3 weeks old!

Its so hard to get good pictures because if they are not sacked out, they are constantly moving.  They are growling, playing, barking (a lot), peeing (a lot) and driving their momma crazy.  I've spoiled her a bit because I will go in and rub her while she is feeding them, which sometimes is the only way to get her in there and it is out of desperation on my part because they start barking and crying and carrying on and it gets pretty loud and heart breaking, so I take 15 and go sit with them, rewarding for me though, it is very serene and the puppies all come lay on me for a few minutes after they get done eating.  It also provides some comic relief, they are on a mission when they are trying to find something to eat and since there are 9 of them there is always one that is not getting a dinner plate so the competition is fierce!  I'll try to get a video but Dira hates the camera so when I bring it out she gets up and leaves...

Turkey Day

Started with a picture of me and one of my puppies...

 Then it was off to the Anderson/Cantrell home for dinner.  This is Josh and his new fiance Kristen, they live together in a great old home in downtown Denver.  They are getting married in June and she is a great addition to the family, I LIKE her!

 The 2 love birds cooked most of the turkey dinner.  There was a slight snaffu with the stove not working, but Josh came through (executed and all) and got it fixed.

Here is the Josh man carving the bird, nice job on the cooking and the carving!  I have to say I was impressed which isn't an easy thing....

 Our lovely hostess, Kristen preparing the table, she also painted the picture above the fireplace.

The booger eaters...aka the grandsons.  You'll have to trust me on the rest because this is where the picture taking ended.  It was a fabulous dinner, I wish I had gotten a picture of everyone.  Kirsten's mom and sister were also there and they are very cool as well.  Since the boys were there you have to surmise that Mike and Heather were also there along with Bruce who came with me.  All in all a great day.

The Gingerbread Challenge

Getting to be a tradition to have the contest at Thanksgiving.  This year was a little easier because it happened a couple days later and the houses were already assembled.  I think our sweet street turned out pretty darn good.

Me and Bruce collaborated on the one on the right hand side.

Some of the design crew, I guess I could have smiled....

Josh with one of the puppies, they are 3 weeks old today!  I gotta say that Josh found a pretty neat gal to marry, she has already made a lot of difference in the dynamics and I really had fun this year.  He is marrying Kristen Cantrell in June of 2012.  I'll load some turkey day pictures up later so you can see her too.  I really like her mom and sister, good people and she makes Josh so much more open and fun to be around, i say YEA for Kristen!

Great Movie

Just watched this movie, it was awesome, gave me a lot to think about.  I highly recommend it to everyone, including kids.  Don't miss the deleted scenes at the end, it will touch you in ways you didn't know were possible.  See more at www.buckthemovie.com

Puppy Pod

Birthday Parties

This weekend marked the birthdays of 2 of my favorite guys.  First Bruce, aka Skid turned 64!  Not sure why I couldn't get a clear picture, but this one is pretty good of the birthday boy and his daughter.

Earlier in the day we celebrated with 150 of Joe's closest friends at his 70th birthday!  How cool is it to have a P-51 Mustang as a party decoration?  Joe is the tall cowboy with the light blue shirt.

Happy birthday guys!

Puppy Love

Sharing some of the most precious pictures this morning.  They are starting to open their eyes and their legs are getting long enough that they can walk (like drunk sailors) instead of scooting.  This is Pinky Tuscadero.

Check out the little eye!  She was the first to look at the world.

Little purple girl in full howl!

Yellow in chill mode

Gives you an idea of how much they have grown in 13 days

They are all good size, but there are a couple of gals that are bigger than the rest, this is Stretch

Momma Dira, she's such a good mom.  It's hard to get everyone fed at once, they are just getting to big.

The whole crew, this is how we roll!

Oh Hurricane High!

Go...Big Red...Fight, Uh Huh! Go Big Red, Fight Big Black, Do it Do it, Alright ALRIGHT!  They Came they played and they conquered!  Hurricane is the State Champ 3A Football team, wow am I proud to be from Hurricane right now!  Congratulations to the Tigers!  Long live the RED and BLACK!

Fav Pics of the Day

A couple Anne Geddes moments...

 One of the boys

 napping at it's best!

 Purple girl

 The whole gang after I changed their bedding, they love the soft blanket, I guess it feels like mom.

 Big roar!

They gravitate to puppy pods, most likely to keep warm and feel safe, they are so cute and cuddly when they are sleeping, but boy does it get noisy when it's time to eat!

A side note today, Sadie is at the vet having stupid porcupine quills pulled from her back leg.  Last night when I let her and Hoss out of the kennel to bring them into the garage, they took off down the pasture like they usually do to finish up their business before they go to bed, they were only gone a couple of minutes, but Sadie came limping back.  I think they must have caught the scent but in their excitement I'm guessing that Sadie didn't see it quick enough and tried to jump over it.  I've never seen them in the back legs and not in the snout.  She did have one impaled in her tongue, looked like that one really hurt.  Thanks goodness the vet is near by, I tried pulling some last night, got about 30 before she had just had enough.  There were probably another 50 or more in her leg and it looked to be from a young one because the quills weren't very big.  Dang stupid porcupines!

One week and growing like weeds

For all of you who wondered whether I climbed into the box to snuggle the puppies....

...well, duh!   Wouldn't you?

Pure contentment!

Love those little paws and faces!

yep, just enough room for the 11 of us!

11.11.11

Precious packages

The pictures say it all....

