Moose Costume

There's a reason you will never see a beagle modeling dog costumes.

I went to snap a pic of our 10-month-old puppy, Lupine, wearing moose antlers. I figured three of us working together could wrangle her into the cute headpiece.

One kid held her still, while another slipped the costume onto her head. So far, so good.

Right as I clicked my camera, the dog whipped around, so I captured a crystal clear image of her back. Okay. Not ideal, but I'll call her name and she'll turn around, right?

She turned around all right. She proceeded to run as fast as she could in a tight little circle, shaking her head so hard I thought it might fly off.

A beagle in moose antlers is almost as ridiculous as a real moose.

Dinner last night: oven-baked parmesan chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn

Exactly four years ago:

An Euclidean Love Story

Brave Beagles

A moose decided to hang around our mailbox, snacking on the tasty alders. Wrong move, moose. I've got some pretty ferocious dogs who will eat you for breakfast.

Daisy and Lupine confronted that moose and let him have it.

Of course, a beagle's idea of "confront" includes standing safely on the deck.

But they did bark!

The moose turned its head.

You should have seen our 7-month-old puppy. Tears of pride filled my eyes as I watched her risk her very life to protect our family from the crazed moose.

Perhaps "risk" is too strong a word . . .

She moved back behind Daisy and continued barking.

The moose was very scared.

Dinner last night: white chili, sweet cornbread muffins

Exactly two years ago:

The Return of Friday's Five

Exactly four years ago:

The Joy of Pudding

Dog Day Afternoon

We took the dogs with us to the beach, and boy howdy, did they have fun.

Daisy ran around like she was 20 pounds lighter. She was bound and determined to keep up with our 5-month-old puppy, Lupine.

Of course, when we returned home, Daisy lapsed into a coma and slept for 14 hours straight.

Those dogs sprinted. They jumped through the air. They wrestled and rolled. You couldn't tell the difference between them and my human children.

Lupine didn't know what to think of all the seaweed laying about on the sand, but she made sure to shake it and drag it around until it was dead.



I would have thoroughly enjoyed myself at the beach without the dogs, but I must admit that Daisy and Lupine transformed what would have been a nice time into an even lovelier day. There's something about frolicking beagles that makes me smile.



Dinner last night: orange chicken over fried rice

Exactly four years ago:

Things to Do with Your Kids This Weekend

Freeze-Frame Frolic

The dogs love nothing more than to play outside in the sunshine. Well, they might prefer chewing on a meaty bone. Now that I think of it, they rather fancy a nice, long nap on the couch. Okay, they love many things more than playing outside in the sunshine, but they do enjoy an occasional romp around the yard.

Our pleasingly plump beagle, Daisy, amuses herself by deflating one of the kids' toys.

Lupine is four months old and a feisty little thing. She is quite talented at attacking snow.

She also ambushes shoes, shadows, and bits of paper.

Watch out, Daisy. Lupine's coming for you next.

Dinner last night: cheeseburgers

Exactly one year ago:

Patience, Patience

Exactly two years ago:

Gearing Up for Summer

Exactly three years ago:

Spring Cleaning

Just When I Thought I Was Out

My twin daughters have finally reached an age where they're not quite so destructive. As babies, they scribbled on walls, pulled down curtains, and knocked over anything that wasn't nailed to the floor. Now that they've turned 5, they're old enough to help with chores. With a little nagging from me, they make their own beds and put away their toys. They haven't destroyed any closets lately or emptied 500 boxes of board games all over the floor.

I had to go and get a puppy.

Lupine peed on her bed, so I removed the outer cover to wash it. I never dreamed she would literally TEAR APART the mattress.

I'm trying not to panic, but I'm freaked out by that stuffing.

I'm pretty sure it's human hair.

Dinner last night: beef stroganoff

Exactly three years ago:

Good Morning

Easter Aftermath

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. We received an April shower on Saturday, which normally would make me very grumpy, but this year made me quite happy . . . we have beaten the largest snowfall record in southcentral Alaska's history. It's official: 133.6" fell throughout the winter of 2011–12. In case you're not sufficiently impressed by inches, that's over ELEVEN FEET of snow. Alright, I'll stop bragging now. Or is it complaining?

