Happy Birthday Teddy!

Yesterday was Teddy’s 5th birthday. As I look back over the past five years and how fast they have flown by I realize how very much joy Teddy has brought to me and my family.

When I first decided to get a Westie we had been without a dog for about 2 years and I knew that I wanted my kids to grow up with a dog. My husband wasn’t so sure and made sure I knew he wasn’t in favor of my plan. Who will clean up after him? Who will feed him? “I will”, I said. I also told him that it would be a great way for me to get some exercise … walking the dog. Well, one of those statements partially came true as it is me who cleans up after him and feeds him. Walking for exercise – not so much. Teddy isn’t the best walker. He pulls at the leash and wants to make it down to the end of the cul de sac as quickly as possible. Sometimes he’ll stop and pee on a mailbox or two but mostly he just wants to reach the end. Then, halfway back he decides he has had enough and sits down and refuses to move. This is the point where I pick him up and carry him the rest of the way home. I’ve often wondered what my neighbors think as they see me walking and my dog getting carried. Who, exactly, is walking who?

Teddy is such a smart dog and never fails to make me smile at his crazy antics. When he does the Westie tilt with his head you just know he is trying to ask “What ARE you doing?” He also likes to howl when we sing and you can see the joy on his face as he joins in. I just love it when he goes out on cold frosty mornings and then comes in and chases his Westie brother, Calvin, around the house trying to warm up.

He can get a little grouchy at times, he especially doesn’t like his back feet touched, but it just makes it all the more special when he occasionally jumps up onto the couch and plants himself next to me and snuggles in.

And … that husband that wasn’t behind my plan of getting a dog so many years ago? I’ll see him sometimes laying on the couch with Teddy tucked under his arm and they’re like two peas in a pod. I can’t tell who loves who more.

So Happy Birthday Teddy – you are LOVED so very, very much.

Traumatic Experience

This post isn't about Westie's, though it was nice to have my warm Westies by my side while I was thinking about the experience: We had a traumatic experience in our house today. My oldest son, who is 15, went on his first “official” date. He took a girl to the movies. Of course he isn’t old enough to drive yet so I drove him to the theatre and dropped him off. The girl’s family brought her and stayed for another movie so my son had to meet them. On the ride over he was extremely nervous at, not only his first date, but the prospect of having to meet her family.

The traumatic part comes in when I had to drop him off. I walked into the theatre with him because he wanted me to meet the girl. When we got there she came running up to my son and gave him a big hug. I was secretly pleased to see that it totally took my son by surprise and he took up the penguin stance. You know the penguin stance – where you stand perfectly still with your arms at your side. He did lean a little back and his hands flopped a tad when he took the brunt of her body hitting his but he certainly was too shocked to return the hug.

However, that wasn’t the traumatic part. When the girl finally realized I was standing there we said hello and shook hands and she was very nice. The traumatic part was when I walked out of the theatre for the drive home. As I walked to the car I had a big smile on my face because I was so happy for my son that he is growing up and has found a girl that seems to really like him. That lasted about 5 minutes until I was crushed by the sudden realization that my son is growing up and has found a girl that seems to really like him. My next thought was, oh my gosh how did this happen???? I know that he’s been taller than me for a while and that his voice is low enough to sing bass in chorus but, wait a minute, wasn’t it just yesterday that we were buying him a tricycle for Christmas and he thought girls were gross (all girls except for me because I was just mom, not really thought of as a girl)??? I immediately called my partner in parenthood, my husband, and choking through my hysteria had him talk me down from the pinnacle of sadness I was climbing to. Before long he had me laughing, as he always is so good at doing, and realizing that this is how life is suppose to work.

When I got home I threw myself into yard work so I didn’t have to think about my son at the movies with a girl. And then I remembered something. As we were waiting inside the movie theatre doors and I was asking my son how he was doing before the girl got there, he said to me, “You’re not going to leave me, are you?” He meant before the girl got there but I believe I saw the grace of God right then, telling me that my job isn’t quite over yet, that there is still work to be done.

I sent my husband to pick my son up when the movie ended. I had way too much yard work still to complete, or so I told him. The girl, my son, and her family came out of the movie theatre together and everyone was introduced to each other. As I worked alone in the garden that afternoon, I thought again of my son’s question, “You’re not going to leave me, are you?” Right then, in my heart, I was asking him the same thing.

