Sawyer's First Birthday!

Today we celebrated Sawyer's first birthday! I cannot believe he is already a year old! He is a big boy, but I never realized how big he truly was getting *sniff*... :)

For his birthday we decided to treat him to a fun trip to the dog park followed by a special treat from 'Bosco and Roxy's'. My husband discovered this store when he went Christmas shopping and found me an adorable black and white doggy print bowl which was an indication he was ready to get a dog, the BEST gift ever!

Bosco and Roxy's is the cutest specialized doggy shop. They are Canadian and are located in London, ON! They have great gifts for dogs and dog lovers like really original dog food dishes, clothing, unique leashes and the yummiest treats too, though you'll have to take Sawyer's word on that one. ;) For Sawyer's birthday we bought him a cute black and white cupcake (which ties back nicely to our first doggy bowl) and a bone stuffed with bacon and cheddar cheese. I have not seen him drool like that in, well, a year. The thing I really like about Bosco and Roxy's is that all their treats are handmade and are made with 100% organic and all natural ingredients, and their baked goods really look good enough to eat. I also love the bags your goodies come home in.

Sawyer really enjoyed his birthday, he played tag with his friends, dug a hole and ran away from his parents everytime we called him, but by the end of the night he was completely pooched.  Happy Birthday Soy Bean, I hope it was everything you could have wished for and more!

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http://www.boscoandroxys.com

Goodnight Hallowe'en, Good Morning Christmas!

On October 31 at Midnight, something strange happens in the retail world. Out of nowhere, Christmas suddenly appears! It appears in stacked boxes in receiving rooms of stores, stacked high to the ceiling. Early the next morning, November 1st, to be exact, special little helpers come to bring Christmas to everyone. These people are called "employees" and run on coffee and leftover Hallowe'en chocolate bars. All morning they work, putting Hallowe'en on clearance (50% off or more!) and setting up beautiful, cheerful scenes filled with Christmas treasures, also referred to as "merchandise".

There are tables set up with warm snuggly red blankets with reindeer etched on them, cozy knitted slippers and peppermint tea. There are pillars with candy pilled high to the rooftops- gum drops, fruit slices, peanut brittle, chocolate covered almonds and more! There are shelves dedicated to wondrous displays of all different kinds of hot chocolate, along with homemade marshmallows, vanilla flavoured stirring sticks and adorable Christmas mugs. What more could your tummy want? Perhaps it would fancy some chips or pretzels that have been hand dipped in milk chocolate? Maybe it would like to try some chocolate peanut butter covered almonds, or an adorable kit to make your own Christmas smores? If food doesn't please you (you crazy nut!), there is always adorable polar bear book ends, or soothing knitted water bottles for those frigid evenings.

Ah, Christmas! The employees busily prepare the store before most customers even wake up... dusting, shelving, stacking,displaying...Hurrying along because soon the doors will open and Christmas will come to all...whether you're ready or not.

Keep happy this busy season. Dress warm, think of your loved ones and remember Christmas is really about cherishing the time spent with family and friends, though, spending the time together while sipping Belgian hot chocolate in cute snowflake designed mugs couldn't hurt either! =^..^=

All the items listed above can be found at Chapters stores across Canada.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/

Shortest Blog Ever

Today while playing with Sawyer, I miscalculated my strength and well...

Before:

After:

The End.

(Chris I may need your help when you get home...)

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At the Dog Park

Yesterday, since it was such a lovely fall day, Chris and I decided to take Sawyer to the dog park. We are fortunate to have many dog parks in London, and we try to switch it up each time, to keep Sawyer guessing. He can tell when he's getting close to one, as he begins to breathe rapidly (with a hint of a whine), as well as pace the width of the van to look out the windows, drool and put really gross nose prints on the windows.


The park we visited yesterday is a special one to us, as it was where my horse and buggy picked me up on my wedding day to take me to the wedding. Before Sawyer, we would drive by this park veeeeery slowly so I could look out the window (just like Sawyer) at all the dogs, wishing we could go and play with them...Sometimes, I admit, I teared up...


Sawyer loves the park. As soon as the gate opens, he just charges in there, head low, back legs flailing behind him, all jumbled up. He is the most uncoordinated runner out there. As soon as he meets the other dogs, he throws himself down on the ground, rolls onto his back, whines and tries to lick their faces. It used to be embarrassing, but now, well, it's just 'Sawyer'.

Sawyer doesn't really "play" with the other dogs. He doesn't wrestle, he doesn't play bite or play tug-of-war with the sticks, all he wants to do is run. He will chase dogs forever, and when they turn to wrestle him, he just smiles and runs off to find another dog. I think he may be playing hard to get....but we can't be too sure. ;) He truly does smile while he runs, and we think it's the cutest thing in the world. He looks happiest running free, tongue hanging out and leaving dust trails behind him. Thankfully it tires him out eventually, because it's impossible to get his attention and catch him unless you have four legs. This is why some days we don't leave as quickly as we'd like to.


The dog parks we visit are so clean and friendly it's hard to leave (and not just because you can't catch your dog). They have huge garbage shelters built into the ground for you to drop your dog's poop into, and everyone really seems to be on the ball with the cleanup. I have not stepped in poop, yet. *knock on wood* There are lots of trails at the park that go through little forests, but watch out for mud after rainfall. Somehow Sawyer can sense where there is a puddle and heads straight for it. He can make a dime size amount of water turn into a kiddie pool of mud. Once we had to take him to the Thames river to "rinse" him off, and I use that word lightly, as who knows WHAT is in that river... The other things I love about the parks are the bone shaped benches for the human guests and all the cute bird houses. I really feel great about being able to take Sawyer to these parks to socialize, and sometimes even humans can make friends too, thankfully, we don't have to sniff butts to become buddies. ;)


I recommend taking your furry friends to the dog park, it's great exercise and they really do love it. Just be responsible! Make sure your pet is up to date with their vaccinations, is social and scoop the poop! Remember to relax and look at the smiles that comes across their faces, because it's definitely worth it. (Plus afterwards they will sleep for days...) *wink*


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Puppy Pawlooza!

