Visiting Grandma

Last weekend, Mom and I went to visit Grandma, and we stayed at Grandma's house ALL weekend long! There was lots of stuff going on. Here's my "photo essay" of the weekend...

I supervised Mom's driving on the way to Grandma's house. It's a long trip.

When we see corn, we know we're getting close!

You know I love being at Grandma's house for lots of reasons...but the main one is 'cause she's got a huge yard with a fence. I'm Free-Range Buttons -- NO leash! So here's me checking stuff out.

Mom took this pic upside down 'cause she was bending over, scratching my booty.

More Free-Range Buttons... Just look at all of that yard for me to sniff!

Mom even took a short video of me investigating stuff in the yard. Mom was hot and wanted to go inside. I took my time, though, checking pee-mail from my doggy cousins.

And then I did a lot of napping in Grandma's air conditioning.

When my uncle came to visit, I decided to hide.

And at night time, I hogged the bed (of course!).

On Saturday morning, there was a big 5K run/walk in the town where Grandma lives. It was held in memory of my Grandpa and raised money for Parkinson's research. (Some of you may remember that Grandpa just died last year from that icky bad disease.) I stayed at Grandma's house and Mom went and did the walk. So, here's me posing with Mom's race number. She got to be # 1.

After the 5K, there was more time for me to spend sniffing stuff outside. Can you see me in this pic? I'm that little tiny white dot by the little cabin!

That afternoon, I got to go watch a parade in town with Mom.

I wasn't sure about some of the noises. The fire engines were loud and the sounds from these little go-carts made me get a little scared, too.

And then later that night, I hogged the bed once again. And if you look closely, you'll see that I'm sinking down into the bed. Yep...our air mattress sprung a leak!

And then the next day it was time for us to drive all of the way back to our house. When we stopped to get gas, I guarded the car. I made sure to bark at EVERY person I saw at that gas station. I thought everyone needed to know that I was on the job.

Then I supervised Mom's driving some more.

And you know what I did when I got home? I had to recover from all of the busy fun I had visiting Grandma!

Anipal Photo Hunt #12: All Souls' Day

The theme for this week's Anipal Photo Hunt is "All Souls' Day" It's a time to celebrate all of those who have gone before us. I've only been with my forever and ever Mom for 11 months, but we have had two big losses since I was adopted.

Most of you know that my sister Lexi-Lou passed away just a week after I was adopted. It was a huge shock. We'd all planned on Lexi and I having lots of years together. Didn't turn out that way, though. We only had one week.

Here's my sister Lexi.

And here's a picture of Lexi and I on a walk together.

Four months after Lexi-Lou passed away, my new Grandpa got really sick. He ended up passing away, too. We were all super sad. It helps knowing that Lexi-Lou has someone special to help take care of her now, though. I bet she's getting lots of cookies.

Here's a picture of Grandpa watching my cousin Hoss and I as we chew on one of Hossy's bones.

Hossy and I napped with Grandpa later that same day (I'm beside him on the couch).

That's a whole lot of sad in just a few short months. Mom said she was blessed to have me with her then, though, 'cause I make her laugh so much.

Mom put this magnet on our car the other day:

Mom says that magnet says it all.

Here are some other anipals taking part in this week's Anipal Photo Hunt celebration of All Souls' Day:

Good Old Days

Mom's hometown had their Good Old Days festival this weekend, so there was lots of stuff going on. Mom and I packed up our car and headed out early in the morning. We left so early that the sun was barely awake!

The reason we left so early was 'cause there was a 5K Run/Walk in memory of my Grandpa who just passed away in April. It started at 7:30 a.m. All of the proceeds went to the American Parkinson's Disease Association. Cool, huh? Anyway, Mom was going to walk in the 5K, so we had to be there early. She walked with my Aunt Katie.


I don't usually put pics of Mom on my blog, but I included that one just 'cause she made me. She wanted to show off what number she was in the 5K. She was number 1. And she was proud to be number 1. Even if she finished near the very end. (What a dork...)