We celebrated a quiet Easter at home this year. I've been feeling poorly the past 10 days or so, and I just didn't possess the energy to wrangle the family out the door to church or to host a dinner. So we hung out in our pajamas all day and watched that wonderful Easter classic, Zathura. We did hide Easter eggs indoors for the girls, because, you know . . . there's ELEVEN FEET of snow in our backyard. Okay, a lot of it has melted off, but still. Brightly-colored eggs don't blend in too well with white snow.

Watching our daughters dash about searching for treats reminded me that I should never enter them in any sort of public Easter egg hunt or, for that matter, in a public treasure hunt or scavenger hunt of any kind. They possess no fear, no sympathy, no self-control. My precious angels would mow down the other children like runaway bulldozers plowing over a patch of helpless marshmallow Peeps.

Even the dogs joined in the chase. They had no idea what they were looking for, but they ran wildly about the living room just the same.

Happy (belated) Easter, and may your baskets be full of Cadbury creme eggs.



Dinner last night: ham, scalloped potatoes, asparagus, jelly beans

Redemption

Several years ago, I accompanied my mom to her storage unit, where she kept her extra things in cardboard boxes. I nearly collapsed from horror when I noticed that the two sole photo albums containing the only snapshots of my family's early years were sitting in unmonitored heat and humidity. I asked my mom if I could take the albums home with me to try and salvage the faded pictures, and she said, "Eh, why not." My family is not particularly sentimental.

The albums then lay for what? five years, maybe? untouched in my craft closet. I make myself feel better by pointing out that at least the room is temperature-controlled. This past weekend, I finally pulled the books out to look through them.

I had completely forgotten about this picture, taken when I was 9 years old and holding the only puppy we ever owned. He didn't stay long. My younger sister and I loved him dearly, but we were clueless about potty training. Our efforts consisted mainly in screaming, "Oh, no!" when we noticed him peeing on the floor and then rushing him too-late out the door. My parents were both working and didn't have time to deal with the mess, so they disentangled the puppy from my sister's and my grasping clutches and "gave him away." Although we did go on to own other dogs over the years, they were always grown and fully potty-trained when we brought them home.

Looking at my happy face in that picture reminds me how much I loved that little dog and makes me wonder if some small part of me hasn't been waiting all these years for a chance to make up for what my young mind considered my failure to save him.

Baby Lupine is 2 months old and, ahem, definitely not potty-trained . . . buy my children needn't worry. Lupine's here to stay.



Dinner last night: tuna casserole

Exactly one year ago:

Pitter Pat

My Baby and Me

Do you suffer from anxiety? Road rage? Guilt that your house is messy? Try holding a puppy.

My blood pressure has never been lower.

Dinner last night: ricotta/spinach-stuffed ravioli in marinara sauce

Exactly one year ago:

Purty

Lupine, Meet Your Grumpy Aunt Daisy

I've been thinking that our dog, Daisy, needs a little companion. I asked my husband what he thought about getting a puppy. I expected a giant snort and overdramatic rolling of the eyes, but the guy surprised me when he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Sure."

An 8-week-old beagle puppy is just about the cutest thing on earth.
Unfortunately, Daisy does not agree with this sentiment and
refuses to acknowledge Lupine's pleas to play with her.

Dog babies are a lot like human babies; they mostly eat, sleep, and poop. Unlike human babies, however, puppies are born with little teeth that they like to sharpen on my earlobes. Our new puppy doesn't nip anybody else's ears—just mine. What's up with that? I am a fragrant flower. Or possibly an aromatic dog biscuit.

So far, Lupine has not had to sleep by herself. The girls are on Spring Break from school, so Little Baby Lupine can nap throughout the day on various family members. She likes to snuggle up against our warm throats, which sounds vaguely menacing, but is actually quite sweet. She fits nicely in the cozy space between our chin and chest, and is lulled to sleep by our heartbeats. My 11-year-old daughter can't bear to hear Lupine whimper in her crate at night and keeps sneaking the little dog into her bed to slumber peacefully next to her.

This puppy is spoiled rotten, is what I'm trying to say.



Dinner last night: Mexican lasagna, garlic bread, corn, green salad