Puppy Update

This morning started really early, 4:15 a.m. which is really uncivilized.  I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep so I got up and took Dira out for a walk.  She was very grateful, I think she gets tired just laying in there all day and all night, plus her need to hunt for cats and other small creatures has returned.  So a quick walk with Dira, then she's back with the mupsters, next is Tessie, Sadie and Hoss while I feed horses.  It was still too dark for the first walk, so I went back in for a quick nap, a little work and then back out with Dira for another walk, then back in with the mupsters, then back out for the morning walk with the 3 musketeers.  It is still only about 15 degrees but the sun is coming up finally so it will start to warm up.  Now everyone is happy, walked, fed, rubbed, grubbed and in their individual spots.

 Another half hour or so of email, another quick nap, breakfast, a shower and it still was just barely hitting 9:00 a.m.  Time for the first conference call (that didn't happen) so I can finish drying my hair and think about taking Dira out one more time before I run to the post office and Walmart (need yarn to replace the ribbons on the puppies, they are already getting tight).  Later today I need to finish module #3 of gem identification which means looking through the refractometer, hopefully a stop at the chiropractor and finishing up the advertising campaign for the high school seniors.  Should be a good day.

The mupsters are growing and they move so fast and so much it is hard to get a good picture.  I tried holding one but he was squirming and yelping so that won't work.  But at least you can start to see the shapes taking form and the markings coming out on them.

The one with the blue ribbon is a boy, and a chunk, needless to say they are eating well!

Hannah is happy because I fixed it so she can get in my office again so she comes in and torments me and the plants.  She's pretty curious about all the sounds coming from the laundry room, speaking of those sounds, they are pretty sweet.

On another note, Bruce got home last night and was so excited to see the puppies that he tripped stepping over the gate and on his way down he grabbed onto the door frame and cut his hand on the striker plate.  As he hit the floor he let out a bad word or two but he is going to be ok.  And it needs to be said that when I was up at 4:30 taking care of dogs, cats and horses, he was still snoozing, this is something that will need to be rectified.

Passing the critical time

It's day 3 and everything seems to be going well.  Puppies are eating, moving around a lot, making funny noises, pooping and growing.  So I am starting to relax a little bit feeling that everything is going the way it should.  Bruce has been gone for the past week and will be home tonight, I am excited for him to see the new additions.  One big surprise is the unbelievable amount of laundry!  I have been changing the bedding to keep it clean and dry, this morning I hacked up a mattress topper made of memory foam to line the bottom of the bed and I think everyone is much happier.  But still it takes a ton of towels to keep these critters clean and dry and smelling sweet.

And have I mentioned the balancing act keeping Hannah from being eaten by Dira while they are both in the house?  I have to keep a gate up even though it probably wouldn't stop Dira for even a second.  This morning I caught Hannah perched on the back of the couch so she could watch over the top of the gate to see what all the commotion is about, not a very safe thing to do.  Also, when I take Dira outside, all the other dogs must be contained, it is just too scary at this point and I don't need any mishaps.  So I start planning first thing in the morning, around 5:30, Dira goes out first and comes back in, then Hoss and Sadie can go out and Tessie too if she wants.  Before I can take Dira out again mid morning, Hoss, Sadie and Tess must be kenneled or in the garage, even though Dira can only stand to be away from her puppies for 2 minutes, max!  It's cold here too so I have to get all bundled in my snow suit with my gloves, hat and shoes on before I hook Dira to the leash and head out, yesterday I didn't have time and couldn't find my gloves, so ended up doing chores without them, the girl cannot wait once she's ready to go to the bathroom.

Day 2

The happy momma, she's such a good girl and she is stellar as a new mom.  Everyone made it through the night and are growing already, the ribbons correspond to the birth order.  Seems I need to get to the store and stock up, they will outgrow the ones they have on shortly.

I believe this is where the term "belly up to the bar" came from.  These guys can eat!  So you can gauge the size, that is her paw in the forground, they are all good sized, about a lb. at birth, no runts and pretty uniform in size and color.  The last 2 were probably the biggest, at least they looked bigger, we are calling the last girl born, Stretch, she resembled a weiner dog, but she's already filled out her long skinny body.  She went right to the trough and made up for lost time.

Dira Delivers to the 9's!

Wow what a day!  Dira delivered 9 beautiful puppies in about 3 1/2 hours.  All are healthy and mom is doing great!  The miracle of new life and all that goes with the birth of animals is pretty incredible.  How do they know to do the things they need to do?  I was so grateful that Dira's instinct kicked in right from the start, I wouldn't have known to do everything that need to be done, but she did.  3 boys and 6 girls, not bad for a days work.  So grateful for miracles and so grateful to be a witness to such a spiritual event, what a way to spend a Sunday!  Congratulations Dira and your new family!

The nap after the last one was delivered, whew!

Who are all these strange little creatures and why do they keep calling me momma?

Puppy Update

Mom, here's the Hannah "Special Delivery" picture.  She's not at all happy about having a dog camping out in the laundry room.....

We have reached the "safe to deliver" time, so I am grateful for that.  Dira is due, huge and uncomfortable.  Hoping for a safe and uneventful delivery.  I haven't really ever midwived puppies, so I hope I can at least help and not get in the way.  Fingers crossed, I will post pictures when the puppies are safely here.

The Last of Fall

I'm mourning the end of Fall today.  It snowed almost a foot last night and it's pretty darn cold out there tonight.  So enjoy some shots from around the Elizabeth and Frantown areas from a couple weeks ago.

Elizabeth Creek

The bridge at Castlewood Canyon

Castlewood Canyon

A friend joining me for the picture taking session

A cool cruiser at Centennial.  So long Fall!