Love Fall, but ....

Yesterday I treated myself to a stop at Power's Farm Market. I had to get the oil changed on my car and drove by and decided, on the spur of the moment, to stop on in. Can I just say that it totally made my day and I didn't want to leave. They had a big wood fire going in their fireplace, there was the smell of 10 different types of apples in the air and the place was flooded with color from bright orange pumpkins and scarlet and yellow mums. I bought some apples and an apple crisp mix, a jar of maple mustard (made right near by in Nunda, NY), some chocolate walnut fudge and a loaf of homemade cranberry orange bread with crystallized sugar on top. Yummmmmmm!

I love everything about Fall: the leaves, the food, the crisp days, the way my Westies go out in the morning and come in all energized and frisky.

Well, I guess I should have said that I love "almost" everything about Fall because there is one thing that I really don't like at all: Goose Poop. Yes, I know that it is a nasty subject but Calvin and Teddy seem to just love the stuff. They can find the smallest amount anywhere on the 2 acres of property that they patrol each day. Now, Calvin isn't too bad, he finds it and kind of just does a quick roll so it gets here and there on his little body but Teddy, he's another matter all together. Teddy finds it, smells it, circles it and then finds the biggest, smelliest, deepest part and rolls his neck in it. You would think that just having it on a small part of his body would be better but No! he makes sure to cake it on, right on the side of his neck under his ear and along his jaw line so if you aren't careful you don't know it's there until he is sitting square on your lap looking up at you with those big beautiful brown eyes. And, then, whammo! you get a whiff of him. The really bad part of getting it caked on that part of his body is that that is where his collar is so not only does it get caked on him, it gets all caked in his collar. It is really, really gross and really, really smelly!

They came in from outside yesterday morning and both of them had it on them. Calvin, who is a lovey and wants to be near me all the time, just whined and wanted me to pick him up. He knew how bad it was and wanted my help in getting it off him. Teddy, who is a bit of a grumpster sometimes, just reveled in how bad he smelled and hid under the dining room table when he knew it was his time for a bath. Needless to say I coaxed him out (with a treat), tucked him under my arm, and took him upstairs to the bathtub. Within a half hour they were all white and coconutty smelling again.

When they were dry, we curled up on the couch (Westie bookends) and looked out the window at the beautiful Fall colors on the trees and the V shape the geese made on their way South (good riddance!).

Life is Crazy

Boy, where did the summer go? Today is the first day of Fall. The leaves have started to turn and the grass has, finally, stopped growing so fast. Westies, Teddy and Calvin, spent most of their summer relaxing at the pool with their human brothers, Jake and Dan. I'm not sure who was more sad on the first day of school, when the school bus came and picked up the boys, the Westies or me. It meant our summer of fun had come to an end. Our September has been crazy with so much going on ... end of summer get togethers with friends, painting a bathroom, a quick trip to Hershey Park in PA, making plans to refinish our hardwood floors, an unexpected surgery for Papa Bear, school open houses, meetings, etc. In the midst of all the craziness I found myself wishing for September to be over and for October to get here at last. However, if there is anything I have learned in life, it's to not wish for days to pass, but to enjoy each day as it comes. Now that the boys are back at school and it's just Calvin, Teddy, Patches, Stitches and I at home we hope to jump back into blogging about our adventures again. We hope that you'll jump back in with us :0)

Funny Pictures

My Mom was weeding through some pictures on the digital camera the other day and came across some really funny ones. You know, the ones that don't exactly come out the way they are suppose to but are too funny to delete.

Of course there are the pictures where you dress us up because you think it makes us look cute:

Calvin playing Santa Paws Teddy's First Birthday Teddy playing Santa Paws Teddy the Pumpkin on Halloween Teddy the Grumpy Elf Calvin Incognito Calvin singing Christmas Carols Teddy protesting a PINK scarf

Then you get the pictures of us when we aren't looking our best:

Teddy on a Rainy Spring Day Calvin feeling very comfy Don't know ... don't wanna know ... don't ask

And, then there are the times when you sneak up while we are sleeping:

Tired Teddy Calvin loves sleeping on his back Calvin in his crate at night - what IS he dreaming of?