Anyway, onto the more excited parts of the Good Old Days festivities! I got to watch my very first parade. Here's a picture of me waiting for it to start.

The sirens from the fire trucks and rescue squad were really super loud.

I got to listen to a marching band from the high school.

And the French fry guy was even in the parade!

Lots of people in the parade were throwing out candy for all of the kids. And then one guy in the parade came up to me and gave me a cookie! Can you believe that?! Here's a picture of me with my doggie bone.

I was a really super good doggie during the parade, if I do say so myself. You know what else I did that made Mom really proud of me? I met all of Aunt Katie's kids and I didn't bark at all. Not a peep! I didn't even act scared like I do sometimes. Instead, I let everyone pet me.

I even let all of the little peoples walk me. Look at how good I was!

Mom was pretty proud of me for being such a good girl!

I got tired after a while, though, since I usually nap during the day. And things got a little loud at Grandma's house because of all of the people there. I decided to hide under the computer table and beside the TV.

Here I am peaking out from my hiding spot.

Still too much activity...so I stayed put.

Mom said I continued to master the art of looking pathetic.

Mom and I had fun during the Good Old Days, even if I did have to hide for a while. We got home super late and had to nap the next day to recover!

Oh, and I can't forget to tell you that Grandma gave me a new toy, too. It's a Pluto squeaky toy with a ball attached to it!

My Grandma is so cool!

Home Sweet Home

Mom's finally home, and I'm home now, too. Whew! It was a long couple of weeks for both of us 'cause of Grandpa being so sicky and then passing away. Mom said his people funeral was yesterday, so now we're both home to stay.

I had sleepovers at Molly's house a few times over the last two weeks. Molly was nice to me. She shared her toys with me. She's got a tree trunk of squirrels just like me!

Molly shared her doggie bed with me, too. I loved to nap in her bed.

Mom packed one of my doggie beds, so I napped there sometimes, too. Molly didn't like my bed, though, so she didn't snooze in it.

Molly's Mom took both of us for walks each day. That was cool. I'm not used to walking that much, so I was pooped! In this picture, I was taking advantage of the cool tile right inside the door.

Molly was pooped after some of our walks, too. So we were pooped together.

Don't worry, though. I still saved some of my energy for my sneakiness. I've GOT to be sneaky! I had to investigate lots of stuff at Molly's house...even if it meant burrowing under a doggie bed to get there...

There was one HUGE downside to my most recent sleepover at Molly's house. Molly's Mom thought both of us girls needed a bath! Augh! I hate baths...

Molly's not a fan of baths, either.

I tried to escape, but sadly, the tub was too deep for my little legs. Bummer.


Mom was very happy that I was so clean when she picked me up last night. As for me, I'd rather stink...

So Mom got all sorts of reports about how good I was on all of my sleepovers. Unfortunately, though, the report from the most recent sleepover wasn't so good. I was pretty comfortable at Molly's house this time, so I sort of resorted to some of my old antics. Molly's Mom told my Mom that I...

1. Dumped over Molly's toy box.
2. Barked like crazy at a person working in a drive-thru window.
3. Discovered my love for "kitty crunchies" from Piglet's litter box.
4. And stalked Piglet like crazy. (Sorry, but I just had to know what that kitty was up to at all times!)

Mom says that we're gonna have to talk about my behavior... HE HE HE!

Goodbye, Grandpa

My Grandpa had been sicky for years. He had something called "Parkinson's Disease." (I'm a smart doggie...but I still have no idea what that means.) Of course he only got to be my Grandpa last November when Mom adopted me. I still loved him lots, though. He was a really good Grandpa to me.

Anyway, Grandpa got super sick almost two weeks ago, and he passed away yesterday morning. Mom's got really leaky eyes these days. Grandpa was Mom's daddy. I've tried to help Mom by being a super good girl at all of the sleepovers I've been on. I guess doggies aren't allowed in critical care units in hospitals, so I couldn't go with Mom on all of her trips to see Grandpa. She was gone all night long several times, too. So that's why I stayed at Snickers' house and then Molly's house, too. And Mom got those reports that I've been really good each time she's been away. (She told me that Snickers' dogsitters even want me to come back!)

