You Should See Me in My Birthday Suit

Caution! By order of the CDC (Committee for Dog[blog] Cleanliness), all readers must use this virtual can of lavender scented Comet to scrub their minds of any "gutter" scum before proceeding. 

Oh, hai, y'all! How'd you like that title, huh?

I wrote it...because today is MY 3rd BIRTHDAY!

Oh, and the mom-peep made me add that warning up there. Something about a crack-down on the spread of soiled minds brain dirt. Whatev.

So anyway, like I was saying, today's my birthday and like the title says, you really should get a'load of me in my birthday suit. And boy, do I have a surprise for you!

Close your eyes!

Now, open 'em!

Ta da!

That's my sweet mama Elowyn, my four sibs and ME - Dewi (on the far right) - at the dairy bar on February 14, 2010. We were all in our birthday suits, dude!

Too bad my face is stuffed in a milkshake, though. I kinda wanted you to see it...

Oh, wait! Here! Look at this one...

Can you tell which one is me?! Hint: HellOOooo, I'm right here in front! Duh!

Okay, back to the subject of birthday suits. Mom-peep said that a birthday suit doesn't have to be limited to the suit you had on when you actually got born. Which is lucky for me, because that teeny tiny old suit went up the vacuum a long time ago. 

So yeah, and the mom-peep decided it would be fun to dress me and JF up in party hats and make us sit in the back of her car so she could take our pictures for this blog post (which I am writing, by the way) just because she doesn't have the time to make us do our proper sits and stays. Pfft.)

Well, here is what I think of the whole car imprisonment photo shoot.

Wait, I think a treat fell down in this crack.

I'm pretty sure this is not a happy face.

Can I get out of the car now?

(P.S. No, we did NOT get to go for a ride. But the party later, when the peeps were home, where they sang to me and gave me and JF some doggie carrot cake with pink icing, rocked, dude!) 

And one last thing, before I go: 

CONGRATULATIONS, MERINDA!

You won the photo caption challenge!

I could hear mom-peep giggling (even over Jon Farleigh's snoring) when she opened up your comment. Said she could totally picture me saying that. As if. 

What's the big deal about how I'm sitting, anyway? I just don't get you peeps.

Okay, I think I'm done. Bye, y'all! Thanks for looking at my birthday suits!

Happy birthday to my brother, Kirby, and my three sisters, Anwen, Jacklyn and Penny!

*****

A note from the editor:

Congratulations, Merinda (of The Brews Brothers blog)! Your caption cracked me up! And as promised, I'll be posting it (with credit) all over social media (within the next 24 hours)!

But mostly, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who played along! I enjoyed reading every single one of your entries and I think you are all awesome great sports!

In honor of Dewi and his littermates' birthday, and thanks to you all, CorgiAid is getting $40 to help with their rescue efforts. 

Well played! :-)

Exploding Dog Butts and Ill-Fitting Clothes - An Experiment in Looking on the Bright Side

My day could conceivably have gone two ways today: crappy or awesome.

Crappy attitude?

Okay, well, if I'm speaking in literal terms, so far, there's been lots of crap. But I'm not speaking in literal terms...just yet.

So because it's Friday, and I LOVE Fridays, I thought it would be fun to list all the crappy things that have happened in my house so far today and then for each crappy thing, come up with a way for me to look on the bright side. 

So, for example, if my bedroom smoke detector had started chirping at 2 a.m., forcing a middle-of-the-night battery replacement and minor sleep disturbance, I would argue that on the bright side, my family would not have burned up in a potential 3 a.m. house fire. 

Pretty simple, yes?

Okay, here we go...

Crappy Thing (CT): Jon Farleigh broke out of his crate at 2:50 a.m. because he had to go RIGHT THEN.

On the Bright Side (OtBS): He didn't go in his crate.

CT: I didn't get back to sleep until approx. 4:15 a.m.

OtBS: I watched a TV war documentary (on the Smithsonian Channel) and in comparison, my problems seemed petty.

CT: JF's crate had a pile of poop in it when he came out of it this morning.

OtBS: It was still in one neat pile and only touching the hard crate floor (making clean-up easy).

CT: After coming in from being walked (by Middle Child - who told me JF had NOT done #2 outside), I discovered JF's back end was a big nasty mess, so (while 2 of my kids were trying not to miss the school bus) I had to give him a bath (with kiwi-scented shampoo).

OtBS: He didn't have a chance to smear his poopy butt all over the carpet or upholstery. The kids still made their buses, proving I can do several things at one time when pressed.

Positive outlook?