We can't help it if you aren't fast enough with the camera to get a face shot:

Westie's are cute from ANY angle! Baby Calvin from the back with a floppy ear

And, even though we are sweet dogs, sometimes we have just had enough!

Get these glasses off me! There can be no more pictures if I eat the camera!

Ears

So, when I first came to live with my Mom she didn't really know a whole lot about Westies, except that we are the cutest dogs in the world. When my Mom went to pick me up at the airport she was dismayed to see that one of my ears was folded over. She thought that I had broken my ear in transit! She felt bad until she saw pictures of other Westie puppies and realized that all Westie's ears are down until they get older. Silly Mom! My brother, Calvin, also had one ear come up before the other. Mom can't decide if she thinks we are cuter with our ears up or down. What do you think?


Calvin's ears both down Starting to move up a little One ear almost up!

One ear up - one ear down Those aren't really YOUR ears!

You have to grow into those ears Calvy!

All grown into his ears and beautiful!

Calvin looking sweet and cuddly

Teddy showing off his beautiful ears too!

Our friend, and fellow Westie, Riley

Riley

We recently watched our neighbor's dog, Riley, for two days. He is also a Westie and came to live with his family after I came to live with mine but before Calvin came to live with us. Riley and I were friends from the start. There are quite a few dogs in our neighborhood of 18 houses. The majority are different colored labs - chocolate, yellow and black (why do some dogs come in so many different colors?) so I was very happy to see a fellow Westie move in. My family and Riley's family are very good friends and he comes to visit quite often. I thought it was so cool when he moved into the neighborhood. My goodness, he looked just like me! When Calvin came to live with us he made three Westie's which means we are almost even in number with those labs. Riley's family has thought about getting Riley a Westie brother or sister but they realize that it is a big commitment. My thought is that you can never have to many Westie's in the neighborhood! But, for now, Calvin, Riley and me, Teddy, are the Three Westie Muskateers of Candlelight Run!

Patches and Stitches

So, I've alluded to the fact that there are two other furry creatures living in our house and I suppose I should introduce you to them. They are Patches and Stitches and they are ca, ca, ca, cats! I know, fellow doggies, it's not pretty having to share a house with them. But, because our Mom loves them we have to tolerate them. Hold on though, I'm getting ahead of myself. First, let me tell you the story of how they came to be...

My Mom was about 20 years old and was lonely living in an apartment all by herself. So, she decided to get a kitten for company. That first kitten's name was Peaches. My Mom named her Peaches because she was white and orange and fuzzy. She became my Mom's best companion and was there through lots of life changing events: marriage, babies, new jobs, moving, getting a Black Lab puppy named Buster, etc. In fact, she lived with my Mom for 18 years and then sadly passed away peacefully on Mother's Day. My Mom was heart-broken. After a few weeks, my Mom told Dad that she was going to the local SPCA, called Lollypop Farm, just to visit with the cats that were there. Well, long story short she came home with two new kitten's, a brother and a sister. My Mom was into sewing and crafting at the time and decided to name the calico kitten Patches, and her brother Stitches. (Thankfully, our Mom had moved on from sewing before Calvin and I came along or we could be named something like Quilt and Thread!)

I was brought into the family 4 years ago when I was 4 months old and I got along ok with the cats, mostly because they were bigger than me. But, as I grew, I decided that it was great fun to chase them every now and again. Stitches is very brave and will sit next to me on occassion and, yack, sometimes even rub against me (cat germs!). Patches is a scaredy cat and just runs away from me, grrrrr. Last year we were joined by my brother, Calvin, when he was 2 months old and I thought that I would have an alli. I must say though, even with daily lessons, Calvin hasn't learned the fine art of cat chasing, as he would be friends with them if it weren't for me nudging him into the chase. Oh, brother!

For now (and for fun), we'll just keep a close eye on these two furry cousins of ours and keep them in line! Happy Trails, Teddy

Flowers, Flowers and more Flowers

Our Mom loves flowers and we love dirt so it's a match made in heaven. Seriously, our Mom would be in the garden from morning to night if she didn't have lots of other stuff do to, ie. pet us, hug us, bathe us, brush us, make us grooming appts., feed us, walk us ... well, you get the idea. We usually walk through the garden while she is trying to work just to keep her company. Here are some pictures of her favorite flowers and gardens for you to enjoy: Happy Spring, Teddy & Calvin