, and haley didn't do that great either. according to that test, my kids should be testing in the lower half of their grade level. not to brag, but they actually test in the 90% in most things. (basically they tested higher than 90% of their peers) so my question is, how accurate is this test? can't wait to get the results back this year.

jeff has started his new job. the hours are sooo much better. he works shorter shifts during the week, and saturday is longer. so he is either leaving for work at 9 and getting home at 3:30, or leaving at 2pm and getting home around 9. we actually see him way more. he can help me more with different errands. it is really great. and they get more walk in business there too.
so he has been much happier lately.

say WHAT!!!

lots of things going on now.
jeff decided to change jobs...well not exactly. more like decided to change employers. he was working for a ford dealership. dan (jeff's brother jim's brother-in-law) gave jeff a shot at selling cars 4 years ago. he was pretty helpful as far as showing jeff the ropes, etc. now jeff is going to work for behlmann carnection in st. peters. jeff's new boss is a great guy. he has been coaching alex's soccer team since he was in kindergarten. they sell used cars only, and jeff was pretty impressed by the quality of cars they sell. plus it's in st. peters. the only down-side is that he's going to have later hours than before. they open at 9am (a plus) but they close at 8 or 9 at night (not a plus). anyway, i hope things work out well.

our puppy, sami, is looking like she's expecting pups. i think the dad is probably my brother in law's mastiff, brock. (cane corso mastiff...not near as big as english) brock is a beautiful dog, gray on gray brindle with blue gray eyes.
unfortunately i don't think brock is handling his upcoming fatherhood the way he should. he has tried to commit suicide 2 times now. (running in front of jeff's truck while jeff is going down the driveway)

brock, if you are reading this, (and i doubt you are...rachel is the only one reading this most likely) it's not worth it buddy. it's ok. we are preparing to financially take care of the little guys until they are old enough to leave the nest. we aren't expecting anything from you. sami isn't expecting anything from you either. i'm sorry she hasn't been over to hang with you lately, she just hasn't been feeling up for it.

anyway, i don't know for sure she is. honestly she has had a false pregnancy in the past. so i am hoping it's just another one. her belly is pretty big, but i haven't felt anything moving in there. so in case there are any pups, let me know if you are looking for one. golden retriever and cain corso mastiff. or if you can come up with a cute name for the mix. you know like pug+beagle=puggle, or lab+poodle=labradoodle. hopefully these guys will be cuter than those. or i guess i could go back to the old standard "mutt". but honestly, it feels like calling a baby of unwed parents a bastard. kind of scummy. but, if i would have gotten her spayed, i wouldn't have to be worrying about this. i feel like i should have a tattoo on my forehead saying "irresponsible pet owner".

last, alex and haley are wanting to join 4-H, and do livestock. haley wants to do sheep. that's fine, i know who to talk to about it. but alex wants to do pigs. (thanks to jeff's dad, he suggested pigs and cows) i have no problem with them doing this. as long as they are the ones doing it. i don't want it to fall on me because they lost interest. especially the pigs. the sheep will be at a friend's farm. he knows all about them, and has been involved with kids and sheep in 4-H for like 20+ years. so i will let you know what we end up doing with them.