CT: About 15 minutes after his bath, JF (smiling and with a spring in his step) sneaked out of the kitchen, pooped in the family room and tracked it back into the kitchen. And I had to give him a second (butt- and foot-only) bath.

OtBS: His butt hadn't been that clean and sweet-smelling since infancy. Also, I got to do a load of towels.

(Note: JF is okay; he just ate something disagreeable.) 

Look how curly his fur gets after a bath!

CT: JF didn't get his breakfast, except for a teaspoonful each of mashed pumpkin and plain Greek yogurt.

OtBS: BOTH dogs got to eat yummy pumpkin and yogurt. (Note: JF didn't poop again for 3 hours after eating, and did not require a third bath.)

CT: My summer wardrobe shrank a half-size over the winter (despite me begging my shorts to "please still fit" when I pulled them on this morning).

OtBS: I get to go shopping?? (Okay, not.) My tight waistband is making me not want to eat?? (Not really, it just hurts.) I get to spend more time outside (not sitting) with the dogs (and/or family)??  Yep! (But would someone please hide the grill...)

In summary: My day was awesome because:

• I'm not a statistic in a war documentary.
• Jon Farleigh's crate and butt are squeaky clean.
• My dogs got to eat something yummy and wholesome.
• I can multitask.
• I have clean towels.
• I have an excuse to go outside and play. 

Hope you all are having awesome days, too! :)

See you Monday!

UPDATE 8:34 p.m.: Because I was scrambling to get this post finished and not paying enough attention to my family's dinner sizzling on the outdoor grill, I have another CT to add to the list:

CT: My hamburgers got burned to briquettes in a grease fire. hee hee Oh yes, they did.

No lighter fluid required.

OtBS: I saw a Bald Eagle while driving back from the grocery store (because I had to go out and buy more beef). I had time to prune some plants in the garden while I was outside (not writing this post) supervising the grill. And it turns out, there was enough good cooked meat inside those black rocks to scrape out and add to Jon Farleigh's bland dinner (and breakfast tomorrow). Furthermore, if he could talk (thank heaven he can't, but if he could) he'd probably tell me he likes his meals better after a butt explosion than when he's regular. 

(Shhhhh. He's been explosion-free since early afternoon.) ☺

I think I need some chocolate ice cream...

Don't Fret Pet Hair

Words to live by?

This past weekend, Middle Child invited three of her friends over to work on a school project. And because none of these kids could possibly know what it's like to live in a house with lots of other kids and five pets (and who probably clean their rooms and pick up after themselves without being told), my house got cleaned.

And by cleaned I mean:

• Two hours before the first visitor arrived, the whole family divided and conquered the "living areas." (The bedrooms were sealed shut and declared off limits.)
• Piles of "kid" debris got relocated. (To behind closed doors/drawers.)
• The floor got a quick once-over with the vacuum. (Leaving plenty of pet hair still drifting around.)
• The largest flat surfaces were dusted. (What kid notices dust anyway?)
• The guest bathroom was disinfected. (Not exactly sparkling, but at least no one would catch a disease.)
• The Febreeze vanilla-scented oil warmer was plugged in. (Because the rug smelled like dog.)
• The Jelly Donut-scented Yankee Candle was lit. (As a distraction.)

And it was good enough.

Except that it wasn't, because I was compelled to make a sign, saying:

"Don't Fret Pet Hair"

Ironic, considering I'm the one who's doing the fretting. :)

Why would someone fret our hair, dude?

Good question, boys. :)

The Whole Brood (minus a biped) In One Room

A first on the blog:

(I added the arrows because, apparently, I don't know whether you all can tell dogs and cats from humans. :)

Youngest Child (not pictured) must have been outside digging for worms (totally serious).

So now you've seen how I live. And now you know that we eat off the same surfaces that the cats' litter box feet/butts stand/sit on. I feel better not keeping that dirty secret any longer.

Speaking of dirty, I'm taking a day off the blog tomorrow...to clean up pet hair...and so I can get the tune of "You Are My Sunshine" out of my head...and think up something to post on Friday...so I don't have to post someone else's photo with a bad caption, like this:

I have no idea who to credit for this; The Hubby emailed it to me, because he thought it was funny.

Truth: I didn't get the joke. Who knew dogs don't see red and blue? ;D

Back on Friday, friends. :)

Of course it's dog art!

It's even layered...over a cityscape...

And a concrete overpass.

What?! You disagree?? :)

Okay, so Youngest Child took a bunch of photos from the backseat of the car this morning. (More photos - with dogs - to come later.) I hadn't realized the dogs had been doodling so much on the windows. :) I wonder if it's obvious from the outside?

Oh, who cares. :)

Are your car windows decorated?