I did get to go see Grandpa once when he was in the nursing home. That was fun. LOTS of people wanted to pet me. Mom said that a woman even came to Grandpa's room the next day, looking for me. I was quite popular.

Mom doesn't have many pictures of me with my Grandpa, but she did find these two. In the first one, Grandpa was watching Hossy and I chew on Hossy's huge rawhide bone.

And later that day, Hossy and I both took naps with Grandpa. (I'm that little white ball beside him on the couch.)

Goodbye, Grandpa! We love you and we'll miss you. Please give Lexi-Lou lots of pets and lots of cookies from Mom and me.

Grandpa's Sick

Sorry I haven't been online much. Mom's been away a whole lot lately 'cause my Grandpa got really sicky. He moved to a place called a nursing home, but then he got sicker and had to go to a hospital.

Last night Mom was gonna be gone all night long so she took me to a new friend's house for a sleepover. Snickers is a Yorkie/Shih Tzu mix. She wasn't too thrilled to have me invading her space. So I was on my best behavior.

And look...I found Snickers' toy basket!

Today when Snickers went to her doggie daycare, I got to go, too. Zoe lives where Snickers goes for daycare. Zoe is a Yorkie. She was cool with me being there. Not as grumpy as Snickers. I was still on my bestest behavior, just in case.

I was SURE happy to see Mom tonight, though. I flopped on my back right when I saw her and gave her my best "rub my belly" look.

Mom says I might have to go on other sleepovers 'cause of Grandpa being so sicky. We'll see what the next few days bring.

Going to Visit

Mom and I went to go visit Grandma and Grandpa yesterday! I was pretty excited about the car ride. I didn't even get all shaky and scared like I have the last few times. (When you get dumped out of a car like I was, trust me that you'll think car rides are scary, too!) Mom was happy that I wasn't so scared -- she wants me to like going for rides with her.

Anyway, we went on the long car ride to see my grandparents! I looked out the window for a while. Everything's so flat here!

Then I got bored and had to nap.

Still flat out there...so I'm still napping...

Just look at how flat this Illinois place is!

Here's the town where my grandparents live and where my Mom grew up. (That's pretty-much the entire town in this picture.)

Anyway, I was super excited when we got to Grandma and Grandpa's place. I wanted to get inside their house fast. Mom usually makes me go potty first, though, so I just took care of that myself before Mom even mentioned it. I peed on Grandma's driveway. Mom wasn't amused.

After we visited for a while, Mom and Grandma and Grandpa left and I stayed at my grandparents' house. They had to go to my baby people cousin's birthday party. You know what I gave him? Two words...SQUEAKY CHICKEN! Mom got a squeaky chicken for him just like mine -- the one he kept stealing from me. So she wrapped it and told him it was from me. (Yes, I tried to steal it, but Mom wouldn't let me at it.)

Now he's got his own squeaky chicky, so he shouldn't need to steal mine anymore, right?

Mom came back to Grandma and Grandpa's place and we visited some more. I love seeing my grandparents, but I was pretty ready to go back home, too. So when Mom said "let's go bye-bye," I flew to the door.

Mom usually makes me go potty before she lets me get in the car, so I took care of that before she even mentioned it. I just peed on the driveway (again) right beside our car and then jumped in the car. After all, that was a quicker way to do it than going over to the grass. Mom wasn't super happy. I guess I wasn't supposed to potty ON the driveway when there was grass a foot away from it. And I...um...sort of peed on my own foot, too, 'cause the driveway is slanted. Mom was muttering something about dog pee on the car seat. Oopsie.

After we got home, I was pretty tired. It was a long day away from my home and my toys. So I did this all night:

And yes, I snored.