This summer Chris and I had the awesome opportunity to attend London's annual Puppy Pawlooza! This festival for dogs took place on Fleetwood Farm at the Plunkett Estate, and what an estate it is! The grounds are absolutely breathtaking, the mansion was from my dreams, and the property just seemed to go on for miles and miles! I think it is so awesome that Steve Plunkett would so openly share his home with people and dogs of all shapes and sizes for fundraisers and charity. There were trail walks through the forest, dock diving, doggy eating contests, agility classes, live music, vendors, animal rescue organizations with pets to adopt and so much more!

Chris, Sawyer and I went to Pawlooza with my mom and her dog Wookie. As soon as we pulled into the driveway, they started to go insane. Wookie started "singing" and Sawyer started to pace around in circles. We were going to use this opportunity to try training Sawyer to sit and be calm around other dogs, but when we saw how many were actually there, we knew there was NO way he'd pay any attention to us, even if we were wrapped in bacon or rolled in peanut butter.

As we walked through the park, we came across one of the animal rescue organizations. It was Kim from Kismutt Small Dog Rescue! We were so excited to see her, as she is the one who helped us add Sawyer to our family. We adopted Sawyer from Kismutt back in Feb.2009, who was then called "Blue". She was so great to work with, and really ensured that we would be a good match for him. She could not believe how much he had grown, and was just so happy to see him again. And it's true, you really can't tell he was a rescued golden retriever from a horrible puppy mill...so why people buy dogs from pet stores, Kijij and such, well, it's beyond me....but I'll save that for another blog entry.

Sawyer absolutely loved Pawlooza! He truly enjoyed his trail walk, and stopped to pose for a picture in the soybean fields. (We call him Soy, so it was a cute little joke for us). He also loved all the free treats, butt sniffing and belly rubs...but what he REALLY loved was swimming in the pond. He just loves water! He would jump in, go under water, do the doggy paddle, shake it off, and then jump in and swim again!

I definitely recommend people in the London, ON area to check out Pawlooza next summer. The proceeds go towards not-for-profit animal organizations and it's a great time for you and your pet, or possibly the chance to find the pet of your dreams!

I just wanted to include this video I found on YouTube that Keithsokiya put together from Pawlooza: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PQ2y1IHbM4&feature=fvw

http://www.kismutt.com/

http://www.pawlooza.com/index.html

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Tearwater Tea

Today I realized that some unfortunate people might not know what Tearwater Tea is. Poor, poor people. Tearwater tea is actually a tale in one of my favourite childhood stories 'Owl at Home'. It was written in 1982 by Arnold Lobel, who is also known for his illustrations for the book 'Frog and Toad'. The story has several short tales, or chapters that center around the main character, Owl. In Owl and the Moon, he believes that the moon is constantly following him around and tells it to go home. When the moon disappears behind a cloud, he becomes sad because he feels his "friend" has gone. Later, when the moon shines through his bedroom window, he feels happy that his dear friend returned and followed him home. Another classic tale is Strange Bumps where Owl is perplexed about two strange bumps that appear under the covers at the end of his bed. He becomes so confused as to what they are and where they came from that he solves the problem by sleeping in his armchair. My favourite story though is Tear-water Tea. Owl decides he'd like some tea, so he sits down and begins to think of very sad things. He thinks of chairs with broken legs, and songs that cannot be sung as the words were forgotten. As he thinks of these things, tears begin to fall from his eyes into his tea kettle. He continues thinking of sad things, like books that can never be read as pages were ripped out of them, or mornings that nobody saw because everyone was sleeping and continues to collect his tears. As soon as the kettle fills to the top, he puts it on the stove to boil for tea.

Owl felt happy as he filled his cup. "It tastes a little bit salty," he said,"but tear-water tea is always very good."

This story has always held a special place in my heart and on my bookshelf. It's so charming with all the beautiful illustrations and amusing with a slightly confused, but adorable Owl.

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Owl-at-Home-Arnold-Lobel/9780060239497-item.html?ref=Search+Books:+%2527owl+at+home%2527:Children%2527s+Books

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My First Blog Entry!

Bonjour all, and welcome to my blog!

I've always wanted to keep a diary because my family has the most difficult time remembering things and I hated the thought of having all these neat ideas and experiences and one day forgetting all about them. Sadly, I do not like my handwriting so it didn't work out so well...Then I thought about just keeping an electronic diary...well, I became a little discouraged by the fact that no one could read it and laugh at the hilarious jokes I made...sometimes...well, they were funny to me at least! Then I thought, why not a blog? Well, to be honest, I was too lazy to start at first. Plus the thought of having to keep it up was a bit daunting, and honestly, is my life really that interesting? But then I saw how well Michelle was doing with hers, that I just had to try it! I don't yet know what it will be about, but I hope it will provide some enjoyment to the readers, as well as give me an outlet for all my crazy thoughts and findings, as well as give me the chance to post some of my photography so I can gain some good old fashioned feedback that I am lacking.

So if you read this, thank you!! You are one of the first to join me in this new chapter in my life, this experience called, "blogging".

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